When reviewing the principals of science, it becomes easy to notice how this framework intertwines itself in the study of cyber security.

Technology is always changing. With these rapid changes, the way technology influences our lives has changed. The way we interact with one another, to the way technology provides society critical services and infrastructure for our daily lives, has led to the development of new laws and policies to assist with governing our usage. It becomes easy to see the relativism at work, as these technological advances and changes has influenced what is considered acceptable, and not.

When developing any type of new law or policy, objectivity should be observed as to prevent bias decisions. Opinions and one’s personal point-of-view should be avoided when performing research to gain further insight.

Parsimony, or the act of choosing the simplest explanation for one’s observations, should be practiced. Sometimes, one of the first thoughts for many people when it comes to cyber security is that the practice is filled with complicated or technical jargon. When it comes time to explain one’s observation, this needs to be taken into account. The end users, whom may not be knowledgeable of how all of the technology that they utilize, need to be able to understand the information being communicated when policies are enforced, for example.

Empiricism must be used when seeking a solution for problem. Evidence and research should be directly observable. As such, opinions should never be utilized. There should also be ethical neutrality when performing these duties, as to protect the rights of the individuals being studied.

Lastly, the behavior being observed or researched as a result of, or influenced by, specific events, is determinism. This is possibly the most “human” element in the framework. Unlike the technical side of cybersecurity, there is no definite one-size-fits-all answer. Individuals can be motivated to perform actions for a variety of reasons, but research can be performed to determine what may have influenced this behavior.