What is Cyber Security?

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Computers have become a major part of our modern lives. Most of the smart devices that we use nowadays are connected to the Internet and have miniature computers attached to them. These devices help us to live better lives and are collectively called as the Internet of Things (IoT).

Many people have made the observation that even though devices have enabled us to be better connected, still they are not foolproof in the sense that our sensitive data can be stolen from them due to lack of security and control.

Cyber security aims at protecting our computers from such theft and damage. The theft could be of different things such as hardware, software or any electronic data and the damage could be in the way the network is disrupted or misdirected to a place not originally intended.

Cyber security is a growing field that encompasses the complex web of realities that constitute the modern world and includes functional areas as diverse as politics and technology. This is amply made clear by the previous American presidential elections of 2016 wherein the Russians were alleged into have interfered in the election process by trying to influence the decision in favor of Trump.

The domain of cyber security is very vast and requires a general introduction to help you understand it better. This website will help you with the basics of cyber security that will enable you to dive deep into the vast ocean of computer technology.

From our side, this article provides you with a clear overview of the types of security breaches, the different sectors of industry that are at risk and finally, how corporations can train their employees on having a better work culture that enhances cyber security.

Types of Security Breaches

Security breaches are appropriately entitled as vulnerabilities as they expose the drawbacks and loopholes that are present in current computer systems. They mainly aim to disrupt the preferred system of functioning by their malevolent attacks.

There are many types of security breaches that are explained below:-

  1. Ransomware: – In this method the attacker locks the personal data of the victim by making it encrypted and then demands money from him to her to decrypt the files. This modus operandi gives the process its name deriving from ransom.
  2. Malware: – This is the most common form of security breach and includes worms, computer viruses, spyware and Trojan viruses.
  3. Social Engineering:- In this method, the attacker tries to impersonate a person of authority like a bank officer or insurance advisor and tries to steal sensitive information from the victim like passwords, ATM cards numbers or credit card numbers that are them misused for stealing money from their accounts.
  4. Phishing: – In this form of attack, fraudulent mails are sent to the victim and they appear like genuine ones. These mails aim to make the victims divulge information about their financial and personal details that can then be used to remove money from their accounts.

Why Cyber Security is Extremely Important

The earlier forms of security breaches were individual ones. There are security breaches against nations as well that are conducted by non-state actors like terrorists, hackers and spies and this is why it is extremely  important for us to understand its current implications in our daily lives.

Here we explain three major forms of global cyber security threats as given below:-

  1. Cyber terrorism is in which terrorists attack the nation and its people as a whole using the computer networks as a weapon. They disrupt and damage the computer systems that play havoc with the lives of ordinary citizens and leave them vulnerable for further ones. These kinds of attacks are mainly driven by some political or ideological agenda that makes them go on this course of action.
  2. Cyberwarfare involves the situation where there are hackers who are working on behalf of the nation states. These countries are virtually at war with one another in the domain of cyberspace. They use cyberspace as a battleground to launch their attacks from and use it to steal sensitive and classified information from their enemies towards whom the attack is directed against. Generally their aim is not to destroy the computer system of the enemy country but to use it as a platform to sabotage their normal functioning.
  3. Cyber espionage is the modern form of spying. This system aims at stealing secret information from the authorities and gaining political and military mileage from this process and is mainly done with the help of penetrative methods and vicious malware.

The Scope of Cyber Security

In modern times, the scope of cyber security is all encompassing as it includes the following:

  1. Financial Sector: This includes commercial banks, investment banks and insurance companies
  2. Utility Sector: This includes electricity, water supply, nuclear power plants and gas plants.
  3. Aviation Sector: Control of aircraft which depends heavily on computers and radio messages.
  4. Individual Devices: This includes the entire range of devices from smart phones, tablets, smart watches and workout trackers.
  5. Corporate Sector: This includes large corporations with major industrialists at their heads.
  6. Automobiles: Modern cars include computerization at all levels from locking to opening windows. Future driverless cars will have an even more enhanced level of computerization that required more cyber security.
  7. Government: Government has a lot of secret information that may fall into wrong hands if not safeguarded securely.
  8. Medical Sector: Hospitals have a lot of sensitive information that needs to be protected from falling into wrong hands.

Cyber Security Work Culture

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The solution to this problem lies in enhancing the cyber security work culture so as to enable a better awareness among the employees to handle crises effectively. This will also keep them prepared for any eventuality that may crop in our ever changing dynamic world.

Training modules can be set up for the employees to keep them abreast of the latest developments and devise new strategies to curb this menace. The cyber security culture will also enable the dissemination of ideas called as brainstorming that will give further impetus to the development of improved work processes to tackle this menace.

Conclusion

Thus, from the above, it is very clear that cyber security is very much relevant to modern times and we can ignore it only at our own peril. This article summarizes the entire concept in a nutshell and clears the path for further knowledge on this very important field.