How does Cyber Security Involve Human Components?

Dystopian novels and movies often pit robot against robot, computer against computer. The human element is viewed in these entertainments as emotional, weak, and incidental to the all-encompassing power of mechanical masters. Real life, so far, is not like Terminator movies or Rudy Rucker novels. Humans are integral to every aspect of information technology, including cyber security.

Who Built It?

The obvious starting point in examining cyber security is to know who designed, built, or programmed the component. Though computers are tools used by software scientists, humans still must create the programs and machines that perform front-line defense in cyber security. Even allowing for Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance existing computer systems, humans are still the overseers, still the organic brains behind the silicon brains.

Who Runs It?

Cyber security professionals often come in to clean up an electronic mess left behind by other people. Humans make mistakes. Humans break things; other humans fix things. Employees write passwords down on Post-Its and leave them on screens. C-Suite executives open anonymous emails. Cyber threats are ever-present, so the people running computer systems must be ever-vigilant.

Who Defends It?

Cyber security professionals have to continually educate themselves on the latest threats. They are real people, with lives, families, and interests beyond their jobs. Yet they have immense responsibilities to protect the information held by the company or organization that issues their paycheck (electronically--talk about incentive to keep the data secure!)

Professional IT experts may find themselves in understaffed departments, expected to take on more than is humanly possible. Yet they handle it, keeping their employers secure and protected against:

• Hacking
• Scams
• Phishing
• Botnets
• Ransomware
• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks

Getting along with each other within a cyber security department is vital for the real people with real lives who work so tirelessly to protect data. Though shows like The IT Crowd portray these IT professionals as a little “off” or devoid of social skills, most cyber security professionals are, to appearances, indistinguishable from other certified professionals like teachers, doctors, and lawyers. They broadcast an air of quiet confidence. They demonstrate diligence, attentiveness, and perseverance, yes; but that does not mean they are incapable of a fun night out with the office crowd.

Who Trusts It?

A company’s consumers and clients must have strong faith that their personal data maintained by the organization is safe. Consider what we entrust to online processes and databases:

• Social Security numbers
• Birth and death records
• Medical information such as height, weight, cholesterol levels, numbers of pregnancies, history of heart disease, records of operations and procedures, MRI scans, X-Rays, and more
• Financial data like checking and savings account numbers, balances, passwords to online accounts, positions with stocks, bonds and ETFs, bankruptcies, repossessions and other sensitive information that could leave you financially ruined if it fell into the wrong hands
• Academic records such as grades, attendance, degrees earned, student loans,
• Criminal records, police arrest histories, fingerprints, civil actions, and juvenile records
• Tax information like local, state and federal tax returns, real estate tax records, land and home titles, and other information that could be used to steal your identity

Conveying an air of strength, resilience, professionalism and authority is not enough; you as a cyber security expert must genuinely safeguard all that sensitive data. Leave it to the marketing department to best tell your company’s story of how you safeguard it (without revealing too much, of course), but never look away; never blink. You and your departmental colleagues are on guard, always.

Without trust in a company’s or organization’s cyber security personnel and methods, customers will be reluctant to share credit card numbers, order products, or store valuable information with that organization. Why should they? Competition is fierce; companies that behave cavalierly toward their customers’ privacy will suffer at the stock market and the consumer market.

Combine deep understanding of human psychology with an outstanding education in cyber security. Enroll in ECPI University’s undergraduate program and earn your Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Science with a Major in Cyber and Network Security in as little as 2.5 years. Contact ECPI University today to learn how you can combine a love for computers with insights into the human mind, and begin your cyber security journey.

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