The social sciences in the career of Cybersecurity: Molly Revak
The field of cybersecurity can naïvely be thought of as merely a technical profession, however, the more research conducted to studying this ever-evolving field, the more it becomes apparent how multifaceted the topic has truly become. As smart devices have become ingrained into almost every aspect of modern life, so too does the emergence of new threats. Information technology (IT) has transformed the way businesses are organized by becoming heavily dependent on digital assets. As the transition to the digital has provided more connectivity and immediacy to data, organizations find themselves increasingly more vulnerable to attacks. From business to the larger focus of society, it is evident that we have become heavily reliant on conducting daily routines through digital capabilities. The utilization of these technologies greatly impacts the societies that grow ever dependent on them. Understanding what causes and affects the underlying determinism of attacks from a social science perspective is necessary as the problem of exploits is not only based on technical matters but largely influenced by human behaviors -the human element.
To pull back the layers that encompass the profession of cybersecurity, it is important to discover how interdisciplinary the field has become and to apply a social science perspective to the daily life of an individual’s career. McNeese & Hall highlight that “traditionally, cyber security has been positioned and developed primarily from a computational-technology perspective. Unfortunately, this has been rather short-sighted as it provided solutions that failed to consider many human-related, cognitive, and social factors that underlie solutions of significance” (2017). As a cybersecurity professional, it is imperative to keep in mind the social science framework that includes the principles of relativism, objectivity, parsimony, skepticism, ethical neutrality, and determinism to help create complex solutions (McNeese et al. 2017). A cybersecurity professional must consider how technology influences the context of humanity in which the designers of a certain application might not have taken into consideration of possible societal risks. Professionals need to develop an up-to-date sense of situational awareness for not only current technical threats, but for social engineering threats. Phishing emails are the current trend in the attack sector as this type of technique has been extremely successful for adversaries entering systems unauthorized. As a cybersecurity professional, educating all users who access the network is essential in protecting the organization’s system. Applying a social science lens in the context of cybersecurity awareness within a work environment involves innovative thinking and creativity. The human factor is the weakest link in the chain of cybersecurity. Engaging with others to create a human-centric approach to encourage problem-solving aids in the cognition abilities of a cybersecurity professional. A teamwork approach to this field is paramount because one professional cannot have a complete comprehension of all areas that encompass the topic of cybersecurity. When working as a cybersecurity analyst, for example, professionals are the front line of defense in the organization that they are working for. Those professionals must exercise strong communication skills to help facilitate a robust team to defend against threats.
The human element in the context of cybersecurity is one of the major aspects of the complex complications we face today in the digital realm. “It focuses professionals to think beyond just technology and really considers inherent behavior patterns, manipulation techniques, and disinformation countermeasures” (Miller 2022). A career in cybersecurity is more than defending computational systems from attacks, it takes an in-depth approach to psychology, sociology, criminology, and computer science to intertwine that knowledge to secure the human element in the cyber world accurately.
Reference:
McNeese, Michael D., and David L. Hall. “The Cognitive Sciences of Cyber-Security: A Framework for Advancing Socio-Cyber Systems.” Theory and Models for Cyber Situation Awareness (2017): 173-202. Web
Miller, Alyssa. Cybersecurity Career Guide. New York: Manning Publications LLC, 2022. Web.