There are many other majors offered at ODU that relate to cybersecurity in some way. I will discuss four of these majors below and how they connect to cybersecurity.
- The first major I would like to discuss as it related to cybersecurity is engineering. Engineering requires the application of scientific discoveries and ideas to real-world problems. Engineering goes beyond academics and the theoretical world into practical, everyday life. The applications of these solutions in our everyday lives are very much required by cybersecurity to solve real problems and keep our networks and information safe and secure. Computer engineering specifically would have the closest parallels to cybersecurity because both involve computers and the cyber world.
- The second major I will discuss that is related to cybersecurity is criminology and criminal justice. Criminology is the study of crime and criminal behavior. There is an abundance of opportunities for crime in the cyber world and it is, unfortunately, a rapidly growing problem. People often commit crimes of opportunity, and the cyber world provides these opportunities easily because you can be halfway around the world and still find a target. Criminology and criminal justice majors can work together with people in the cybersecurity world to study how and why these cybercrimes occur, how to prosecute them, and how to prevent them.
- The third major I will discuss is philosophy. Philosophy is the study of knowledge and theory across a range of topics. When applied to cybersecurity it can address ideas relating to privacy (when and how privacy applies in the cyber world), war as it applies to the cyber world and information warfare, and the balance of moral obligations in the cyber world vs. business models and generating profits.
- The fourth and final major I will discuss as it related to cybersecurity is psychology. Psychology ties closely with the criminology element of cybersecurity but has its own applications. As related to the cybersecurity world, psychology can be applied to both the perpetrators and victims of cybercrimes. It can address issues surrounding scarcity and socioeconomic structures as a reason for cybercrimes, socially acceptable and learned criminal behaviors, punishments or rewards for committing cybercrimes and how this affects future criminal behavior, trust in others which can lead to phishing and social engineering, and self-control and how this can affect cybercrime. These are just a few psychological ideas that are tied closely to cybersecurity and cybercrime.
Clearly, all four of these majors have applications to the cybersecurity world. There are many other majors that have crossovers into the cybersecurity world as well, but I find engineering, criminology, philosophy, and psychology to have the most interesting overlaps to me.