Module 1a
Original post:
• Introduce yourself in the discussion board. Include your major, your class
standing (freshman, sophomore…), anything else that you would want us to
know
• Have you taken an asynchronous class before? If so, which one/s?
• What are your goals after graduation, if known?
• Read other students’ entries and respond to two students whose first name or
last name starts with the same letter as your first name or last name
My response:
Hello, my name is Harold Vernon. I am a cybersecurity major and have just transferred from Virginia Peninsula. I have taken several asynchronous classes, including all of my IT and CS classes. My goal after graduation is to enter the workforce.
Module 1b
Original Post:
Describe the top three careers of social science graduates that you
would be interested in considering. What is it about those jobs that
you find interesting? Respond to one other entry.
My response:
The three social science careers that would interest me the most are environmental science, psychology, and sociology. The study of people and our impact on the world around us is something that has intrigued me for quite some time now. Humans are extremely complicated and nuanced, yet also important to understand. Understanding the environment as a whole is also an important thing because of how vital it is to our livelihoods in numerous ways that are not discussed enough.
Module 3:
Original post: Visit PrivacyRights.org to Links to an external site.see the types of publicly available information about data breaches. How might researchers use this information to study breaches? Enter a paragraph in your journal.
My response: Publicly available information will be the majority of information used by researchers when conducting general studies on data breaches. Data about which organizations are most likely to be targeted can be used to determine the priority of a prevention policy. Data about the techniques used during a breach can be used to suggest counters. Additionally, potential data about the people behind the breach can add a psychological level to prevention strategies. Overall, publicly available information is vitally useful to those who study data breaches.
Module 4
Original post: Post a comment in the discussion board answering the question: “Apply the phrase victim precipitation to cyber victimization” and respond to two other students posts.
My response: Victim precipitation is the idea that victims’ behavior can sometimes make them more inviting targets to aggressors. Cyber victimization is the process of victimizing people or organizations through technologies such as the internet. Cyber victimization can be precipitated by the usage of bad security practices. For example, it is easier for malicious actors to “dox” someone (expose their real life identity) if that person regularly posts data that relates to their existence outside of the internet. It is also easier to access an account with a weak password than a strong one. These are two ways victim precipitation can be applied to the concept of cyber victimization.
Module 5
Original post: Post a comment in the discussion board answering the question: “Identify which theories you think best explain cybercrime and discuss what you like about that theory.” Respond to two other students’ posts.
My response: There is no single theory that explains cybercrime sufficiently, but I do believe the main motive for cybercrime is profit combined with the seemingly negligible risk of being caught. This would explain why, in the modern era, the most common forms of cybercrime are related to either ransomware or social engineering such as with phishing.
Module 6
Original post: Cyber Threats
Watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpdcVfq2dB8
and pay attention to what the biggest risk of cyber threats are. After
watching the video, post an entry in the discussion board describing
what you think about the “human firewall”. Respond to two other
students’ entries.
My response: The human firewall refers to the fact that humans are incredibly easy to manipulate if you know what to say and when to say it. Because of this, one must be careful to not give out too much information in real life because this means that they are risking their information being stolen by someone operating against their human firewall. Overall, I believe it to be a very relevant idea to the field of cybersecurity.
Module 9
Original post: Watchthis video https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=7TpsYofbAPA about a 12-year-old cyber security expert. Pay attention to how he has embedded himself into the cybersecurity culture. Also, pay attention to how the ideas of knowledge, technology, and secrecy relate to his expertise.
On the discussion board post an entry about how the video relates to something you read for this class – either from the readings or this module. Respond to two other students’ discussion board entries.
My response: What I enjoyed most was his interactions with people not involved in the field of cybersecurity. Particularly his family who, though not involved, seemed to be very interested in this work. Lack of interest in basic internet security concepts is a serious problem that is to blame for many security incidents in our own world, so seeing people take interest like this is refreshing.
Module 10
Original post: Identify two research questions that researchers might address related to the social aspects of cybersecurity. Respond to two other students’ entries in terms of what you think about the questions they identified.
My response: The most important question is the degree to which the public has been educated about cybersecurity and what it means for their usage of the internet. This question is more important than all others because it is at the foundation of any given cybersecurity program that is going to involve working with consumers or with employees who are not specialized for cybersecurity.
The second most important question is how the government impacts cybersecurity. Specifically, what laws around online privacy and cybersecurity exist as well as the risk of hostile states or political organizations acting as threat actors may pose towards a specific organization.
Module 11
Original post: What does economics have to do with cybersecurity? Enter your own entry and respond to two other students’ entries.
My response: Economic gain is arguably the driving force behind cybercrime. The majority of malicious programs today are not traditional viruses or worms meant to torment an individual but ransomware and spyware deployed in such a way as to maximize the profitability of a crime. The response to cybercrime is also driven by economics. If a cybersecurity suite costs $7000 but an asset being compromised is estimated to only cost $2000, it might be wiser to simply risk the asset than spend three times its value on cybersecurity.
Module 13
Original post: Why do you think individuals don’t report cybercrime victimization? Describe your views and respond to one other student’s entry.
My response: The main reason individuals abstain from reporting cybercrime victimization is because they feel shame about the fact that they were victimized. While this shame may lead some to hide the fact, it leads others to deny it entirely. The anonymity of attackers contributes to a feeling that a person reporting having been victimized by a cyber-crime will be the one looking bad for having been successfully tricked, not the anonymous individual or group who victimized them.
Module 14
Original post: Watch this videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOGUzKJ7HogLinks to an external site.and explain what it has to do with routine activities theory. Respond to at least one other classmate.
My response: According to Routine Activities Theory, there must be a suitable target, likely offender, and lack of a capable guardian in order for a crime to take place. The people here are falling for scams that they see in a moment when their guard is lowered. Rarely does one expect to find a fraudulent advertisement on a mainstream social media platform such as Facebook or Twitter. This makes these people suitable targets without a capable guardian for the threat actor, resulting in the crime taking place.