Cybersecurity, Technology, and Society
Students in IT/CYSE 200T will explore how technology is related to cybersecurity from an interdisciplinary orientation. Attention is given to the way that technologically-driven cybersecurity issues are connected to cultural, political, legal, ethical, and business domains. The learning outcomes for this course are as follows:
- Describe how cyber technology creates opportunities for criminal behavior,
- Identify how cultural beliefs interact with technology to impact cybersecurity strategies,
- Understand and describe how the components, mechanisms, and functions of cyber systems produce security concerns,
- Discuss the impact that cyber technology has on individuals’ experiences with crime and victimization,
- Understand and describe ethical dilemmas, both intended and unintended, that cybersecurity efforts, produce for individuals, nations, societies, and the environment,
- Describe the costs and benefits of producing secure cyber technologies,
- Understand and describe the global nature of cybersecurity and the way that cybersecurity efforts have produced and inhibited global changes,
- Describe the role of cybersecurity in defining definitions of appropriate an inappropriate behavior,
- Describe how cybersecurity produces ideas of progress and modernism.
Course Material
Students in this course have completed a number of activities including an reflection essay, weekly technology and cybersecurity journal, and several quizzes and exams.
In this course, we were instructed to perform surface-level reports about a relevant topic in a particular module known as “write-ups”. One of the main focuses in these write-ups is conforming to business writing skills by including a Bottom-Line-Up-Front (BLUF) containing a brief summary of the report that follows. Headings are also used to help guide the reader along the report and/or jump to specific sections interested by the reader. The purpose of these assignments are to refine skills of presenting a brief, knowledgeable report in a way that is both professional and efficient.
Write-Ups
In the above write-up, we were told to research the CIA triad and the true meaning of each element. This particular project developed an understanding of the foundational concepts to protect user data.
This next write-up focused on the importance of SCADA systems in critical infrastructure and their ability to provide alarms and alerts for certain data passing through the various sensors on the equipment.
In this write-up I briefly cover the pros and cons of utilizing and training an in-house cyber security team, using a third party organization to maintain the systems, and a hybrid system that takes the pros from each side and can be utilized efficiently.