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Many understand that cyber security professionals are responsible for safeguarding data against hackers; however, few can understand precisely how this occurs.
So, we made this guide on cybersecurity to give a clear explanation of its implications in shaping tomorrow's society. Our explanation helps give an in-depth view of cybersecurity as an industry.
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What Is Cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity means protecting networks, systems and programs against cyberattacks by employing people, processes and technology strategies to defend an organization's digital assets and intellectual property from malicious cyber attacks.
While attackers seek to access or alter sensitive data for financial gain or disrupt operations - cyber attackers tools are explicitly designed for such an aim - such as access, destruction or alteration for financial gain and disrupting normal operations.
Why Is Cyber Security Essential?
Each year, cyberattacks cost organizations millions in revenue loss and damage their reputation, with 130 reported attacks to organizations annually - that figure will hit $6 Trillion globally.
Unfortunately, Accenture estimates the annual breach increase will reach 274% of the average annually.
Data breaches can have devastating repercussions for ordinary individuals as well.
Cybercriminals use stolen social security numbers or personal details from victims as leverage against them to seize assets they control; attackers also conduct phishing campaigns targeting mobile and personal devices to install malicious software that damages or disrupts computer systems. Companies require cybersecurity specialists for various reasons. Their experts are integral in safeguarding sensitive data, protecting against cyber threats, and maintaining system and network security and integrity.
Protection Of Sensitive Information
Professionals specializing in cybersecurity are responsible for safeguarding sensitive data such as personally identifiable information (PII) or proprietary documents from breaches and unapproved access by employing security measures like encryption and access control to safeguard them against data breaches or illegal intrusion.
Cyber Threats: How to Deflect them
Businesses require experienced cybersecurity personnel with the knowledge and capabilities to mitigate and detect cyber risks such as phishing attacks, malware infections, supply chain attacks and ransomware attacks.
They will understand how to respond to and detect cyber threats like phishing attempts, malware infections and ransomware incidents.
Critical Infrastructure Security
Cybersecurity professionals are essential in protecting critical infrastructure like transportation networks, power grids and healthcare facilities from potential cyber-attacks that might disrupt services or compromise public safety.
Ensure Business Continuity
Professional cybersecurity services help companies develop business continuity plans and assess risks to ensure businesses can run as usual, even during attacks or threats from hackers or cyber criminals.
Furthermore, professionals analyze risks and implement controls to keep company operations uninterrupted.
Increase Network Security
Professionals specializing in cyber security specialize in maintaining computer network security by employing perimeter security systems such as intrusion detection and firewalls to monitor for unauthorized access to computer networks while using threat intelligence technologies and tools to stay aware of known and emerging attacks.
Working With Security Analysts
Security analysts and professionals work collaboratively to conduct security evaluations, investigate security incidents and create architectures.
Together, they develop and implement adequate security controls while monitoring an organization's cybersecurity posture.
Compliance With Regulatory Requirements
Data security and privacy have various regulations that must be fulfilled for companies in various industries, and cybersecurity specialists ensure their clients meet them, such as those defined by NIST or industry-specific ones such as HIPAA/GDPR, etc.
Insider Threats: How to Address Them
Organizations can be at risk from insider threats in the form of contractors and employees with the potential for mischief.
Security professionals implement access control and other security measures designed to detect, thwart and mitigate these potential insider risks to protect organizations against unwanted activity, such as data breaches within an organization and prevent unapproved access or breaches that lead to illegal acts within it.
Cybersecurity solutions: Evaluating and implementing them
Professionals in cybersecurity remain updated on emerging technologies and solutions, such as antivirus software, threat detection systems and cloud security services.
To maximize security, they analyze these key technologies and implement them accordingly.
Cybersecurity's Three Pillars: The Foundation of Effective Cybersecurity
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Organizations typically employ cybersecurity specialists to design and implement security frameworks.
Employees must also receive training on recognizing phishing attacks or social engineering scams - the weakest link to an organization's cybersecurity is usually its people.
Cybersecurity Governance
Effective cybersecurity governance relies upon processes and policies. These may range from taking preventive steps to reduce cybercrime risks to immediately recognizing and eliminating an attacker in real-time.
The Technology
Organizations utilize IT infrastructures in their efforts to implement cybersecurity, comprising both hardware and software elements such as antivirus software or artificial intelligent defensive systems for computer networks that monitor for abnormal behavior or previous cyber attacks or cloud encryption techniques that convert information stored online into unreadable code to protect it against potential breaches.
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Read More: Top Ways to Prevent Cyber Security Threats
CIA Triad Model - Three Primary Objectives of Cybersecurity
The CIA Triad is an iconic model that outlines all three core tenets of any successful cyber security framework, from objectives and coverage strategies through best security practices to compliance issues and regulatory concerns.
Confidentiality
Organizations must safeguard their proprietary data and consumer personal information and keep out intruders.
Access should only be given to authorized individuals using robust authentication protocols and user permission controls to restrict who can gain entry to these valuable files and information. Furthermore, access may only be given within specific departments that relate directly to each other to limit misuse by employees working across departments who would have no legitimate need to have such data access.
Integrity
All data must be accurate, unaltered and uncorrupted. Access control and encryption tools can assist with maintaining this integrity; furthermore, physical protection from external sources (significant for companies storing their information on-premise rather than in the cloud) can further safeguard it.
Assuring systems, networks, and applications are operating normally is vital for data availability; authorized users should have access to it whenever needed.
Available
Cybersecurity Strategies Five distinct cyber-security strategies have been identified; organizations may require various approaches to safeguard themselves effectively.
Cybersecurity Types
Network security entails both data and access control measures used to defend an organization from intrusion, such as DLP (Data Loss Prevention), IAM(Identity Access Management), NAC(Network Access Control), or NGFW application controls enforcing web safety policies.
Network Security
Applications require application security to prevent data manipulation or theft from the web applications that use them, including patches and upgrades that protect installed apps after deployment.
Cloud Security
Cloud security refers to safeguarding data hosted within cloud environments from unintended access.
Cloud computing service providers typically manage this infrastructure; however, organizations must take additional precautions to protect their information and avoid breaches.
Infrastructure Security
Protecting critical systems against cyber threats is known as Infrastructure Security.
This involves safeguarding software and hardware assets like data centers, end-user equipment, cloud services and networking systems against any vulnerabilities they pose to cyber threats; organizations also must secure these assets against physical risks like theft/vandalism/natural disasters/utility failures to keep operations uninterrupted.
Mobile Security
User authentication across all mobile devices is increasingly necessary as more businesses allow remote employees to connect to home Wi-Fi networks for work.
Internet of Things Security
Cybercriminals have long taken advantage of IoT-enabled devices like smart speakers connected to the internet as an avenue for hacking attacks; by making such devices publicly accessible, they present another attack surface that must be countered through IoT Security measures.
Main Cyber Threats
Cybercriminals constantly adapt and discover new attack vectors; here are the primary cyber threats you should watch out for.
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Malware
Malware refers to any malicious application intended to gain entry into computer networks to steal or damage information or damage them directly, for instance, viruses, malware, worms and adware (which often coexist).
Phishing
Phishing involves sending fraudulent emails that appear to come from trusted sources but contain malware instead.
Emails associated with phishing often contain dangerous attachments or links, leading to counterfeit websites designed to appear as legitimate as possible.
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attack
DoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) Attacks DDoS attacks happen when hackers use excessive internet traffic to prevent legitimate users from accessing an application or website.
They do this using an array of zombie computers connected by multiple machines that work in unison to send false requests to servers infected with viruses and flood the websites with false requests that disrupt the regular operation of applications and websites.
Data Breach
Hackers attempting to gain entry to cloud or company servers to steal confidential or sensitive data constitute data breaches, one form of theft.
SQL Injection
SQL injection is an attack technique that can take down databases. An attacker uses SQL Injection by inserting malicious SQL commands directly into entry forms for execution - instructing it to dump its content for them.
Ransomware
Any form of malware, including ransomware that adversely impacts computer performance or locks out legitimate users from access, is classified as ransomware; attackers usually demand payment as the price to restore access.
Understanding Cyber Security Experts
Cyber security specialists perform many duties, from risk evaluation and incident response to product knowledge of vendors or experience in specific domains such as mobile app security.
Here is an outline of their responsibilities.
Read more: Types of Cyber Attacks You Should Be Aware of in 2023
Cyber Services: 12 Examples
DoS/DDoS Attacks
DoS attacks seek to overwhelm systems, so they cannot satisfy valid service requests.
At the same time, DDoS uses multiple infected hosts controlled by an attacker and may cause the site to cease functioning correctly or shut down completely.
DoS and DDoS do not directly benefit hackers but instead aim at disrupting the services of targeted sites - however, in certain instances, an attacker could gain financially by being hired by one or more competitors for these kinds of attacks; successful doS and DDoS may leave systems more susceptible than before or could make other attacks more likely in terms of success rate or success rate as compared with traditional forms.
Amazon Web Services was hit with an unprecedented DDoS attack many reported this attack as the most significant publicly reported attack ever seen.
However, others counter that claim with evidence suggesting this might only have been a publicly reported attack of its kind.
experienced a DDoS attack with traffic loads exceeding 620 Gbps that originated with the Mirai botnet, which proved three times stronger than prior attacks against him.
Mirai Botnet consisted of IoT devices compromised a month prior, when it discovered it launched an attack against one major European hosting company, OVH, lasting seven days and producing traffic of up to 1.1 Terabits/second. But they weren't alone: Mirai's target list included other major businesses during that year.
What to Do to Prevent DoS and DDoS Attacks
Proactive steps must be taken to combat DoS and DDoS attacks, including installing an effective network with intrusion detection and firewalls; installing traffic filtering mechanisms with rate-limiting techniques; using traffic throttling techniques such as traffic rate-limiting; updating systems regularly by patching vulnerabilities with strong authentication and access control controls, conducting stress tests regularly to find weaknesses; training employees about safe surfing habits and the dangers of phishing; creating an incident response strategy as quickly as possible when an attack takes place; using anti-DDoS protection while working closely with ISPs on additional protection; using anti-DDoS protection together will provide extra security.
SQL Injection
SQL injection is an increasingly prevalent database attack technique. SQL databases query information using statements called SQL statements that are executed via HTML forms on websites that access the database in question.
An attacker could exploit an HTML form if its permissions for access have yet to be adequately set; they then gain the ability to run queries to create, read or modify data within that database.
What Is SQL Injection Attack?
Web developers must ensure all inputs have been appropriately cleaned to avoid SQL Injection Attacks on their websites.
Data should only directly come from an input field (like password boxes ) into a database with validation against predefined criteria first.
Zero-day Exploit
Cybercriminals who discover vulnerabilities in widely used software or operating systems will attempt to target organizations using them and exploit any zero-day flaws before an update or patch is available.
Zero Day Exploits: How to Avoid Them
Given their invisibility, traditional antivirus software cannot effectively combat zero-day attacks, as no known method exists to thwart such threats.
Next-Generation Antivirus Solutions (NGAVs), on the other hand, are effective against this form of cyber attack; their Next-Generation Antivirus solutions prevent attackers from installing unidentified software onto a victim's computer and ensure all software updates remain current while an incident response plan will help speed your recovery in case an infection does occur.
DNS Tunneling
DNS Tunneling is an advanced attack vector designed to give attackers persistent access to their target.
Because many organizations fail to monitor DNS traffic closely enough, hackers have found a way to use malware embedded into DNS requests (from the client side back to the server side) sent from clients to maintain contact. Malware then acts as an end-to-end communication channel undetectable by most firewalls.
What To Do To Prevent Dns Tunneling
Since traditional firewalls and antivirus software cannot detect DNS tunneling effectively, specialist tools like TunnelGuard Zscaler or DNSFilter may be required for its detection.
When choosing such tools, it should block known data-exfiltration destinations while simultaneously monitoring all DNS requests in real-time for suspicious patterns that arise within DNS requests.
Business Email Compromise (BEC)
A BEC attack occurs when an attacker targets an individual authorized to conduct financial transactions within an organization and fools them into sending money directly into an account he controls.
BEC attacks tend to be most successful using research and planning, information about employees, executives, clients, potential partners or business partners as leverage against employees claiming to need funds. This cyber attack is among the more disruptive attacks against any organization.
What to Do to Prevent BEC Attacks
BEC can be prevented through security awareness training, just like with any phishing attack.
Employees need to become adept at recognizing emails with fake domains that appear urgent and impersonate a vendor.
Cryptojacking
Cybercriminals employ crypto-jacking as a ransomware attack against victims to mine cryptocurrency like Bitcoin without their knowledge - and even without using their network resources without permission.
Infrastructure leakage poses less of a risk than data loss.
Cryptojacking: How to Prevent It
You will need to monitor CPU consumption across all the devices within your network and any cloud infrastructures used.
Furthermore, train staff members to identify performance problems or emails that contain Cryptojacking attacks.
Drive-By Attack
A drive-by-download attack takes the form of unwitting victims visiting websites that maliciously infuse their devices with malware, either directly controlled by attackers or compromised websites.
Malware could come disguised in advertisements and banners served on those pages, and today, there are exploit kits that allow beginner hackers to create malicious websites and distribute harmful material online efficiently.
Drive-By Attacks: How to Prevent Them
Remove all unnecessary browser extensions, as drive-by attackers can use these to launch drive-by attacks.
Install an ad blocker or use a web browser such as Brave that emphasizes privacy/security; disabling Java Script/Java can increase security but may limit its functionality; remember, never use accounts with elevated privilege when browsing online.
Cross-site Scripting (XSS) Attacks
Cross-site scripting attacks resemble SQL Injection attacks but inflict harm upon visitors visiting websites instead of extracting data directly.
A straightforward example would be infecting comment sections - attackers could hide malicious scripts that execute when visitors arrive at that particular webpage and infect users who visit that specific page by placing an attacker-designed link onto it, which executes when somebody visits and could infect devices, steal cookies or access credentials, redirect people elsewhere malicious websites etc.
Cross-Site Scripting Attack: How to Avoid it
Cross-site scripting can be an intricate topic requiring knowledge of essential web technologies like HTML and JavaScript.
Simply put, techniques used to stop cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks resemble SQL injection attacks: to avoid cross-site scripting attacks, you must ensure all inputs have been thoroughly cleaned to stop adversaries from injecting scripts into web pages with malicious intentions and make sure any special characters typed by users won't render on your site.
Password Attack
A password attack is a cyber-attack in which an attacker attempts to crack or guess a user's password.
Although not exhaustively covered here, methods include Brute-Force Attacks, Dictionary Attacks, Rainbow Tables, Credential Stuffing and Password Spraying as methods used against users whose credentials have been stolen; hackers will also utilize Phishing attacks against targets to extract password information from victims.
Password Attacks: How to Prevent Them
To guard against password attacks, ensure your password policy is firm and use Multi-Factor Authentication where possible.
Conduct penetration tests periodically to discover any vulnerabilities and real-time monitoring solutions that allow quick responses when suspicious login attempts come through.
Eavesdropping Attacks
Eavesdropping, also referred to as sniffing or "snooping", occurs when an attacker searches for unprotected network communications to intercept data being transferred through it.
For this reason, employees who access their company network from public Wi-Fi hotspots should utilize VPNs to maintain secure communications between themselves and their company's network.
What can You do to Prevent Eavesdropping?
The key to protecting against MITM attacks is the encryption of sensitive information both at rest and while in transit.
Anti-malware solutions, VPNs, firewalls, segmenting your network using "zero trust", using intrusion prevention solutions like IDS/IPS, etc., are essential, as are employee training on recognizing phishing attacks as these often are used by MITM to gain entry through communication channels and spread malware-laden packets that disguise themselves.
Insider Threats
Teams who only consider external threats miss an essential piece of the picture: Insider threats pose a considerable danger to organizations.
Former or current employees present an insider risk by having unrestricted access to sensitive data and intellectual property that has already been created within your company and being familiar with procedures, policies and other essential details about company processes and policies that might expose vulnerable spots within it.
Threats that place organizations at risk typically do so maliciously; sometimes, their motivation lies in making money through selling confidential data via dark web markets, while some internal threats could be negligent rather than intentional.
To address this problem effectively, organizations should implement an ongoing cybersecurity education program that educates stakeholders about possible threats from within and outside the organization.
What To Do If You Suspect An Insider Threat?
What steps should be taken if there is suspicion of an insider threat? A multifaceted approach must be employed to counter insider threats effectively, starting from access control measures that restrict privileges only as necessary and monitoring user behavior for anomalies.
Before hiring any new employees, conduct thorough background checks. All employees should receive information regarding security risks while emphasizing confidentiality and reporting suspicious activity immediately.
Also, implement robust authentication methods, like two-factor verification. Encourage open communication, foster trust, and maintain an atmosphere that fosters transparency. Deal with grievances quickly.
Maintain updated systems regularly to minimize vulnerabilities and establish plans for mitigating security breaches should any occur.
IoT Based Attacks
Teams focusing solely on external threats miss an essential piece of the picture: Former and current employees can present danger to organizations by having unfettered access to sensitive data, intellectual property, company processes and policies, and any pertinent details they possess.
How Can I Prevent Internet of Things Attacks
Internet of Things devices are interconnected, attacking one an attack against all.
Due to limited security built into these devices, attackers find them an easy target. You must implement general preventive measures, including changing default router settings, creating and using unique passwords, disconnecting IoT devices when not needed, and taking other preventive steps against possible breaches, such as disconnecting them while not in use or disconnecting when not needed.
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Conclusion
This article explains the different types of cyberattacks. This article explains what cyber-attacks are and outlines the top types.
It also explains how to be cyber attack proof. Awareness of cybercrime and how to protect your network is essential.
