Cybersecurity Program Research Articles

Talk too much? The Impact of Cybersecurity Disclosures on Investment Decisions

High-profile cybersecurity breaches have raised concerns regarding how organizations disclose security management information to the public. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) developed a cybersecurity risk management (CSRM) reporting framework to better help organizations convey their cybersecurity programs to the public. In this article, we attempt to provide evidence of how cybersecurity disclosures, as developed by AICPA, affect investment decisions. Our findings suggest that nonprofessional investors are less likely to invest in breached firms with the disclosure of CSRM reports alone. Disclosing the risk management report with an independent assurance report does not result in the mitigation of the negative impact of security breach news. We discuss the corresponding implications.

The effects of antecedents and mediating factors on cybersecurity protection behavior

This paper identifies opportunities for potential theoretical and practical improvements in employees' awareness of cybersecurity and their motivational behavior to protect themselves and their organizations from cyberattacks using the protection motivation theory. In addition, it contributes to the literature by examining additional variables and mediators besides the core constructs of the Protection Motivation Model (PMT). This article uses empirical data and structural equation modeling to test the antecedents and mediators of employees' cybersecurity motivational behavior. The study offers theoretical and pragmatic guidance for cybersecurity programs. First, the model developed in this study can partially explain how people may change their cybersecurity protection behavior about security threats and coping actions. Secondly, the result of the study indicates that security coping factors are reliable predictors in projecting individual intention to take protective measures. Third, organizational effort in combatting cyber threats and increasing employee awareness is significantly associated with the use of cyber threat coping processes. Additionally, several practical prescriptions are suggested based on gender, generations, and types of organizations. For example, government organizations have taken well-designed cybersecurity measures and developed detailed protocols to enhance employees’ motivational behavior. Finally, future cybersecurity training materials should adapt to the unique traits of different generations, especially the Gen Edge group and digital natives for all cybersecurity subjects.

TRENDS IN CYBERSECURITY REGULATIONS OF TAIWAN (REPUBLIC OF CHINA) – Phases of Pro motion of major cyber security plans and programs in the National Cyber Security Program of Taiwan (2021–2024)

The authors of the article focus on the main trends observed within cyber security regulations of Taiwan (Republic of China). In fact, Taiwanese governmental websites faced approximately 5 million attacks every day in 2021 [8]. Despite these attacks, the Taiwanese government operates in a steady way to improve its cyber capability, progressing on its cyber security increase path. The main document behind it in the form of strategic regulation is the National Cyber Security Program of Taiwan (NCSP 2021–2024). It explains the structure of the entities responsible for cyber security and describes both goals that have been accomplished and the ones that are/will be implemented. In particular, Taiwan focuses on providing higher cyber security protection standards, including critical infrastructure elements, private-public cooperation, the use of new technologies, and scouting for new talents. International collaboration is also highly valued as an example of joint cyber exercises between Taiwan and the USA in 2019.

Anti-Phishing Awareness Delivery Methods

Phishing attacks are increasingly exploited by cybercriminals, they become more sophisticated and evade detection even by advanced technical countermeasures. With cybercriminals resorting to more sophisticated phishing techniques, strategies, and different channels such as social networks, phishing is becoming a hard problem to solve. Therefore, the main objective for any anti-phishing solution is to minimize phishing success and its consequences through complementary means to advanced technical countermeasures. Specifically, phishing threats cannot be controlled by technical controls alone, thus it is imperative to complement cybersecurity programs with cybersecurity awareness programs to successfully fight against phishing attacks. This paper provides a review of the delivery methods of cybersecurity training programs used to enhance personnel security awareness and behavior in terms of phishing threats. Although there are a wide variety of educational intervention methods against phishing, the differences between the cybersecurity awareness delivery methods are not always clear. To this end, we present a review of the most common methods of workforce cybersecurity training methods in order for them to be able to protect themselves from phishing threats.

Perspectives on Directing a Graduate Cybersecurity Program

Building a graduate cybersecurity program involves bringing together various perspectives to include those of students, faculty, industry, administration, and academia. This article discusses integrating these factors based on knowledge, university requirements, research, and industry needs.

Selecting a Passive Network Monitoring Solution for Medical Device Cybersecurity Management

The number of cyberattacks and information system breaches in healthcare have grown exponentially, as well as escalated from accidental incidents to targeted and malicious attacks. With medical devices representing a substantial repository of all the assets in a healthcare system, network security and monitoring are critical to ensuring cyber hygiene of these medical devices. Because of the unique challenges of connected medical devices, a passive network monitoring (PNM) solution is preferred for its overall cybersecurity management. This article is intended to provide guidance on selecting PNM solutions while reinforcing the importance of program assessment, project management, and use of leading practices that facilitate the selection and further implementation of PNM solutions for medical devices. The article provides a detailed introduction to connected medical devices and its role in effective care delivery, an overview of network security types and PNM, an overview of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework and its application for program assessment, essentials of project management for PNM solution selection and implementation, key performance indicators for measuring a solution's ability to meet critical cybersecurity needs for medical devices, and lessons learned from the author's professional experience, selective literature review, and leading practices. Rather than describing a complete list of guidelines for selecting PNM solutions, the current work is intended to provide guidance based on the author's experience and leading practices compiled from successful medical device cybersecurity programs.

Selecting a Passive Network Monitoring Solution for Medical Device Cybersecurity Management.

The number of cyberattacks and information system breaches in healthcare have grown exponentially, as well as escalated from accidental incidents to targeted and malicious attacks. With medical devices representing a substantial repository of all the assets in a healthcare system, network security and monitoring are critical to ensuring cyber hygiene of these medical devices. Because of the unique challenges of connected medical devices, a passive network monitoring (PNM) solution is preferred for its overall cybersecurity management. This article is intended to provide guidance on selecting PNM solutions while reinforcing the importance of program assessment, project management, and use of leading practices that facilitate the selection and further implementation of PNM solutions for medical devices. The article provides a detailed introduction to connected medical devices and its role in effective care delivery, an overview of network security types and PNM, an overview of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework and its application for program assessment, essentials of project management for PNM solution selection and implementation, key performance indicators for measuring a solution's ability to meet critical cybersecurity needs for medical devices, and lessons learned from the author's professional experience, selective literature review, and leading practices. Rather than describing a complete list of guidelines for selecting PNM solutions, the current work is intended to provide guidance based on the author's experience and leading practices compiled from successful medical device cybersecurity programs.

Investigating the accessibility and impacts of cybersecurity programs on high-school girls’ long-term industry engagement

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate whether having accessible cybersecurity programs (CPs) for high-school students affected girls’ long-term engagement with the industry, given that they already had interests in technology. Although much research has been done to evaluate how high-school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs retain girls in computing fields, it is necessary to see if this same long-term engagement exists in cybersecurity-specific programs.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 55 members were surveyed from the aspirations in computing community regarding their experience in and accessibility to high-school CPs. A quantitative analysis of such responses was then undertaken using inferential statistical tools and chi-squared tests for independence.FindingsThe results showed that the existence of CPs alone are not influential factors in increasing long-term engagement with the field, showcasing that the high-knowledge barrier of CPs affects many students (even those with prior interests in technology). Instead, by having multiple occurrences of these programs and providing more cybersecurity resources to areas that lacked them, girls were more likely to report an increased interest in the field.Practical implicationsSuch information can support future program leaders to develop effective, accessible and more targeted cybersecurity initiatives for students of various communities.Originality/valueBy analyzing the unique interactions of tech-aspiring women with cybersecurity, this exploration was able to demonstrate that women of different computing experiences face a shared barrier when entering the cybersecurity field. Likewise, in comparing these perspectives across different age groups, the investigation highlighted the development and subsequent growth of cybersecurity programming over the years and why such initiatives should be supported into the future.

A Review of the Cybersecurity Programs in the United States Army

Cybersecurity is very complex, and as such, decisions regarding cybersecurity are highly intertwined with the functionality and application of systems. The threat to cybersecurity is, however, ever-evolving and decisions regarding cybersecurity, therefore, need to be made with this in mind. Cybersecurity systems, therefore, need to be tailored to individual systems, be adaptive, have the ability to evolve with the threat as well as be highly integrated with the system designs and the mission these systems support . In the military, it is critical to develop systems that maintain the expected level of confidentiality, non-repudiation, authentication, integrity, and availability that aids towards the collective goal of cybersecurity. In the military there are several stakeholders that play a key part in cybersecurity with the main ones being; the ones commanding or using the military system, the ones involved in the acquisition, life-cycle management and testing, the authorizing officials, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the intelligence and the counterintelligence officers. Accountability and control is, therefore spread out throughout the organization. This, however, leads to the blurring of roles and responsibilities. In conclusion, therefore, even though militaries exist for the purpose of combat most of the time, they operate in relatively peaceful conditions. During these peaceful times, they imagine and manufacture wartime conditions to determine their preparedness and the chances of a victory with the current conditions and resources. A communication plan approach will be able to tear down the expected natural resistance since the leaders will support the proposed changes and even devote resources to see that they are successful. The purpose of the communication plan is to, therefore, make the leaders the advocates for change. This is based on the understanding that in this environment, change is not possible without support from the leadership. Keywords: Cybersecurity, Intelligence, Communication & United States Army

The cybersecurity labour shortage in Europe: Moving to a new concept for education and training

Recruiting, retaining and maintaining sufficient numbers of cybersecurity professionals in the workplace is a constant battle, not only for the technical side of cybersecurity, but also for the overlooked area of non-technical, managerial-related jobs in the cyber sector. This paper addresses the lack of cybersecurity skills in the European labour force market and the actions taken to improve the education in cybersecurity for meeting the identified needs. The paper analyses what kind of topics are missing within the cybersecurity curricula of the high-level educational institutions in Europe and in the courses provided by the cybersecurity trainers on the market. The findings are based on the data collected by the surveys carried out by the European competence centres on cybersecurity and the European CyberSecurity organization. These findings show that there are missing topics in the context of higher education cybersecurity programmes and within the private courses offered on the market. The problem of common programme accreditation of European higher education institutes (HEI) and the competence certifications for different work profiles in the area of cybersecurity are briefly presented and discussed as well. The actions undertaken to improve the education in both sectors are presented and the emerging educational landscape is proposed based on our findings. Recommendations to the stakeholders and scholars for improving the current state of cybersecurity education and training are explained in the concluding section.

Changing the landscape of cybersecurity education in the EU: Will the new approach produce the required cybersecurity skills?

Recruiting, retaining, and maintaining sufficient numbers of cybersecurity professionals in the workplace is a constant battle, not only for the technical side of cybersecurity, but also for the overlooked area of non-technical, managerial-related jobs in the cyber sector. The problem is the lack of cybersecurity skills in the European labour force. This paper presents the results of a study carried out with the aim to identify how much the cybersecurity education system within the high-level educational institutions and the industrial sector meets the needs for graduate students to gain the required cybersecurity skills. The method applied in the study is based on data collected from surveys carried out by the European competence centres on cybersecurity and the European Cybersecurity organisation. The problem of common educational program accreditation in Europe is highlighted and discussed. The actions undertaken to improve the education in both sectors are described and the emerging educational landscape is commented. The main cybersecurity knowledge specified by the industrial needs is presented in the form of five knowledge pillars. The study’s findings show that there are missing topics in high-level institution’s cybersecurity programs and that that there is a need to re-shape the content of the courses provided by the professional education providers.

Smart city and cyber-security; technologies used, leading challenges and future recommendations

Today, some cities around the world have tended to use new technologies and become smart city. New technologies improve the quality of citizens’ life. However, the use of any technology raises new issues and challenges. In a smart city, the vulnerable action of an individual or organization can put the entire city at risk. Due to the reliance of various components of smart cities on information and communication technology, cyber-security challenges (such as information leakage and malicious cyber-attacks) in this field affect smart cities behavior. Therefore, in order to respond to the enthusiastic acceptance of global smart city technologies, cyber security must develop in same direction. The aim of this paper is survey and discus on explanation of cyber security, smart cities, and survey of available relevant literature on security in that technology. For this purpose, the present study focuses on the four main components of a smart city, i.e. smart grid, Smart building, Smart transportation system, and Smart healthcare. In particular, summary of two deep learning method and cyber-security programs as well as technology correlation in smart cities are discussed. Furthermore, effective functional solutions in maintaining cyber-security and user privacy in smart cities are explained. The next progress trends of smart city with cyber security are described. Solutions need to be devised to address each of the security issues. The research in this study showed that meeting these challenges depends on the hard work of governments, developers of equipment and software and companies providing IT security services. In addition, designing flexible systems with high information protection capabilities is essential to prevent serious security incidents as these incidents can lead to disastrous financial, data, credit and loss of public trust.

Competence in Cybercrime: A Review of Existing Laws

Transformational cyber security and training programmes are urgently required to produce individuals and workforce capable of addressing company risks posed by existing and emerging cyber threats. This paper presents a cyber security model of India and give an analytical approach to the competence with the crime, a continuous hierarchy of learning. The chapter combines the cyber-security domain, academic development, and the pyramid of learning continuum, as well as cyber-security standards from state, to create a model of cyber-security skills appropriate for people’s education and the broader workforce. This fundamental approach to building cyber skills and training programmes results in trained individuals and workers who can reduce cyber hazards in the business environment throughout the globe. In popular culture, such experts are sometimes depicted as lone hackers. Cybersecurity specialists, on the other hand, must communicate with a variety of people all of the time. They must also have a high level of personal integrity. The practise of cyber hunting is a different approach to traditional cyber security, in which technologies and human intelligence are used to discover potential threats. Using firewall, antivirus, and intrusion detection software, this strategy seeks to detect penetration and prevent hacker penetration.

An overview of current issues and practice relating to local government cyber security in England and Wales

This paper explores some of the current issues around cyber security and resilience relating to local government in England and Wales, covering the period of the current National Cyber Security Programme from 2015 to 2020. The paper outlines the structure of cyber security and resilience and explains the linkages at a regional and devolved administration level in the case of Wales and UK national level. The paper introduces the concept of a cyber asset taxonomy to quantify cyber artefacts, to aid the early warning of organisations with particular type of equipment, systems and services. There is also discussion around a volunteer-led CyberShare Node/Fusion Cell structure to aid incident response in a cost-effective way. Finally, there is a description of current research which will result in future papers.

Impact of Articulation Agreements on Student Transfer between Higher Education Institutions: A Case Study of a Cybersecurity Program

ABSTRACT Cybersecurity education has grown exponentially over the past decade. This growth occurred at all levels of education – from high schools to community colleges to four-year universities. At the same time, renewed interest in helping students transfer between higher education institutions has resulted in calls from policy makers and higher education leaders to create seamless pathways for students. Aligning cybersecurity education with changes in the transfer landscape, a case study was conducted to provide a framework for understanding how to improve services to cybersecurity transfer students. The case study involved four components: a review of articulation agreement literature, a review of processes used in the authors’ home institutions, a review of our experiences with the cybersecurity articulation agreement process, and recommendations for future articulation agreements.

Applying High Impact Practices in an Interdisciplinary Cybersecurity Program

Applying High Impact Practices in an Interdisciplinary Cybersecurity Program

Applying High Impact Practices in an Interdisciplinary Cybersecurity Program

Applying High Impact Practices in an Interdisciplinary Cybersecurity Program

Framework, Tools and Good Practices for Cybersecurity Curricula

Cybersecurity education and training are essential prerequisites of achieving a secure and privacy-friendly digital environment. Both professionals and the general public widely acknowledge the need for high-quality university education programs and professional training courses. However, guides, recommendations, practical tools, and good examples that could help institutions design appropriate cybersecurity programs are still missing. In particular, a comprehensive method to identify skills needed by cybersecurity work roles offered on the job market is missing. This paper aims to provide practical tools and strategies to help higher education providers design good cybersecurity curricula. First, we analyze the content of 89 existing study programs worldwide, collect recommendations of renowned institutions within and outside the EU, and provide a comprehensive survey accompanied by a dynamic web application called Education Map. Based on the knowledge about the current state in cybersecurity education, we design the SPARTA Cybersecurity Skills Framework that provides the currently missing link between work roles and required expertise and shows how to develop a curriculum that reflects job market requirements. Finally, we provide a practical tool that implements the framework and helps education and training providers design new study programs and analyze existing ones by considering the requirements of cybersecurity work roles.

GoSafe: On the practical characterization of the overall security posture of an organization information system using smart auditing and ranking

The lack of national security standardization bodies can have adverse impact on the adoption of international security standards and best practices. To assure security confidence among various organizations and to promote systematic adoption of standards and best standards, a practical framework that can support comparative measures is needed. . This paper presents GoSafe, a novel practical cybersecurity assessment framework that is tailored to the ISO 2700x standard requirements for the development of Information Security Management System (ISMS). GoSafe can be used for both self-assessment and auditing/scoring tool by national cybersecurity authorities. Using GoSafe, organizations can evaluate their existing information security management systems against local and international standards by utilizing built-in pre-audit tools. As such, GoSafe will help organizations evaluate and enhance their readiness for evolving risks and threats. In GoSafe framework, a novel mathematical model was also designed and implemented for the scoring/rating tool, namely, the national cyber security index (aeNCI). The aeNCI employs multiple parameters to determine the maturity of existing cybersecurity programs at national organizations and generate a classification and comparison reports. The efficacy of GoSafe proposed framework is demonstrated using a practical case study. The results enabled the stakeholder to verify the security configuration of their systems and identify potential attack/risk vectors.

Analyzing the Interplay Between Regulatory Compliance and Cybersecurity

Today, regulatory compliance is a critical component of any cyber-security program. However, although compliance is often the driver for developing or improving cyber-security, it may be incomplete as a cyber-security measure itself. The result is that even a compliant organization may have gaps in its security posture. Through an in-depth literature review, this paper investigates the complexity surrounding compliance and the factors that have an impact on the interplay between compliance and cyber-security.