IDS.3032 Behavioral Cybersecurity
A recent survey showed that a majority of all cybersecurity breaches are due not to code hacking, but to human behavior. This course will consider the psychological, organizational, and technological factors that govern the behavior of cyber attackers, defenders, and end-users. Drawing from various fields (e.g., psychology, sociology, business management, engineering, and computer science), this course explores how cyber attackers exploit human behavior to compromise data security. Additionally, this course will consider the contextual, institutional, and demographic characteristics that increase an individual or group's vulnerability to cyberattack and the psychological and legal ramifications of being a cyber victim. Finally, the course will consider education and training best practices for individuals, corporations, and governmental agencies to maximize people's ability to avoid, and willingness to report, cyberattacks. Background knowledge in cognitive and social psychology is recommended but not required.