Cybersecurity
WHAT IS CYBERSECURITY AND WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?
Cybersecurity is important to protect data that government, military, corporate, financial, and medical organizations collect, process, and store on computers and other devices. A significant portion of that data can be sensitive information, whether that be intellectual property, financial data, personal information, or other types of data for which unauthorized access or exposure could have negative consequences.
As the cyber-attacks grow, companies and organizations, especially those that are tasked with protecting information relating to national security, health, or financial records, need to take steps to protect their sensitive business and personnel information.
A successful cybersecurity methodology has multiple layers of protection spread across the computers, networks, programs, or data that is meant to be kept safe. In an organization all processes and technology must complement one another to create an effective defense.
A cybersecurity attack can result in everything from identity theft to extortion attempts, to the loss of important data like family photos. Our society depends on critical infrastructure like power plants, hospitals, and financial service companies, which makes securing these and other organizations is essential to keeping our societal structure functioning.
CHALLENGES OF CYBERSECURITY
To have an effective cybersecurity, organizations should coordinate all efforts throughout its entire information system, which can bring many challenges. Keep an eye for these possible challenges that may come your way:
Application security: Apps require constant updates and testing to ensure these programs are secure from attacks.
Endpoint security: Remote access is a necessary part of business but can also be a weak point for data. Endpoint security is the process of protecting remote access to a company’s network.
Data security: Inside of networks and applications is data. Protecting company and customer information is a separate layer of security.
Identity management: the process of understanding the access every individual has in an organization.
Database and infrastructure security: Everything in a network involves databases and physical equipment. Protecting these devices is equally important.
Mobile security: Cell phones and tablets involve virtually every type of security challenge in and of themselves.
Disaster recovery/business continuity planning: In the event of a breach, natural disaster or other event data must be protected and business must go on.
End-user education: Users may be employees accessing the network or customers logging on to a company app. Educating good habits (password changes, 2-factor authentication, etc.) is an important part of cybersecurity.
The most difficult challenge in cybersecurity is the ever-changing nature of security risks out there. In the past, organizations and the government have focused most of their cybersecurity resources on perimeter security to protect only their most crucial system components, however nowadays this approach is deficient, as the threats advance and change more quickly than organizations can keep up with them. As a result, advisory organizations promote more proactive and adaptive approaches to cybersecurity.
MANAGING CYBERSECURITY
Cybersecurity should be prioritized, and companies must be prepared for a possible cyber-attack, that in many cases can be inevitable. It’s important to ensure the safety of the company’s assets and reputation, for that reason its critical to conduct a cyber risk assessment, where it should focus on three main actions: identifying your organization’s most valuable asset or your most valuable information requiring protection; identifying the threats and risks facing that information; and outlining the damage your organization would incur should that data be lost or wrongfully exposed.
Following a cyber risk assessment, develop and implement a plan to mitigate cyber risk, protect your most vital data outlined in your assessment, and effectively detect and respond to security risks. An ever-evolving field, cybersecurity best practices must evolve to accommodate the increasingly sophisticated attacks carried out by attackers.
TYPES OF CYBERSECURITY THREATS
Phishing - Phishing is the practice of sending fraudulent emails that look like emails from reliable sources. The aim is to steal sensitive data like credit card numbers and login information. It’s the most popular type of cyber-attack.
Ransomware - Ransomware is a type of malicious software. It is designed to extort money by blocking access to files or the computer system until the ransom is paid. Paying the ransom does not guarantee that the files will be recovered, or the system restored.
Malware - Malware is a type of software designed to gain unauthorized access to a computer and cause damage to it.
Keep in mind that combining strong cybersecurity measures with an educated and security-minded employee base provides the best defense against cyber criminals attempting to gain access to your company’s sensitive data. While it may seem like a daunting task, start small and focus on your most sensitive data, scaling your efforts as your cyber program matures.
Do you want to know more about Cybersecurity and how Wappo can help you and your company? Contact us here.
Sources:
https://www.cisco.com/c/en_ca/products/security/what-is-cybersecurity.html#~types-of-threats
https://digitalguardian.com/blog/what-cyber-security
https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/137.nsf/eng/h_00009.html
https://www.itgovernance.co.uk/what-is-cybersecurity
https://www.synopsys.com/glossary/what-is-cyber-security.html