Cybersecurity in Humanities and Social Sciences

1The “Science” of Cybersecurity in the Human and Social Sciences: Issues and Reflections

The scientificity of cybersecurity studies is yet to be demonstrated in the humanities and social sciences. Among the plethora of cybersecurity research, few studies are devoted to the methodological and scientific problems of this emerging knowledge. Indeed, from an epistemological point of view, cybersecurity studies require a methodological critique to improve their scientificity and credibility in relation to computer science and engineering. In this chapter, research methods, access to data and the contributions of the human and social sciences to cybersecurity studies are assessed. The objective of this chapter is to lay the epistemological foundations for an operationalizable definition of cybersecurity for the human and social sciences.

1.1. Introduction

How can human and social sciences (HSS) studies in cybersecurity claim to be scientific? Several answers to this question come to mind, and based on these, it is necessary to clarify the debate through an epistemological approach to the contribution of HSS to cybersecurity studies, particularly in terms of methodology, all within the framework of the empirical–analytical paradigm and post-positivism, both of which are currently dominant in science.

Indeed, according to the principles of the scientific method advocated by these paradigms, it is the method used that distinguishes science from non-science [NØR 08]. In order to make ...