{"id":306,"date":"2026-01-29T17:42:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T17:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/?page_id=306"},"modified":"2026-01-29T18:53:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:53:03","slug":"cyse-201s-cybersecurity-as-a-social-science","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/cybersecurity-fundamentals\/cyse-201s-cybersecurity-as-a-social-science\/","title":{"rendered":"CYSE 201S \u2013 Cybersecurity as a Social Science\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This course addresses the social, political, legal, criminological, and economic dimensions of cybersecurity through a social science framework. Students are introduced to a human-factors approach to understanding cybersecurity threats. Attention is given to the social factors that contribute to cyber incidents and the political and legal mechanisms that are developed to control the behaviors of those who create risks cybersecurity incidents. The class also explores how cybersecurity is studied by social scientists in psychology, political science, criminology, economics, sociology, international studies, and other social science disciplines.<\/p>\n<p>Learning Outcomes:<\/p>\n<p>After completing this class, students will be able to:<\/p>\n<p>Compare how basic psychological, sociological, criminological, political, economic, and legal theories and models explain cybersecurity<br \/>\nIdentify the strengths and weaknesses of those theories in understanding the connections between human behaviors and cybersecurity<br \/>\nDefine key concepts including cybersecurity, cybercrime, cyber criminology, cyber law, digital forensics, human factors, cyber policy, cyber risk, cyber threats, and cyberwar.<br \/>\nIdentify how professionals in various cybersecurity careers apply these multidisciplinary concepts in their daily routines<br \/>\nDescribe how hypotheses and research questions are formed in studies addressing cybersecurity through a social science lens<br \/>\nDescribe how data are collected, measured, and analyzed in studies addressing cybersecurity through a social science lens<br \/>\nIdentify how marginalized groups have confronted challenges and concerns related to cybersecurity as well as how these groups have contributed to our understanding about the topic.<br \/>\nExplain how the application of social science theories, principles, and research strategies have contributed to our understanding of cybersecurity at the societal level.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36355\/2026\/01\/image-6-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36355\/2026\/01\/image-6-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36355\/2026\/01\/image-6-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36355\/2026\/01\/image-6-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36355\/2026\/01\/image-6-533x300.png 533w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36355\/2026\/01\/image-6.png 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/how-hackers-use-social-engineering-exploit-human-nature-threatcop-ltgtf\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"659\" height=\"386\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36355\/2026\/01\/image-3.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-319\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36355\/2026\/01\/image-3.png 659w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36355\/2026\/01\/image-3-300x176.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36355\/2026\/01\/image-3-512x300.png 512w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 659px) 100vw, 659px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"352\" height=\"418\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36355\/2026\/01\/image-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-316\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36355\/2026\/01\/image-1.png 352w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36355\/2026\/01\/image-1-253x300.png 253w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 352px) 100vw, 352px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S2451958825000831<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This course addresses the social, political, legal, criminological, and economic dimensions of cybersecurity through a social science framework. Students are introduced to a human-factors approach to understanding cybersecurity threats. Attention is given to the social factors that contribute to cyber incidents and the political and legal mechanisms that are developed to control the behaviors of&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/cybersecurity-fundamentals\/cyse-201s-cybersecurity-as-a-social-science\/\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":29070,"featured_media":0,"parent":95,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/306"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29070"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/306\/revisions\/323"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/95"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/sgill016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}