The principles of science can be effectively related to cybersecurity and the study of cybersecurity through social science.
Cybersecurity is often defined as the practice of protecting networks and systems from attack. Characteristic of cybersecurity is the response, prevention and understanding of why attacks happen. This social aspects of cybersecurity’s nature is why viewing cybersecurity through the lens of social science is a good fit.
Cybersecurity is influenced and changed based on social changes in different systems and industries, such as healthcare, politics and technology. Because of the ever growing need from society in these industries, there is need for ethical, empirical, objective understanding of cybersecurity as it applies to different systems.
The challenge of parsimony in social sciences is similarly observed in the social science study of cybersecurity. Because of the influences and variables that affect human behavior and society, social scientists often look to principles such as determinism to explain the causes of a cyber incident using either nomothetic (few causes) or idiographic models (many causes).
Not only is explaining why cybersecurity events happen a challenge, but also is understanding how cybercrime is planned and who conducts cybersecurity crimes. Other challenges faced in studying cybersecurity include attribution, methods and understanding target vulnerability.