How the Principles of Science Relate to Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is in my opinion, unlike other STEM fields such as Computer Science or Engineering, primarily focused on human factors: how people think, act, and learn, etc. This is necessary in order to understand how to effectively prevent and deter attempts at intrusions in cyberspace. In much the same way, social science differs from other fields of science. The social sciences endeavor to understand humans and how the behave in a society using the fields of psychology, sociology, etc.
In What Ways Can Researchers Utilize Publicly Available Information about Data Breaches?
Researchers can use publicly available information about data breaches in the same manner that military leaders can learn from past encounters with an adversary to understand and predict their next courses of action. Learning how previous breaches occurred enables cybersecurity professionals to close off those avenues of approach in to a network to prevent the same manner of intrusion.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and How Each Level Relates to Experiences with Technology
Our society’s dependence on technology mirrors Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. For example, technology enables us to heat our homes and provides us access to clean drinking water, which are basic physiological needs. Many of our jobs depend on the internet and without those jobs many people would not have safety and security. In addition, the internet also enables to use social media platforms and other forms of digital communication to maintain ties with friends and loved ones that are subject to the tyranny of distance, ensuring that we have love and belonging. Social media also serves as a serotonin booster for those who post to seek validation, fulfilling a need for self-esteem. Finally, technology provides many hobbies and facilitates many passions of society, such as gaming, digital art, etc., fulfilling self-actualization.
Cyber Offending Motives Ranked
- Money. I believe that similar to many crimes committed outside of cyberspace, money is the primary motivation. Money may also be used to facilitate the pursuit of other motives on this list.
- Revenge. I cannot recall how many times I have stumbled across posts on social media made by younger (or immature) people asking around for methods to “hack” people that have supposedly wronged them as a form of vengeance.
- Political. I believe that many cyber actors understand how dependent the world is on technology, including political organizations. I believe that many people view cyber attacks targeting political entities as “cyber activism”.
- Recognition. Undoubtedly people outside of cyberspace commit crimes for the sole purpose of gaining notoriety, whether that be within a closed circle of people or notoriety amongst the public. I don’t believe that applying this logic to cyber space is too big a stretch.
- Boredom. In the same manner in which people that I knew growing up who committed crimes purely for the adrenaline rush, cyber actors with the knowledge and skillset may decide to commit a cyber crime just because they can and have nothing better to do.
- Entertainment. Same logic as above.
- Other reasons. There is an infinite amount of motivations for committing cyber crime, but I do not believe that any of those outrank the previous six.
How Can You Spot Fake Websites? What Makes the Fake Websites Fake?
The easiest way for me to spot fake websites is by paying attention to whether or not the website utilizes HTTP rather than HTTPs. I also learned a few years back about how a character in the Russian language looks almost identical to “a” in English as typed, and there have been cases of bad actors using the aforementioned Russian character in place of “a” to appear as a legitimate website.
How the Media Influences Our Understanding about Cybersecurity
When I think of media depictions of hacking, I see the running wall of green text and somebody furiously typing away at a computer. Until I started learning more about computer networking and cybersecurity, I had no reason to believe that this was not the reality.
The Social Media Disorder Scale
The social media disorder scale attempts to measure degrees of addiction to social media. Somebody who tests low on this scale probably views social media as a waste of time whereas somebody who tests high is somebody who requires constant validation both in real life and they make up the deficit for what they cannot receive in real life via posting on social media. I myself have been at both ends of this spectrum across various chapters of my life and am currently trending towards the lower end of the scale. Different cultures may view social media differently. In the way that it is so engrained in to our every day lives in the western world, it may be the opposite for other parts of the world.
Thoughts on “Social Cybersecurity: An Emerging National Security Requirement“
I completely agree with the viewpoints and information brought forth by this article. A few years ago, Information was added as the seventh warfighting function in the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps and the wider Department of Defense understands the relevance of social media in modern and future conflicts and how easily manipulating social media can sway public opinion of a conflict one way or another. Our adversaries may attempt to leverage social media to spread propaganda (it’s only propaganda if it’s used against you) to cultivate anti-American sentiments. One recent example that comes to mind is the 2016 Presidential election, where supposedly Russian state cyber actors established a network of bot accounts on social media to advocate for Trump.
How the Role of Cybersecurity Analyst Relates to Social Behaviors
Cyber incidents do not occur in a vacuum. There is always a person or group of people that initiate any cyber action, therefore it is imperative that any cybersecurity analyst understands human behavior in order to accurately analyze patterns and predict/prevent future attempts at a network breach.