Cybersecurity Skills Components
Cyber Threats: The Fluid Landscape
The times are for staying ahead of the game and keeping oneself safe from future cyber threats, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the history of these sneaky attacks.
From pesky viruses to ransomware assaults and even state-operated hacking, knowing the ins and outs of these threats will give you the upper hand in protecting yourself.
Evolution of Cyber Threats
The context of cyber threats is dynamic and escalates with the high rate of technological progress. The rapid development of the Internet connection caused a significant rise in cyber-attacks, which most times resulted in severe consequences.
Malware, a major tool for cybercriminals, exploits vulnerabilities or employs emerging technologies. Cybersecurity specialists stress the requirement for creative and effective methods to protect systems against malware.
To accomplish this goal, we start by examining the frequently targeted hardware, software, and network vulnerabilities. Then follows the discussion of the disadvantages and efficiency of the previous methods of mitigation.
Afterwards, we will cover the most recent attack modes for social media, cloud computing, smartphones, and critical infrastructure.
Finally, we will discuss our predictions for future research. Our society, economy, and critical infrastructure are largely based on computer networks and IT systems. In light of the growing dependence on technology, the draw and danger of cyber-attacks increase.
Rising Cyber-Attacks: What the Numbers Say
According to the Symantec cybercrime report from April 2012, cyberattacks cost US$114 billion annually. Companies take time to recover and cyberattacks cost about $385 billion. What’s more confirming? Of course, the data! Symantec’s survey divulges that 69% of respondents from 24 countries experienced a cyberattack.
The daily count of over one million individuals as cyberattack victims challenge Symantec’s calculations. This shocking figure serves to underscore the urgent requirement for strong information security controls.
What Factors Contribute to Cyberattacks’ Success?
Cyberattacks are now more economical, convenient, and less hazardous than physical attacks. Armed with only a computer and an Internet connection, cybercriminals work almost at no cost.
Neither distance nor location can confine them. One of the challenges of internet anonymity is identifying and punishing participants.
Given the radical wrench of cyberattacks on IT systems, the likelihood that they will occur with great frequency and at a high level of complexity will remain high.Â
A specialist or a skilled resource in analysing cyber threats and developing effective countermeasures – Simplistically, a cybersecurity expert strives to ensure the preservation of the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of digital and information systems.
Information confidentiality necessitates protection from unauthorized release to people or systems. Integrity assurance means preventing unauthorized change or removal.
Availability is therefore vital in ensuring that information delivery, storage, and processing systems are available to whoever needs them, whenever they need them.
Malware Malice: Ominous Cyberattacks
As insightful acumen has it, certain cybersecurity experts consider malware to be an extremely effective tool in carrying out a cyberattack.
Attacks that aim to gain an adversary’s advantage by infiltrating a system without the owner’s knowledge are commonly known as malware. Malware is one of the most important issues in the information security environment.
Infected workstations can transfer malware, mislead users into opening infected files, and lure users to the malware’s source websites.
Sometimes, malware can be installed on a USB drive when it is connected to an infected device, and after that, it infects all the systems the infected USB comes into contact with. Malware can spread through embedded systems, such as devices and computational logic. It is possible to inject malware anywhere within the system.
Various sorts of malware can penetrate various devices, including end-user PCs, servers, network devices like routers and switches, and SCADA systems. The contemporary digital environment is characterized by quick dissemination and the growing sophistication of malware. Malware attacks target hardware, software, or networks, exploiting their design and implementation weaknesses at all levels.
The goal of perimeter defence methods is to surround internal resources with a barrier that shields them from outside threats. Perimeter defence is mainly based on the use of firewalls and anti-virus software in intrusion prevention and detection systems. The effective way is to intercept and thoroughly check external traffic as a preventive measure to protect internal resources from malware intrusion.
This kind of perimeter protection has gained popularity because it is straightforward and cheap. Organizations focus on the protection of one perimeter, avoiding the complexities and costs of securing numerous applications or internal networks.
Organizations define internal resource access with the help of perimeter defence and access control methods. As malware becomes more sophisticated, relying solely on perimeter security approaches becomes useless. Malware is constantly searching for ways to get around the perimeter defences.
The most popular hardware can be explored, besides software, and network vulnerabilities based on the current information systems. Later, we can also consider the benefits and drawbacks of the most common protective elements at these levels.
System Vulnerabilities & Defence Examination
Malware is dynamic because it uses new techniques and technological vulnerabilities to outsmart detection systems. Ample information has been provided on myriad platforms about new malware attack patterns in the field of emerging technology.
For example, many have opted for some of the emerging technologies that have completely changed their way of life.
Some of these include social networks, cloud computing, mobile devices, and critical infrastructure. We will probe the unique features of specific emerging technologies and illuminate ways in which malicious software uses them to spread.
Today, the majority of the population practices documenting their lives, exchanging information, and communicating with people through social media platforms, blogs, and online communities.
The connected individual not only serves as the link for the adversaries, who use his social media accounts to befriend other people and send spam to their contacts, but he/she also reads the transformed laptop with botnet software.
Cloud Computing: Easy Access
It removes users from the upfront cost and complexity of managing computer resources. Because the growing volume of data remains in the hands of cloud storage providers, it is no surprise that criminals are becoming more interested.
Recently, in 2012, CloudFlare’s DDoS mitigation service was under attack. The attackers were exploiting vulnerabilities in AT&T’s mobile voicemail and Google’s Gmail recovery service. Due to the high number of smartphone users, mobile malware has become a threat to many.
In the same year, the number of Android malware detections worldwide rose by 17 times compared to previous years. The mounting perils or risks of cyber threats to critical infrastructure, including power grids and healthcare systems, are a big worry.
A professional crew evaluates with great attention the trends of the most recent tactics for attacks by analysing the unique features of the developing technologies. Through their knowledge, skills, and experience, they provide detailed patterns of general approaches used in malware attacks.Â
Stay tuned for our next post, where we will learn malware attack tools while exploring cybersecurity skills.
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