Many people are familiar with information security, yet the more new technologies that are developed, the more cyber threats appear from which we have to protect ourselves. Safeguarding our personal and private information is crucial to avoiding identity theft.
Companies can lose billions from data breaches and cyber-attacks, particularly in the days of cloud systems, Internet of things (IoT), mobile, and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) practices, in these instances underdefense cyber security is a must-have for any organization.
What is cyber security in the digital world?
Hackers use cyber attacks for identity theft, data breach, data theft or shutting down a system. Cyber defense reduces the risk of severe damage and strengthens existing security systems.
Typical areas of focus for cyber security specialists:
- Network security
- Risk management
- Cloud security
- Critical infrastructure security
- Damage recovery and response
- Operational security
- Security awareness training
Some of the most common type of cyber threats
- Social Engineering. With deceptions and dishonest tactics, social engineering tricks people into disclosing private information for abusing it in future fraud schemes.
- Malware is designed to gain access to a platforms’ network, some common examples are Trojans, viruses, ransomware, spyware, worms, RATs, rootkits, etc.
- DDoS attacks. Floods a server from numerous users who may have been infected with malware in an attempt to take a website offline.
Why cybersecurity should not be underrated:
1. It’s a stakeholder-level issue.
Based on the damage a cyber attack can cause, security is an issue that needs regulations at the board level. It’s not anymore down to the IT-guy as it affects the company’s reputation and expenses to finance the damage control.
2. The damage from cyber threats is growing.
If your company suffers from a cyber attack or data breach, there could be expensive consequences. If the incident goes public, you may lose your clientele and blemish your well-built reputation, not to mention the expanse of fixing the vulnerability in the system. Furthermore, there are some external fees one needs to pay if the organization has suffered security breaches. That is stated in the Data Protection Act (DPA) and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) privacy laws.
3. Cyber attacks have become more elaborate.
As the tech industry is evolving, so do hackers. Cyber threats are way more sophisticated and become harder to predict and combat. The old security system might not be up to that kind of challenge. Experts can find the best-optimized solution for your security needs, combining a couple of innovative measures to ensure your data integrity and software safety even with the most elaborative cybercrime technology.
4. Cyber crime is increasing.
Unfortunately, cybercrime has become a profitable business. The hacker community is growing, whether driven by money or social, political, or ethical reasons.
Examples of cyber security measures
1. Firewalls
The first line of cyber defense, a firewall is a shield that protects your network from incoming traffic. It filters data going in and out of the network.
2. Vulnerability management
Network vulnerability scanning is a core to a successful cyber defense strategy. The framework scans each process within your network to estimate the system state and determine the weak spots in your cybersecurity system. Vulnerability management helps to reduce the risk of internal damage.
3. Endpoint protection
Endpoint protection is a necessary security level tech specialists recommend installing to protect your servers from malware threats and viruses. The endpoint protection comes in different operating styles, from manual to automatic. Antivirus systems hold a database on all common viruses, constantly updating with new variants. The goal is endpoint protection is to quickly detect, react and diminish a threat to protect the computer network.
4. Security Information Event Management (SIEM)
SIEM technology has been around for many years. SIEM software provides cybersecurity access to IT ecosystem records. With new innovative improvements, such hardware allows not only log management but analysis of the real-time data, risk monitoring, and correlation for better damage response.
5. System for Cross-Domain Identity Management (SCIM)
SCIM, or System for Cross-Domain Identity Management, is a protocol that enables easy management of user identities across different applications and platforms through a standardized schema. By allowing automation of user provisioning, deprovisioning, and profile updates, SCIM simplifies identity lifecycle management. This improves security and reduces manual efforts needed for user account administration across cloud, mobile, and on-premise environments.
The bottom line
We predict that cybersecurity solutions and measures will continue to evolve as the demand for top-notch protection systems grows. The world of cybercrime is a cat and mouse game with some of its many talented tech geeks switching to the dark side.
Cyber threats evolve to be more elaborate and complex as hackers access the latest tech tools. Such a landscape shows us that it’s time for every business to start treating cyber security seriously to protect themselves, their reputation, and the budget from unnecessary fines and damage control expenses.