The practice of guarding a computer network from intruders, whether targeted attackers or opportunistic malware, is known as network security. Application security is concerned with ensuring that software and devices are free of dangers. A hacked application could allow access to the data it was supposed to secure. Security starts throughout the design phase, long before a programe or device is deployed. Data integrity and privacy are protected by information security, both in storage and in transport. The processes and decisions for handling and securing data assets are included in operational security. The protocols that dictate how and where data may be kept or exchanged, as well as the permissions users have while accessing a network, all fall under this umbrella. Disaster recovery and business continuity are terms that describe how a company reacts in the case of a cyber-security breach or any other catastrophe that results in the loss of operations or data. Disaster recovery policies define how an organisation returns operations and information to the same operational capabilities as before the disaster. Business continuity is the plan that an organisation uses when it is unable to operate due to a lack of resources. End-user education focuses on the most unpredictable aspect of cyber-security: people. By failing to follow appropriate security measures, anyone can unintentionally introduce a virus into an otherwise protected system. It is critical for every organization’s security to teach users to delete suspicious email attachments, not plug in unrecognised USB drives, and a variety of other key teachings.
The Scale of the Cyber Threat
The worldwide cyber threat is rapidly evolving, with an increasing number of data breaches each year. According to a survey released by RiskBased Security, data breaches exposed 7.9 billion records in the first nine months of 2019. This is more than double (112%) the amount of records disclosed in the same time period last year. The most breaches occurred in medical services, retail, and government entities, with malevolent criminals being accountable for the majority of occurrences. Because they collect financial and medical data, some of these industries are particularly appealing to cybercriminals, but any organisation that uses networks might be targeted for customer data, corporate espionage, or customer attacks. The International Data Corporation projects that global spending on cyber-security solutions will reach a whopping $133.7 billion by 2022, as the scope of the cyber threat continues to grow. Governments all over the world have issued recommendations to help businesses develop strong cyber-security policies in response to the growing cyber threat. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the United States has developed a cyber-security architecture. The framework promotes constant, real-time monitoring of all electronic resources to counteract the spread of harmful malware and aid in early identification. The necessity of system monitoring is emphasised in the UK government’s National Cyber Security Centre’s “10 stages to cyber security” guidelines. The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) releases guidelines on how enterprises can combat the latest cyber-security threats on a regular basis in Australia.
Types of Cyber Threats
The threats countered by cyber-security are three-fold: So, how do bad guys obtain access to computer systems? Here are some of the most typical ways that cyber-security is jeopardised:
Malware
Malware is a term that refers to malicious software. Malware is software designed by a cybercriminal or hacker to disrupt or damage a legitimate user’s computer. It is one of the most common cyber dangers. Malware, which is commonly sent by an unsolicited email attachment or a legitimate-looking download, can be used by cybercriminals to gain money or in politically motivated cyber-attacks. Malware comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, including:
Virus: A self-replicating programme that infects files with harmful code after attaching itself to a clean file and spreading throughout a computer system. Trojans are a type of malware that masquerades as genuine software. Users are duped into downloading Trojans onto their computers, which then inflict damage or collect data. Spyware is a type of software that secretly records what a user does so that hackers can profit from it. Spyware, for example, could record credit card information. Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts a user’s files and data and threatens to delete them unless a ransom is paid. Adware is a type of advertising software that can be used to distribute malware. Botnets are malware-infected computer networks that hackers employ to conduct tasks online without the user’s consent.
Injection of SQL
An SQL (structured language query) injection is a type of cyber-attack that allows a hacker to take control of a database and steal information from it. Using a malicious SQL query, cybercriminals exploit vulnerabilities in data-driven systems to instal malicious code into a database. This provides them with access to the database’s sensitive information.
Phishing
When fraudsters send emails that look to be from a reputable company and ask for sensitive information, this is known as phishing. Phishing attacks are frequently used to trick people into divulging personal information such as credit card numbers and passwords.
Man-in-the-Middle Attack
A man-in-the-middle attack is a type of cyber threat in which a hacker intercepts communication between two people in order to obtain information. On an insecure WiFi network, for example, an attacker could intercept data passing between the victim’s device and the network.
Denial-of-Service Attack
A denial-of-service attack occurs when thieves flood a computer system’s networks and servers with traffic, preventing it from fulfilling legitimate requests. This makes the system unworkable, prohibiting an organisation from doing essential tasks.
Latest Cyber Threats
What are the most recent cyber risks that individuals and businesses should be aware of? Here are some of the most current cyber threats reported by the governments of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.
Dridex Malware
The leader of an organised cyber-criminal group was charged in December 2019 by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) for his role in a global Dridex malware attack. This malevolent effort has a global impact on the general public, government, infrastructure, and industry. Dridex is a financial trojan that can do a lot of things. It has been infecting computers since 2014, infecting them through phishing emails or existing malware. It has caused enormous financial losses equivalent to hundreds of millions of dollars by stealing passwords, banking credentials, and personal data that can be used in fraudulent transactions. The National Cyber Security Centre of the United Kingdom encourages the public to “ensure devices are patched, anti-virus is turned on and up to date, and files are backed up” in reaction to the Dridex attacks.
Romance Scams
In February 2020, the FBI issued a warning to Americans about confidence fraud perpetrated by cybercriminals through dating sites, chat rooms, and apps. Victims are duped into handing out personal information by perpetrators who take advantage of those looking for new mates. According to the FBI, romance cyber threats affected 114 people in New Mexico in 2019, resulting in $1.6 million in damage.
Emotet Malware
The Australian Cyber Security Centre issued a warning to national entities in late 2019 about a widespread global cyber threat posed by Emotet virus. Emotet is a complex trojan that has the ability to steal data as well as instal additional infections. Emotet thrives on simple passwords, which serves as a reminder of the significance of selecting a safe password to protect against cyber-attacks.
End-User Protection
Endpoint security, often known as end-user protection, is an important part of cyber security. After all, it’s common for an individual (the end-user) to unintentionally download malware or another type of cyber danger to their computer, laptop, or mobile device. So, how do end users and systems benefit from cyber-security measures? To begin, cryptographic protocols are used to encrypt emails, files, and other sensitive data. This safeguards information not just while it is in transit, but also against loss or theft. Furthermore, end-user security software analyses computers for harmful malware, quarantines it, and then deletes it from the system. Security software may even identify and delete dangerous malware hiding in the Master Boot Record (MBR), as well as encrypt or wipe data from the hard disc. Real-time malware detection is also a focus of electronic security protocols. To fight against viruses or Trojans that change their shape with each run, many people utilise heuristic and behavioural analysis to monitor the behaviour of a programme and its code (polymorphic and metamorphic malware). To evaluate their activity and learn how to better detect new infections, security programmes can isolate potentially harmful apps in a virtual bubble separate from the user’s network. As cyber-security specialists find new dangers and strategies to counteract them, security programmes continue to evolve new defences. Employees must be trained on how to utilise end-user security software in order to get the most out of it. Importantly, keeping it up to date and functioning guarantees that it can defend users from the latest cyber dangers.
Cyber Safety Tips – Protect Yourself Against Cyberattacks
title: “What Is Cyber Security Cybers Guards” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-17” author: “Mark Lynch”
Since an organization’s assets are made up of a variety of disparate systems, a strong cybersecurity strategy necessitates concerted efforts across all of its systems. As a result, cybersecurity has the following sub-domains:
Application Security
The implementation of different protections within all applications and services used within an enterprise against a broad range of threats is known as application protection. To reduce the risk of any unauthorized access or alteration of application resources, it necessitates designing safe application architectures, writing secure code, enforcing strong data input validation, threat modeling, and so on.
Data Protection and Identity Management
Identity management refers to the mechanisms, procedures, and activities that allow legitimate individuals to access information systems within an organization. Implementing strong information management systems to maintain data protection at rest and in transit is part of data security.
Network Safety
The implementation of both hardware and software mechanisms to protect the network and infrastructure from unauthorized access, disturbances, and misuse is known as network protection. Effective network security aids in the protection of an organization’s properties from a variety of external and internal threats.
Mobile Safety
Mobile protection refers to safeguarding both organizational and personal data stored on mobile devices such as cell phones, computers, tablets, and other similar devices against threats such as unauthorized access, computer failure or theft, malware, and so on.
Cloud Security
Cloud protection refers to the development of stable cloud architectures and applications for businesses that use AWS, Google, Azure, Rackspace, and other cloud service providers. Defense against various threats is ensured by effective design and environment configuration.
Disaster recovery and business continuity planning (DR&BC)
DR&BC deals with procedures, tracking, warnings, and plans that help businesses prepare for keeping business-critical services online during and during a disaster, as well as resuming missing operations and systems.
User education
Formal training on information security topics is critical for increasing knowledge of industry best practices, organizational processes, and policies, as well as tracking and reporting malicious activity.
The importance and challenges of cybersecurity
Given the rapidly changing technological environment and the fact that software adoption is growing across a wide range of industries, including finance, government, military, retail, hospitals, education, and electricity, to name a few, more and more knowledge is becoming digital and accessible through wireless and wired digital communication networks, as well as the ubiquitous internet. To hackers and evildoers, all of this highly confidential information is extremely valuable, which is why it is critical to protect it with strict cybersecurity measures and processes. The value of good cybersecurity strategies can be seen in recent high-profile security breaches involving Equifax, Yahoo, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which lost extremely sensitive user details and suffered irreparable financial and reputational harm. And, as the trend shows, the number of cyber-attacks is on the rise. Attackers threaten both large and small businesses daily to gain classified information or interrupt services. The same rapidly changing technical environment also makes it difficult to put in place successful cybersecurity strategies. As software is updated and changed, it introduces new issues and bugs, making it vulnerable to numerous cyber-attacks. Furthermore, IT technology changes, with several businesses already moving their on-premise systems to the cloud, introducing a new range of design and deployment problems, as well as a new category of vulnerabilities. Companies are also unaware of the myriad threats that exist within their IT networks, and as a result, they do not implement cybersecurity countermeasures until it is far too late.
What is a cyber-attack?
A cyber-attack is a calculated attempt by external or internal threats or attackers to compromise the security, credibility, and availability of a target organization’s or individual’s information systems (s). Cyber-attackers use illicit methods, techniques, and approaches to inflict harm and disturbances to computers, equipment, networks, software, and databases, as well as gain unauthorized access to them. Cyber-attacks come in several forms, and the following is a list of some of the most common ones used by hackers and attackers to hack software:
Malware is a type of computer software that is Viruses that encrypt data Attacks by injection (e.g., cross-site scripting, SQL injection, command injection) Man-in-the-Middle attacks and session management Phishing is a form of fraud. Service interruption Privilege escalation is a term used to describe the process of increasing one’s Software that hasn’t been patched or is vulnerable Code execution from a distance Using brute force
What’s the difference between a cyber-attack and a security breach?
A cyber-attack differs from a security breach in many ways. A cyber-attack, as described above, is an attempt to compromise a system’s security. Using different types of cyber-attacks as illustrated in the preceding section, attackers attempt to exploit the confidentiality, credibility, or availability of a device or network. A successful occurrence or incident in which a cyber-attack results in the theft of confidential information, unauthorized access to IT networks, or service interruption is known as a security breach. Attackers regularly attempt a variety of cyber-attacks on their targets in the hopes of finding one that will result in a security breach. As a result, security breaches bring to light another important aspect of a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy: business continuity and incident response (BC-IR). In the event of a successful cyber-attack, BC-IR will assist an entity. When a security incident occurs, Business Continuity is concerned with maintaining essential business systems operational, while Incidence Response is concerned with reacting to a security breach and limiting its effects, as well as promoting the recovery of IT and business systems.
11 top cybersecurity best practices to prevent a breach
Conduct cybersecurity training and awareness
Employees must be trained on cybersecurity, organization policies, and incident reporting for a strong cybersecurity policy to be effective. Employees’ accidental or deliberate malicious acts may cause even the best technological protections to fail, resulting in a costly security breach. The best way to minimize negligence and the risk of a security breach is to educate workers and raise knowledge of company policies and security best practices through workshops, classes, and online courses.
Perform risk assessments
Organizations should conduct a structured risk assessment to classify all critical assets and prioritize them based on the effect that a compromised asset has on the organization. This will aid organizations in determining how best to allocate their resources to safeguarding each valuable asset.
Ensure vulnerability management and software patch management/updates
To minimize risks to their IT systems, organizational IT teams must conduct vulnerability detection, classification, remediation, and mitigation across all applications and networks they use. Furthermore, security researchers and attackers sometimes discover new vulnerabilities in different applications, which are disclosed to software vendors or made public. Malware and cybercriminals often take advantage of these flaws. Patches and mitigations for these vulnerabilities are released by software vendors regularly. As a result, keeping IT systems up to date aids in the protection of organizational properties.
Use the principle of least privilege
According to the concept of least privilege, all software and staff should be given the fewest permissions possible to perform their tasks. This reduces the effect of a successful security breach because lower-level user accounts/software are unable to affect sensitive assets that need higher-level permissions. All high-level user accounts with unlimited permissions can also use two-factor authentication.
Enforce secure password storage and policies
All workers should be required to use strong passwords that conform to industry-recommended requirements. They should also be required to be updated regularly to protect against password compromise. Furthermore, the use of salts and solid hashing algorithms should be followed when storing passwords.
Establish a solid business continuity and incident response (BC-IR) strategy
An organization’s BC-IR plans and policies would help it respond efficiently to cyber-attacks and security breaches while ensuring essential business processes remain operational.
Conduct annual security audits
Periodic security assessments of all software and networks aid in the early detection of security issues in a secure environment. Application and network penetration testing, source code reviews, architecture design reviews, and red team evaluations are all examples of security reviews. Organizations can prioritize and mitigate security vulnerabilities as soon as possible after they are discovered.
Make a data backup
Backing up all data regularly will improve redundancy and ensure that no confidential data is lost or compromised in the event of a security breach. Data confidentiality and availability are jeopardized by attacks like injections and ransomware. In such instances, backups may be useful.
Encrypt data when it’s in motion and at rest
Good encryption algorithms should be used to store and transmit all confidential data. Data security is ensured by encrypting it. Also, effective key management and rotation practices should be implemented. SSL/TLS can be used for all web applications and apps.
Create applications and networks that are safe
Often consider protection when developing programs, writing software, and designing networks. Remember that refactoring software and implementing security measures later is far more expensive than building security from the start. Applications with security features help to reduce risks and ensure that when applications or networks fail, they do so safely.
In safe coding, use good input validation and industry standards
In certain cases, strong input validation is the first line of protection against injection attacks. Strong input validation helps filter out malicious input payloads that the application would process. Software and applications are programmed to accept user input, which makes them vulnerable to attacks. Furthermore, when writing software, stable coding standards should be followed to prevent the majority of the vulnerabilities mentioned in OWASP and CVE.
