KV5045 - Human Factors in Cyber Security

Lectures will be used to introduce the different topics to be covered through case studies and theories. The practical sessions will teach you the hands-on skills to plan and deliver your project through completing exercises every week. You will be required to conduct work outside of the taught sessions, including some data collection from participants, data analysis, and some report writing.

You will be supported by lecturers during the timetabled sessions when you will receive feedback on your work. The University’s eLearning Portal offers remote access to all lecture and seminar materials to reinforce your learning. In addition, the University Library offers support for all students through providing electronic resources

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge & Understanding:
MLO1: Identify, and design for, usability factors in security systems, ensuring that security solutions that are deployed are holistic, inclusive and fit for purpose.
MLO2: Identify the most common cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities encountered by organisations and individuals and develop an understanding of technologies and methods to protect users against these threats and vulnerabilities.

Intellectual / Professional Skills & Abilities:
MLO3: Evaluate a wide range of online behaviours in terms of their security and ethical impacts and consider what might be the most ethical and professional response to such situations.
MLO4: Develop practical research skills for rigorously evaluating the impact of technology on users.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
MLO5: Reflect and make judgments on your own learning and professional development and contribute to helping your peers do the same.

The assessment will take the form of a research project culminating in an academic paper and presentation. You will evaluate existing security technologies with users to better understand the role of humans in cybersecurity (MLO1). After conducting the experiments (MLO1 & MLO4) and evaluating the results (MLO2), you will deliver a conference-style presentation summarising your methodology and findings (MLO3). Following the presentation, you will be asked questions by the tutors and your peers to ensure you can reflect on the process and that you have understood the importance of your design decisions (MLO 5).

You will benefit from a sharing sessions where all students will share their proposed methodologies for their projects for feedback from peers and the tutor. You will then be able to use this formative feedback to improve your work before submission.

Feedback will be given both in written form (electronically) and spoken – this could be in a class scenario or as pre-recorded audio feedback, as well as individual written feedback.

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Information security is a complex problem that is made worse by the need to protect against adaptive human attackers. Technical security is now very good, resulting in attackers increasingly targeting users instead of the technical security systems. This is illustrated by the fact that the main cause for security breaches in the past few years has been human factors, thus illustrating the importance of holistic security measures. The module will be enriched by cutting edge research in the area guiding your practical skill development. This module will introduce you to the core concepts of human-centred security, ethics, and professionalism while helping you build and design better holistic security systems by considering both technical and human requirements.