Attackers are now using more sophisticated techniques to target the systems. Individuals, small-scale businesses, or large organizations are all being impacted. So, all these firms, whether IT or non-IT firms, have understood the importance of Cyber Security and focusing on adopting all possible measures to deal with cyber threats. With the game up for cyber threats and hackers, organizations and their employees should take a step ahead to deal with them. As we like to connect everything to the internet, this also increases the chances of vulnerabilities, breaches, and flaws. Gone are the days when passwords were enough to protect the system and its data. We all want to protect our personal and professional data, and thus Cyber Security is what you should know to ensure data protection. So, let’s being with defining the term Cyber Security….
What is Cyber Security?
Cyber Security is the process and techniques involved in protecting sensitive data, computer systems, networks, and software applications from cyber attacks. The cyber attacks are general terminology that covers a large number of topics, but some of the popular are:
Tampering systems and data stored within Exploitation of resources Unauthorized access to the targeted system and accessing sensitive information Disrupting the normal functioning of the business and its processes Using ransomware attacks to encrypt data and extort money from victims
The attacks are now becoming more innovative and sophisticated that can disrupt the security and hacking systems. So it’s very challenging for every business and security analyst to overcome this challenge and fight back with these attacks. To understand the need for Cyber Security measures and their practices, let’s have a quick look at the types of threats and attacks.
Ransomware
Ransomware is a file encryption software program that uses a unique, robust encryption algorithm to encrypt the files on the target system.
The authors of the Ransomware threat generate a unique decryption key for each of its victims and save it on a remote server. Thus, users cannot access their files by any application. The ransomware authors take advantage of this and demand a considerable ransom amount from the victims to provide the decryption code or decrypt the data. But such attacks have no guarantee of recovery of data even after paying the ransom.
Botnets Attacks
Botnets were initially designed to carry out specific tasks within a group.
It is defined as a network or group of devices connected with the same network to execute a task. But this is now being used by bad actors and hackers that attempt to access the network and inject any malicious code or malware to disrupt its working. Some of the botnet attacks include:
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks Spreading spam emails Stealing of confidential data
Botnets attacks are generally carried out against large-scale businesses and organizations due to their huge data access. Through this attack, the hackers can control many devices and compromise them for their evil motives.
Social Engineering Attacks
Social engineering is now a common tactic used by cybercriminals to gather user’s sensitive information.
It may trick you by displaying attractive advertisements, prizes, huge offers, and asking you to feed your personal and bank account details. All the information you enter there is cloned and used for financial fraud, identity fraud, and so. It is worth saying about the ZEUS virus that is active since 2007 and is being used as a social engineering attack method to steal the victims’ banking details. Along with financial losses, Social engineering attacks can download other destructive threats to the concerned system.
Cryptocurrency Hijacking
Cryptocurrency hijacking is the new addition to this cyber world.
As digital currency and mining are becoming popular, so it is among cybercriminals. They have found their evil benefit to crypto-currency mining, which involves complex computing to mine virtual currency like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero, Litecoin, etc. Cryptocurrency investors and traders are the soft targets for this attack. Cryptocurrency hijacking is also known as “Cryptojacking”. It is a program designed to inject mining codes silently into the system. Thus the hacker silently uses the CPU, GPU, and power resources of the attacked system to mine for the cryptocurrency. The technique is used to mine Monero coins particularly. As mining is a complex process, it consumes most of the CPU resources, impacting the system’s performance. Also, it is done under all your expenses so that the victim may get a huge electricity bill and internet bill. It also lessens the lifespan of the affected device.
Phishing
Phishing is a fraudulent action of sending spam emails by imitating to be from any legitimate source.
Such mails have a strong subject line with attachments like an invoice, job offers, big offers from reputable shipping services, or any important mail from higher officials of the company. The phishing scam attacks are the most common cyber attacks that aim to steal sensitive data like login credentials, credit card numbers, bank account information, etc. To avoid this, you should learn more about phishing email campaigns and their preventive measures. One can also use email filtering technologies to avoid this attack. Along with these, 2019 will seek the potential in biometric attacks, AI attacks, and IoT attacks. Many companies and organizations are witnessing large-scale cyber-attacks, and there is no stop for them. Despite the constant security analysis and updates, the rise of cyber-threat is consistent. Thus, it is worth educating yourself on the basics of cybersecurity and its implementations.
The key concept of Cyber Security?
Cyber Security is a very broad term but is based on three fundamental concepts known as “The CIA Triad“. It consists of Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. This model is designed to guide the organization with the policies of Cyber Security in the realm of Information security.
Confidentiality
It defines the rules that limit access to information. Confidentiality takes on the measures to restrict sensitive information from being accessed by cyber attackers and hackers. In an organization, people are allowed or denied access to information according to its category by authorizing the right persons in a department. They are also given proper training about the sharing of information and securing their accounts with strong passwords.
They can change the way data is handled within an organization to ensure data protection. There are various ways to ensure confidentiality, like two-factor authentication, data encryption, data classification, biometric verification, and security tokens.
Integrity
This assures that the data is consistent, accurate, and trustworthy over its time period. It means that the data within the transit should not be changed, altered, deleted, or illegally being accessed. Proper measures should be taken in an organization to ensure its safety. File permissions and user access control are the measures controlling the data breach. Also, tools and technologies should be implemented to detect any change or a breach in the data. Various organizations use a checksum and even cryptographic checksum to verify the integrity of data. To cope with data loss or accidental deletion, or even cyberattacks, regular backups should be there. Cloud backups are now the most trusted solution for this.
Availability
Availability in terms of all necessary components like hardware, software, networks, devices, and security equipment should be maintained and upgraded. This will ensure the smooth functioning and access of Data without any disruption. Also, providing constant communication between the components through providing enough bandwidth.
It also involves opting for extra security equipment in case of any disaster or bottlenecks. Utilities like firewalls, disaster recovery plans, proxy servers, and a proper backup solution should ensure to cope with DoS attacks. For a successful approach, it should go through multiple layers of security to ensure protection to every constituent of CyberSecurity. Particularly involving computers, hardware systems, networks, software programs, and the shared data. Conclusion In an organization, to accomplish an effective Cyber Security approach, the peoples, processes, computers, networks, and technology of an organization, either big or small, should be equally responsible. If all components complement each other, it is very much possible to stand against the tough cyber threat and attacks. If you are curious to learn more, then check out this complete cybersecurity course.
