“What is cybersecurity?” is one of the most asked questions of the current generation. With the rapid advancement in technology, it is easy to imagine how computer security has become a big business. For businesses, computers are their lifeline as well as the means to transmit information and interact with other businesses and individuals. As a result, it is not just about protecting your system from external threats but also ensuring that you protect your network from internal threats. And considering that more than 50% of businesses now use computers in some form or other to do business, it is easy to see how significant cyber security is.
What is cyber-security exactly? It is a combination of two words; “cyber” – a generic term for any kind of connection that allows people to interact over a public network and “security” – a broader term that encompasses all sorts of systems and procedures that are used to ensure the security of networks and information. It has now become an important business concern for both large companies and small businesses that rely on computer systems for their livelihood. While many people think of viruses, worms, hackers and malware when they hear the words cyber threats, the reality is far from this.
Vicious attacks on a business network are quickly becoming one of the most common cyber problems faced by corporations today. Hackers use Internet and network vulnerabilities to get into computers and expose critical data. The data they steal can then be used to do illegal activities such as identity theft or even worse, finance crimes. In order to defend against these malicious attacks, companies must develop an entire range of techniques and strategies. These include application security, physical security, and network security.
Application security refers to the security of data that is stored on a specific program. This includes such things as financial records, employee records, and any other information related to the business itself. Because of the nature of applications, they are often protected using highly advanced software. The goal is to make it so that a hacker cannot get a complete copy of the information, or alter it in any way.
Physical security involves protecting computer networks from outside threats. In particular, a company’s data is usually protected using firewall systems that block hackers from getting through. Often, company servers are protected using highly advanced software called intrusion detection and response systems. These systems are designed to detect intruders, and then respond to them by blocking data from passing through. There are many forms of physical security, including physical security perimeter devices, physical security monitoring, and physical security personnel. However, there is another form, which is best described as “information security”.
Information security is the prevention of external threats to a computer system by detecting, preventing, and eliminating any illegal or inappropriate attempts to get into the information. As soon as someone realizes that an attempt to get into your business information is being made, an alarm goes off, and action is taken. In the information age, this means that all your emails are monitored, all your documents are scanned for viruses, all communication is encrypted, etc. While the computer security measures in most companies today prevent malware and other attacks from viruses, the same can not be said for data centers.
A cyber crime is any type of criminal offense carried out via the Internet. This includes computer fraud, data theft, scams, identity theft, spamming, fraud in general, fraud with money transfer, forgery, spamming, credit card fraud, and so on. While the Internet has made it possible for people to engage in these activities from anywhere in the world, it has also made it very easy for someone to do these things from within the company’s own facilities. The Internet has become a vast, dangerous jungle out there, where the weak get caught in its web and the strong become prey.
So what is cybersecurity? It’s one of those topics that’s just going to keep coming up. There will probably always be a need for more awareness, more research, and an overall understanding of what’s going on. But that’s only going to happen if people understand the basics of what cyber-security is and how it can affect their business. There’s much more to it than that, but this is the basic idea. Protecting your business from cyber criminals doesn’t end with knowing what a virus is, or a spyware is, or even how to stop a hacker.
