Journal Entry #1
When taking a deep look at the NICE workforce framework, I found that I am initially most drawn to the work role categories of implementation and operation, protection and defense, and investigation. Within these categories, I found digital forensics, data analysis, and database administration to sound the most appealing.
However, at the end of the day, my priorities when searching for a career is as follows: a job that allows fully remote work, high monetary compensation, and optimally- a job that I find engaging.
While I found cybersecurity instruction and product support management to initially appeal to me the least, I would not be opposed to a job that entails these aspects so long as the other aspects of the job fulfill what I am seeking in a career.
Journal Entry #2
The principle of empiricism can enhance the effectiveness of cybersecurity practices by ensuring that solutions are focused on the most relevant threats, and that practices and procedures are aligned with current social, economic, and political needs.
Empiricism is the practice of social scientists in which only things which can be heard, touched, smelled, tasted, or seen, are studied. Tracking human behavior and attitudes through empirical studies can help guide cybersecurity to target new and evolving issues by providing solid evidence of the changing social climate. In turn, this data can be used to deduct how such changes might shape cyber criminal activity.
In addition, empirical studies can illuminate areas of greatest need by providing data on the most commonly committed cyber crimes, and who commits those crimes.
Journal Entry #3
The PrivacyRights.Org website offers a wealth of information on data breaches, data privacy laws, and even personal stories from individuals affected by privacy laws, or lack thereof. Some of the offerings on the privacy rights website include guides, articles, reports, law overviews, news & press, and personal accounts. The law overviews provide an easy-to-understand quick-guide to federal data privacy laws, as well as California based laws. Perhaps the most valuable section of the website for researchers would be the data reports.
These reports provide detailed information on who has been compromised, when the data was stolen, where the data was stolen from, and even the method that was used for the data breach. With access to this information, researchers are able to see which sectors are targeted the most, and by what method they are attacked. By tracking the general trend in data breaches, researchers might be able to predict future issues.
Journal Entry #4
When comparing Maslow’s hierarchy to an online space, say for example- a blog on a social media website, some connections can be made.
First, an individual would have to establish their blog. This would mean that the individual would set a URL as their ‘home’. This could correspond to physiological needs – the ‘home’ acting as shelter.
The user would need a log-in, a unique username and password to access their blog, which might correspond to safety needs. Connecting with other blog users and forming digital friendships is similar to the need for intimate relationships and friends.
Next, the way a blogger might post online with the intention of receiving likes, comments, and re-blogs can correspond to esteem needs.
Finally, the blogger using the online platform to fully express themselves and create something they are truly proud of could represent self-actualization on the hierarchy.
Journal Entry #5
When reviewing the possible motivations for committing cybercrime, I would rank them as follows when assessing the motivations based on what I believe makes the most sense.
The motivation I would rank highest on this list is money. This motivation makes the most sense to me, as in our world money is essentially the key to nearly everything.
Next on the list, I would rank revenge. Since the urge for revenge is such a strong, visceral feeling, I would imagine it to be an incredibly potent motivator for cybercrime.
Following revenge I would place politics. Those who are invested in politics, or perhaps want to change the political landscape in order to make more money, would have a highly motivating reason to commit crime.
Recognition is a motivator that I feel would rank lower on the list, but still not the lowest. While money, revenge, and politics are all more emotionally charged, recognition is a motivation that I view as less intense.
Finally, I would group together entertainment, curiosity, and boredom within the same rank, at the bottom of the list. Committing cybercrime for fun might be entertaining for criminals, but as soon as serious consequences are enforced for such crime, the individuals committing crimes for these reasons will likely stop the fastest.
Journal Entry #6
While I have found it unclear as to where I am intended to look for fake websites, I am able to discuss some of my previous experience with such websites.
One website that nearly had me fooled at one point was a fake Joann fabric store site. During a period in which I was browsing the internet, I came across a legitimate-looking advertisement for Joann’s, claiming it was going out of business and selling all of it’s stock for 50-70% off. The logo was familiar, and initially nothing was suspect. The website had been crafted carefully to perfectly replicate what you might find on a typical e-commerce site.
The first thing that made me suspicious was the incredibly low price of the items I was seeing. As a consumer with an interest in saving money, the low prices seemed amazing. Too good to be true, in fact. The website name was something akin to ‘Joann-fabric-usa.com’. I decided to double check that the site was legitimate. In order to do this, I opened a new browser tab and searched for the Joann’s official site.
I found the official site, the URL to which was actually something like Joann.com. There was no sale advertised on the site, and certainly not with the steep discounts I had been excited for.
Luckily, with this, I realized that the site was fake, and likely a scam to steal my credit card information. In the end, I avoided becoming a victim of cybercrime, and I reported the advertisement to the site I had found it on.