Today, the digital world is suffering from myriad kinds of cyber threats. The rate of data breaches is unprecedented. It’s raising so much concern, especially in business.
To overcome this perpetual problem, both individuals and corporate entities should take measures that enhance their cybersecurity. One can check the antivirus-review.com website and some of the best security solutions available today, or google one by oneself. Nevertheless, before doing so, it is vital to understand what the concept of cybersecurity is.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity evolved as a countermeasure against cybercrimes. It’s the practice of protecting mobile devices, computers, networks, servers, electronic systems, and data against malicious attacks. Here are some of the categories through which you can use it.
- Network security
Basically, network security is the practice of preventing opportunistic malware or prowlers from breaking through a computer network.
- Application security
Application security is the prevention of application data leakage. Such an approach minimizes threats to your software. Usually, more robust security begins in the development stages of the application.
- Information security
This is the protection of the privacy and integrity of the information that’s stored in the device, or that’s in transit.
- Operational security
The particular concept r involves the various decisions and processes required for handling data assets. The methods and decisions may include user permissions for network access and procedures for data storage and sharing.
- Disaster recovery
Defines the way an entity will respond to a situation involving a breach or attack by malicious software. Usually, several policies are enacted to dictate how the body will restore its operations to come back to its standard setup up before the incident.
- End-user education
Under this idea, the users learn to act responsibly to avoid introducing viruses in an otherwise secure system. They will be taught to delete suspicious emails, avoid plugging personal USB drives, and adhere to other available safety procedures.
Who should worry about cybersecurity?
Apparently, no one is immune from cyber attacks. Although large entities such as corporations, retailers, and medical services experience the most breaches, individual people can also be targeted.
What will lure cybercriminals to a particular entity or individual is their financial background or activities.
What are the types of cyber threats?
Cyber threats can be categorized into three specific groups which are:
- Cyber-attacks – which are meant for collecting information. They are usually motivated by politics.
- Cybercrime – involving individuals or groups that target entities to cause havoc or to acquire financial gains.
- Cyberterrorism – aimed at undermining the electronic systems of an organization to instill fear or panic.
How cybercriminals gain control of computer systems
- Malware
Malware is an ellipsis for Malicious Software. It’s among the most prominent tools used by cybercriminals to disrupt or destroy a user’s device. Usually, it’s spread through emails or download links that pop up when you’re surfing on the internet. While malware can be used to steal money, it can also be applied for political reasons.
- Viruses
These are malicious software programs that secretly get into your device to perform a variety of malicious acts. They can self-replicate and attach to different files, infecting them while doing so.
- Spyware
Spyware is a software that records the activities of the user, privately. The information acquired will be essential to the hackers, e.g. credit card details.
- Trojans
This type of malware will come disguised as valid and licensed software. When you upload/install onto your device, the Trojans begin to collect whatever data is required by the cybercriminals. They can also damage your computer in the process.
- Adware
Adware is the advertising software that’s used by cybercriminals to spread malicious programs.
- Ransomware
This is a type of malware that locks out a user from having access to their data and files. The cybercriminals will demand a ransom in order to give the user access to their sensitive data. If the user does not pay, they will threaten to erase everything.
- Botnets
Botnets are networks of computer devices that are infected by malware. Cybercriminals use these devices to perform their online tasks without the permission of the users.
- SQL injection
A structured language query (SQL) injection is an attack that’s deployed to collect data and control a specific database. How cybercriminals achieve this is by exploiting the vulnerabilities of the systems applications. Once they have managed to drop malicious code into the database through a rogue SQL statement, they can have full access.
- Phishing
This is when victims are targeted through fake emails. Cybercriminals will make the emails seem like they are coming from a trustworthy company, asking for your private information.
These scams are usually successful in getting people’s private information such as credit card data, and credentials, etc.
- Man-in-the-middle attack
It’s when a cybercriminal decides to intercept the movement of data between two users. This allows him to steal data without being noticed. The man-in-the-middle attack is also prevalent on public Wi-Fi networks. The cybercriminal can easily intercept the data that’s moving between the system and the victim’s computer.
- Denial-of-service attack
This is where cybercriminals block a specific request made from a computer. They do so by overwhelming the servers and networks with lots of traffic. It causes the system to become unusable, thus impeding the entity from completing certain functions.
How to protect yourself from cyber-attacks?
For individuals or organizations to guard against cyber threats, here are some of the tips they can employ;
- They should make sure that the cybersecurity/ anti-virus software they use is up-to-date. By so doing, they will benefit from the recent security patches available.
- It’s always wise to use strong passwords. This makes it hard for intruders to guess your logins easily;
- Caution should be practiced when handling emails. It’s advised never to open email attachments from strangers;
- Do not easily give out you personal information to websites and applications that you’re not sure of;
- And also, stay away from public Wi-Fi networks by all means. These are the most insecure.
Conclusion
Today, plenty of cybersecurity programs are being developed to counter the damage caused by cybercrimes. All you have to do is to find a competent anti-virus program to protect your device against attacks. Concerning organizations, they should educate their employees on how to make the most of their end-user security software.
Nina Smith 
Kim Marks