Colorado Technical University Cybersecurity Design Application Paper
Assignment DescriptionDeveloping a research plan and executing it in its entirety is a long and comprehensive process, but you have learned all of the necessary fundamentals for this during this term. Last week, your assignment was to produce a number of elements plus an outline in preparation for delivering a research plan. You were to locate and review at least 3 external sources, craft research question(s), create one or more hypotheses, determine what research approach and methods you would employ, and forecast what form your research and findings would be in at the end of your study. You submitted this last week and should have received a critiqued version from the instructor.Assignment GuidelinesRevise your Week 4 Key Assignment according to instructor and peer feedback.Next, address the following for your final Key Assignment draft:Final Key Assignment DraftFor your final assignment, you will use the research plan outline you developed last week. Assemble all of the components, and using the tenets you learned this week for writing a refined and integrated paper, write your complete research plan in narrative style. This final product should be at least 1,500–1,750 words. In your narrative at a minimum, you should do the following:Seamlessly integrate all elements of the research plan.Extensively review the external resources you selected, and identify their relevance for studying your topic.Explain in detail the quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods you plan to employ and what findings you expect these to produce (the type not the specific results). Cybersecurity Outline Week - 4 key assignment outline and paper below that need to be revised and addressed per the assignment's description or details above.Introduction Reasons for studying cybersecurityProblem to evaluate in cybersecurity Importance of cybersecurity research results to policymakers and social science Literature Review Summary of three external sourcesWhat exist in the sources?What does not exist in the sources?Research QuestionsWhat are the possible threats to cybersecurity?What is the vulnerability that might lead to cybercrime?What is the importance of cybersecurity?What are the reasons why cybersecurity is challenging to implement?Explanation of the questions Research HypothesesOperations of the variable usedExplanation of the variables used Research approach The research will use qualitative approach Population parameters How findings will be extended from this population to a larger oneResearch instruments Outline of conducting study Forms of data collections methodsExplanation of the expected findingsForms of data outputProcess for data interpretation and findings Paper:Topic: Cybersecurity Introduction The topic chosen from homeland security is cybersecurity. It should be studied to teach people how to protect networks, data, and computer systems from cyber-attacks. Cyber-attacks affect essential government services, individual operations, and private companies' operations by stealing information and money and destroying and disrupting a computer and network system (homeland security, nd). As such, studying cybersecurity will help individuals, companies, and the government as a whole. The underlying problem to evaluate is the threats and vulnerabilities that exist, giving cyber-attackers a loophole to steal information and money. The study will also assess the impact of cybersecurity on computer systems, networks, and data protection and its importance to government, individuals, and businesses. The results of this study will matter to the policymakers to help them make policies against cybercrime and teach government, individuals, and companies the importance of cybersecurity. Literature Review Moore, M. (nd). Top Cybersecurity Threats in 2020. The University of San Diego. Retrieved from https://onlinedegrees.sandiego.edu/top-cyber-security-threats/ This study looks at cybersecurity threats used by various attackers to steal information and money. According to the article, some acts of cyber attackers include distortion, disruption, and deterioration. Some threats given by the article include phishing attack where attackers attack messages sent to people, making them install some apps which has malware. The second threat is ransomware attacks where attackers steal and hold a company's information and ask them to pay before giving them back. Also, there are cyber-physical attacks where attackers affect systems either for the government or individuals. There are state-sponsored attacks where various institutions use their computers to attack government systems to steal or erase information. Others include social engineering and crypto-jacking. Although the article has exploited the various threats, it has not given the solution or reason why cybersecurity is a challenge to implement. Glenn, C., Sterbentz, D., & Wright, A. (2016). Cyber threat and vulnerability analysis of the US electric sector (No. INL/EXT-16-40692). Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States). Vulnerabilities are loopholes that give cyber-attackers a chance to exploit the computer or network system without permission. The article presents various vulnerabilities. One vulnerability identified is a network that has unprotected wireless connection and poorly or misconfigured firewalls. The second one is open system vulnerabilities that include backdoor programs and default superuser accounts.Also, a human vulnerability that contains users' errors might lead to loss of information into the hands of cyber-criminals. Also, the vulnerability can be experienced through process control where systems have a weak network that can easily be identified by the attackers. The article has exhaustively addressed vulnerabilities and also provided reasons why cybersecurity is challenging to implement. However, it has not given the importance of cybersecurity to governments, individuals, and companies. Hartrup, A. (July 20, 2018). Why the government needs to be a leader in cybersecurity for a digital world. Open Access Government. Retrieved from https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/why-the-government-needs-to-be-a-leader-in-cyber-security-for-a-digital-world/47993/ The article addresses why the government should embrace cybersecurity to protect its data and network. According to the report, the digital era is where all information and significant operations within the country are conducted. As such, the government should protect its systems against cybercrime acts. Secure data can be obtained through the promotion of cybersecurity. The article highlights that promoting cybersecurity requires the government to know the vulnerabilities and thereat that exist. The government must also stay tune to the current trends in cybersecurity since the cybercrime actions change regularly. Other information that exists in the article is how various governments use technology to stop the acts of cyber-criminals. Although there is enough information surrounding cybersecurity in the article, it has failed to address why cybersecurity is a challenge to implement. Research Questions What are the possible threats to cybersecurity? What is the vulnerability that might lead to cybercrime? What is the importance of cybersecurity? What are the reasons why cybersecurity is challenging to implement? These research questions aim at addressing the objectives of the study. Assessment of the possible threats and vulnerabilities will help in giving insights on what to study. Also, the government and other people using the internet should know the importance of cybersecurity and why it hard to implement it. Generally, these questions help in giving directions on what should be assessed and the scope of the homeland security work. Hypotheses Cybersecurity is of great importance to the government, individuals, and companies. Much information and money are lost to the cyber-criminals. This is because of vulnerabilities that the cyber-attackers use to gain access to the data. Various threats are used by the cyber-criminals that make them gain access to information and hold them for a ransom. The data can be sold to people who might destroy the system's functioning or distort given information of their interest. It might be hard to implement cybersecurity, perhaps because of the few cyber personnel who might fight the act of cyber-criminals. Approach for Studying the Topic The method that I will use for this study is qualitative. This is because of a small sample of data needed. It will be done by researching various articles and document review. The article that will be used will represent the findings of the entire population. It is hard to collect data from all documents talking about cybersecurity. Therefore, a few selected articles and documents, and interviews of selected people will be done through audio recording. The research instruments that will be used are document review and audio recording of experts using a semi-structured interview. This is because of the qualitative method that does not require much information. Also, due to the COVID19 pandemic, it will be hard to interview people face-to-face. Therefore, interviews will be conducted through tele-interview. The population for the study will be experts in cybersecurity issues. The study will be conducted for 15 days of the working days. This will take five days from Monday to Friday every week. As such, it will require three weeks for the collection of data. After data collection, analysis, and presentation of data will take one week doing the entire research to take one month. Expected Findings My data output will be in the form of tables and frequency to assess the extent to which cybercrimes have affected the government and computer operations. The table will help in representing the views of various respondents and knowing the percentages who agree and disagree with the interview questions. Pie charts will also be used to determine the percentages of the people who responded to interview questions. Using tables will help people to know the trends in cybercrimes and its effects on the various systems. Semi-structured interview results will be presented in the form of pie charts to ensure that percentages are evaluated for correct findings. The audio recording will be played regularly while being copied on a paper to assess the results quickly. The interpretation and reporting of the findings will be based on the types of data collection methods used. Since the research approach was qualitative, the analysis of the data will be made through descriptions and narratives. This will be done through the help of SPSS packages. The interpretation will be based on the number of respondents who participated in the research. While findings percentages, the number who agreed on a specific interview question will be expressed as a percentage of the entire population, who participated in the study.Using respondents will ensure that the research is generalized for the whole of the population. Presenting data into bar graphs, pie charts, and tables ensure that the data collected is made easy and less bulky for summary purposes. References Cybersecurity. (Nd). Homeland Security. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/topic/cybersecurity# Glenn, C., Sterbentz, D., & Wright, A. (2016). Cyber threat and vulnerability analysis of the US electric sector (No. INL/EXT-16-40692). Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States). Hartrup, A. (July 20, 2018). Why the government needs to be a leader in cybersecurity for a digital world. Open Access Government. Retrieved from https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/why-the-government-needs-to-be-a-leader-in-cyber-security-for-a-digital-world/47993/ Moore, M. (nd). Top Cybersecurity Threats in 2020. The University of San Diego. Retrieved from https://onlinedegrees.sandiego.edu/top-cyber-security-threats/