I just read this piece by Lt. Col. David M Beskow and Kathleen M Carley, on social cybersecurity, and it really makes you see how much we have to factor in social components of cybersecurity. They note that as the threats to social systems and human nature increase, we must attend not so much to technical fixes but to our social impacts on security.

One factor here is the fact that social networks increase vulnerability in a cyberattack, since hackers make good use of personal confidence to slip through security. And that’s why human behaviour matters to cybersecurity.

Beskow and Carley also support social science, psychology and network analysis as part of an overall mix to develop better cybersecurity approaches. Social engineering could be more easily educated and trained in public education to lessen risks.

Finally, the article highlights social cybersecurity as national security priority. It makes us see cybersecurity not just from a technological point of view but also from a social one. It’s a view we really need in the new digital world and I’m really interested to hear about how companies can take on social cybersecurity.