Cyberpsychology? What is it?
Disclaimer
Please note that I am not qualified within Cyberpsychology, nor do I have any experience, however I have found the area fascinating and decided to write this.
What is it?
Cyberpsychology is the study of people’s interactions and emotions with digital devices and others within cyberspace. This field is relatively new and constantly evolving with technology.
How did it start?
Cyberpsychology started in the 1990s but quickly gained relevance during the 2000s with the rise of social media platforms and the involvement of technology in our everyday lives. Over the past several years, the area has grown in popularity.
What does a Cybersociologist do?
A Cybersociologist specialises in the study of humans in the context of digital technology. This role can involve combining various fields such as computer science and forensics. Typically, Cybersociologists work within universities and can also be seen working for government agencies such as Europol.
The private sector also employs Cybersociologists, an example of this could be to increase social media effectiveness for an organisation.
Key areas?
There are multiple areas within Cyberpsychology, some of these include:
Online Identification and Behaviour – This area is where Cybersociologists explore how people create and manage their online identities and the psychological significance behind them. This includes analysing how people act more harmful online and take higher levels of risk when they have anonymity.
Social Media Behaviour – This area researches the impact of social media on our mental health and well-being. This could can include research into how individuals suffer more negative mental wellbeing after longer term use of the internet.
Cyberbullying and Online Harassment – This is the study of the causes and issues that arise from cyberbullying, this field of study intends to offer insights into harassers and apply intervention strategies.
Online relationships – Cybersociologists analyse human relationships online which were developed virtually. This area conducts the comparison between virtual and real-world interactions, with the associated benefits and negatives.
Cyberpsychology within Cyber Security
How many times have you read about organisations being compromised through social engineering attacks? Too many to count?
Threat actors exploit psychological principles in social engineering attacks. For example, they use scarcity (“Act within 5 minutes!”) in phishing emails, or impersonate authority figures within organisations to manipulate victims. All these methods take advantage of our built in human emotions.
Training is one the most effective and cost-effective method to battle this, the involvement of Cybersociologists within our organisations can reduce cyber incidents and provide effective training in potential victims recognising the weaponisation of psychological factors in attacks.
Final thoughts
Overall, personally, I find Cyberpsychology an interesting field it can have a positive impact on organisations to factor into training to potentially reducing cyber incidents. I feel with the development of AI and virtual reality, Cyberpsychology roles and implications will increase.
Shout out!!!
A massive thank you to Sharan Kauldhar A second-year BSc (Hons) Cyberpsychology student at Bournemouth University. She helped me write this article and ensured I wasn’t chatting rubbish.
I highly recommend you check out her LinkedIn account as she has amazing knowledge about the area. Thanks for your time!