Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity refers to the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks. These cyberattacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information, extorting money from users, or interrupting normal business processes.

Key components of cybersecurity include:

1. Network Security: Protecting the network from unwanted users, attacks, and intrusions.
2. Application Security: Ensuring software and devices are free of threats. A compromised application could provide access to the data it’s designed to protect.
3. Information Security: Protecting the integrity and privacy of data, both in storage and in transit.
4. Operational Security: Including the processes and decisions for handling and protecting data assets. The permissions users have when accessing a network and the procedures that determine how and where data may be stored or shared fall under this umbrella.
5. End-user Education: Educating users on good cybersecurity practices, recognizing suspicious activity, and understanding the risks of non-compliance.
6. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity: How an organization responds to a cybersecurity incident or any other event that causes the loss of operations or data. Policies dictate how the organization restores its operations and information to return to the same operating capacity as before the event.

Common types of cyber threats include:

• Malware: Software designed to cause damage to a computer, server, client, or computer network.
• Ransomware: A type of malware that threatens to publish the victim’s data or perpetually block access to it unless a ransom is paid.
• Phishing: The practice of sending fraudulent communications that appear to come from a reputable source, usually via email.
• Man-in-the-Middle Attack: Where the attacker secretly intercepts and relays messages between two parties who believe they are communicating directly with each other.
• Denial-of-Service Attack: An attack meant to shut down a machine or network, making it inaccessible to its intended users.

Effective cybersecurity measures involve implementing multiple layers of protection spread across the computers, networks, programs, or data that one intends to keep safe. In an organization, the people, processes, and technology must all complement one another to create an effective defense from cyber threats.