Cybersecurity is a multidisciplinary science that gathers and implements numerous facets of other disciplines to create a holistic understanding of how technology interacts and influences individuals to commit cybercrime, as well as how we can protect against these attacks. The three pillars of cybersecurity, confidentiality, integrity, and availability, tie into all aspects of science, including social, formal, and natural science.

Confidentiality not only deals with the technical measures to prevent unauthorized access to information. there are social aspects of confidentiality to also consider. When creating a system that requires the use of a smart card to grant access to confidential information systems, a user could become corrupted through coercion to provide an unauthorized individual access, highlighting the social risks to the confidentiality component of the CIA triad.

Integrity is like confidentiality in that there are technical as well as social aspects to consider when attempting to secure any cyber infrastructure. There are many technical solutions to ensure data integrity remains, however this is only as effective as the users transmitting and receiving the data. If a user transmitting data becomes compromised through coercion or the like, all the prior technical measures are rendered moot. The largest single point of failure in any cyber infrastructure is people.

Availability is unique in that in addition to the above considerations, that is technical and social, there is one other crucial consideration. Not only can threat actors deny access to information, but the environment can obstruct availability to information as well. For example, if a data center is located near a major fault line, and a large earthquake renders this center inoperable, this results in loss of availability of data for the end users. This requires additional considerations of where and how to store data to ensure it is physically protected.

Clearly, cybersecurity implements multiple disciplines in its application, and as a result relies heavily on information from the natural, social, and formal sciences to be effective in its application. It is crucial to not only understand how technology works, but human behavior, and physical threats to infrastructure, to have a strong all-encompassing understanding of cybersecurity and how to implement it effectively.

Reasons for Committing Cybercrime

Motives for committing cybercrime can vary from person to person, with some motives being more sensical than others. The motives discussed are listed as for entertainment, for revenge, for recognition, for money, for political gain, boredom, or a combination thereof. As most crimes are committed for multiple reasons, I believe it makes the most sense to commit cybercrime due to multiple factors. It strengthens an argument when there are multiple facets to consider, and this allows for some level of understanding that appeals to most people. After this would be committing cybercrime for money. There are many people in countries where access to the internet has presented them with great opportunities to provide for themselves and their families. Unfortunately, most of these opportunities are illegal, but due to necessity these crimes are committed, and I believe for good reason in many circumstances. After this would be for revenge. Retaliatory actions, generally conducted by nations, are reasonable and sensible to ensure that bad deeds do not go unpunished.  Politically motivated cybercrimes I consider to be the next most sensible reason to do so, as if you are going to commit a cybercrime, it makes sense to commit a crime that can influence the most people and enact the most damage, and influencing politics can do just that. Recognition would be the next most sensible reason to commit cybercrime, as a threat actor could be committing these crimes to simply show what is possible, and to publicize vulnerabilities for the greater good. Entertainment I see as one of the less sensible reasons to commit cybercrime, as the self-centered aspect of this reason makes it hard to defend. Lastly, I believe the least sensible reason to commit cybercrime would be due to boredom. Committing any illegal act purely due to boredom is an incredibly difficult position to defend, and I cannot fathom any circumstance that would make this position defensible.