Journal Entries
Week 1, NICE Framework: I would personally prefer to focus my career on the Protection and Defense sector poised in the framework provided. As my major is cybersecurity, I feel I have the greatest potential to thrive in an environment where the primary focus is on data or physical network security from threats both internal and external. Most companies that exist have little to no idea the pure danger they are in should they expose their data freely to employees. However, on the other hand I feel Design and Development would be my weakest sector due to my lacking coding ability and difficulty learning the subject matter.
Week 2, Scientific Principals:  Both Science and Cybersecurity are closely related fields, with both requiring objective, evidence based conclusions, rigorous testing, and detail oriented notation. The fact is that the two fields both rely on each other to progress. Cybersecurity could not exist without scientific advancement, with the internet as we know it today being a pipe dream during the advent of computers before microprocessors were even theorized as possible. Without the discovery that they were possible, and the technology to make them, modern cybersecurity as a field could not exist. Conversely, modern science needs cybersecurity to protect itself from malicious actors or those who wish to blackmail scientists using their work as leverage.
Week 3, Privacy Rights: Data breaches have become increasingly common, and the information provided by privacyrights.org could be very useful to scientists studying data breaches. Not only does the website have a chronology of data breaches spanning all the way back to 2005, providing ample information for historical data, it also aggregates various sources of breaches.
Week 4, Maslow’s Hierarchy: Physiological Needs – In my experience with technology, I have found that it is very easy to fulfill these needs. Mostly thanks to Delivery apps and digital storefronts like amazon

Safety and Security – Technology allows for heightened levels of monitoring of the home and other areas through use of CCTV cameras. I personally have no experience with this

Love and Belonging – My primary method of making friends and interacting with friends is through online networks like Discord and Twitter

Self-Esteem – I found my identity as a queer individual through technologies such as the internet.

Self-Actualization – Without technology, I don’t think I’d have anything to do. I write, game, and learn through technology
Week 5, Motives: 1. Money. Money is the driving motive behind almost all crime

2. Political. Politics radicalize a large swathe of people to do more extreme things than hacking a government agency.

3. Recognition. Cyber criminal circles, like all isolated groups, are an echo chamber in which one can rationalize doing acts purely for recognition

4. Multiple Reasons. This one has a poor definition, but being that there are multiple driving factors, I’ve placed it in the middle

5. Entertainment. There are better means to entertain yourself than committing crime.

6. Boredom. Same reason as number 5.

7. Revenge. Leaking nudes and posting revenge porn is one of the most vile forms of cybercrime.
Week 6, Fake Websites: Fake websites are, for obvious reasons, very difficult to identify. However, nearly all have a few telltale signs to designate them as fictitious. I detail three below
1. A fake website will often try to mimic a real one, usually one often visited. An example would be the website for amazon being spelled as “amaz0n.com“, notice the number in place of the letter
2. A fake website will usually have several redirections an ordinary one would not. For example, a link sent through email could take on the appearance of a YouTube link, but redirect through several websites designed to steal data before going to the initial link
3. Obtrusive and aggressive popups. A common, and commonly parodied feature of malicious websites is popups, such as “Your batter has been compromised, click here to fix it”, or “Download more RAM”
Week 8, Media Influences: Modern mass media has affected the public’s view of cybersecurity massively. Most notably, the portrayal of “hacking” in films like the matrix or in games like cyberpunk 2077 give hacking a far more glamorous appeal than in reality. In these instances, hacking is shown as this high octane, action packed, and dangerous practice which is fundamentally exciting to perform. While in reality, hacking is often little more than social engineering and exploiting already insecure systems.
Week 8, Cybersecurity in the media: The media, as well as entertainment like video games, movies, and television, massively distorts the public’s view of cybersecurity. In a large amount of popular media, to name one, Cyberpunk 2077, hacking is shown to be this extremely high speed and action packed practice with potentially deadly consequences if the hacker slips up. This distorts the public into believing that hackers are largely thrill seekers aiming to get their blood pumping through breaching extremely secure systems, whereas in reality hackers are often just incredibly adept social engineers with a bit of technical know how. Most modern breaches are largely caused by somebody opening a link they shouldn’t have
Week 9, Social media disorder: I scored 0/9, largely due to my lack of social media accounts. I really only keep one. Personally, I find the scale to be outdated. It still lists google+ as a social media site despite having been defunct for over a decade now.
Week 10; While the journal makes a good point about cyber-warfare and the potential for an information blitzkrieg, it, in my opinion, undersells the threat of malicious Russian actors. Russia is one of the largest threats to national cybersecurity that has ever existed since the advent of the internet. Hackers and pro-Russia hacktivists have and will continue to interfere with United States elections, the spread of information, and many other critical components of a robust cyber landscape.

Article Reviews (Download to view)

Article-Review-1

Article-Review-2

Career Paper (download to view)

Career-Paper