What Is Cyber Security?
Cyber Security is the practice of protecting critical systems and sensitive information from unauthorized access. Mostly the systems which are connected to the internet are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Cyber security is essential in many fields such as defense, financial services, hospitals, educational institutes, corporations, etc.
Why Is Cyber Security Important?
The importance of cyber security comes down to the desire to keep information, data, and devices private and safe. In today’s world, people store vast quantities of data on computers and other internet-connected devices. To protect the systems from gaining unauthorized access we need to be equipped with cyber security systems which are evolving day by day as cyber threats are also being evolved, thus making it an essential part of today’s fast-growing tech world.
Types of Cyber Security
Cloud Security: Most of the data today is stored on cloud databases wherein it is easy for anyone to access their data from any part of the world, thus making it an appealing target for hackers to steal the information. So protection of cloud infrastructure and data from hackers is essential.
Network Security: measures taken by an organization to secure its computer network and data using both hardware and software systems by a set of configurations and protocols.
Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS): An IDS works by keeping track of all incoming and outgoing connections of a server or network and is capable of quickly identifying any cyber threats.
Intrusion Prevention Systems: A system capable of identifying cyber threats as well as putting an end to such activity.
Data encryption: The process where any message or communication is scrambled in such a way that it is unreadable by anyone who tries to gain access. Only the sender and the receiver have access to a decryption key without which the message or communication cannot be understood.Â
Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Is tailored to discover sensitive information that is being transmitted, acquired, and seized. The moment it detects a malicious attempt of stealing or compromising data it enforces encryption to ensure that data is not misused.
Types of Cyber Attacks
Malware: The word Malware means malicious software consists of worms, viruses, and trojans that are sent through the target system through a link or email, which is used to install malicious software in the system to gain unauthorized access.
Phishing: This attack involves sending vast amounts of spam emails to unsuspecting users, masked as coming from a reliable source to extract data.
- Spear Phishing: targets specific individuals.
- Whaling – targets high-profile people like CEOs.
Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attacks: An Interception from the attacker during two-party transactions. It is difficult to detect these kinds of attacks. Targets are generally the users of financial apps, e-commerce sites, and other websites where entering credentials is necessary.
DNS Spoofing: An imitation Domain Name Server (DNS), directing a user to a malicious website posing as a legitimate site. The attacker may divert traffic from the legitimate site or steal the user’s credentials
Denial-of-Service (DOS) Attack: An attack is carried out to crash a system by flooding the target with traffic thus making it inaccessible to its intended users. Eg. flash sales, Black Friday sales, etc.
SQL Injections: This occurs when an attacker inserts malicious code into a server using a server query language (SQL) enabling the server to deliver protected information. This type of attack usually involves submitting malicious code into an unprotected website comment section or search box.
Password Attack: Passwords are the most widespread method of authenticating access to a secure system or application, making them an appealing target for cyber attackers. By accessing a person’s password, an attacker can gain entry to confidential or critical data and systems.
- Brute force attack: where the attacker tries all the possible passwords to gain access to the system
- Dictionary attack: where the attacker uses common passwords to gain access to the system
Zero-day Exploit: wherein the attackers attack the system which is newly announced or before its patch update where there are no preventive measures taken for security.Â
Ransomware: In this type of attack, a file or a system is blocked until some amount of ransom is paid. Paying the ransom does not guarantee the files or system to be recovered or restored.
Deepfakes: Use of photos and videos or recordings and swapping faces of people or altering audios using artificial intelligence.
Ways To Protect Your Data From Cyber Attacks
Antivirus Software: An antivirus product is a program designed to detect and remove viruses and other kinds of malicious software from your system.
Cyber Security Solutions: All businesses should invest in preventative cybersecurity solutions. Implementing these systems will protect your network and computers from outside threats.
Firewall: A firewall is like a virtual or imaginary wall that gives access only if it’s a trusted site or a network.
Two-Factor Authentication: A part of the login process wherein after entering the password another security factor such as OTP has to be verified to gain access.
What Are The Career Options In Cyber Security?
Information security analyst: Monitors network for security breaches and investigates them.
IT support engineer: Provide technical support for clients experiencing hardware, software, and networking issues. They work either on-site or remote systems to assist with software installations, network failures, hardware malfunctions, and other technology-related issues.
Penetration tester: They try to breach the existing security systems to help an organization learn about vulnerabilities and improve them.Â
Data recovery professionals: recover the data from damaged hard drives and other storage systems and perform forensics.
Cryptographer: build encryption codes and algorithms to improve security systems.
Network Security Engineer: Conducts audits and documentation on current security systems and gives inputs to enhance the security.
Chief information security officer: is responsible for managing the security of digital assets of the organization and also plans backups, investigations, and training.
Skills Required to Make a Career in the Cyber Security Field
Coding: It is a computer language that is used to develop software. Understanding of languages used in web development and applications such as HTML, java-script, SQL, Python, and android development studio will help in providing valuable insights into how they are prone to security breaches.
Networking: Learning about devices that are involved in a network like Local Area Network, Wide Area Network and virtual private network is essential.
Operating Systems: Learning about OS such as Linux, Windows, Android, and knowledge in working with command line terminals such as Linux Terminal and Windows powershell is a must.
Audit & Compliance: A security practitioner should be aware of the rules and regulations related to cybercrime and should adhere to the given guidelines.
Application Security Development: A security practitioner must be able to improve the security of any application by finding, fixing, and preventing its vulnerabilities. In addition, the expert must test and validate during the software development lifecycle (SDLC) so that vulnerabilities are addressed before an application is launched.
Certifications RequiredÂ
CCNA – Cisco Certified Network Associate: The CCNA course covers networking fundamentals, IP services, security fundamentals, automation, and programmability which is essential for entry-level professionals entering the field of network security.
CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker): This course provides training in reverse engineering so that you can protect your system and data from data breaches.
CompTIA Security+: The CompTIA Security+ Certification is a globally trusted to validate foundationally, IT security knowledge and skills.
ToolsÂ
Kali Linux: Kali Linux is one of the common tools used in cyber security for auditing and system scanning. The main advantage of this tool is that it can be used by entry-level analysts as well as professional ones.
Metasploit: Software that is used for penetration testing by ethical hackers to check for vulnerabilities in the system. Its advantage is that it can even detect emerging vulnerabilities.
John the Ripper: It is used to check the strength of the passwords. It is used in all types of operating systems such as Unix, Windows, etc.
TryHackMe: An online platform for learning to hack and solve challenges related to cyber security.
WireShark: It is an open-source platform that stores data packets in a readable format and observes the characteristics and behaviour of each packet.
Scope
Individuals, governments, for-profit companies, not-for-profit organizations, and educational institutions are all at risk of cyberattacks and data breaches. In the future, the number of attacks will grow as digital technologies evolve, the number of devices and users increase, global supply chains become more complex, and data becomes more critical in the digital economy. To minimize the risk of an attack and to secure systems and data, strong cybersecurity solutions will be vital.
