CYSE 201s

Cybersecurity As A Social Science

Course Description

This course introduces the tools and techniques used to secure and analyze large computer networks and systems. Students will explore and map networks using a variety of diagnostic software tools, learn advanced packet analysis, configure firewalls, write intrusion detection rules, perform a forensic investigation, practice techniques for penetration testing.

The objectives are:

  • Compare how basic psychological, sociological, criminological, political, economic, and legal theories and models explain cybersecurity
  • Identify the strengths and weaknesses of those theories in understanding the connections between human behaviors and cybersecurity.
  • Define key concepts including cybersecurity, cybercrime, cyber criminology, cyber law, digital forensics, human factors, cyber policy, cyber risk, cyber threats, and cyberwar.
  • Identify how professionals in various cybersecurity careers apply these multidisciplinary concepts in their daily routines.
  • Describe how hypotheses and research questions are formed in studies addressing cybersecurity through a social science lens.
  • Describe how data are collected, measured, and analyzed in studies addressing cybersecurity through a social science lens.
  • Identify how marginalized groups have confronted challenges and concerns related to cybersecurity as well as how these groups have contributed to our understanding about the topic.
  • Explain how the application of social science theories, principles, and research strategies have contributed to our understanding of cybersecurity at the societal level.