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Understanding the Interconnectedness of the 7 Core Themes of Cybersecurity Science

 Cybersecurity is a complex field that requires a holistic approach to ensure the security of our digital world. To address this complexity, cybersecurity science has been established as a field that applies scientific principles to cybersecurity. This approach provides a systematic and rigorous approach to cybersecurity that is based on evidence and knowledge.


The 7 core themes of cybersecurity science are foundational to this systematic approach. These themes are interrelated in several ways, and understanding the relationships between them is crucial to understanding cybersecurity science. In this article, we will introduce and explain the 7 core themes of cybersecurity science and how they are interrelated.

Common Language

The common language theme is foundational to cybersecurity science, as it drives requirements for language in all other themes. This theme seeks to establish a common language to express the security aspects of system architecture, visualization techniques to describe the output from risk assessments, and a language to express core principles such as trust relocation. The common language theme ensures that all other themes are based on a consistent understanding of the language used.

Core Principles

The core principles theme seeks to establish precise and consistent definitions of security concepts. This theme is related to the attack analysis theme, as it seeks to understand the implications of security principles in direct conflict with other design principles. The core principles theme is important in ensuring that security concepts are well defined and understood, enabling better-informed decisions.

Attack Analysis

The attack analysis theme seeks to inform security from an attacker's perspective. This theme is related to the core principles theme, as it seeks to understand the implications of security principles in direct conflict with other design principles. The attack analysis theme is also related to the measurable security theme, as it seeks to justify security investment and carry out trade-offs between different security options.

Measurable Security

The measurable security theme seeks to explore techniques to measure security and develop the economic model. This theme is related to the attack analysis theme, as it seeks to justify security investment and carry out trade-offs between different security options. The measurable security theme is also related to the risk theme, as it seeks to carry out trade-offs between security, usability, functionality, and cost to enable better-informed investment decisions.

Risk

The risk theme seeks to improve the quality and consistency of risk assessment. This theme is related to the measurable security theme, as it seeks to carry out trade-offs between security, usability, functionality, and cost to enable better-informed investment decisions. The risk theme is also related to the agility theme, as it seeks to assess the level of variability in risk decision-making and to determine the underlying rationale.

Agility

The agility theme seeks to respond to an evolving threat landscape and rapidly evolving technology. This theme is related to the risk theme, as it seeks to assess the level of variability in risk decision-making and to determine the underlying rationale. The agility theme is also related to the human factors theme, as it seeks to detect and respond to attacks on our systems in real-time.

Human Factors

The human factors theme seeks to address issues such as how to make the intangible benefits of cybersecurity visible, how to secure the optimum psychological contract for user compliance, and how the communication method affects subsequent attitude to risk. This theme is related to the agility theme, as it seeks to detect and respond to attacks on our systems in real-time. The human factors theme also includes usability issues, particularly in designing security so it incentivizes secure behavior.

In summary, the 7 core themes of cybersecurity science are interconnected and mutually inform and benefit each other. They are all important in understanding and addressing various aspects of cybersecurity, and each theme is driven by the requirements of the other themes.

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