Risk Psychology & Cyber-Attack Tactics
Fuente:
arXiv
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | Preprint |
| Publicado: |
2025
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | |
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| _version_ | 1866911283812499456 |
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| author | Kim, Rubens Carney, Stephan Fonken, Yvonne Hans, Soham Hirschmann, Sofia Marsella, Stacy Wu, Peggy Gurney, Nikolos |
| author_facet | Kim, Rubens Carney, Stephan Fonken, Yvonne Hans, Soham Hirschmann, Sofia Marsella, Stacy Wu, Peggy Gurney, Nikolos |
| contents | We examine whether measured cognitive processes predict cyber-attack behavior. We analyzed data that included psychometric scale responses and labeled attack behaviors from cybersecurity professionals who conducted red-team operations against a simulated enterprise network. We employed multilevel mixed-effects Poisson regression with technique counts nested within participants to test whether cognitive processes predicted technique-specific usage. The scales significantly predicted technique use, but effects varied by technique rather than operating uniformly. Neither expertise level nor experimental treatment condition significantly predicted technique patterns, indicating that cognitive processes may be stronger drivers of technique selection than training or experience. These findings demonstrate that individual cognitive differences shape cyber-attack behavior and support the development of psychology-informed defense strategies. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_20657 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Risk Psychology & Cyber-Attack Tactics Kim, Rubens Carney, Stephan Fonken, Yvonne Hans, Soham Hirschmann, Sofia Marsella, Stacy Wu, Peggy Gurney, Nikolos Cryptography and Security Human-Computer Interaction We examine whether measured cognitive processes predict cyber-attack behavior. We analyzed data that included psychometric scale responses and labeled attack behaviors from cybersecurity professionals who conducted red-team operations against a simulated enterprise network. We employed multilevel mixed-effects Poisson regression with technique counts nested within participants to test whether cognitive processes predicted technique-specific usage. The scales significantly predicted technique use, but effects varied by technique rather than operating uniformly. Neither expertise level nor experimental treatment condition significantly predicted technique patterns, indicating that cognitive processes may be stronger drivers of technique selection than training or experience. These findings demonstrate that individual cognitive differences shape cyber-attack behavior and support the development of psychology-informed defense strategies. |
| title | Risk Psychology & Cyber-Attack Tactics |
| topic | Cryptography and Security Human-Computer Interaction |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.20657 |