Credit: YouTube: New America – “What Can Cybersecurity Learn from Behavioral Science?”

Journal 1: Review the NICE Workforce Framework. Are there certain areas that you would want to focus your career on? Explain which areas would appeal the most to you and which would appeal the least – There are many areas to focus on in the cybersecurity field. One area I may want to focus on is Investigation. I think it would be interesting to investigate cybercrimes to find out how and why they happen. There are so many cybercrimes that happen today, so it is very important to investigate these crimes and figure out ways to prevent them. Another area I may want to explore is a security analyst position. This seems like it would be a good fit for me because I like analyzing systems and making sure they are operating efficiently. The area that appeals the least to me right now is Program Management. This appeals least to me right now because I know am not ready for a leadership position yet. I want to make sure I have enough experience before I consider that position (NICCS, 2024).  

References

National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies. (2024, June 17). Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity (NICE Framework). Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity (NICE Framework) | NICCS (cisa.gov)

Journal 2: Explain how the principles of science relate to cybersecurity – There are many ways cybersecurity is related to the principles of science. For example, cybersecurity involves people who wish to do harm to computer systems or individuals’ information, and people who want to protect the systems. According to the lecture, one principle of science related to cybersecurity is determinism. It’s important that we understand why individuals want to hack and steal data from companies or individuals. Is it because something major happened in their life? What can we do to stop individuals from committing these acts? Those questions can be answered by people in the social science field. It’s also important to learn how cybersecurity and technology affect other things in society. According to the lecture, that is known as relativism. It’s important to know how cybersecurity relates to the social sciences, so we can better understand why attacks happen and ways to prevent them in the first place.

Journal 3: Visit PrivacyRights.org to see the types of publicly available information about data breaches. How might researchers use this information to study breaches? – The website PrivacyRights.org has a lot of inciteful information about data breaches. It lists all states and their laws regarding data breaches. It also has a database of attacks that occurred. Researchers can use this information to study data breaches by learning about the laws in that state, so they can know if it is criminal or not. They can also learn what attack happens the most by using the database. Researchers can learn what went wrong, so they can find new ways to prevent future attacks. Since every state has different laws, it would benefit anyone wishing to learn about data breaches in their state. That will ultimately help cybersecurity experts know what they need to focus on and what laws they need to push for.

References

[Page about privacy laws in the United States]. (n.d.). PrivacyRights.org. https://privacyrights.org/

Journal 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. – It was interesting to read Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. First is Physiological Needs. I can relate to this because I feel weird when the power goes out and I don’t have access to my devices. Next is safety needs. I make sure that all my devices are protected. I have antivirus software on my computers. I also update my devices to ensure that the security functions are up to date. Thirdly is Belongingness and Love Needs. I think that I can relate to this by using social media. Social media can be helpful to connect with friends and family that live away from me. Next is Esteem Needs. One way I can relate to this is by viewing a good grade on Canvas. It always gives me a little boost when I see that I completed something correctly. Lastly is Self-Actualization. I don’t think you can achieve this with technology.

References

McLeod, S. (2024, January 24). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

Journal 5: Review the articles linked with each individual motive in the presentation page or Slide #4.  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. – Here I will be ranking motives to commit crimes with 1 making the most sense and 7 making the least sense. I think that revenge makes the most sense as to why someone would commit a crime. There are many people who are wronged and feel like they want to get even. I do hope that more people will look to other alternatives, though. I would rank “for money” at number two. Many individuals may feel like they must do something to get out of their situation or help their family. I rank “multiple reasons” at number three. If an individual is dealing with many of these issues, then they may be likely to commit a crime. Next is recognition at number four. Many individuals that commit crimes want attention. They feel like people will view them as a hero or something similar. I have unfortunately seen several examples of this in the news recently. It is sad to see that some individuals ruin their lives for a few minutes on the news. I rank boredom at fifth. It is unfortunate that some individuals commit crimes because they just want something to do. Next is entertainment at sixth. Some individuals may find it fun to commit crimes and do harm to others. Finally, I rank political motives at seventh. I can’t figure out why some individuals want to ruin relationships and hurt others based on their political beliefs. I hope that we can learn to listen to each other and agree to disagree sometimes.

Journal 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? – Fake websites can look very similar to real websites. It’s important to know how to detect a fake website to stay safe online. Here are a few ways to tell if a website is real or not. This example is from NordVPN. It shows a fake Facebook website. The URL is made to look like the real website, but it is misspelled (Slekyte, 2024). Users may not be looking for that. Another example from NordVPN is from USPS. Many of the sections within the real website are not available on the fake website. One of the sections is “Privacy Policy.” It is important to look at the website to make sure that everything is there that is supposed to be. The last example is also from NordVPN. It is a bank website. The fake websites’ images are not as good quality as the real website. The URLs are also different.

References

Slekyte, I. (2024, June 24). Fake or scam websites: How to know if a website is legit. NordVPN. https://nordvpn.com/blog/fake-scam-websites/?msockid=09530cd75e9d69f803d61eb25ffd68fb

Journal 8: After watching the video, write a journal entry about how you think the media influences our understanding about cybersecurity – The media can greatly influence our understanding of cybersecurity. Many in the media may act like nothing on the internet is safe and may scare everyone out of using it. The opposite could also be true. Some may not even mention that hacking and scamming on the internet is a problem. Some in the media may not correctly describe cybersecurity. They may act like cybersecurity experts are always fighting against another company or individual. It’s important to know that not everything online or in the media is true. There is a lot to cybersecurity, but it should not be overdramatized. I honestly like the boring aspects of cybersecurity at times. Many others may not though.

Journal 9: Complete the Social Media Disorder scaleLinks to an external site..  How did you score?  What do you think about the items in the scale?  Why do you think that different patterns are found across the world? – I answered “yes” to two out of the nine questions in the Social Media Disorder Scale. I’m glad that I don’t spend a lot of time on social media. I think the items in the scale are fair questions that can determine if someone uses social media too much. I think different patterns are found across the world because of different cultures. Many people in other parts of the world may not see social media as a normal part of life. We in America are used to social media, so we may use it more than other places. Many other places may also have regulations on social media. 

Journal 10: Read this and write a journal entry summarizing your response to the article on social cybersecurity. – The article Social Cybersecurity, An Emerging National Security Requirement helps readers understand why social cybersecurity is important in today’s world. It was interesting to see how wars in today’s world can be started on the internet. There are many ways that someone can hurt another person online. One example the article gives is the use of bots that can be controlled by humans in some ways (Beskow & Carley, 2019). It is unfortunate that some bots on social media platforms post things that could hurt others. It’s also important to be aware of disinformation about various topics on the internet spread by people. I hope that Americans will do their own research and not rely on information solely from social media platforms. I hope that more individuals in the cybersecurity field will study social cybersecurity to figure out why individuals do things like that. 

Beskow, Lt. Col. D., & Carley, K. (2019, April). Social Cybersecurity, An Emerging National Security Requirement. Army University Press.       https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/Mar-Apr-2019/117-Cybersecurity/b/

Journal 11: Watch this videoLinks to an external site. 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. – “What does a Cybersecurity Analyst Do? Salaries, Skills, and Job Outlook” had some social themes in it. One of the biggest social themes I noticed was networking. I learned that it is important to build a network around you that includes individuals in your field of study. That could help an individual land a job that they otherwise would not have gotten. I’m like the individual in the video, I often have a difficult time at building my network. Hopefully, that will get easier as time goes on. Another social theme I noticed was the type of person that would most likely do well in a cybersecurity job. The individual in the video explains that a person who likes to travel may do well in a tech job, such as cybersecurity. The video also mentions that some cites have higher competition, so it’s important to have a good resume to help land a job (Enesse, 2021). 

Enesse, N. [Nicole Enesse – Cybersecurity For Mere Mortals]. (2021, May 6). What does a Cybersecurity Analyst Do? Salaries, Skills & Job Outlook [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYtmuHbhmS0

Journal 12: Read this https://dojmt.gov/wp-content/uploads/Glasswasherparts.com_.pdfLinks to an external site. sample breach letter “SAMPLE DATA BREACH NOTIFICATION” and describe how two different economics theories and two different social sciences theories relate to the letter. – I believe that the data breach sample paper has some examples of economic theories and social theories (Sample Data Breach Notification). One economic theory I think relates to this example is the Marxian economic theory. I think it is relatable because the people whose information was stolen did not have any power in this particular situation. There was really nothing they could do. The people who had power were able to use technology to hurt others. We don’t know the economic status of the victims, but we can tell that they did not have a lot of power in that situation. Another theory that relates to the data breach sample is the laissez-fare economic theory. I think this is relatable because the government was not involved with the companies until the incident happened. The police helped after it was reported. I think that the neutralization theory can be seen in this example as well. The individuals who chose to hack may have done it because they don’t think that anyone gets hurt during an attack, which is very wrong. Another social theory that could explain that attack is the reinforcement sensitivity theory. Those individuals may have been people who like to receive rewards. These are just a couple of possible explanations of why the attack happened in the sample paper. There are many other possible explanations as to why it occurred. That’s why it’s important to do a full investigation.

References

Sample Data Breach Notification. (n.d.). https://dojmt.gov/wp-content/uploads/Glasswasherparts.com_.pdf

Journal 13: A later module addresses cybersecurity policy through a social science framework. At this point, attention can be drawn to one type of policy, known as bug bounty policies. These policies pay individuals for identifying vulnerabilities in a company’s cyber infrastructure.  To identify the vulnerabilities, ethical hackers are invited to try explore the cyber infrastructure using their penetration testing skills.  The policies relate to economics in that they are based on cost/benefits principles.  Read this article https://academic.oup.com/cybersecurity/article/7/1/tyab007/6168453?login=trueLinks to an external site.  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. – The scholarly journal article, Hacking for good: Leveraging HackerOne data to develop an economic model of Bug Bounties, describes what bug bounties are and goes over reasons they are good. Sridhar and Ng find that large companies and small companies can be helped by using sites like HackerOne (Sridhar & Ng, 2021). The study also finds that many hackers on HackerOne do not care about getting paid. They just enjoy doing it or they are doing it for experience, so it is also good for them That should help the small companies that don’t have the capital larger companies do. Overall, I think the study did a good job at looking at ethical hacking and how companies can benefit from using trustworthy programs, such as HackerOne, to find areas to improve their systems. 

References

Sridhar, K., & Ng, M. (2021). Hacking for good: Leveraging Hackerone data to develop an economic model of Bug Bounties. Journal of Cybersecurity, 7(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1093/cybsec/tyab007

Journal 14: Andriy Links to an external site.SlynchukLinks to an external site. Links to an external site.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. – It was interesting to read about illegal things people do on the internet. Some may not even realize these things are illegal. I am going to explain which five of the eleven in this article (Slynchuk, 2021) I think are the most harmful. I think that using a fake identity is serious. It can hurt others tremendously if you purposely use their information. One way it could hurt them is if you use their information for illegal purposes. Another thing I think is dangerous is when companies collect information about children. It is frightening to think about a company selling children’s information. If the information gets into the wrong hands, it would be hard to tell what they could use the information for. I also think that sharing addresses of others without consent is very dangerous. Someone could get seriously hurt if the wrong person saw it. It could also increase the risk of someone’s house getting robbed. Bullying is wrong and cyberbullying is just as bad. It can hurt others tremendously. It could damage their reputation or make them feel like they don’t belong. It’s always important to be kind to other people, even when we’re behind a screen. Finally, I think it is not a good idea to connect to another individual’s internet network without consent. The person who pays for the internet access may not want someone using their internet for free. It also increases the risk of hacking for the individuals who own the WiFi. The other person may be looking for personal information.

References

Slynchuk, A. (2021, June 1). 11 Illegal Things You Unknowingly Do on the Internet. Clario. https://clario.co/blog/illegal-things-you-do-online/

Journal 15: Watch this video and think about how the career of digital forensics investigators relate to the social sciences. Write a journal entry describing what you think about the speaker’s pathway to his career. The video “Digital Forensics | Davin Teo | TEDxHongKongSalon” was very interesting. I enjoyed learning about how Davin was able to become a digital forensics investigator. It was interesting to hear that there weren’t any courses for him to take when he was in school. I also thought it was cool that he was into accounting at first. That helps everyone to know that they can be excel at many things if they put their mind to it. Digital forensics can relate to the social sciences. One way it can relate is by learning how someone thinks when they are online. By investigating their files and information online, investigators can get a better understanding of the individual’s mind.

References

TEDx Talks. (2015, December 9).Digital Forensics | Davin Teo | TEDxHongKongSalon [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf-JnQfAEew