IMPORTANCE OF CYBERSECURITY

Let’s start with an example

Meet Kishor, who is a shopping enthusiast and has an account on www.shop.com. He has a lot of his information stored on this website like his email, credit card info, address, phone number, etc.

One day, he received an email stating he is eligible for a discount and signed in from his email. Little did he know that this was a phishing attack and all his account information was leaked and a lot of money was wiped off from his account.

When he called the website service interface, he was shocked by all these new revelations. They said they received unauthorized access from a different location.

If Kishor had any prior knowledge of cybersecurity, he could have prevented this attack.

Cybersecurity involves techniques that help secure various digital components, networks, data, and computer systems from unauthorized digital access.

There are various steps of installing cybersecurity depending upon your network and the type of cyberattacks you are prone to.

Let’s take a look at various cyber-attacks you could have been exposed to-

TYPES OF CYBER ATTACKS

Malware

One of the most common types of cyberattacks is malware, Trojan Adware, and Spyware, to name a few. Through downloading any suspicious attachments online, your system could have gotten corrupted by certain malicious viruses embedded within these attachments.

Phishing attack

This is the type of cyber attack Kishor experienced. The hacker usually sends a fraudulent email which sounds like a legitimate source. This is done to install malware or distill sensitive data like credit card info and login credentials.

Another type is a Man in the middle attack -

Here the hacker gains access to the info path between the device and website server. The hacker’s computer takes over the IP address. By doing so, the communication line between you and the server can be intercepted. This can be done by malware or an unsecured network.

Password attack

One’s password could have been cracked by using a commonly used password or all alphabetic possibilities.

ELEMENTS OF CYBERSECURITY

Application security

The application must be secure. It is an interface between a business and an end-user. The web application must be secure as it is equally volatile to cyber attacks.

Network security

It is an interconnection between networks.

Communication between computers can be monitored. To prevent these types of attacks we usually do a penetration test.

Operational security

All organizations function on core or critical info that must be secured. This type of security deals with day to day operations of an organization.

End-user security

A lot of times, the end-user leaks the information.

To prevent this, the end-user must be educated to make sure that there isn’t any data leakage.

HOW TO PREVENT CYBER ATTACKS

Firewall

First, you will have to install a firewall. It is a virtual wall between your computer and a server. Firewalls filter incoming and outgoing files to safeguard the network and they can either be software applications or hardware reinforcements.

Honeypots

Similar to how flowers attract bees, dummy computers called honeypots are used to attract attacks.

These systems look vulnerable to receiving attacks and take all the attacks or unique password combos or anti-viruses or start avoiding emails from unknown senders.

ORGANISATIONAL CYBERSECURITY

Cyber security is not limited to individuals but public and private organizations.

Cyber attacks are more deadly in these places as they can result in a lot of loss. Motives of such attacks are many, starting from the tempering of crucial data to monetary gains

Some of the cyber attacks companies are subjected to are -

APT

Many corporations pay multi-sector organizations to face the Advanced Persistent Threat.

In this form of attack, hackers gain access to networks for prolonged periods to access confidential info. Companies also witness the denial of service attack or networks are flooded with traffic which in turn leaves legitimate service requests unattended.

DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service)

When multiple systems are used to launch the attack. When a hacker manipulates a standard SQL query in a database-driven website, it is known as the SQL injection attack.

Hackers can view edit and delete tables from databases.

In conclusion, cybersecurity is not just a responsibility of an organization but the end-user also. We need to educate ourselves to not fall into the traps of these cyberattacks. By now you know what type of attacks are usually carried out and you understand the pattern.

Keep yourself updated and follow the measures mentioned above.

Written by Sahil

Edited by Nandani