Nathan Guman
Professor Diwakar Yalpi
CYSE 201S 24153 Cybersecurity & Social Science
04 November 2023
Article Review: Development of a new ‘human cyber-resilience scale
https://academic.oup.com/cybersecurity/article/9/1/tyad007/7130095#406984559
Introduction:
Development of a new ‘human cyber-resilience scale is a research article which explains and develops a new scale with which to measure cyber resiliency. “In the present work, we present a series of five studies—with a total sample of n = 1503—that sought to develop and validate a theoretically based measure of cyber resilience for individuals. The final scale, comprising 16 items and 4 subscales (self-efficacy, learning and growth, social support, and helplessness), demonstrates good internal reliability and validity (Joinson, Abstract).” The researchers took 51 initial candidate items taken from existing scales used in psychology and sociology, extracted, and reworded where needed, to fit within a cybersecurity context, then conducted 5 studies. (Joinson, Methods)”. The researchers used various statistical analysis techniques, primarily principal axis factoring to determine correlation and examine inter-factor correlations. For studies 4 and 5 additional measures were added and some minor statistical analytical techniques were utilized. The final items used in the proposed scale are self-efficacy, social support, learning and growth, and helplessness.
How it relates
The article is a perfect example of the combination of social sciences and cybersecurity. Using techniques and testing scales developed for Psychology, Criminology, and Sociology, the researchers were able to conduct a scientific study to create a model for cyber-resilience. This model is scientifically sound, statistically significant, and practical in its applications. Taking multiple different scales from so many different fields of study to create a new method of measuring a function of human and cyber capability exemplify the principles of Empiricism and Parsimony. Another aspect of the article I found interesting was the discussion on who is affected by cyber events. “The majority of victims are those aged >60 as these individuals may have retirement income but can be less cyber-aware. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, the home worker has also become an important target for cyber attacks, meaning that the household has become a prime organizational attack vector (Joinson, Introduction).” This recalls the videos we watched in class about the human firewall. Every person is on the frontline of protecting data they may not even realize they are connected to. The attacks on retirees and business through home networks attacks means many more people and companies are exposed to potential attack.
Impact
“The human cyber-resilience scale is a brief, self-rated measure of cyber resilience that has sound psychometric properties. It can be used as a multidimensional construct, or can be used to assess which of the four underlying factors is most critical in a particular context. Prevention and intervention programmes could focus on developing these protective factors. The scale could also be utilized in research settings to compare the effectiveness of different interventions, in terms of behaviour change that not only minimizes the likelihood of a cyber attack in the short term, but also captures a willingness to engage in cybersecurity learning and seek out support networks in the longer term (Joinson, Conclusion)”. This scale and its impact of society will be highly beneficial to furthering understanding of how people interact with cybersecurity. This scale can help quantify a person’s cyber-resilience. Cybersecurity is at its core a human endeavor. Understanding both the human protecting and the human attacking in the cyberworld will be key to its security.
References:
Joinson, Adam, et al. Development of a New “Human Cyber-Resilience Scale.” Vol. 9, no. 1, 1 Jan. 2023, academic.oup.com/cybersecurity/article/9/1/tyad007/7130095, https://doi.org/10.1093/cybsec/tyad007. Accessed 9 November 2023.