CyberattacksCyberattacks increase stress hormone levels, perceptions of vulnerability
A new study shows that individuals exposed to a simulated cyberterror attack had significantly increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their saliva compared to a control group. Following the cyberattack, study participants were more likely to fear an imminent cyberthreat and to express feelings of personal insecurity.
A new study shows that individuals exposed to a simulated cyberterror attack had significantly increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their saliva compared to a control group. Following the cyberattack, study participants were more likely to fear an imminent cyberthreat and to express feelings of personal insecurity, according to results published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.
Liebert Publishers says that ateam of Israeli researchers designed a study to investigate the psychological effects of cyber terror. The researchers examine the potential damaging effects of cyber terror, even though its victims suffer no direct bodily harm.
“Cyberattacks can increase both psychological and physiological stress in individuals. Teaching disaster preparedness for cyber events, as is done for real world events, may help mitigate some of this fear and anxiety,” says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold of the Interactive Media Institute in, San Diego and the Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium.
— Read more in Canetti Daphna et al., “How Cyberattacks Terrorize: Cortisol and Personal Insecurity Jump in the Wake of Cyberattacks,” Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 20, no. 2 (January 2017): 72-77 (doi:10.1089/cyber.2016.03380
