Cybersecurity in 2024: What Every Professional Needs to Know

Cyber Security: One of the most important things you should understand about cyber security is that the idea of zero risk is a myth. Do not think about cyber security as a sole obligation of security companies, as you as an individual also have a role to play in it.

Cyber security is about cyberspace. Cyberspace refers to an interactive space comprising digital networks that collect, store, and manipulate information to facilitate different forms of communication. Therefore, cyberspace includes the internet and a host of systems that support the internet’s services, infrastructure, and participants.

• Information: Information is what people seek in cyberspace. People go online to interact with one another regarding these things from financial transactions, texts, and all forms of media and social media posts.
• Physical foundations: The physical foundations of cyberspace include satellites, submarine cables, land cables, and anything else that provides a pathway for communication. These are the transmission modules through which communication is permitted.
• Logical building blocks: Logical building blocks are the operating systems, applications, and web browsers that allow us to interact with the physical foundations and access information online.

Click here to know more about the connected world from Coventry University’s short course via Future Learn.

Importance of Cyber Security 

One of the most common attacks today is carried out through impersonation. The attackers impersonate a business and send spamming mail to their clients. These emails are often loaded with malware and viruses. 

In a similar manner, phishing attacks are carried out. The Bureau further indicated that, on average, companies spend above $3,000 in the wake of these attacks, which can have extremely negative consequences, especially for small businesses.

Other than the financial risk involved, the reputational and psychological impact attacks have is tremendous. When your data (and in some cases, very confidential data) is stolen, it is difficult to fathom the reputational risks. 

To read more on this by the EC Council, Click here.

Notable Cyber Security Breaches in the History

Yahoo: The decline Yahoo in terms of their control in the email business has been attributed to various things. However, the breach in 2013 and 2014 was the final straw for many people. Struggling to remain relevant in the email business, Yahoo was in talks with Verizon to buy the internet giant. More than three billion user accounts were breached. 

According to Yahoo representatives, they suspect a state-sponsored criminal carried out the breach in 2014. Some of the information breached in this attack includes email addresses, telephone numbers, full names, and birthdates. While people were still coming to terms with this, Yahoo reported later on that in 2013, another group of hackers had illegally accessed at least a billion user accounts. 

Other than the email addresses, dates of birth, full names and passwords that were not protected adequately like those obtained in the 2014 hack, this time around, the hackers obtained security questions and answers that account holders use to protect their accounts or as recovery options when they are unable to sign in to their accounts.

To read on more cyber attacks click here.

Data Encryption

Many businesses and organizations are currently adopting asymmetric encryption. While it can be scaled up for different purposes, the two main reasons companies use it are encryption and creating digital signatures. 

Digital signatures authenticate data, giving validity to the communications. The recipient is confident they are accessing information from the sender without the risk of a data breach happening anywhere in between. This eliminates the risk of man-in-the-middle attacks. 

Role of data encryption

• Data handling
• Ensuring integrity
• Privacy
• Compliance
• Cross-device protection

Types of Cyber Attacks

• Semantic attacks: A semantic attack is about social engineering. These attacks are performed by altering someone’s behaviour within the organization targeted by hackers. E.g., Phishing
• Syntactic Attack: A syntactic attack comes after your network through different channels. These attacks are often carried out through malicious programs. E.g., Trojan, Worms, Virus

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Avoiding Cyber Attacks (Personal Use)

The cost of cybercrime is steep. You do not want to fall victim or find yourself on the wrong end of the law. You should never take matters lightly when it comes to cyber security. To avoid: 

• Always make sure your firewalls are turned on and updated
• Be careful when downloading files. Most hackers hide malicious code in download files. If possible, back up your data to the cloud
• Never share personal information with anyone who claims they know you or represent a company you interact with
• Follow official protocol when dealing with companies and their representatives
• Ensure your antivirus software and operating systems are updated and upgraded frequently
• Make sure you visit websites using their official pages and not third party links
• Make sure you visit a website with an authentic SSL certificate
• Do not use simple phrases for your passwords, like your date of birth, the names of your loved ones, and so forth
• Never click on links and emails from sources you are unaware of. This is how phishing is carried out
• Hackers do this to steal your personal information

To build a career in cyber security, pursue a long term program by Futurelearn in affiliation with EC Council.

To get more information regarding the course on Cybersecurity and the skills related to it go to Careervira website.