Ester Martinez Urias
April 07, 2024
CYSE201S
Cybersecurity and Social Science
Career Paper
What would I want to do as a career with my Cybersecurity degree? As someone who is still
new to the cybersecurity field, I have learned a lot! Especially here at Old Dominion University. I
have learned so much about different types of cybersecurity job opportunities that there are, as
well as how much in demand it is in our society. After my first few months of studying
cybersecurity and learning about the kinds of jobs I would be interested in, I found that one of
my top favorite jobs on my mind would be Social Engineering/Penetration Tester.
Before getting into cybersecurity, I did not know that there would be jobs like social
engineering that could be so fun and interesting to learn about. Listening to the experiences of
current social engineers/penetration testers and the things they do on the job is like listening to
an action movie. Very cool stuff! Not all cybersecurity jobs have to be boring or involve sitting
infront of a computer all day, and that is what drew me into this career path interest. Being able
to go out in the world and apply your skills and knowledge on technology is a cool way to use
my degree.
Being a social engineer is important for all types of companies. Rather that be a marketing
team, a bank, or even hospital, it is essential for all kinds of big organizations to hire one.
Because these kinds of companies have a lot of sensitive information, as well as money that
can be stolen, it is important for them to invest in a social engineer who is experienced and well
trained to see where their security lacks. The main job of a social engineer is to report
vulnerabilities to their hired company and see where they can fix these for better security.
Professionals in this field are required to have good social skills that can help them trick their
way into getting information that normally wouldn’t be handed out easily. Rather this be by
email, phone, or in person. Doing that highly depends on psychological experimenting as well
as the human factors in cybersecurity. They highly depend on understanding behaviors through
such communication and observations. Another social science research concept they use may
be quantitative researching. In this concept, social engineers look at their past experiences in
other jobs and see what worked best. Doing this, they allow for trial and error. They won’t
always succeed on the first day, but within a week they may get what their looking for, even if
that’s simply being able to sneak into a secured computer room. Yes, this is absolutely against
policies but they are ethical hackers who have the consent of the company to do so. To be a
great social engineer you must think like a criminal. Understanding the motives behind cyber
offending, allows them to make the best decisions when it comes to hacking into these
organizations. By thinking like a criminal and understanding all key components that goes into
hacking a system, they make their job easier as well as strengthening security when they make
a final report.
In our modules we talked about The principles of science and cybersecurity. Both relate
within patterns and behavioral understanding. In cybersecurity, we conduct research like
experiments. We find a problem, conduct a hypothesis and test them. Oftentimes, our
educational guess is correct and others, they’re wrong. When our study is proven wrong, we
redo the research and find other solutions to solve the problem. In both science and
cybersecurity, we rely on relativism, determinism, and ethical neutrality. Also in our module, we
went over Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The theory explains the psychological impact for motivation and self fulfillment which is needed for humanmotivation. There are our basic needs, physiological needs, and of course our selffulfillment needs. Within these categories, we have self actualization, esteem, belonging and love, safety and psychology. As stated above, social engineers must think like a criminal. By using this theory they find themselves understanding motives as well as resolutions for preventing it. The achievers that social engineers gain along their journey is also a part of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. These materials from our course relate highly to a cybersecurity professional’s daily routine. Regardless of what cybersecurity field you find yourself in, it is important to use social
science principles and apply them to your learning and experience. Doing this allows you to have a better understanding about ways you can improve your security environment as well as steps you can take to prevent breaches or unwanted consequences. For a social engineer, I know they find themselves in a lot of sticky situations. By allowing themselves to remain calm and collected, as well as confident, they are able to succeed more. There is no limitation or boundary for social engineers. They are wanted everywhere around the world for all kinds of organizations. Because of this, I know that I will find myself in one of those locations practicing these social science skills and research for an easier job.
Citation Page
By, Mcleod, S., on, U., & 24, J. (2024, January 24). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Simply
Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
Seorg. (2020, March 4). Get the skills you need to be a successful social engineer. Security
Boulevard.
https://securityboulevard.com/2020/03/get-the-skills-you-need-to-be-a-successful-social-enginee
r/amp/
Social Science Research: Principles, methods, and practices. (n.d.).
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=oa_textbooks