04/16/2025
CYSE201S
Dylan McLaughlin
Career Paper: Cybersecurity Analyst
Introduction
A cybersecurity analyst is a position that involves safeguarding networks and computer systems from cyber threats. They are usually given the tasks of monitoring the networks for breaches or attacks, identifying threats, coming up with ways to avoid or beat those threats, enforcing new procedures and policies, response to incidents, testing vulnerabilities in the network and programs, educating employees on how to be safe, and sharing information with others in the company to reconcile security efforts. In a job like this, the people who fill these roles must be well-versed in cybersecurity and the social sciences. In this career, social sciences are needed due to the team members having to think about how the attackers are thinking, as well as those who they are protecting from the attacks.
Requirements
Not just everybody is able to become a cybersecurity analyst. This is a job that even entry level positions have requirements that must be met for someone to get hired for this role. Many individuals who want to become cybersecurity analysts go to college to get at least a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity, computer science, or other fields that are related to the subject. Many jobs also require many different types of certifications in addition to having a degree. Certifications validate the necessary skills required for the position, depending on the field (Blackmon et al., 2023). Companies hiring for these positions also like to see some experience in the field as well, so many do recommend getting an internship in the field.
Social Sciences in the Daily Tasks
There are many different tasks that are completed by those who are in the role of cybersecurity analysts. As a cybersecurity analyst, you’re tasked with protecting your company’s hardware, software, and networks from theft, loss, or unauthorized access (Coursera, 2025). One of their tasks is to monitor the companies’ network using social principles like skepticism to keep an eye out for anything that does not look right that can be a cyber-attack. Then when a cyber-attack occurs, they are the ones who respond to the attacks. Next after an attack, when they are writing their reports about what happened then they use principles like parsimony so that many who are not versed in the subject are able to understand what happened. They use the principle of objectivity to actively learn about these newer threats. At the same time the principle of relativism can be seen, because as cyber threats improve, so does the response to these threats. In addition to them researching these new threats they also use theories such as conflict theory to figure out what is causing the hackers to go after the network.
With the rise of online platforms where individuals could gather and spread information came the rise of online cybercrimes aimed at taking advantage of not just single individuals but collectives (Carley, 2020). Especially nowadays cybercrime is on the rise, and they are now targeting bigger prey than just the individuals but actually attacking a whole company to gain all their data. With this being said when cybersecurity analysts are creating new programs, security measures, and network encryption they are once again using parsimony, due to these newer factors needing to be simple in order for the regular company employees to be able to understand how to use it. In addition, they must also think about human factors of things and venture into the minds of regular employees, so that they can ensure that the new programs will work to keep the network safe. There is also a point when they are testing out the system and run penetration tests, now when they are doing this they sometimes have to think like the criminals and hackers who would try to gain way into their system.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while cybersecurity analysts work in the world of computers and cyber, they have to adapt and use the social sciences to complete their jobs. With them incorporating the knowledge of theories and understanding the minds of others, these analysts are able to create networks that help protect companies and employees from cyber-attacks. The principles of social sciences are also an advantage, so that they can communicate how to stay safe online with other employees who are not versed in cybersecurity.
References
Blackmon, S., Blowers, M., Bones, A., Boyington, A., Brogaard, B., Buckley, T., Capella, W., Chamlou, N., Emeagwall, N. S., Hudgeons, V., Kaple, T., Kazandijan, S., Ko, N., Lurie, V., McGee, V., McKenna, K., Munday, R., Nigh, A., Perkowitz, A., & Reid, A. (2023, March 20). Security analyst career overview: Cyber degrees. Explore Cybersecurity Degrees and Careers | CyberDegrees.org. https://www.cyberdegrees.org/jobs/security-analyst/
Coursera. (2025, January 15). What does a cybersecurity analyst do? 2025 job guide. https://www.coursera.org/articles/cybersecurity-analyst-job-guide
Carley, K. M. (2020, November 16). Social Cybersecurity: An emerging science – computational and mathematical organization theory. SpringerLink. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10588-020-09322-9