Scientometric Analysis and Knowledge Mapping of Cybersecurity

Abstract

Cybersecurity research includes several areas, such as authentication, software and hardware vulnerabilities, and defences against cyberattacks. However, only a limited number of cybersecurity experts have a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of this sector. Hence, it is vital to possess an impartial comprehension of the prevailing patterns in cybersecurity research. Scientometric analysis and knowledge mapping may effectively detect cybersecurity research trends, significant studies, and emerging technologies within this particular context. The main aim of this research is to comprehend the developmental trend of the academic literature about the concepts of "malware detection" and 'cybersecurity'. We collected 9,967 publications from January 2019 to December 2023 and used the Citespace tool for scientometric analysis. This study found six co-citation clusters,namely malware classification, evading malware classifier, android malware detection, IoT network, CNN, and ransomeware families. Additionally, this study discovered that the top contributing countries are the USA, China, and India based on the citation count, and the Chinese Academy of Science, the University of California, and the University of Texas are the top contributing institutions based on the frequency of the publications.