Q: Read this and write a journal entry summarizing your response to the article on social cybersecurity: https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/Mar-Apr-2019/117-Cybersecurity/b/
A:
The following article discusses the definitions behind the term “social cybersecurity” and the implications of needing to introduce this field of study within the growing information wars. Essentially, focuses on this idea of “using technology to ‘hack’ other humans” into the way they think and behave, as opposed to more traditional cybersecurity where the focus is disrupting and attacking the technology itself (Beskow and Carley, 2019). The article then goes into detail about some of the larger ways that social cybersecurity has been utilized in the past, like with Russian/United States propaganda being used to influence the outside world during the cold war. Nowadays, the article suggests that social cybersecurity has greatly evolved because of new ways to influence people through technology, such as social media, bots, fake news, etc. In the end, the article suggests that for the future, the conflicts between different countries will be “internal, not external”, and that education is required to properly inform civilians about the effects and possible dangers that information wars bring (Beskow and Carley, 2019). After reading this article, it was both shocking and eye opening how important social cybersecurity is to our current world. The amount of manipulation that goes into influencing people for the sake of an opinion is crazy, and yet it’s something that affects us even today with fake news and misinformation. Hopefully, the development of our cognizant reactions towards information presented through technology will allow us to be more mindful and open to the harsh realities and situations that are presented to us through social cybersecurity.
References:
Beskow, D. M., & Carley, K. M. (2019). Social Cybersecurity an emerging national security requirement. Army University Press.