What might behavioral cybersecurity training for higher education in the US look like?

The following is fictional. Assume that an executive at Big Employer, Inc., which recruits at  Lake Michigan College and other public and private universities, recently met with the leadership of Lake Michigan College  and said the following:

Problem Statement

“We have a bleeding-at-the-neck problem that I hope you can help us with. We are under daily attack from threat actors who aim to compromise the security of our networks and data. The costs of remediating the effects of these attacks are intolerable. We know that we can’t prevent all of these attacks, but we must find a way to reduce their incidence. 

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure

“We know that most of these attacks originate with behavioral breaches. Indeed, spear phishing attacks are the most common causal agent of advanced persistent threats (APTs). APTs are harmful in terms of operational costs (e.g., expenses associated with conducting forensic analyses; reconfiguring, rebuilding and re-populating databases; hiring lawyers and consultants to help us provide timely, compliant notices to our customers, etc.). But those operational costs represent only about 25% of the total costs of these breaches. That’s because strategic costs (e.g., damage to our reputation and the knock-on adverse effects on revenues and margins; higher financing costs, etc.) represent about 75% of the total costs of these breaches.

“We know that we can’t stop all APTs, but we must find a way to reallocate our cybersecurity budget to emphasize the remediation of APTs. To do that, we must find a way to reduce the incidence of behavioral breaches, so that we can spend less money there and more money on APTs. The maddening thing is that most of those behavioral breaches are predictable and—we think—preventable. You know, ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?’

Cyber Risk Ready on Day One

“A big part of the problem is that too many of our new hires are not ‘cyber-risk-ready’ on Day One. So, shame on us for not screening for that in our interviewing and recruiting process. That. Stops. Now. Henceforth, in our interviewing and recruiting practices, we will favor those candidates who can demonstrate some threshold level of cyber hygiene, and we will not interview those who candidates cannot. We assume that you at Lake Michigan College  have a program, or at least an initiative, for providing behavioral cybersecurity training to your students, right? I mean, in the UK, that’s standard at all universities, so universities in the US must have a similar initiative, right…? I’ll take your silence as a ‘no.’ This could be an opportunity for you to distinguish yourself from rival universities, yes?

Invitation to Collaborate with Lake Michigan College College of Business

“Moving on…we’d like to collaborate with you to design and develop a program by which students who wish to interview for jobs with our company (and with other companies like ours; maybe we should invite them into this collaboration?) can demonstrate—preferably with a regime of stacked certifications—that they are demonstrably cyber-risk-ready on Day One. Are you interested in such a collaboration? We hope so, which is why we’re coming to you first. But if you’re not interested, we’ll proceed down the list of the names of other universities who we think might be interested in this kind of collaboration. How do you propose we proceed?” 

 Lake Michigan College  Response and Plan for Collaboration

 Assume that the Lake Michigan College  leadership turns to the College of Business and its department of computer science and asks them to develop a response to Big Employer, Inc.’s request for a collaboration. Dr. Smith notes that the department of computer science anticipated this situation in the fall of 2019 by asking this question:

What might behavioral cybersecurity training for higher education in the US look like?

Dr. Smith observes that he worked with students to create prototype information technology (IT) artifacts as a proof-of-concept for training in behavioral cybersecurity for higher education in the

Questions

Please write an essay in which you answer the following:

1. Drawing from your work and study experience, please state three cyber hygiene requirements that you anticipate employers will look for in assessing whether a job candidate is “Cyber Risk Ready on Day One.”  Please explain why these requirements are relevant not only to employers, but also to Lake Michigan College , whose information systems you use as a student. Your reasoning should draw from the lessons in which we explored fundamentals of cybersecurity (e.g., user authentication; access control, cryptography essentials, protecting physical assets and infrastructure, risk assessment, HR security issues, legal and ethical issues). Minimum 500 words.
2. Please summarize how you would design a cybersecurity training program that would satisfy those requirements. I realize that you’re not trained in instructional design. That said, by now, you have lots of experience using technologies (e.g., Canvas and Zoom) as an online learner, and that experience has informed your views. Your answer should reflect those views. Minimum 200 words.
3. Please indicate how you could contribute to the design and development of that training program, and how doing so might advance your profile as a job candidate who is cyber-risk-ready on Day One. Minimum 300 words.

Earth and Space Exploration Question

For Those About to Rock, we Model You.This assignment is a two part assignment. You will be using your skills to create a model of the rock cycle, and then using scientific reasoning/thinking, explain how the rock you found over the weekend cycled through, visited, was influenced by, and/or experienced two other spheres, outside of the geosphere. Part 1: Create a full scale model of the Rock Cycle. You must label the following items;Thermal Convection in the MantleErosion/WeatheringDepositionHeat and PressureSedimentary RockIgneous RockMetamorphic RockArrows/indicators of how types of rock move from one to the other. See page 75 and 88 for examples. Part 2: Describe how the rock you found over the weekend experienced, changed, and/or cycled through two of Earth’s other spheres (you can not use the Geosphere). That is, explain how any of the other five spheres (Hydro, Cryo, Bio, Anthro, or Atmo) impacted the rock to shape it into the form you found it as. Note: for both parts, you may use word, powerpoint, video, verbal (with some images of your cycle), drawing, or imaging (jpeg or png) products to complete these assignments (keep it professional and school appropriate). The link attached here is to a Rock Cycle Song (do not copy this word for word, but use it as an example of how you might complete this assignment). Feel free to be creative. https://youtu.be/G7xFfezsJ1s

List one strategic objective for each performance perspective of the balanced scorecard based on the information Gunner provided.

Case 3  

1. Ch 22 discussed Budgeting which involves (1) Planning – establishing specific goals, (2) Directing – executing plans to achieve the goals, and (3) Controlling – periodically comparing actual results with the goals and use the feedback to adjust activities in the future.

Ch 23 discussed Budget Variances– is the difference between the budgeted and the actual amount. The budget variance is favorable when the actual revenue is higher than the budget or when the actual expense is less than the budget.

Complete the Personal Budget which assumes:

• CH 28 (Obj 1 through 3) discusses Creating A Balanced Scorecard

Gunner Company is a startup manufacturing firm looking to build and develop its balanced scorecard. Gunner, the company owner, has told you the following:

Our company was built on the shoulders of our hard-working, diligent employees. I believe that the heart and soul of any company is its employees. If our company is going to succeed, we need competent, passionate, and ethical employees. I also believe in being efficient. I’ve noticed that the companies that find ways to cut production costs and produce their goods faster are the ones that win in this industry.

Gunner has also told you that he is mainly focused on maintaining the customers he has rather than seeking out a lot of new ones. However, he admits that his company’s ultimate objective is increasing the bottom line.

1. List one strategic objective for each performance perspective of the balanced scorecard based on the information Gunner provided.

• For each strategic objective you came up with in , list at least one Strategic Initiative and  Performance metric (that is not given in the text)..

• CH 28 (Obj 3) Motivated Reasoning Bias and Surrogation

Biases like motivated reasoning and surrogation are very prevalent in the business world. Managers are often compensated and evaluated based on performance measures such as production costs and profit margin. Hence, when subjective decisions need to be made regarding joint cost allocation, support department cost allocation, and budgeting, managers are motivated to believe and overvalue evidence that supports their products receiving less cost allocations, more budgeting, and other favorable outcomes.

At the same time, managers will discount any evidence or reasoning that does not produce a favorable outcome for them. This is all part of the bias known as motivated reasoning. It is important to note, as well, that people exhibit the motivated reasoning bias unconsciously. In other words, people commonly overvalue favorable information and discount unfavorable information without realizing it.

Surrogation is another bias that managers frequently unintentionally exhibit. A brief example of this bias is illustrated in the following story:

The management of a restaurant chain seeking to improve customer satisfaction uses online customer reviews as a measure of this strategic objective. To encourage this objective, management offered a generous bonus to all employees at restaurant locations that increase their online customer review rating by one star. After a few months, management noticed the online customer review rating had dramatically increased at one particular location and paid out the increased bonus. Upon further investigation, management discovered that the manager of this location was offering 15% discounts on all purchases to anyone who gave the restaurant a 5-star review.

This story illustrates surrogation bias because, at that particular location, the performance measure was being treated like the strategic objective. While the performance rating improved, it was not reflective of the strategic objective it was meant to measure (customer satisfaction).

1. Provide current day examples of how these biases occur in society / personal lives today. 

• Provide 3 ideas of how you can protect yourself from falling prey to each of these biases.

• Ch 28 (Objective 4) discusses Corp Social Responsibility and Sustainability

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability describes the efforts of companies to take responsibility for the impact their operations have on society and to improve social well-being within and outside of the firm. Companies are taking a more active role in focusing and reporting on CSR. In 2011, only 20% of Fortune 500 companies issued public reports on their CSR activities. In 2012, that number increased to 53%. By 2015, over 80% of Fortune 500 companies reported on their CSR activities.

CSR activities can include far-reaching issues such as reducing global poverty and protecting the environment. They can also include more local issues, such as improving employee working conditions and sponsoring community health programs. Examples of CSR activities are provided in Exhibit 11.

Watch the 60 minutes segment and provide paragraph summary of how the company provides an example of Corp Social Responsibility and Sustainability. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/model-architecture-serving-society-60-minutes-2021-10-31/

Entrepreneurship project

The idea is a mirror that can tell news every morning

Health and medical question

Topic Questions Assigned: Role Transition

Answering the NP question is the only task

There four questions only

Wrongdoing by the fiduciaries of a corporation

The Assignment: Wrongdoing by the fiduciaries of a corporation, i.e., the directors and officers are litigated in shareholder derivative cases. That is in the U.S. In other countries, such as Germany, shareholder derivative actions cannot be legally brought against wrongdoing directors and officers. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, shareholders can only challenge director and officer actions that shareholders cannot legally ratify. On the other hand, under Japanese law, although shareholder derivative suits are legal, if the shareholders lose, the corporation can pursue the losing shareholders for damages.Assignment: (1) Research the laws/statutes/rules/court cases dealing with shareholder derivative suits of any country including the three mentioned in the narrative above; (2) In a minimum 250-word discussion, please: (a) Analyze the laws/statutes/rules/court cases you found in (1), above; and (b) Explain whether you conclude that the rules governing shareholder derivative suits in the country you have chosen has encouraged businesses to be more or less culturally responsible? Give at least one specific example.Research Information/Suggestions:Please use reliable and credible search engines (please do not use Wikipedia). This website has great information on research skills: http://lib.usfsp.edu/sb.php?subject_id=136086 (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.).I suggest using either Westlaw or Lexis-Nexis which can be found under Databases once you log into the USF Library network. Citations:You may use the APA, MLA or Turabian format. For information on how to cite your research, please visit this website: https://lib.usfsp.edu/Citations (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.).Please put your citations into your assignment. The citations do not count towards the word count. Can you do Portugal?

Management project

The final project will be on a topic of your choice related to Management. The report needs to have:

Power point presentation slides

4 page minimum report

Bibliography list of sources of information, (you must provide this list to get full credit for this report.)

Trends forecast for fashion 2021

This is for a fashion class and I will provide article:

1. After reading the InStyle article, name three changes to fashion, which we have historically seen before. After describing the changes we are seeing, give historical reference of it happening before.
2. After reading the LA Times, Harper’s Bazaar and the Refinery 29 articles, describe three trends which have been forecast for fashion in 2021, and discuss if you think it will be popular.
3. Lastly, describe how the fashion industry needs to adjust and how the consumer will likely adjust to the changing times.

The impact that the recalled product had on the company and its customers

Do research on the products company, the manufacturing process, why the recall was initiated, and if it affected the company/customer relationship. Students then conduct a root cause analysis (Fishbone, FMEA, FTA, etc) and determine how the company could have prevented the issue. Then state what the corrective action should be.

The report (in Word or Powerpoint format) must include the following information:

1. details and pictures of the recalled product

2. details of the company which supplied the recalled product

3. the impact that the recalled product had on the company and its customers

4. a summary of the root cause analysis you applied to the recall (you can be creative on this)

5. how could the company have prevented this situation from occurring before the product was released

6. what corrective action would you recommend

English essay

Causal Argument Prompt

This is it! The final paper! It’s long, and stressful, and really important. But you already know what to do. Just look in your heart, you’ll know it to be true.

In this assignment, you will write 8-12 pages on your chosen topic (more on that below). In this paper, you will construct an argument. You will argue that something is wrong (broadly defined), and how to fix it. This issue should be, in some way, local. That can be defined in a lot of ways. For example, I could write about issues in the MLA (the Modern Language Association, of which I’m I member), even though it’s an international group. Or I could write about issues in the town I live in, even if I’m not a specialist in that area. If in doubt, email me or pitch an idea in the first board!

What’s your topic? You’ve spent time in the discussion boards talking about your topics, figuring out what might work and what probably won’t. You have a bunch of great ideas – but you should choose the one that’s not only great, but also a good fit for this specific assignment. If you can’t talk about the legal ramifications of a legal opinion, for instance, do something about business instead. Or any topic – just make sure you can deal with counter-arguments, ramifications, side effects, and all that good stuff.

Remember to read the feedback you receive on your proposal boards. I’ve had students turn in papers on topics I’ve told them would not work for the assignment, and then get really bad grades, because they didn’t read the feedback.

Speaking of feedback. The Causal Argument is the only assignment you won’t get feedback on. That’s because it’s due so near the end of the semester there’s no time for it. If you want some feedback on your paper, email me after the semester ends and I’ll be happy to send you some – you know, when I don’t have to wrestle with Blackboard and Excel to get your grades in on time.

Causal problem. Your topics can and do range widely across the spectrum. Some are things we often think of when someone says the “ills of society,” like poverty, crime, and discrimination. Others are legal or medical, such as concerns over the death penalty or abortion. What must be true is that it’s capable of being argued – it’s not an argument if no one can disagree with you. Remember to make clear what is the cause of the issue you’re describing. It’s in the name: “causal argument.” You’ve got to argue what the cause of the problem is. You can’t just assume everyone knows, and you can’t just assume everyone agrees where the problem starts. You have to show your readers where it comes from.

What should we do about it? Then you have to show them what to do about it. You must provide a solution to the problem you describe. Be practical. Be pragmatic. How much will your change cost? Or who will actually do what you want? Is it possible? Is it too late? (if so, why are you writing about it?) But in some way you must offer a way to fix the problem you’ve pointed out. It’s not very helpful to simply point out a problem and shrug your shoulders, saying (we would assume), “someone else can fix it.” Why not you? At least point the way. What should be done? And who should do it?

Remember that you have to use quality sources and arguments. For example, religious documents aren’t considered quality sources unless you’re making an argument inside that religious organization. You can’t guarantee your readers will be members of precisely the right religion, unless you’re writing inside that organization. Then you totally can assume that.

Consider your audience carefully. If you’re arguing a business should change its practices, your audience isn’t its customers – it’s the business itself. But if you’re arguing people should boycott a business, then the customers are your audience. It can be tricky to define an audience, but you’ll want to do so before you begin writing.

You must cite at least 8 sources in your paper, with a title page, an abstract, and an APA reference page attached (that do not count toward the length minimum requirement).