There are many ways in which the principles of science relate to cybersecurity. Let’s examine how relativism, objectivity, parsimony, empiricism, ethical neutrality, and determinism all relate to what cybersecurity is about. The first principle is relativism. This principle states that everything is related somehow. In cybersecurity, cyber-attacks can happen very often. These attacks can have a negative impact on how we choose to view technology and it can have a direct impact if we are victimized by these attacks. Cybersecurity and technology, in general, can affect how we view the world and how we view others. The second principle is objectivity. This refers to the way scientists study topics in a value-free manner. It shows how science doesn’t exist to promote an opinion or point of view. It also talks about how internal factors shouldn’t affect the judgment of a person. There is no doubt that hackers can have malicious motives and intentions. Sometimes, hackers are caught and punished severely by the law. However, it is human nature to show kindness, compassion, and patience to children that are of a younger age. Should the punishment be the same to a hacker that is only 12 years old and a hacker that is 30 years old? The principle of objectivism doesn’t allow any exceptions to this. If someone commits a crime with full awareness of what they are doing, they should still be punished. The third principle is parsimony. It means that scientists should keep their levels of explanation as simple as possible. Explaining why people commit cybercrime can be very complex. To someone that doesn’t keep up with technology very much, you wouldn’t want to give an in-depth explanation that would confuse the person. Instead, you would give a general, brief, and understandable explanation. You could explain that hackers commit cybercrime for notoriety and fortune. The mind of a hacker is complex and is hard to understand. The principle of parsimony is just to keep things simple. The fourth principle is empiricism. This means that social scientists can only study behavior that is real to the senses. This is what we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell. This all comes from what we experience. Opinions and/or hunches cannot be used to understand what cybersecurity is and what it means. It’s based off of what has been experienced. In understanding how cybercriminals think, researchers do not take into account why a cybercriminal committed a crime. For example, they wouldn’t take into account a cybercriminal hacking into a banking company in order to support himself financially. They would just take into account what they see and hear about cybercriminals. The fifth principle is ethical neutrality. This refers to the fact that scientists must adhere to ethical standards when they conduct their research. This would include protecting the rights of individuals that are studied. Companies gather a lot of data from their customers. They use this data to make decisions about what services and products to offer. However, they have to be careful not to step over the line of violating the privacy of its customers. Most people today are very paranoid about using the Internet because of reports of how their data is collected and being used. This can become a matter of whether it is ethical to collect information about a person or not. The sixth principle is determinism. This principle means that behavior is caused, determined, or influenced by preceding events. In cybersecurity, if IT and security professionals do not regularly update and patch their systems, then they are bound to become compromised and hacked by malicious people. Vulnerabilities have to be eliminated. If they aren’t, hackers can take advantage of them. Companies cannot just assume that everyone will be ethical and do what they are supposed to. If a hacker hacked into a system in the past, then it can happen again.