You must have heard about online scams and attack attempts all over the globe. As of now, it can be said that most of our data as an individual is prone to attack by hackers who can steal it and use it in a wrong way, i.e., using your identity or account to post inappropriate content or accessing your bank logins and credentials. And there is more to it when you get to know how vulnerable you are online. But to save you from online hacks, cybersecurity comes into the picture.
Most of the generic audience gets terrified by listening to the term cybersecurity. For your information, cybersecurity is no rocket science, and in simple words, it refers to the practice of protecting your data and hardware from various cyberattacks. Here we will discuss what exactly cybersecurity means, how it is important for us and what is the implementation of it.
What Is Cybersecurity?
No one will like to have trespassers on their property, to protect it they will install CCTVs or keep a guard. The concept of cybersecurity is quite similar as it keeps all our important data and information protected from attacks along with prohibiting unauthorized access to our systems. Top-notch organizations have a multi-level cybersecurity structure that includes antiviruses, password management software, anti-spyware, and firewalls to make sure that all the data of that particular organization is completely safe from any sort of cyberattacks.
From an open WiFi to your own smartphone, you are nowhere completely safe from cyber attacks as both of the mentioned entities work as the best medium to induce a cyber attack. A recent attack on one of the most famous EdTech companies, White Hat Junior, exposed the data of around 2,80,000 children which included their personal details and a lot of the company’s own internal documents. Not only this, but a recent attack on Twitter gathered a lot of limelight where accounts of Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and other prominent personalities were hacked and tweets containing misinformation were posted which resulted in a financial loss of a lot of people. In these tweets, users were asked to give $1000 on Bitcoin addresses in return for double the amount, i.e., $2000.
This clearly shows how important cybersecurity is and how seriously it should be taken in all aspects and by all of us, whether an individual or some well-known organization. Various aspects of cybersecurity like App security, network security, data security, and few others make sure that you get complete protection from these cyber attacks.
Importance of Cybersecurity
The main agenda of cybersecurity is to protect the data and restrict unauthorized access from various digital attacks like malware, ransomware, phishing attacks, man in the middle attacks, zero day attacks, and a few more of them. These attacks work in different ways and use different sources to target users but in the end, they work in almost the same manner as the main motive behind them is to get access to confidential information for some illegal purpose or to swindle your head earned money from your bank account.
Let’s have a look at the cyber attacks and get to know more about them and how can dodge them:
- Man in the middle attack: People who use public WiFis are prone to these types of cyberattacks. In this type of attack, the hacker places themselves in the middle of a user and WiFi connection which gives them complete authority to access that user’s confidential data. Mostly in man in the middle attacks, you will not be able to identify or trace the hackers which is a major concern.
- How to tackle: In case you are using Public WiFi, avoid visiting websites that contain any sort of information that you don’t want to be exposed to hackers. For example, you should avoid social media sites and banking sites that are mostly password protected when using public WiFi. In addition to that, you can get a good Virtual Private Network (VPN) service that encrypts all the data sent over a WiFi network, and in this way, none of the hackers will be able to induce the attack. Some of the best VPN apps available in the market are Nord VPN, Express VPN, Proton VPN, and a lot more. You can select any of the subscriptions offered by these VPN services according to your needs.
- Phishing Attack: Phishing attacks are one of the most common cyber attacks experienced by most of the users more than once in a lifetime. In this type of attack, the hackers send you malicious mail using the exact identity of large scale organizations and make you click on dubious links that allow them to access all the data that is not supposed to be shared including your credit card details, bank account details or your social media login credentials that can be used in various illegal ways.
- How to tackle: To avoid getting trapped in phishing attacks, you can go for web browser security services. These services always warn you in case there is a malicious or inappropriate link. the tools offered by web browser security services or apps block most of the pop-ups that contain spam links or increase the chance of attacks on your data.
- Zero day attack: A zero day attack can be said to be one of the most dangerous cyberattacks of all time. In this attack, the victim party suffers a data breach after declaring a network issue safety without a security patch to handle it. In most cases, these attacks are induced by hackers who have discovered a loophole in the security of a particular organization, from here these attacks get their name, zero day attack, as the developers have no time to tackle them.
- How to tackle: Being almost impossible to tackle, you can avoid zero day attacks by creating a strong cybersecurity infrastructure in your organization and make sure that people around you or your organization follow the basic security ethics to keep their data safe. Moreover, you should also have a web application firewall that consistently reminds you in case of any upcoming cyber threats.
- Malware attack: Malware attacks are the ones in which a user imports malicious software and viruses via installing an untrustworthy application or clicking on unreliable links received through emails. Malware is of various types including spyware that is used to keep a tab on you and in the background it also steals confidential data of which you will never know about. Another malware is ransomware that hijacks your computer and restricts you from accessing the data and information stored in it. In return, you are supposed to pay an amount asked by the hacker.
- How to tackle: Tackling malware requires a decent Anti-virus software that can track any threats and take the required actions to block them and keep your data safe. Malware is increasing at a high pace which means you need to have good anti-virus software installed on your PC or laptop and on your smartphone too to avoid installing malware or any sort of malicious files.
Conclusion
Above based examples and the spike in cyber attacks, these days have clearly shown us how important cybersecurity is when it comes to securing all our data and information that is vulnerable. Cybersecurity services can protect large scale financial and data-based losses in an amount that is almost nothing in front of the valuable information stored on your systems.
In addition to that, cybersecurity is also growing as a career opportunity and a lot of professionals are getting more and more inclined towards the field. One of the most popular roles out of those is of penetration testers who are ethical hackers and their duty is to induce cyber attacks on the security systems of a firm, find the loopholes and release a security patch for them. The day to day hike in the number of attacks is also giving a rise to employment opportunities as the data on the internet is growing and so are the techniques to attack and steal it.
