This article talks about the effects ransomware, a type of malware, has on some people after it attacks an organization. The researchers conducted some research and talked to the staff members who were responding to the ransomware attack. They wanted to know what effects the IT staff members were having after a cyberattack event. The researchers go on to discuss that some staff members were very overwhelmed with working overtime to combat the ransomware attack. They even went as far as not eating properly and drinking too much caffeine. One of the cybersecurity team members was hospitalized because they weren’t taking care of themselves. “I was at times suicidal. I think I came as close to suicide as somebody who would never commit suicide would” (pg. 8). This brings the question of whether can employees handle the stress of combating a cybersecurity threat effectively so that the malware is stopped and eradicated. This article also brings up the issue of how mental health can take a big toll on the cybersecurity team while responding to a malware attack.

This relates to the class about human factors and cyberpsychology. This article brought to the attention of how a single piece of malware can affect someone psychologically and mentally, as the researchers wanted to know the effects it had on IT staff members. The researchers listed out all the harm experienced by the organization’s staff members after talking with them. The list ranged from physical, and psychological, to social harm. It includes stress, shame, heart attack, suicidal thoughts, PTSD, lack of nutrition, and inability to undertake childcare duties. “High stress levels amongst IT staff were so commonplace that some incident response firms had developed in-house confidential trauma counselling capabilities for clients” (pg. 8).

The contribution this research article has to society is that this shows the realistic side of what employees went through during a cybersecurity breach and it also shows what changes or improvements there need to be made for organizations. The researchers also expressed that if there were better planning, communication, and preparedness in the organization, then all of these problems could’ve been alleviated (pg. 18).


References:
Gareth Mott, et al. “‘There was a bit of PTSD every time I walked through the office door’: Ransomware Harms and the Factors That Influence the Victim Organization’s Experience”, Journal of Cybersecurity, vol. 10, 1, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/cybsec/tyae013.

https://academic.oup.com/cybersecurity/article/10/1/tyae013/7723878?searchresult=1