The Need for Cyber Security
Cyber world is just like the society of human being. While over 3 billion people from across the world are on board on the digital interface, it does require patrolling and controlling of the entire traffic. Just like the society would need law and order, police control and patrol, in the same way a medium that has over 3 billion users would require a scheme which would ensure safe usage of internet and computers (Alves & Morris, 2018). With all kinds of operations subject to the usage of online resources, it is highly imperative to create a zone that is shielded with secure browsing of computers and the world of internet.
Understanding what the cyber security concept means, what challenges are faced by it, what are the agents and elements that contribute towards it and finally, the remedial actions that can be suggested towards counteracting and mitigating the impact of overall cyber security threats. In other words cyber security pertains to all the elements both that work in its favor and those that work against it. It is the overall study of the scenario with aim to bring about the most and best out of the situation.
McAfee that has been in the business of cyber security and cyber protection for a long while, took an initiative and conducted a thorough study on a massive scale to understand the overall scenario of cyber security, the possible threats, the factors that contribute towards the cyber security, the factors that act against it and those reasons due to which the cyber security remains a constant loophole and menace on all levels which ranges from individual level to massive level on organizational front as well as international level (Andress & Winterfeld, 2014).
The study took into account number of factors, and it was an extensive research in this field which involved questionnaires, surveys and interviews from various stakeholders in the field of computing. The studies aimed at addressing the core issues and problems that are faced in the field of cyber security and computing (Lucas, 2017).
The study took into account the opinions and observations of over 200 renown companies and big wigs from the field of computing and technology and sought their opinion about the overall standing and position and their understanding of the concept of the cyber vulnerabilities and threats that are faced in different segments (Blakemore & Awan, 2016).
Lars Nicander an expert in the field of cyber security has opinioned that the threats are existent just because of lack of protection. Although he explains this in the view point of governmental and nationwide security that suffers from threats in form of cyber war fare (Samuels & Rohsenow, 2015).
Studies on Cyber Security
The speed with which the attacks are being carried out has risen by extremely higher proportions in recent years compared to the yester years. H.P (Hewlett Packard) a pioneer in the field of digital devices and computers that has long affiliation with these devices conducted a survey in 2011 to find out the reasons and the possible impacts of the security vulnerabilities (Stallings, 2017). According to the report the recent times have seen more attacks directed towards the organizations and computer enterprises of large scale. These include the service providers like Google Inc, Microsoft’s Msn, Sony , H.P’s own website and many other interfaces. The report findings state that new means of attacks have been launched in recent times which are totally new in their nature and type and have taken the users of computer both on individual level and on organizational level by total surprise (Burgess, 2012).
H.P report focuses on the basic point and that is of understanding the impact, the possible repercussions that are attached to the attack and the real motives that may be based on the attack on a certain area. Knowing the potential target areas, the objectives behind it, knowing which areas could cost the respective organization more are few of the factors that need to be taken into account in order to devise a better strategy towards cyber security enhancement (Glisson & Choo, 2017).
H.P has adopted a special software and data base for this purpose in the name of Open Source Vulnerability Database (O.S.V.D), which takes into account various factors related to the cyber security, the trends, the target areas and many other areas and based on it, it helps creating reports that further enable creating strategies towards reducing any threats that may exist in the computer world of communications. OSVD generated a ten year report based on the target zones and the areas that have been brought into attention by the hackers (Guitton, 2017).
The report tries to investigate and unearth the methods that are adopted towards security infiltration and the report states that new methods have been adopted which are a total surprise to the members of the field. It’s just like saying that the thieves have adopted new methods of robbing the property and valuables (Gupta, 2013).
H.P in its report for the year 2011 expresses deep concern over the growing rate of threats in various forms yet it recommends the remedial actions towards it in form of prioritizing the level of work along with the functions and content those need more security relative to the other elements and functions which may require relatively less security (Vacca, 2014).
Expert Opinions on Cyber Threats
The overall report aims to find out the inclination of the hackers and other spammers as to in what way do they target the sites and sources. Based on the findings it is being underscored that areas of financial importance are high value targets. These include the banking sectors as well as the governmental organizations which serve the common citizens (Hudaib, 2015).
The threats may not be only in form of external links and threats, rather they can be from within and it has been seen many a time that the insiders cause more damage to the organization than would outsiders. One similar instance was seen in case of soft drinks giants Coca Cola, where an internal member was convicted and caught in the process of sharing the company’s secret information to the rivals in the market (In Cleary & In Felici, 2014). This could have been avoided if safe and protective measures were being adopted in the organization which would not allow any individual unchecked access to all the documents and all the segments of organization which can be of any strategic importance or could be used against the company in any circumstances. This can be ensure in form of multiple protective layers within the organization (Voeller, 2014).
Verizon has conducted its own research in the field of cyber security and their research is motivated towards the providing of security to the large scaled governmental organizations. The survey was undertaken in 2009. The main point of the entire point is concluded against a single point and that states that over 80 percent of the online mishaps that took place in one form or another could have been avoided provided there was an infrastructure available, or people were a little more aware about their roles, responsibilities in case of fulfilling their duties towards making the network a safe medium to use for all kinds of purposes and usages. The report further emphasizes that any kind of threat or weakness must not be taken lightly and it is these threats that lead up to failures in longer run (In Springer, 2017).
Verizon further looks into the possible reasons that contribute to them miss happenings and why this menace persists to remain in the surrounding despite the realization of how dangerous it is. Verizon conducted survey across hundred countries and tried to find out how they go about their online operations, how much consideration do they give to the challenges and threats that are present in the networks and many other factors which would enable creating a system that is better suited to the needs of governments and military organizations.
Protective Measures for Cyber Security
The report states that the kind of network that is in place also defines the kind of vulnerability it may be faced with. For example a commercial network may not be in direct jurisdiction of the government agencies, rather the private service providers or international organizations that bring about investment in the respective countries, only they can handle this in time and enable saving much more loss that may be incurred afterwards once the attacks have taken place (International Conference on Cryptology and Network Security, Lin, Tsudik, & Wang, 2011). The possible solutions presented by this extensive report also include the consideration of the guidance and training that may be provided to the users of internet in these organizations which would enable them performing in a better way towards improved existence of the cyber world functions. Providing the users with sufficient technical knowledge, adapting them to the everyday changes in form of the hardware and software can make things relatively easier with regard to the cyber security.
Questionnaire is a method of data collection that is both qualitative and quantitative; depending on the type of questions used. It is qualitative once open-ended questions are used while it is quantitative once close-ended questions. The data from respondents is often analyzed using software such as SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) that is custom built to analyze such data. Questionnaires, once completed, are submitted for analysis through several techniques. The most popular is the use of a scale or index, due to its simplicity (Kannan, 2017).
According to (Kannan, 2017), the first step in analyzing questionnaire data is to create a simple grid that collates all the data in the questionnaire. The grid is useful because it makes it easier to store, and at the same time interpret, the data from the questionnaire. The grid is usually questions against the responses from the respondents. Designing a simple coding system follows next. The system is dependent on the type of questions used in the study. In the case of closed questions, a simple numerical scale is used. The scale used in the questionnaire will also be used in the grid. During the coding procedure, there should be allowance for missing data or respondents selecting multiple categories (Willson, 2016).
In this research, Online Survey will be the methodology that will be utilized. This will be done by creating an account with SurveyMonkey and then designing a survey. After designing a complete survey then a web link is generated. This web link is sent via SMS, email or any chat services that my target population can use. They will be required to click on the link and in less than five minutes fill in the questions (Winterfeld & Andress, 2012).
- Quick results – Results are transmitted in real-time. As soon as your respondents are done, you can view and analyse their responses
- More Accurate – data entered by respondent go directly to the online database and the person doing the survey will not have a chance to alter it(Kizza, 2014).
- Objectivity – The respondent does answer the questions without being interfered with by the person administering the survey.
- Anonymity – “Once confidentiality is assured, participants feel more comfortable providing open and honest feedback”
- Flexibility – one can develop questions to administer in an online survey very easily. On the part of respondents, they can be able to skip questions that they don’t feel comfortable answering or questions they do not have an opinion on(Kizza, 2015).
Conclusion
The common saying of “a stitch in time saves nice” aptly applies to the field of cyber security. This can be done so in multiple ways, the first being creating sense of awareness, second about safe practices, third technical knowledge and increasing research in this field for further advancements and finally making long term policies that are designed towards safer operations of computers. Billions of dollars are being lost, and not just the monitory factor, rather other valuable information is being breached through weak mechanism of cyber security, this all can be overcome through vigorously keen interest based policies crafting by the stakeholders on international level as well as local level in different parts of the world to make the world of world wide web a better and more reliable one.
Internet operations are termed as once those are without borders, without walls and without fences, everyone can barge into the network and can cause any damage what so ever. However this damage can be controlled and checked if proper measures are adopted and implemented in form of network security. Network security comes in various forms, such as hardware implementation, software installation and many other factors relevant.
References
Alves, T., & Morris, T. (2018). Hardware-based Cyber Threats. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy. doi:10.5220/0006577202590266
Andress, J., & Winterfeld, S. (2014). Cyber Warfare: Techniques, Tactics and Tools for Security Practitioners.
Blakemore, B., & Awan, I. (2016). Policing Cyber Hate, Cyber Threats and Cyber Terrorism. London: Taylor and Francis.
Burgess, J. P. (2012). The Routledge handbook of new security studies. London [England: Routledge.
Glisson, W., & Choo, R. (2017). Introduction to Cyber-of-Things: Cyber-crimes and Cyber-Security Minitrack. Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (2017). doi:10.24251/hicss.2017.718
Guitton, C. (2017). Foiling cyber attacks. 2017 International Conference on Cyber Security And Protection Of Digital Services (Cyber Security). doi:10.1109/cybersecpods.2017.8074853
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Samuels, D., & Rohsenow, T. (2015). Cyber security. New York: Arcler Press.
Stallings, W. (2017). Cryptography and network security: Principles and practice.
Vacca, J. R. (2014). Network and system security. Amsterdam: Syngress.
Voeller, J. G. (2014). Cyber Security. Wiley.
Willson, D. (2016). Ethics. Cyber Security Awareness for CEOs and Management, 37-40. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-804754-5.00005-2
Winterfeld, S., & Andress, J. (2012). The basics of cyber warfare: Understanding the fundamentals of cyber warfare in theory and practice. Place of publication not identified: Syngress.
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