Cybersecurity Professional Career Paper
Introduction
Cybersecurity is a brood profession that practices the defense of online outlets: computers, mobile phones, electronic systems, networks, and data, from malicious individuals who seek harm. (Kaspersky, 2026). It is a multinetwork job that tries to promote confidentiality and trust when on a digital plane. Undeniably, it is especially important in today’s current world, as everything is becoming digitalized. There are many reasons why cybersecurity is particularly important in the modern world. For example, the healthcare industry, this industry has some of the most vulnerable information on individuals out there; as a result, it is imperative that they have secure cyber polices. Additionally, cybersecurity does not have to be only for corporations. To expand, it can be used for personal reasons. It is undeniable that as more people digitalize their lives, there is more risk of being digitally compromised. Because of this, the penetration tester career path within cybersecurity is essential.
Social Science Principles
Social science principles can help to understand why people commit cybercrime and how they end up becoming cybercriminals. For example, the psychological theories we discussed in class, which introduced ideas of why people did what they did. For instance, the psychodynamic theory that suggests earlier childhood experiences can shape people; can be used to help understand what instances can create a cybercriminal. Additionally, there is the objectivity principle, which can be used to determine punishments for committing a cyber offense. All seven social science principles are integrated within cybersecurity practices. They are used in many ways: policy making, research, team collaboration and more. Parsimony is especially essential when it comes to developing strategies, as it is important to convey that to employees in the best coherent way possible. In relation to penetration testers, objectivity is the most important, as you have no personal feelings and no bias and are trying to hack for the sake of security.
Application of Key Concepts
A penetration tester is something that we went over in class, it is an induvial who evaluates peoples cyber defense to make sure it is safe and secure. Undoubtedly, one of the biggest concepts used is human factors. Human factors are important within the cybersecurity realm because we must inform people of risks and create things that have a better chance of communicating . Furthermore, it is important to consider human factors when creating policy for workplace employees, as these individuals are being trained in proper security. For example, some useful tips from Kaspersky suggest that individuals should use strong passwords, use anti-virus software and avoid using unsecure WIFI’s in public (Kaspersky, 2026)
Marginalization
There is heavy marginalization when it comes to being able to access the digital plane. For example, poorer countries may not be able to access the internet or anything, as they do not have the infrastructure to do that – yet. Additionally, there are certain groups of people that are more vulnerable to attacks then others, children, and elderly. Elderly people being targeted for attacks has been on ongoing stereotype within every society with access to internet. Most individuals who seek harm, especially though phishing and things related, often target the elderly, as they do not understand the potential threats. Thankfully, certain cybersecurity principles created can help levitate the stress and chances of it happening. To elaborate, the introduction of MFA, which helps them be more secure and think, and the introduction of alerts that state “potential scam.” For instance, there was a study conducted in 2024 by Jemima Robinson and Matthew Edwards that aimed to find out who fraudsters target using personality scripts. The research concluded that fraudsters were most likely to go to elderly individuals, but elderly woman (Robinson & Edwards, 2024).
Career Connection to Society
Cybersecurity professionals contribute a lot towards the safety of everyone in the digital space. These professionals make sure everything is safe and suitable for users to be safe from malicious attackers. They are a necessity in every field, but are mandatory in some – financial sector, healthcare and more. Undoubtedly, when someone joins a bank, they want the bank to be secure, they want to believe that the bank will not get hacked and they will not lose their money. As a result, these sectors having a secure network is imperative. Penetration testers are important as they are actively seeking a flaw in a system, which helps these companies find issues before other malicious people do. Public policies are also deeply rooted within cybersecurity. For example, the national cybersecurity strategy in 2023 that shifted responsibility for long term security from the individuals to organizations. Additionally, cybersecurity can contribute to studies that help us. For instance, a study showed that improper resource control was more likely to be spotted and fixed than proper resource control (Meyers, 2022).
Conclusion
Cybersecurity is an expanding market that is going to play a crucial role in the upcoming years, as everything progressively turns digital. Penetration testers are a unique field within cybersecurity that often companies hire individuals to find errors in their defense. Unfortunately, as everything progresses digitally, there are some that succumb to being more at risk – elderly people. Thankfully, through efforts from cybersecurity professionals and other people in different fields, we use principles such as humans’ factors to help these individuals; and create a safer digital space for everyone.
References
Meyers, Benjamin S, et al. “Examining Penetration Tester Behavior in the Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition.” ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology [New York, NY], vol. 31, no. 3, no. 55, July 2022, https://doi.org/10.1145/3514040.
Robinson, Jemima, and Matthew Edwards. “Fraudsters Target the Elderly: Behavioral Evidence from Randomized Controlled Scam-Baiting Experiments.” Security Journal [London], vol. 37, no. 4, December 2024, pp. 1173–96, https://doi.org/10.1057/s41284-023-00410-4.
“What Is Cybersecurity?” /, Kaspersky, 24 Mar. 2026, www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/what-is-cyber-security.