What is cyber security ?

What is cyber security?

Cybersecurity is a way of protecting computers, networks, software applications, critical systems and data from potential digital threats. Organizatio  ns have a responsibility to secure data to maintain customer trust and comply with regulations. They use cybersecurity measures and tools to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access, as well as to prevent business operations from being disrupted by unwanted network activity. Organizations implement cyber security by streamlining digital defenses between people, processes and technology.

Why is cyber security important?

Businesses in various sectors such as energy, transportation, retail and manufacturing use digital systems and high-speed connectivity to provide efficient customer service and run cost-effective business operations. Just as they secure their physical assets, they must also secure their digital assets and protect their systems from inadvertent access. The intentional event of breaching and gaining unauthorized access to a computer system, network or connected devices is called a cyber attack. A successful cyber attack results in confidential data being exposed, stolen, deleted or altered. Cyber ​​security measures protect against cyber attacks and provide the following benefits.

• Prevent a breach or reduce the cost of a breach

Organizations that implement cyber security strategies minimize the unwanted consequences of cyber attacks that could affect business reputation, financial position, business operations and customer trust. For example, companies activate disaster recovery plans to prevent potential intrusions and minimize disruption to business operations.

• Maintain regulatory compliance

Businesses in specific industries and regions must comply with regulatory requirements to protect sensitive data from potential cyber risks. For example, companies operating in Europe must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which expects organizations to take appropriate cybersecurity measures to ensure data privacy.

• Mitigate evolving cyber threats

Cyber ​​attacks evolve along with changing technologies. Criminals are using new tools and devising new strategies to gain unauthorized access to the system. Organizations use and upgrade cybersecurity measures to keep up with these new and evolving technologies and digital attack tools.

What are the types of attacks that cyber security tries to defend against?

Cyber ​​security professionals work to limit and mitigate existing and new threats that penetrate computer systems in a variety of ways. Below are some examples of common cyber threats.

• Malware

Malware means malicious software. It includes a variety of software programs designed to allow third parties to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information or disrupt the normal operation of critical infrastructure. Common examples of malware include Trojan horses, spyware, and viruses.

• Ransomware

Ransomware refers to the business model and a wide variety of associated technologies used by bad actors to extort money from entities. Whether you're new to AWS or already building on AWS, we have dedicated resources to help protect your critical systems and sensitive data from ransomware.

• Man in the middle attack

A man-in-the-middle attack involves an outside party attempting to gain unauthorized access over the network during data exchange. Such attacks increase the security risks of sensitive information such as financial data.

• Phishing

Phishing is a cyber threat that uses social engineering techniques to trick users into revealing personally identifiable information. For example, cyber attackers send emails that lead users to click on a fake payment page and enter credit card information. Phishing attacks can also lead to the download of malicious attachments that install malware on corporate devices.

• DDoS

A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is a coordinated effort to overwhelm a server by sending a large number of fake requests. Such events prevent normal users from connecting or accessing the target server.

• Insider threat

An insider threat is a security risk posed by malicious workers in an organization. Personnel have high-level access to computer systems and could destabilize infrastructure security from the inside.

Principles of cyber security

The primary goal of cyber security is data protection. The security community commonly refers to a triangle of three related principles that ensure data security, known as the CIA triad:

Confidentiality – ensuring that sensitive data is accessible only to those who need it and can access it by organizational policies, while others are blocked from access.

Integrity – ensuring that data and systems have not been altered due to the actions of threat actors or accidental modifications. Precautions should be taken to prevent damage or loss of sensitive data and to quickly recover from such an event if it occurs.

Availability — ensuring that data remains accessible and useful to its end users and that access is not impeded by system malfunction, cyber-attacks or even security measures themselves.

How does cyber security work?

Organizations implement cybersecurity strategies by engaging cybersecurity specialists. These specialists assess the security risks of existing computer systems, networks, data stores, applications and other connected devices. After that, cyber security specialists will create a comprehensive cyber security framework and implement protective measures in the organization.

A successful cybersecurity program includes educating employees on security best practices and leveraging automated cyber defense technologies for existing IT infrastructure. These elements work together to create multiple layers of protection against potential threats at all data access points. They identify risks, protect identities, infrastructure and data, detect anomalies and events, respond and analyze root cause, and recover from an event.