Cybersecurity, Technology, and Society

Students in IT/CYSE 200T will explore how technology is related to cybersecurity from an interdisciplinary orientation. Attention is given to the way that technologically-driven cybersecurity issues are connected to cultural, political, legal, ethical, and business domains. The learning outcomes for this course are as follows:

Describe how cyber technology creates opportunities for criminal behavior,
Identify how cultural beliefs interact with technology to impact cybersecurity strategies,
Understand and describe how the components, mechanisms, and functions of cyber systems produce security concerns,
Discuss the impact that cyber technology has on individuals’ experiences with crime and victimization,
Understand and describe ethical dilemmas, both intended and unintended, that cybersecurity efforts, produce for individuals, nations, societies, and the environment,
Describe the costs and benefits of producing secure cyber technologies,
Understand and describe the global nature of cybersecurity and the way that cybersecurity efforts have produced and inhibited global changes,
Describe the role of cybersecurity in defining definitions of appropriate an inappropriate behavior,
Describe how cybersecurity produces ideas of progress and modernism.

Course + Experience Description

One course that had a strong impact on me this semester was Cybersecurity, Technology, and Society (IT/CYSE 200T). This course examined cybersecurity from an interdisciplinary perspective, focusing not only on technical systems but also on how culture, law, ethics, politics, and business influence cybersecurity decisions. A specific experience that stood out to me was a class assignment in which I analyzed how cyber technology creates opportunities for criminal behavior while also shaping how society responds to those threats. For this project, I researched real-world cybersecurity incidents and evaluated how technological systems, human behavior, and social values interacted to produce both vulnerabilities and security solutions. I completed the assignment individually, using course readings, case studies, and outside research to support my analysis. This activity represented the course overall because it required me to connect technical cybersecurity concepts to broader social and ethical issues, rather than viewing cybersecurity as purely technical.

Skills and Values Learned

This experience helped me strengthen important skills such as critical thinking, research, ethical reasoning, and written communication. While working on the assignment, I had to analyze how cyber systems function, evaluate risks, and explain how cultural beliefs, laws, and business priorities affect cybersecurity decisions. It pushed me to think beyond the technical side of cybersecurity and consider its real-world consequences for individuals and society. This project also connected to my personal values of responsibility, awareness, and problem-solving, because it showed how cybersecurity professionals must balance security needs with ethical considerations and social impact. The experience supports my professional goals because it helped me understand that cybersecurity careers require not only technical knowledge but also the ability to evaluate risks, policies, and human behavior. In the future, I will use what I learned from this course when analyzing security threats, designing systems, or making decisions that affect users and organizations.

My Work:

This assignment was a simple write-up about the CIA Triad. Upon reflection of the assignemnt it did a good job laying the foundations of what security is.

Write-Up_-The-CIA-Triad-2

This next assignment was a write-up on SCADA systems. I think completing it gave me a much better understanding of what critical systems need to be protected to ensure national security.

SCADA-Write-Up-2-1