Cyber Security Predicament – Need for Security Control Against Threats

Cyber Security Predicament

Preventing the Infiltration of security infrastructure and data breaches has always been an active talk among cyber security experts. Hackers don’t put any discrimination in the selection of their targets and show no mercy towards the person who fits into their criteria of demand. (buy modafinil uk) To eliminate the catastrophe they bring to organizations, institutes on cyber Security are in a present struggle to enhance their cyber security features. Cyber security does not only cope with the recent demands of internet security but also counteracts the changing trends of cyber threats. 

A Quick Look at Cyber Threats

Before diving deep into the topic of cyber security and how important it is for the protection of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information, let’s take a look at the definition of cyber threat first. What is a cyber threat? A cyber threat is an attempt aiming to destroy, steal, and infiltrate a system. Attackers attack the organizations with the aim to harm the organization and breach their confidential data.

Cyber threats come in many categories, including viruses, malware, denial of services, phishing, the man in the middle, SQL injection, etc. A few examples are listed below:

  • Viruses: A self-replicating software that spreads from one node (computer) to other nodes. It works on destroying data of the system and changes the way the computer performs
  • Malware: It infects the system and performs the hacker-required actions on the victim’s system. Malware is mostly transferred over the network
  • Phishing: In this counterfeit attack, the hacker fakes being a trusted source to steal the sensitive data of the user. As Cisco states, The goal is to steal sensitive data like credit card and login information or to install malware on the victim’s machine,”. To stop these types of attacks, it’s a good idea to verify the identity of the user through face verification.
  • Man in the middle: In this eavesdropping attack, the cybercriminals interrupt the communication between two parties, by disrupting the internet traffic and stealing the sensitive information of the owners
  • SQL injection: It manipulates the database at the backend of a source with a query injection, fetches and steals the information that isn’t intended to be available for public view
  • Denial of services: The purpose of this attack is to make the system or network inaccessible for authorized users. DOS floods the internet traffic, making it unable to perform users’ requests. Buffer overflow is a common type of attack in this category

Some cyber security attacks are pitched below,

  • Yahoo. In 2013, 3 billion accounts’ information of Yahoo was exposed
  • Alibaba. In 2019, 1.1 billion pieces of users’ data of Alibaba were breached 
  • Linkedin. In 2021, the information of 700 million accounts  of Linkedin was found on the dark web
  • Sina Weibo. In 2020, 538 million accounts’ data of Sina Weibo, the biggest social media platform in China was sold by an attacker on the dark web
  • Meta. In 2019, 533 million users’ account information on Facebook, now known as Meta, was disclosed

Why Do We Need Cyber Security?

Cyber Security shouldn’t be taken lightly. Especially for organizations dealing with sensitive data, the security of the assets is the most crucial thing. Cyber security is a security measure taken to neutralize digital threats, defend the system, and work against the threats posed by the attackers to harm the system. With digitalization, the risk related to privacy and security of information has increased more than before. Implementing satisfactory measures to defeat the attempts related to security breaches is important to maintain the reputation of an organization. Losing that important asset would not only tarnish that reputation but might also cause monetary damage. Considering how the economy of cybercrimes was worth $1.5 trillion in 2018, according to a study authorized by Bromium, implementing proper cyber security controls should be considered a necessity and is already made a requirement for the protection of the data by GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and DPA (Data Protection Act) 2018.

A Roadmap for Implementing Cyber Security

  • Risk Management: Evaluating cyber security risk in the system with risk assessment evaluation of the system
  • Staff Training: Training the staff to help them acknowledge the threats of cyber security and how it can be handled
  • Investment in cyber security protocols: Investing in cyber security and introducing proper threat controls to safeguard application and network
  • Strong passwords: Adding strong passwords. One good option here is the addition of an identity KYC verification system on login checks

The Future of Cyber Security

Considering how institutes are working to overcome data breaches and security leakage, there is a hope that in the future, cyber threats would be handled more effectively. The addition of an identity verification system can be a good addition to enhancing the risk management in the system. The system will not give access to unauthorized users without identifying their true identities. This step can be a fruitful approach toward providing a secure and unbreakable security system to an organization.