Engineering and Science (Cybersecurity)
Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting cyberspace from any form of attack, and this could be networks, systems, software, hardware, and data on the internet space. Cybersecurity is to fight against cyber threats that institutions put in resources. I will try to highlight the different types of cyber-attacks and some basic protection of cybersecurity.
What Is Cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity is the ability to apply technologies to protect systems, networks applications, devices, and data from cyber attacks or unauthorized access to a network or systems. Cybersecurity is about securing cyberspace from malicious attacks, which are acts from individuals or groups of individuals. More layers of protection strengthen the cyberinfrastructure from attack. Statistics have shown that every 14 seconds, there is an occurrence of a cyber attack.
Companies have put in resources for firewalls, antivirus software, anti-spyware software, password management tools to fight cyber attacks. These tools act as the last line of defense for information on the data cyberspace. To understand more about Cybersecurity, let's look at the different types of attacks on cyberspace.
Types of Cyber Attacks
An attack can be in any form, can be an application or an operation converted to criminal infiltration into a system to pick up valuable data. Most of the time, these companies only get to discover months after that they have lost vital data from their system.
- Malware
Malware is an application that was purposely developed for criminal acts in cyberspace. Malware is malicious software, ransomware, and viruses used to breach network systems to get vital information. Malware is usually found in a suspicious email ready to be clicked or risky applications. All the criminals need is to have the Malware in their system, where they can obtain any information they want with any permission. Criminals can use Malware to block access to vital information in a system.
- Phishing
Phishing is a social engineering attack to get useful data from users like login details and credit card information. Here the criminal always masquerades as a genuine entity, tricking its victim into clicking a link or opening a text message. Phishing is always well designed to look like it appeared to be from reputable sources, using the same name, logo, and brand. All the criminals need is for their victims to click the Phishing to give them access to the sensitive information.
- Social Engineering
Social Engineering is the act of manipulating people into giving you their personal information with notice. I mentioned above, Phishing is a form of social engineering attack, as the criminal takes advantage of the victim's trust in a particular brand. Recently, we have had voice manipulation, where the criminal makes voice calls or social media posts to friends and family members. Because of trust, victims fall into the trap to give out their vital information and credit card info.
- Man-in-the-Middle Attack
Man-in-the-Middle Attack is when a criminal comes in between a two-party transaction and interrupts the transfer of data. This is very possible in an unprotected public WI-FI network. A criminal can infiltrate a Wi-Fi network and have access to information transmitted through devices in the network without being caught.
- Zero-day attack
A zero-day attack is most common with companies after a vulnerability announcement from these companies. As these companies try to be transparent by announcing their vulnerability and possible patch solutions. Criminals immediately take advantage of lunch attacks on these companies before they can come up with a secure solution.
Basic Options to Protect data
After looking at these different types, it is important to have some basic idea of securing our data. Cybersecurity's best option is to use the multi-layer approach, which is putting it all together to protect our data no matter the devices.
- Against Malware
Using antivirus software will help combat Malware attacks or activities. Some of the tools have warning signals in case of any suspicious or harmful email.
- Mobile Security
Mobile Security is at high risk now as most criminals have taken advantage of the act of their victims losing or forgetting their devices at some point. Loss devices are of much concern to cybersecurity experts as this victim gets to leave out unsecured devices. Another common situation is when these device repairers asked for security codes for these devices in keeping. So it encourages to double the security of applications to step up personal information from being leaked.
- Web Browser Security & the Cloud
Here is about applying internet protections like anti-virus browser tools on web browsers to secure network data from malware. Some of these tools have warning alerts like Pop-up blockers when a suspicious web page is launched. To be more secure, the platform has included the two-factor authentication method to step up the security of data.
- Wi-Fi Security
Using unprotected Wi-Fi can be a breach of your data as a man-in-the-middle can attack the network. So the best way to avoid such attacks is by using the most updated software and strong passwords when working on sensitive sites. Another option is by using a virtual private network (VPN) which creates secure networks as the data is encrypted over the network.
We all need the basics of cyber security, so long as we are connected to the internet. It is not about companies and governments. A cyber attack needs just the vulnerability of its victim to take over and retrieve the information needed. As I mentioned, Companies are investing a lot of resources in this to protect vital information. Training, application, employing experts, and password management are some of the sectors these companies are investing in. I will ask us to be careful with the actions we take when on the internet.
Reference
https://www.itgovernance.co.uk/what-is-cybersecurity#:~:text=Cyber%20security%20is%20the%20application,of%20systems%2C%20networks%20and%20technologies.
https://www.imperva.com/learn/application-security/phishing-attack-scam/#:~:text=Phishing%20is%20a%20type%20of,instant%20message%2C%20or%20text%20message.
https://en.wikipedia.org/
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