There is a saying about the best sort of defense being offense; I would further define this as someone taking steps to protect themselves before any harm can happen. Harm can be physical, emotional, or even to one’s personal assets – such as, but not limited to, sensitive information regarding a person’s identity, finances, or property.
Just as harm can occur through many means in the physical world, harm easily occurs to numerous individuals in the virtual world. A cybersecurity analyst would focus their career on analyzing the weaknesses of an organization’s network and securing it through different means to protect systems from those with malicious intent who may try to tamper with said system in the future. To protect systems from weaknesses, a cybersecurity analyst would need to think strategically about what kinds of approaches a cybercriminal may use when trying to access sensitive data and assets from an organization.
There are numerous ways that the purity of an organization’s data may be stained, be it through compromising the data by making unable to be accessed, effectively watching the data or corrupting the technological devices the data was on – it is the duty of an analyst to make sure the multiple vulnerabilities of a system are secured. There is and will always be a human and social factor in cybersecurity for this reason, as one of the starkest vulnerabilities any company, organization, or person will have to their assets are the humans working to maintain them.
Whether it be the CEO, an executive, or a simpler employee of a company, there are numerous ways for them to unintentionally leak critical information that may lead to data breaches. Just as it is essential to secure a network with firewalls, it is also imperative to keep people informed of the possible cybersecurity risks associated with people. Cybercriminals may use a form of social engineering to phish for information from anyone gullible enough to give out information, they may pose to be from a reputable company, conducting a survey, or a family member of the target whom they would trust with such information, a cybersecurity analyst would likely realize this possibility if they are more involved in the social sciences side of risk mitigation. (Cisco, 2025) “No network is fully secure, but the goal is to make it as secure as possible. Part of the job is to continuously test all company networks and find weaknesses before bad actors or external threats can compromise them.” (Western Governors College, 2024) Note the use of bad actors in the quote from Western Governors College. Social sciences typically focus on understanding human behavior; thus a cybersecurity analyst could use insights gained from studying social sciences to better prepare for the tactics that cybercriminals may use, or to better prepare their organization for responding to such tactics.
Understanding human behavior allows a cybersecurity analyst to account for one of the most glaring vulnerabilities in cybersecurity but also allows the fostering of a strong and safe working environment for the employees, by supporting a more inclusive and security-aware culture. Aside from utilizing social science within their career, it is important for cybersecurity analysts to stick to the principles taught by different social sciences which emphasize ethical responses and considerations for many situations, especially as a cybersecurity analyst may be consulting others on what protocol would best suit the working environment at the given organization daily, as well as potentially advising what technology the company may need to improve on to better protect their systems. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025) As much as cybersecurity is focused on the technological world, it does not make this field exempt from needing social sciences or ethical considerations to solutions in order for an organization to succeed, and it is in part a cybersecurity analysts’ job to fulfill that role.
References/Works Cited
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2025, April 18). Information security analysts. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/information-security-analysts.htm
What does a cybersecurity analyst do?. Western Governors University. (2024, September 16). https://www.wgu.edu/career-guide/information-technology/cybersecurity-analyst-career.html
Cisco. (2025, April 11). What is Social Engineering in cyber security?. Cisco. https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/what-is-social-engineering.html