CYSE 201S – Journal Entry 14

Andriy Slynchuk has described eleven things Internet users do that may be illegal. Review what the author says and write a paragraph describing the five most serious violations and why you think those offenses are serious.

Sharing information about other people, cyberbullying, faking identities, collecting information about children, and illegal searching are some of the most serious violations that can be done online. Sharing information, addresses, and photos is serious and can lead to doxing and identity fraud. Furthermore, there’s the potential for being scammed and being in physical danger from stalking. Cyberbullying is serious because of its effect on children’s mental states, which can lead to depression and even suicide. Creating fake identities can become serious when children may inadvertently expose themselves to mature material they’re not supposed to see. Fake identities also perpetuate cases of identity fraud and theft. Collecting information on information is serious because how it’s a violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and how it can put the lives of children in danger due to information being leaked. Illegal searching is serious because even if there are barriers in place, people can still get results relating to the topic that was searched.

CYSE 201S – Journal Entry 13

Read this sample breach letter “SAMPLE DATA BREACH NOTIFICATION” and describe how two different economics theories and two different social sciences theories relate to the letter.

Two economic theories that can relate to this sample breach letter are rational choice and Marxian economic theory. The letter relates to rational choice because how the third-party company didn’t invest in cybersecurity protocols. By choosing to not invest in early protection of malware their servers got infected, affecting Glass Washer Parts’ data and causing a data breach. This sample letter also relates to Marxian economic theory due to how the third-party company worked with Glass Washer Parts. The third-party company had given Glass Washer Parts a platform, but in the end, Glass Washer Parts had to sacrifice their money in the partnership, as well as customer information once they dealt with the data breach.

Social exchange theory and social learning theory are two social science theories that can be seen in this sample breach letter. Social exchange theory relates to the letter because of the relationship between Glass Washer Parts and its customers. The cost for the customers is their personal information, but in return they get products. For Glass Washer Parts, the cost is getting out a product and the benefit is capital. Social learning theory also relates to the letter by being a potential reason for the third-party company’s choice to not invest in cybersecurity. This could come from the large number of other companies that don’t invest for multiple reasons, whether financial, lack of awareness, or the knowledge that cybersecurity isn’t made an important factor in companies.

CYSE 201S – Journal Entry 12

Read this article and write a summary reaction to the use of the policies in your journal. Focus primarily on the literature review and the discussion of the findings.

I believe that bug bounty policies and programs should become more commonplace within companies. This will help by patching up the holes within the company security and being a cost-effective process for bigger and smaller companies. In the article, hackers were considered “price insensitive” which means that they will still take the work even if the price changes and fluctuates. Price insensitivity also helps smaller companies that can’t afford to hire veteran ethical hackers. This allows small companies to employ unseasoned hackers that may care about experience and exposure more than capital. Furthermore, bounties of varying prices will attract a larger population of ethical hackers to provide support for businesses. Overall, bug bounty policies are an effective tool that can greatly mitigate the cyberattacks that companies have to pay for.

CYSE 201S – Journal Entry 11

Watch this video. As you watch the video, think about how the description of the cybersecurity analyst job relates to social behaviors. Write a paragraph describing social themes that arise in the presentation.

The presentation has several social aspects of being a cybersecurity analyst. Some of those social aspects are communicating with customers and co-workers, marketing yourself for businesses, and working together with different parts of the community. For communication, the entry-level version of a cybersecurity analyst is about responding to basic cyberattacks and helping people that are dealing with cybersecurity issues. Furthermore, it includes training co-workers on cybersecurity awareness. Marketing takes the form of maintaining a resume for better positions and updating an e-portfolio for networking. This also includes marketing for social media platforms to improve popularity. Finally, volunteering for organizations and communities, or getting internships are some of the ways to earn experience and gain a better network for the career.

CYSE 201S Journal Entry 10

Read this and write a journal entry summarizing your response to the article on social cybersecurity: https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/Mar-Apr-2019/117-Cybersecurity/b/

I feel that this article does a great job of addressing the importance of social cybersecurity, as well as fields where it’s most crucial. The article defined social cybersecurity as people being able to persuade one another using technology. Those fields of importance include government, warfare, and misinformation.

While social cybersecurity could be considered a new technology, it’s been used in several governments. For example, Russia and North Korea have been using social cybersecurity to keep their populations in check, and this method of propaganda has been in different forms since the 1950s. Within government, this technology can affect society, politics, and the military.

The field of warfare is being changed completely through the use of information and information warfare. That information is used for manipulating and influencing society to think about the current war. With social cybersecurity being multidisciplinary, it can persuade and influence people to high levels and can become an effective strategy for warfare operations.

As technology has become more advanced, it’s led to a new wave of misinformation that social cybersecurity plays a part in. There are factors such as anonymity, people needing to check their information, large platforms with just as much data, and open societies that lead to misinformation. This can lead people to spread disinformation and have a largely negative influence over information and communities of people.

Overall, this article addresses many aspects of social cybersecurity and why it needs to become more well-known. Governments that have used similar methods of influence in the past now have a much larger scale for how their people think and what their information looks like. Information warfare is a new form of war and has multiple avenues for influencing people and how operations work. The expansive growth of technology has created a new wave of misinformation that makes now the most crucial time for social cybersecurity to become apparent within society.

CYSE 201S – Journal Entry 8

Watch this video and pay attention to the way that movies distort hackers. After watching the video, write a journal entry about how you think the media influences our understanding of cybersecurity. Hacker Rates 12 Hacking Scenes In Movies And TV | How Real Is It? – YouTube

Media has influenced our understanding of cybersecurity to be that of a foreign concept. It’s been forged to be something that’s so deeply complex that we shouldn’t think about it. With movies, cybersecurity’s considered important only for large organizations like banks and governments instead of it affecting everyone. Furthermore, hackers can hack anything in a few minutes, perfectly without errors, and will know exactly what systems are in place for any computer they sit at. In reality, while cybersecurity is complex, it’s something that affects everyone every day and people need to become aware of what cybersecurity is compared to what they watch.

CYSE 201S – Journal Entry 7

Review the following ten photos through a cybersecurity human systems integration framework. Create a meme explaining what is going on in the individual’s or individuals’ mind(s). Explain how your memes relate to Human Systems Integration.

Another day, another HOUR of looking up how human systems integration and human factors are different.

My meme is related to human systems integration due to how similar human systems integration is to human factors. This is because human factors and human systems integration generally do the same thing of integrating human interaction as an aspect of new technology, but they do have key differences. For example, human factors are more defined when it comes to the design of applications while human systems integration is broader with human interaction being a part of a system. However, both people in and out of the cybersecurity workforce won’t know those key differences and see them as the same thing, using the terms interchangeably. The meme just hyperbolizes the situation of how people may struggle to understand the differences between human factors and human systems integration.

CYSE 201S – Journal Entry 6

Can you spot three fake websites and compare the three fake websites to three real websites, plus showcase what makes the fake websites fake?


There are many ways to distinguish fake websites from real ones. Some of them include the URL, the padlock symbol, the appeal to emotion, and deals that are too good to be true. One of the easiest ways to know if a website is safe is if the browser being used detects the site to be secure. Further confirmation is with a padlock symbol next to the URL saying that the connection is secure. An example of a fake website would be www.thedogisland.com

It’s a spoof website that’s been known for having no security features such as a padlock or the “https” phrase, poor reviews saying it’s a scam website, and grammatical issues. However, the contrast to a fake website like this is a real one like https://www.petsmart.com/.

PetSmart has been a well-established brand for decades that’s had their website maintain a specific format along with the previously mentioned security features of “https” in the URL and a padlock symbol to the left of the URL.

The next way to tell a fake website from a real one is how fake websites attempt to be real organizations. Fake websites will try to mask themselves as real organizations by having a similar domain name and official branding. An example of this is a fake PayPal website compared to the real one.

This first image is a fake version of PayPal. The proof is in the domain name and the phrase “confirmation-manager-security” before “.com.” For it to be real, the phrase “paypal” needs to be right before “.com” and nothing else. The actual URL of PayPal is within this second image.

Finally, a method of determining fake websites from real ones is showing deals that are too good to be true. This is shown through fake shopping sites or phishing scams. The fake websites will have a simplistic or poor graphic design with expensive being shown as cheap. They also share simple payment methods to make the victim feel comfortable. An example is this image of a fake and real eBay webpage.

The fake eBay webpage has a similar design to the real webpage but there are key differences. The item’s price is cut in half, there’s no warranty, and it can’t be added to a cart. Furthermore, the time to buy it was cut down to give a sense of urgency, the method of payment is a wire transfer which has an added history to implant the idea that other people have bought it.

Overall, there are many ways to know when a website is fake. It can show a lack of basic security features. There can also be faults with the URL and the website itself being disguised as an organization. Finally, several design aspects and methods of making payment transfers can reveal a website trying to scam others.

CYSE 201S – Journal Entry 5

Review the articles linked with each individual motive. Rank the motives from 1 to 7 as the motives that you think make the most sense (being 1) to the least sense (being 7). Explain why you rank each motive the way you rank it.

I ranked “Multiple Reasons” as a 1 for making the most sense for cyber offending. I reason that having multiple motives for cyber offending leads to a greater chance of committing a crime compared to having a single motive.

The next motive is “Money” as a 2. This is because an incredible amount of money can be amassed quickly with how many people have poor cyber hygiene and fall for scams. Thusly, leading to large amounts of money being a good motive for being a cyber offender.

Next, “Politics” is at a 3. With hacktivism being a more emotionally based crime, people are satisfied with organizations showing off their true colors when their security or data is compromised.

Following is “Recognition” with a 4. Having the only reward for a crime be a few likes on a profile seems extremely minuscule for being a cyber offender and isn’t a worthwhile motive.

The next motive for being a cyber offender is “Revenge” as a 5. It’s a poor motive because of how fleeting of a reward it is. A person being hurt can only be a satisfying motive for so long before nothing is left.

 Next is “Entertainment” at a 6. This is a bad motive because how almost nothing is gained from it while committing a crime.

Finally, “Boredom” is a 7 for making the least sense for cyber offending. This is because being bored means that there’s nothing to do, which means that the motive for committing cybercrime would be having nothing to do, which makes no sense.

CYSE 201S – Journal Entry 4

Review Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and explain how each level relates to your experiences with technology. Give specific examples of how your digital experiences relate to each level of need.

My phone, laptop, and basic internet access equate to my physiological needs because they’re necessary for getting work done and functioning in college. I need them to schedule, check emails and opportunities, set alarms, turn in work, and much more. Having cybersecurity protocols on all of my digital devices are safety needs because it’s the layer of protection for my devices other than myself.

For relationships and friends, I have social media apps like Twitter and Instagram and instant messaging like Discord to keep in touch with people that I know and form new bonds and relationships. Something that has always satisfied my esteem needs is getting all of the achievements in the video games that I play. The difficulty can range from easy to extremely tough, however, finally getting every single achievement or doing everything I can in a game has always given me a sense of accomplishment and completion.

A piece of technology that’s recently given me the feeling of self-fulfillment has been a MIDI keyboard for making music. Working with digital audio workshops and software has given me the chance to creatively express myself and do something that I enjoy.