The Psychology of Cybersecurity: Hacking and the Human Mind

by Tarnveer Singh, Sarah Y. Zheng

Overview

This book takes a fresh look at the underappreciated role of human psychology in cybersecurity and information technology management. It discusses the latest insights from practice and scholarly work on the role of cognitive bias and human factors in critical decisions that could affect the lives of many people.

Written by an experienced chief information security officer (CISO) and an academic with over two decades of lived experience dealing with cybersecurity risks, this book considers the psychological drivers and pitfalls of the four key personas in cybersecurity – from hackers and defenders, to targeted individuals and organisational leaders. It bridges state-of-the-art research findings with real-world examples and case studies to show how understanding the psychological factors in cybersecurity can help people protect themselves and their organisations better.

Full of advice on security best practices that consider the human element of cybersecurity, this book will be of great interest to professionals and managers in the cybersecurity domain, information technology, and governance and risk management. It will also be relevant to students and those aspiring to grow in this field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781041005711
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/29/2025
Series:	Current Issues in Cyberpsychology
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Tarnveer Singh is an award‑winning Chief Information Security Officer with decades of security experience across a wide range of sectors. He is Director (Security and Compliance) at Cyber Wisdom Ltd, an Information Security and Compliance Consultancy, helping clients to address security threats affecting their business. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Information Security and a Chartered IT Professional with the British Computer Society.

Sarah Y. Zheng, PhD, is a neuropsychologist investigating emerging crime and security risks from technological advances. Through her research, she helps organisations become more resilient to phishing attacks and improve people’s awareness of new (cyber)security threats. Before returning to academia, she developed AI applications and worked in data science for financial, retail, and government institutes. With her unique understanding of both people and technology, her mission is to protect the human element in technology.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Part 1: Enter the world of cybercrime

Chapter 1: Most cybercriminals are made, not born

Chapter 2: Hackers: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Hacktivism

Once a hacker, always a hacker?

Notorious hackers

Interviews with real-life cybercriminals

Chapter 3: How an attack is devised

Selecting targets

Skills that make attacks succeed

Social engineering attacks: hacking people’s minds

Ransomware attacks

Exploiting misconfigurations

Chapter 4: Special cases

Insider threats

The impact of insider threats

Whistleblowers

Third party and supply chain risks

Impact of cyber-attacks on trust

Part 2: Inside the line of defence

Chapter 5: Operational cybersecurity context

Pressures of the job

Cybersecurity needs diversity

Why work in cybersecurity

Chapter 6: Human fallacies and how to overcome them

Biases affecting threat analysis

Biases affecting risk management

Chapter 7: Operational resilience

People

Processes

Technology

Business continuity

Chapter 8: Organisational psychology

Chapter 9: Improving organisational cybersecurity

Good governance

Better training and education

Security by design

Organisational cybersecurity culture

Cybersecurity champions

Nudge programs

Situational crime prevention

Part 3: The target´s perspective

Chapter 10: Psychology applied in cybersecurity

Opening the black box

Brains: natural prediction machines

Chapter 11: How we take the bait

Technical people have human brains too

Know yourself to protect yourself

Part 4: The Psychology of a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Chapter 12: Responsibilities of a CISO

The SECCRRT to effective CISOs

Leading the psychology and cybersecurity integration

Shaping the organisation´s psychological security posture

Getting security buy-in across the board

Chapter 13: Psychological toll on CISOs

Managing risk

Managing the executive team

Overcoming stress and building resilience

Chapter 14: Concluding remarks

Glossary