My declared major is computer science. It goes without saying that cybersecurity and computer science have plenty of overlap. To the general population, the two are indistinguishable from one another, since both deal with computers. For those in the field, cybersecurity might be considered a subfield within computer science. While cybersecurity specialists might not need to have the same in-depth theoretical knowledge a computer scientist might, competent specialists must understand how computers work in order to effectively protect and secure them. The reverse applies to computer scientists. Competent computer scientists also need to understand the importance of security, regardless of what they are helping create or maintain. Not all computer scientists are focused on cybersecurity, but all cybersecurity specialists are involved in the field of computer science.

This same idea is witnessed when we talk about cybersecurity technology. Through computer science, cybersecurity specialists develop technology. Cybersecurity technology includes software and hardware authentication, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, blockchains, and more. Having studied many of these things in my computer science classes, I see a lot of crossover. Especially for people who go on to have careers related to the Internet, they will be exposed to these technologies constantly. Once these technologies are developed, other computer scientists can use these technologies, or build on them, to enhance their websites, applications, servers, and more. Simultaneously, cybersecurity specialists continue to work on the security side of these technologies, making sure there aren’t any weak spots for hackers to exploit. Without cybersecurity, computer science would fail in implementation. Outside of theoretical computer science, there would be little practical use for algorithms, languages, and both software and hardware. Consider how prevalent cybersecurity threats are now. Without cybersecurity, the threat of exploitation might become insurmountable. Rather than being separate fields, cybersecurity and computer science work in tandem to create and maintain systems that are effective, usable, and safe for all users to navigate.