Module 3:
Cyber Pyschology

This module introduces the growing field of study of cyber psychology: a branch of psychology focused on how thought and behaviour are affected by technology and the internet. Advances in technology are happening quickly and cyber psychology investigates how we’re adapting mentally and emotionally to our ever-changing world.

How social media affects our ability to connect online and offline; how the volume of pictures and videos shared affects our confidence and self-esteem; how human beings treat each other when a veil of anonymity is available, all form part of this massive subject that extends as far as the darkest corners of the web.

Cyber psychologists have reported that sometimes we fall for things online that we are more suspicious of in the real world. Whether this is because we expect technology to ‘just work’ or whether we question things less rigorously during screen-time remains to be seen. What isn’t in doubt is that our interactions with devices are changing our inner and outer worlds.

Advertisers have long relied on psychology in their quest to sell to us. We now find illegal hackers utilising the same valuable intelligence; using well tested emotional manipulation techniques such as urgency, fear, curiosity, exclusivity or, perhaps the most powerful of all, the desire for free stuff, to get us to do what they want. The fastest way to get hold of personal data is not to hack the individual.

Phishing may be the most common attack vector (method of attack). Indeed, depending on your email junk/spam filter, your inbox may be full of communications from banks, social networks, gyms, holiday and technology companies, all claiming to be important and requiring urgent attention and looking variously authentic. The only special offer they’ll deliver is an installation of dangerous malware onto your device.

By learning how cyber psychology is used to trick us online, we become more aware, intelligent and cautious. Let’s get positively paranoid.