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Cyber Security Must Focus on Users, Not Just Attackers


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Credit: leisurespecial.com

Cybersecurity measures must aim at users, not just attackers, according to researchers at the University of Maryland, College Park's Maryland Cybersecurity Center.

The researchers are applying criminological concepts and research methods to cybercrime research, producing recommendations for information technology managers to use in preventing cyberattacks.

The researchers, led by professors Michel Cukier and David Maimon, are studying cyberattacks from the viewpoint of both the user and the attacker. "We believe that criminological insights in the study of cybercrime are important, since they may support the development of concrete security policies that consider not only the technical element of cybercrime but also the human component," Maimon says.

The research found that "computer-focused crimes are more frequent during times of day that computer users are using their networked computers to engage in their daily working and studying routines," Maimon says.

Increasing education and awareness of the risk involved with computer-assisted and focused crimes could prevent future attacks, according to the researchers. In addition, they say new defense strategies should rely on predictions regarding the sources of attacks, based on the network users' social background and online patterns.

From Tech Journal South
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Abstracts Copyright © 2011 Information Inc. External Link, Bethesda, Maryland, USA 


 

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