How to Learn Cybersecurity
Short answer: apply the high levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy
Cognitive psychology is the study of how humans process information such as attention, learning, memory, perception, problem solving, and reasoning. Not only does cognitive psychology apply to learning, but all aspects of cybersecurity from behavior to biometrics to social engineering. It is about making sense of human behavior. Does this sound like Artificial Intelligence? Well, cognitive psychology and brain science are the foundations of AI.
In this article and future articles, we will be applying knowledge and techniques published by cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists to cybersecurity knowledge. Additionally, I’ll be revising past articles I’ve published to apply these concepts. I should also note, I’m a cybersecurity professional with 17 years of formal (unrelated) education, a handful of certifications, and an interest in cognitive psychology. I’m not a cognitive psychologist or neuroscientist, I’ve tested these methods and have seen a _significant_ improvement in my knowledge retention, problem solving, and how I think about things.
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Bloom’s Taxonomy is a psychology model used to classify learning objectives. There are three models to this theory but they can be summed up using the following: