CYSE 200T

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:

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

 

Course Material

Write-Up

SCADA-1

Critical Infrastructure Vulnerabilities

This write-up discusses the vulnerabilities in SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems, which are essential for managing and supervising industrial processes in critical infrastructure sectors like energy, water, and transportation. As critical infrastructure becomes more interconnected, the risk of cyberattacks grows, with threats like ransomware and GPS spoofing becoming increasingly common. SCADA systems help mitigate these risks by monitoring and controlling industrial operations, detecting alarms, and alerting operators to abnormal behavior or threats.

The Human Factor

This write-up emphasizes the critical role of employee training in cybersecurity, particularly in reducing human error, which accounts for 95% of cyber breaches. It advocates for a two-pronged approach: first, investing in comprehensive employee training to raise awareness and improve decision-making, and then implementing key technological defenses such as firewalls, endpoint protection, and multi-factor authentication (MFA). By prioritizing human factor training and reinforcing it with robust security tools, organizations can create a strong, multi-layered defense against cyber threats.

Write-Up

HumanFactor-1

Write-Up

CIATriad-WriteUp

The CIA Triad

This write-up explains the CIA triad—Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability— which is a foundational model in information security. It outlines each component’s role in protecting organizational data, ensuring privacy, accuracy, and accessibility for authorized users. The write-up also discusses how authentication (verifying identity) and authorization (defining access rights) support the CIA triad. Using the example of an ATM, the paper illustrates how these principles are applied in real-world scenarios. Ultimately, it highlights how the CIA triad and related concepts work together to strengthen an organization’s security posture and protect its assets.