Credits: 5EC
Motivation: Many problems related to cyber security are not technical in nature, but are studied by researchers from the social sciences and law. For example phishing occurs because most people are easy targets, whereas the costs benefit ratio for the offenders is attractive, and the law has significant difficulty in dealing with the transnational issues.
Synopsis: Cyber-crime science is a multidisciplinary approach towards studying, designing and implementing cyber crime prevention approaches. The course focuses on the context of crime and not on the criminal. Cyber security offers techniques for implementing cyber crime prevention, but the focus of this course is on the psychological and economical aspects.
Aim: To place Cyber Security in the broader context of:
- Criminology, because the failures of cyber security may lead to cyber crime;
- Psychology, because life in cyber space is sufficiently different from real life
- Law, because the transnational character of the Internet poses serious challenges for the law;
Learning outcomes: The student will acquire:
- A good understanding of the theoretical principles of crime science
- A good understanding of the psychological issues of cyber security
- An appreciation of the whole spectrum of different cyber crimes
- Skills necessary to research cyber crime prevention measures
Lecturers: Dr. Rolf van Wegberg (TUD)
Examination: A team of three students writes a research proposal, performs the research, writes and presents a 6-page paper, and peer reviews papers by other students.
Contents: Social Science Research Methods (Theory, Hypothesis, Data collection, Experimental Design, Causality versus Correlation, Validity, Randomized Controlled Trial, Replication, Units of Analysis, Variables, SPSS), Social Engineering (Principles of Persuasion, Judgement and Decision making, Behavioural Economics), Crime Science (Origins of Crime, Rational Choice, Routine Activities, Self report studies, Victimization studies, Police records, Technical Sensors, Meta studies), Situational Crime Prevention (Opportunity Theory, Five Principles, Crime Triangle, Displacement, Diffusion of benefits), Cyber-crime (Computer assisted, integrity, and content crime, Case studies), Cyber-crime Modus Operandi (Crime Scripts, Technology affects Crime), How to write a research proposal, Ethical issues (Principles, Practice), How to write and review a paper.
Core text: A. Bhattacherjee. Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices. University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, 2012. link
Published papers originating from student projects:
- Lastdrager, E. E. H., Carvajal Gallardo, I. R., Hartel, P. H. & Junger, M. (2017) How effective is anti-phishing training for children? (Distinguished Paper Award) In 13th Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS). Berkeley: USENIX association, p. 229-239. link
- Stottelaar, B., Senden, J., & Horn-Montoya Morales, A. L. D. J. (2014). Online social sports networks as crime facilitators. 3(8), 1-20. DOI: 10.1186/s40163-014-0008-z link
Duration: Semester. The tele-lectures take place in Q3 and students execute their research projects in Q4. A half-day conference in Twente concludes the course. All students are expected to travel to Twente to present their papers.