Cybersecurity Through Thesis in Laurea University of Applied Sciences

Abstract

Information technology and its applications surround us and those have become crucial to our lives. However, the understanding of the digital world is not as strong. Successful and functional cybersecurity is a vital component for the defence of a civilised society. This study looks at how cybersecurity has been handled in thesis written at one University of Applied Sciences and what kind of topics have been chosen by thesis writers, and what is written about cybersecurity in them to understand how cybersecurity is seen in higher education. The goal of this paper was to find out how cybersecurity has been handled in theses and what kind of topics have been chosen by thesis writers. The two research questions are: what theses have been published that handle cybersecurity; and how does cybersecurity in them? As typical of a case study, attention is paid to a small number of cases (n = 15) attempting to describe the phenomenon they represent. Of the fifteen theses, two were master’s and thirteen bachelor’s theses, and mostly completed in Safety, Security and Risk Management, Security Management, and Business information technology programmes. Based on the results in this case, cyber security is being examined or developed from several, different points of view and in multidisciplinary ways.