Journal entries
Journal Entry module 2
Explain how the principles of science relate to cybersecurity.
The principles of the social sciences are very important in every aspect of cybersecurity. They help professionals navigate the complex landscape of technologies from a human psychology perspective. Such an approach helps security specialists understand, predict, and prevent cyber threats. For example, empiricism uses real data like logs and alerts to see what is actually happening. I used logs in my lab before to troubleshoot, so I understand how it works. Determinism means there is always a reason for a cyber issue, like weak passwords or vulnerabilities. Objectivity means you focus on facts and not assumptions. Overall, these ideas help better understand security problems and respond to them more effectively.
Journal Entry module 3
Visit PrivacyRights.org to see the types of publicly available information
about data breaches. In what ways can researchers utilize this
information to analyze data breaches? Enter a paragraph in your
journal.
Privacy Right Clearinghouse is a gold mine of information on data breaches. It is a non-profit organization that focuses its work on data privacy rights and issues. Unlike many places, the data is widely available for free on their website. For researchers, the Privacy Right Clearinghouse can be used to identify breach patterns and determine common attack vectors. Their reports help to understand breach trends and whether security has improved over time. It is a very useful tool for researchers, with real examples of breaches that can help identify future risks and improve security practices not just in one company but across the industry.
Journal Entry module 4
Review Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and explain how each level relates
to your experiences with technology. Give specific examples of how
your digital experiences relate to each level of need.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is easily applicable to my use of technology.
Physiological needs: I use my phone every day for basic tasks, such as ordering groceries, keeping track of my schedule, and navigating.
Safety needs: my phone helps me keep in touch not only with my family but also, if needed, call emergency services if I get into an accident. Which, frankly, already happened in the remote mountain area of West Virginia last summer.
Social needs: Technologies help to stay connected with family who live 5000 miles away. Social media is helping to stay in touch with friends from around the world.
Esteem needs: I use technology for my education every day. Modern technologies are ultimately the best solution to get new information and practice new skills, as I do in my home lab. Being relevant and knowledgeable about topics that interest me is a great way to maintain high self-esteem.
Self-actualization: I use technology to learn cybersecurity, which is my career. Improving myself daily so I can work for a good company and be proud of how far I have come.
Journal Entry module 5
Review the articles linked with each motive. Rank the
motives from 1 to 7 as the motives that you think make the most sense
(being 1) to the least sense (being 7). Explain why you rank each
motive the way you rank it.
1. For money: Money is always the most common driver for everything in life. Crimes offer a quick and easy way to make money: high risk and high reward.
2. Multiple reasons: A lot of attackers most likely have multiple reasons. Sometimes money + something. For example, ransomware gangs will post about a successful breach.
3. Political: Hacktivism happens; a great example is the Anonymous group.
4. Revenge: Some people feel offended and feel the need to fight back, for example, a recently fired employee in the IT department.
5. Recognition: People live to get attention. Many people post everything that portrays them as rich, cool, etc. online. Hackers are not exceptions. They have the same needs. They want to be known for their work.
6. Entertainment: I can see some people do it for fun or to entertain others.
7. Boredom: It seems very unreasonable to harm others for fun, but some people are sick.
Journal Entry module 6
How can you spot fake websites? Compare three fake websites (don’t
access those sites, of course) to three real websites. What makes the
fake websites fake?
Fake websites are not always easy to recognize. However, the devil is in the details, and a few things usually stick out. First, misspelled names: names like amazon.com and arnazon.com are not easy to notice. Second, grammar errors: fake websites are usually made quickly and rushed to “production”. Grammar mistakes are easy to make and hard to notice when you work on the site. Third, poor design: sites are built quickly and not properly tested, and almost always resemble a very poor version of the original. Fourth, certificates: fake sites cannot obtain valid certificates like the originals, and almost always do not have any.
Journal Entry module 8
Watch this video and pay attention to the way that movies distort
hackers. Hacker Rates 12 Hacking Scenes In Movies And TV | How
Real Is It? - YouTube
• After watching the video, write a journal entry about how you think
The media influences our understanding of cybersecurity
After watching the video, I think the media portrays cybersecurity as overly easy and sometimes very glamorous, which is not realistic 99% of the time. In real life, everything takes time, and hacking is not an exception. Real hacking usually requires the skills of multiple specialists, such as a recon specialist, a malware developer, an initial penetration broker, and a social engineer. Moreover, Hackers usually do not look different from regular people. Most of them do not wear gloves without fingers. At the same time, the media raises awareness of the cyber world, both its offensive and defensive aspects. In fact, in many movies, people can see the work of both sides. Moreover, movies are truthful in that defense is usually present, and only one weak point can be the reason the attack succeeds.
Journal Entry module 9
Complete the Social Media Disorder scale. How did you score?
What do you think about the items in the scale?
Why do you think that different patterns are found across the world?
After completing the Social Media Disorder scale, I scored 4 out of 9. Which I believe is fairly accurate. I think the scale is very reasonable and focuses on real behaviors. For example, to stay productive during the day, I block my apps until evening, and sometimes I feel anxious when I know something might come up on Facebook, like pictures from the event I attended last weekend. Moreover, these questions use real-life addiction style patterns. Social media is the same addiction as others and should be treated similarly.
Different patterns across the world reflect differences in culture, society, and technology.
For example, some countries have widespread access to the latest social media platforms, while others have very limited access. Moreover, for some countries, such as Russia, social media is the only way to connect with the outside world.
Journal Entry module 10
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/
Reading this article only confirms that cybersecurity is not only technical, but also about people. Social cybersecurity focuses on how attackers use social media and information to influence human behavior. One of the ideas that modern threats target is the way of thinking, not technology, which brought the 2016 election and Cambridge Analytica to mind. Presumably, they collected data and created targeted ads on social media platforms to provoke their deepest fears. Nowadays, cybersecurity is very strong against technical threats, but without understanding the social science behind it, it will be very difficult to combat modern threats.