Introduction and Reflective Journal scope
The paper intends to look into one of the biggest threats facing the organisations today, cyber security. I feel that the cyber attacks have more common with advancement of science and computer technology. Cyber attacks cause loss of data which affects the organisations fatally because their strategies and confidential business data gets revealed to unauthorised individuals. The matter has become so serious that organisations are emphasising on maintain strict cyber security strategies. The scope of the paper is to apply the knowledge gained from previous work in the area of the topic chosen, which is cyber security. The first section of the assignment introduces the concept of cyber security followed by reason of cyber security. The third section delves into the types of cyber attack types which modern attackers use to gain entry to data bases illegally. The last section gives detailed description of measures which companies can take to check or minimise cyber attacks.
Cyber security as known as information technology security is defined as the techniques of protecting the data sharing network, programmes and the technological setups used by the organisations (The Economic Times 2017). I can opine that cyber security has become a matter of concern for all the organisations and individuals sharing data over the digital space. The matter is becoming more serious as science and information technology are advancing allowing illegitimate organisations gain access to data of other identities with permission.
I can opine that the hackers are able to intrude into the information bank of organisations due to weak security practices followed by them while sharing data. Such practices can include negligence in authentication or usage of password while sharing information. The employees often share business information using communication channels other than the formal channel of communication. There are companies who are not able to upgrade their systems to counteract cyber attacks due to lack of expertise or finance. The companies are not able detect cyber attacks which leads to a huge loss of data. The analysis shows that companies are becoming victims of cyber attacks due to their limited technological and financial capability or due to their negligence.
The aim of the hackers is to gain confidential business information companies share over the network like cloud computing and video chats. The following are the main types of cyber threats organisations face today:
The hackers use backdoors which are algorithms or computer programmes that bypasses the authentication or security checks. The backdoor attacks take place due to poor cyber security measures followed by the companies. The hackers may also contact an unethical employee who actually helps them to crack the authentication codes to gain entry to the strategic data bank of the organisation.
Critically and depth of learning reflections reflective analysis
Denial of service attacks are caused by the hackers to make internet resources unavailable to the legitimate users. The attackers often type passwords severally times wrongly which cause the system to get locked. The hackers intensify the attacks by using distributed or multiple denial of service attacks which break the firewall and causes the traffic jam and unavailability of data. This attack blocks the system and renders it unavailable to all users while the hackers extract information secretly.
Unauthorised people gaining access to the data system can also cause cyber attacks called direct access attacks. They may install software worms, key loggers and gain entry into the confidential data base. They often boot the computers using CD ROMS to bypass their security locks to get information illegally (Ruddet al. 2017). Analysts prove that all companies, even the multinational companies suffer from cyber attacks and 89 percent of the data stolen were of financial nature. I feel that no company is safe from cyber hackers and they taking protection have become a requirement today (Forbes.com 2017).
The malwares or malicious softwares are forms of intrusive softwares used to infiltrate into the data bases of companies to gain information. Malwares appear like normal links and emails which prompts the user to click on them. The moment the user clicks on them, they get installed and cause the system to crash. The hackers then can gain information to use it for their own purpose (Pék 2015). Analysis of Malware, headless worms and other types of cyber attacks show that cyber attacks are on the rise. The quantitative data shows that the number of computers are going to reach 6.8 billion in 2016 and 20 billion by 2020 (Taylor, 2017). This analysis also shows that the hackers are going to gain access to more computers which is a matter of concern.
Phishing are the ways the hackers use to gain confidential information like the details of customers stored on the database of a company. I know that phishing can take in form of mail spoofing and they appear legitimate. The hackers are able to get the confidential information once the computer user clicks the email link (Weaver, Furr and Norton 2016).
The organisations are becoming more complex and require more extensive measures to check cyber security issues. They can minimize, if not totally inhibit cyber intrusion and data loss threats using the following steps:
Cyber security
The organisations should update their systems using the latest versions of softwares and antivirus. These steps cannot prevent the cyber intrusion totally but can make it difficult to gain entry into the system. This I think can help in minimising cyber threats by detecting any attack that would have happened and gone unnoticed. It is my advice that the organisations should keep on updating their systems periodically, update softwares and change passwords (Von Solms and Roussel 2015). This I can tell will make it really tough for unauthorised identities hack their data bases and gain access to information (Us.norton.com 2017).
The companies and individuals should configure their systems using high security levels while installing systems. The owner of the computer system must have the latest versions of the browsing softwares like Internet Explorer which will ask the user questions to authenticate their identities. This will make it tough for new users to enter into accounts of other people and steal data illegally (Von Solms and Van Niekerk 2013).
The companies must choose strong passwords to secure their systems against cyber intrusions. They should opt for different passwords for different application which according to me make it tough for the hackers to break the password protection. The top management must keep strict watch over using of passwords and monitor the employees using them. I can also opine that changing passwords periodically say once in ninety days will provide strong protection to the data mining systems (Bonneau et al. 2015).
The top management must train the employees using the data on the nature of cyber attacks. The engineering departments should administer all the other departments to use security softwares like antivirus and firewalls. The compliance department and the engineering departments should track usage of data to ensure information use within and outside the companies (Jouini, Rabai and Aissa 2014).
The management must offer training to the employees on ethics and technology required to use databases. The companies should train their employees on the necessity of sharing the information ethically with the outside organisations. All the employees must have their valid email ids using which they can share information both within and outside the organisations (Aoyama et al. 2015).
The organisations should review crucial data of the organisations like customer data regularly. The management should use strong security systems and restrict the access of employees to such information. They should regularly check their credit card and bank statement regularly to ensure that all the transactions are genuine and free from hacking. I can opine that the organisations must take prompt actions if they suspect any sort of data theft in these statements. They should administer additional security while sharing data with business partners like suppliers and service providers like telecommunication service providers with whom they conduct business. For example, the orders should be approved by the departmental heads of both the production and compliance department. This will ensure that only the required information is communicated to the suppliers. All the information sharing should be done officially using the established formal communication channel.
Conclusion:
I can opine that cyber attacks are real fatal to the corporate world and individuals who store and share data on the digital space. The attacks use advanced technology to hack the system of other entities to gain data. The companies should take strict measures to check these data thefts. They steps to prevent or minimise cyber security issues both at the management level and employee levels. The top management should monitor acquisition and sharing of data very strictly to ensure data security and take prompt actions once the issues have been detected.
References:
Aoyama, T., Naruoka, H., Koshijima, I. and Watanabe, K., 2015. How Management Goes Wrong?–The Human Factor Lessons Learned from a Cyber Incident Handling Exercise. Procedia Manufacturing, 3, pp.1082-1087.
Bonneau, J., Herley, C., van Oorschot, P.C. and Stajano, F., 2015. Passwords and the evolution of imperfect authentication. Communications of the ACM, 58(7), pp.78-87.
Forbes.com. 2017. Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherskroupa/2016/09/12/a-global-vulnerability-in-a-digital-world/#53c3846d4e1c [Accessed 23 Jun. 2017].
Jouini, M., Rabai, L.B.A. and Aissa, A.B., 2014. Classification of security threats in information systems. Procedia Computer Science, 32, pp.489-496.
Pék, G., 2015. New methods for detecting malware infections and new attacks against hardware virtualization.
Rudd, E., Rozsa, A., Gunther, M. and Boult, T., 2017. A survey of stealth malware: Attacks, mitigation measures, and steps toward autonomous open world solutions. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials.
Taylor, H. 2017. Huge cybersecurity threats coming in 2016. [online] CNBC. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/28/biggest-cybersecurity-threats-in-2016.html [Accessed 23 Jun. 2017].
The Economic Times. 2017. Definition of ‘Cyber Security’ – The Economic Times. [online] Available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/cyber-security [Accessed 17 Jun. 2017].
Us.norton.com. 2017. Cybercrime – Cybercrime Prevention Tips | Norton. [online] Available at: https://us.norton.com/cybercrime-prevention [Accessed 18 Jun. 2017].
Von Solms, B. and Roussel, J., 2015, November. A Solution to improve the cyber security of home users. In AFRICAN CYBER CITIZENSHIP CONFERENCE 2015 (ACCC2015) (p. 157).
Von Solms, R. and Van Niekerk, J., 2013. From information security to cyber security. Computers & Security, 38, pp.97-102.
Weaver, G., Furr, A. and Norton, R., 2016. Deception of Phishing: Studying the Techniques of Social Engineering by Analyzing Modern-day Phishing Attacks on Universities.
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