Cybersecurity, Technology, and Society

Protecting Availability

There are many steps cybersecurity professionals can take to protect the availability of information, and important reasons for doing so. In order to prevent hardware failures, patches and maintenance should be performed regularly. This is best done at times where it is unlikely to impact most users or reduce the productivity of employees. If failures do occur, plans should be in place to repair the relevant systems as quickly as possible. Additionally, backups of important data can help guarantee that it remains accessible and can be recovered, even in the event that much of the information system is made unusable as a result of some disaster. Denial of service attacks may also prevent information from being accessed, so the network should be configured, with controls in place, to mitigate the chances that these attacks can occur. Further, there should be enough bandwidth to accommodate all of the users of the organization’s systems. Measures like these, which ensure the availability of information, are necessary for organizations to function properly. Data cannot be used to make decisions if it cannot be accessed, of course. There would be little point to information systems if the information within them was unavailable. Confirming that data can be accessed whenever authorized users need it allows it to be used for productive purposes.

 

Understanding Workplace Deviance

Technological changes have allowed for deviant behaviors in the workplace in a number of ways. Access to the internet enables users to view various websites and applications, such as social media, digital entertainment, or explicit material which, as a whole, are likely not acceptable in the context of most workplaces. More troubling, the proliferation of information systems and other new technologies has also opened the door for employees to engage in certain kinds of white-collar cybercrimes. Individuals may attempt to steal from either the organization or others, possibly through unauthorized access to data and information in systems. Some malicious individuals might even launch internal attacks against the organization as a whole, assisted by their knowledge of the organization’s structure and inner workings. This increase in deviant behavior might partially result from the ease in which it can occur. Consequently, the organization may benefit from examining employee activity, at least in some circumstances, as well as ensuring that the proper controls are in place to prevent unacceptable actions, thereby reducing its vulnerability to some of these threats. If the organization is not carefully monitoring the activity of its employees on its network, the actions of these individuals may appear to others as if they are normal, when they are in fact abnormal.

 

Developing Cybersecurity Policy and Infrastructure for the Future

Given the short arm of predictive knowledge, one cannot possibly know for certain what the future of humanity and its technology, will look like, and how our actions will influence this future. This is particularly relevant in the case of cybersecurity, which focuses heavily on new and evolving forms of technology.  Within an organization, more effective actions can be taken if infrastructure is futureproofed, to the best of one’s ability. If the organization is prepared for changes and technological developments, and regularly evaluates systems to determine if new vulnerabilities are present, they can be more easily altered if the need arises. Put together, these can help to ensure that the organization is not “locked” into a specific way of functioning. Perhaps more importantly, though, organizations and institutions should be careful in their implementation of new technologies, as this might result in unforeseen consequences. New technologies or changes in their use merit significant discussion prior to their widespread adoption, with the perspective of all those who may be affected included in the discussion. The exact results may vary depending on the development, but it is certainly beneficial to fully comprehend the ramifications of new technologies and methods before they are made common. A measure meant to improve security, for example, may unintentionally impact the privacy of users in a negative way. Though these discussions are likely to take time and resources, they reduce the likelihood that the implementation of policies and infrastructure changes will backfire, thus mitigating the potential harm developments could bring to both the organization and the general population.