Exploring the Nexus: Forensic Psychology Meets Cybersecurity
by Aditya Pyakurel
The field of cybersecurity and forensic psychology is not so new in this modern world, yet it is unexplored by the new learners. Forensic psychology is the branch of both psychology and forensics that deals with applied psychological principles in the context of legal and criminal issues in our justice system. In simple terms, forensic psychology is somewhat like detectives in crime thriller movies solving various serious crimes by analyzing crime and criminal behaviors and patterns. On the other hand, cybersecurity is the practice of protecting computers, networks, and information from being damaged, manipulated, and misused.
As per the space transaction theory (Professor K Jaishankar 2008), the people are moving from one space to another, which means moving from physical space to digital space, and are more likely to commit cybercrime, which they may or may not commit in physical space. As anonymity is more in the digital space than in the physical space, now fraudsters and criminals prefer online mode to commit crimes.
The human is considered to be more vulnerable than the physical devices (computers, servers, networks, etc.) because the physical or manmade devices can be protected by various tools and techniques, but the human is vulnerable by their behavior and actions by themselves. The connection between forensic psychology and cybercrime is in profiling offenders using digital forensic techniques. Digital footprinting can be done to do the behavioral analysis of the suspect or the offender; digital evidence can be used as evidence in legal cases; digital footprinting can be used to determine communication patterns, etc.
Relationships of professionals like forensic psychologists and cybersecurity experts can play a significant role in mitigating cybercrimes, which is the serious problem of upcoming times. Cybersecurity is not only about the technology or systems; it’s also about the people who use it. Joining hands together, cybercrime can be pre-detected and neutralized before it can cause harm in any form. User awareness training about both the behavior threat and the cyber threat can be used.
In conclusion, the intersection of forensic psychology and cybersecurity can be beneficial in various ways. It can be beneficial in understanding the criminal behavior in the digital world, can be beneficial in mitigating cybercrimes, can be beneficial in policy making, can be beneficial in understanding the human mind in interaction with the digital world, can be beneficial in doing further research, etc.
