Journal Entry #1:

1. Why are you interested in cybersecurity technology?
2. Select four other majors offered by ODU and explain how those majors relate to cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity technology started to interest me in just the last few years. After a 20 career as a pilot, I transitioned out of the cockpit and started working in aviation operations. During that time, my company started to roll out what we called “EFB” or electronic flight bag. This had what used to be paper copies of maps, publications, flight data, route, location, etc. Now converted into data on an iPad and in a cloud based system. I was involved in the roll out of this system and was on the ticket team to address bugs and user errors. I learned a lot about keeping data safe and was working hand and hand with our IT personnel. When I was a kid I played computer games, I’ve built a few computers and have always had an interest in computers and software, pre-internet. I am sure if they had this technology when I was coming up I would have been coding, building websites, learning about the internet. Unfortunalty, when I grew up with a 386 dos computer the internet had just started. It did not develop to the point of needing cybersecurity until after I was already in the Army and flying. Now I get to revisit my interest as an adult.

After I retired from this position, I had a basic knowledge of computer technology and had a new found interest in data, computers and data security. We live in a society today that there is a potential cyber threat against a person almost daily through email, social media, chat boards, etc. The amount of precautions you have to take as an individual, daily, to protect your data and identity is very important to protect yourself. I moved back to the Virginia area and started to look for degree programs in the field and here I am. Looking forward to the journey.

Examples of majors at ODU that relate to cybersecurity include.

1. Accounting-You send your financial data and personal information to an accountant or online service such as TurboTax and expect that the information you provide is secure. How your accountant or website sets up their technology to send, receive and store your personal and financial information is very important to not only you, but to the success of the business handling that information.
2. Clinical Psychology-Private medical information (PMI). I dealt with this as a pilot for hospitals. How do we keep it private? When you see a medical provider or are a medical provider with PMI, you have a legal obligation to not disclose this information and to store this information securely. Cybersecurity plays a huge roll in that. This psychologist will have access to information and will need to store it and transmit it to other providers securely and need to have secure commutations with the patient.
3. Criminal Justice-You will probably see more cybersecurity specialist needed in this field as we move more towards crimes that are committed on the internet. Drugs, human trafficking, fraud, etc. While in the first two examples we talked about our own personal and professional online security. Now we go the opposite direction. We need people in this field to intercept protected information. If someone is committing a crime against an accountant or a psychologist to try and steal information, we need be able to detect and investigate these threats. Cybersecurity professionals on law enforcement task forces are absolutely important to aid the team in the investigation and prosecution process.
4. E-Commerce-If you sell a product online this relates to you. More and more companies are transition to e-commerce. When you are a company that is buying and selling products online there are many ways in which cybersecurity can aid in the protection of your data. You have a business strategy, pricing information, customer data, product data, employee data, internal and external communication. A cyber threat that gains access to your company systems could be catastrophic to your business. The customers would find out their data has been compromised and you may lose business. You could be shut down completely which would prevent you from doing business. You could lose company and proprietary products to competitors or business strategy and pricing information. Cybersecurity professionals are needed in these organizations to limit, mitigate, or completely protect company information.

Journal Entry #2:

1. Describe four ethical issues that arise when storing electronic information about individuals.
2. Compare cybersecurity risks in the U.S. and another country.

Storing someone’s personal information is a very unique and important responsibility. There are some very important obligations one has when given this responsibility. Not only are you obligated to control the information exactly how the client wants you to, there are legal consequences in some cases when divulging personal information. Lets discuss some ethical issues below.

1. Monetary gain for sale of individual information – You could work for an organization that keeps data on customers such as account numbers, account balance, transaction history, etc. In some jurisdictions releasing this information may not yet have any legal consequences. In that case, a person with access must “do the right thing” and protect access to this data.
2. Private medical information- There are laws when it comes to this type of information but also some ethics comes into play. For example, a famous person comes to a hospital and wishes to remain anonymous but someone leaks identifying documents to the press. Or, someone may have died and certain people want access to that medical information and the person does not have the ability to give consent any longer. The controller of that data has to determine who gets access to that information and what are they using it for. This can present ethical challenges to medical professionals with access to this type of data.
3. Consumer data-It’s hard to know what consumer data is out there about us. Certainly buying habits, name, address, email, phone, payment info, etc. This data is important and needs to be protected. While we know that it is being bought and sold all the time. This data could be used in other ways. Sold to someone who wants to do harm to an individual. Used to do harm to an individual or something similar.
4. Legal information-Maybe you have a lawyer and he has everything from your tax returns to divorce documents. While lawyers have ethics rules to follow, they could certainly not follow them. Maybe they have a falling out with their client and now can use that information to harm or blackmail his client.

As far as a cybersecurity risk between the U.S. and another country I would compare the U.S. and China. Both have robust economies and both are nuclear powers. While both the U.S. and China present a large target for non-state actors, both also share a large state sponsored cybersecurity footprint. Because the relationship between the two countries has always been contentious, the risks of cyber threats from us to them and vice versa is a high priority for both countries to focus on, and presents a huge challenge for both countries to protect data that is collected and stored.

Journal Entry #3:

1. How has cyber technology created opportunities for workplace deviance?

The increase of cyber technology in the workplace can create opportunities for workplace deviance. Workplace deviance is described as the deliberate or intentional desire to cause harm to an organization, or individuals within that organization. A workplace will have varying types of technology available to an individual throughout the course of the day. They could have access to proprietary, client, banking, or employee information. If an employee works in finance, for example, they could easily provide employee or company financial information to a third party. If they worked in access control, they could grant access to anyone to gain information about the company. If they were to become disgruntled or offered compensation for information that your company has, they may find themselves in a position to commit crimes against the organization. There are numerous reasons why someone might commit harmful acts against an organization. The presence of cyber technology could make it harder to identify the responsible party, making it less likely someone would get caught. The easier it is to commit a crime the more likely someone is to do it. Especially when the chance of getting caught is lower.

Journal Entry #4:

1. What are the costs and benefits of developing cybersecurity programs in business?

Currently, almost all business in some way is conducted online. Businesses have an ethical and legal responsibility to ensure consumer, partner, and their own data is secure from cyber-attacks. Securing systems within an organization achieves many goals. It protects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information. Any weakness in these is bad for business. A robust information security program shows good customer and partner service as well as competent and forward-thinking management.

Businesses and organizations have a legal obligation to notify authorities when a cybersecurity attack occurs. Failure to protect this data can make companies liable for lawsuits and failing to protect civil liberties of consumers may place companies at risk. It will certainly affect the company’s future reputation. Securing an organization’s data can be costly, however, the cost of that data becoming compromised can be even greater. There are internal and external losses. Internal losses include costs for detection, investigation, containment, recovery, and program evolution. External losses are a disruption in business, damaged equipment, and loss of revenue. There are also ethical issues in data security. Consumers, partners, and employees place an enormous amount of trust in an organization’s ability to secure its information. This private information could be used to negatively impact an organization or an individual.

The cost and benefits of developing a cybersecurity program greatly outweigh the cost and losses incurred when you are attacked. Whether its loss of confidence in the organization or loss of revenue from disruption events, protecting a business the right way from the start, will help that business stay on top of cyber threats and ensures their longevity in the technological world we live in today.

Journal Entry #5:

1. How can you tell if your computer is safe?
2. Describe three ways that computers have made the world safer and less safe.

If your computer is off, it is most likely safe. Beyond that, there is no sure way to tell if it is safe or not. The best hacks are ones that go unnoticed. Certainly, through cryptography, you can reduce the likelihood of your information or communications of getting hacked but as evident in current events, even the most secure systems have vulnerabilities. Computers over time have made the world safer and, in many ways, more dangerous, depending on how you look at it. The world is certainly more complex since the introduction of computers. Computers give us seemingly instantaneous access to almost unlimited information. They allow us to store that information for easy access by multiple people over wide geographical distances. Police can have a computer in their patrol car, allowing them to access legal information, on the spot, to determine if someone is wanted for a crime. Bad actors can use computers for almost the same reasons. They can gain access to private information, compile data on people to exploit later, introduce false information into databases, etc. This information can be transmitted over long distances so others can have access as well. Computers have certainly made life a whole lot easier in many ways. We don’t necessarily need giant libraries or storage facilities with a bunch of filing cabinets in them. We can just store it all on a hard drive. We don’t need a camping book to tell us what berries are edible; we just use an app on our phone computer. Computers have made the world way more complicated for sure. The convenience they provide comes with an almost equal amount of danger. Computers have brought people from all over the world together to invent medicines and treatments for disease. Computers have automated manufacturing allowing for safer factories. Computers monitor our electric grid, providing power to people who need it. For any good thing you can think of that a computer has made better, you could think of the same things as being bad. Computers could be used to automate war, to manufacture weapons of mass destruction, and compile dangerous information on people and organizations. Computers are certainly great for the evolution of humans; we can do things now that we would never have been able to do without them. Just like any tool, it depends on the person using it that makes it a tool for good or bad.

Journal Entry #6:

1. How do engineers make cyber networks safer?

Engineers play a critical role in securing our networks. They implement and monitor security technologies and best practices and are our subject matter experts in cyber security. Engineers are studying and creating devices and applications for the ever growing and changing cyber environment. They identify vulnerabilities within organizations. They manage your cyber security program. They monitor systems for threats and react accordingly. They train others on network risks and how to avoid them, and many other activities. Implementing and maintaining these cyber protection processes, engineers significantly contribute to making our networks more secure from potential threats.

Journal Entry #7:

1. What is the overlap between criminal justice and cybercrime? How does this overlap relate to the other disciplines discussed in this class?

The overlap between criminal justice and cybercrime is self-explanatory. Do we have crimes in the digital and virtual world? Yes. There are many different types of cyber crimes and laws are enforced for them. This is not something your typical local police department would likely deal with because of the non-local nature of internet criminals and their victims. As cybercrimes develop and grow so does our directory of laws needed to combat these crimes.