Cybersecurity Alum’s New Book Weighs Social Engineering’s Impact on Hacking

Before coming to BU MET, Christopher Kayser (MET’16) wanted to take the career skills he already had and learn a new expertise with which to blend them, so he could foray into a new field. “My objective,” he says, “was to combine my extensive computer and financial markets background with an intensive study program to advance my skills in the area of cybercriminology.”

The mission was a success. After graduating with a master’s from MET’s Cybercrime Investigation & Cybersecurity (CIC) program in 2016, he formed Cybercrime Analytics, Inc., a digital security training and consultation company that allows him to advance cybercrime investigation and prevention research. Now a recognized expert and author on the subject of cybersecurity, Kayser works to help make life online safer for all by educating about the goals and methodologies of malicious hackers.

With his new book, Cybercrime through Social Engineering, Kayser hopes to do two things. “One is helping people that weren’t super-literate in how to protect themselves as best they could using technology; [and then] to remind people that becoming too close to technology is not necessarily a good thing,” he said in a recent interview with IT World Canada.

That, he says, is because of the role social engineering plays in online scams. It’s a vulnerability by design, Kayser finds, as familiarity makes people less vigilant, which hackers count on. “Sometimes the more advanced we get the less cautious we become, and that can be catastrophic,” he said.