Security.com

cybersecurity

By Sharon Shea

What is cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting internet-connected systems such as hardware, software and data from cyberthreats. It's used by individuals and enterprises to protect against unauthorized access to data centers and other computerized systems.

An effective cybersecurity strategy can provide a strong security posture against malicious attacks designed to access, alter, delete, destroy or extort an organization's or user's systems and sensitive data. Cybersecurity is also instrumental in preventing attacks designed to disable or disrupt a system's or device's operations.

An ideal cybersecurity approach should have multiple layers of protection across any potential access point or attack surface. This includes a protective layer for data, software, hardware and connected networks. In addition, all employees within an organization who have access to any of these endpoints should be trained on the proper compliance and security processes. Organizations also use tools such as unified threat management systems as another layer of protection against threats. These tools can detect, isolate and remediate potential threats and notify users if additional action is needed.

Cyberattacks can disrupt or immobilize their victims through various means, so creating a strong cybersecurity strategy is an integral part of any organization. Organizations should also have a disaster recovery plan in place so they can quickly recover in the event of a successful cyberattack.

Why is cybersecurity important?

With the number of users, devices and programs in the modern enterprise increasing along with the amount of data -- much of which is sensitive or confidential -- cybersecurity is more important than ever. But the volume and sophistication of cyberattackers and attack techniques compound the problem even further.

Without a proper cybersecurity strategy in place -- and staff properly trained on security best practices -- malicious actors can bring an organization's operations to a screeching halt.

What are the elements of cybersecurity and how does it work?

The cybersecurity field can be broken down into several different sections, the coordination of which within the organization is crucial to the success of a cybersecurity program. These sections include the following:

Maintaining cybersecurity in a constantly evolving threat landscape is a challenge for all organizations. Traditional reactive approaches, in which resources were put toward protecting systems against the biggest known threats while lesser-known threats were undefended, are no longer a sufficient tactic. To keep up with changing security risks, a more proactive and adaptive approach is necessary. Several key cybersecurity advisory organizations offer guidance. For example, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommends adopting continuous monitoring and real-time assessments as part of a risk assessment framework to defend against known and unknown threats.

What are the benefits of cybersecurity?

The benefits of implementing and maintaining cybersecurity practices include the following:

What are the different types of cybersecurity threats?

Keeping up with new technologies, security trends and threat intelligence is a challenging task. It's necessary in order to protect information and other assets from cyberthreats, which take many forms. Types of cyberthreats include the following:

Other common types of attacks include botnets, drive-by-download attacks, exploit kits, malvertising, vishing, credential stuffing attacks, cross-site scripting attacks, keyloggers, worms and zero-day exploits.

What are the top cybersecurity challenges?

Cybersecurity is continually challenged by hackers, data loss, privacy, risk management and changing cybersecurity strategies. And the number of cyberattacks isn't expected to decrease anytime soon. Moreover, increased entry points for attacks, such as the internet of things and the growing attack surface, increase the need to secure networks and devices.

The following major challenges must be continuously addressed.

Evolving threats

One of the most problematic elements of cybersecurity is the evolving nature of security risks. As new technologies emerge -- and as technology is used in new or different ways -- new attack avenues are developed. Keeping up with these frequent changes and advances in attacks, as well as updating practices to protect against them, can be challenging. Issues include ensuring all elements of cybersecurity are continually updated to protect against potential vulnerabilities. This can be especially difficult for smaller organizations that don't have adequate staff or in-house resources.

Data deluge

Organizations can gather a lot of potential data on the people who use their services. With more data being collected comes the potential for a cybercriminal to steal personally identifiable information (PII). For example, an organization that stores PII in the cloud could be subject to a ransomware attack

Cybersecurity awareness training

Cybersecurity programs should also address end-user education. Employees can accidentally bring threats and vulnerabilities into the workplace on their laptops or mobile devices. Likewise, they might act imprudently -- for example, clicking links or downloading attachments from phishing emails.

Regular security awareness training can help employees do their part in keeping their company safe from cyberthreats.

Workforce shortage and skills gap

Another cybersecurity challenge is a shortage of qualified cybersecurity personnel. As the amount of data collected and used by businesses grows, the need for cybersecurity staff to analyze, manage and respond to incidents also increases. In 2023, cybersecurity association ISC2 estimated the workplace gap between needed cybersecurity jobs and security professionals at 4 million, a 12.6% increase over 2022.

Supply chain attacks and third-party risks

Organizations can do their best to maintain security, but if the partners, suppliers and third-party vendors that access their networks don't act securely, all that effort is for naught. Software- and hardware-based supply chain attacks are becoming increasingly difficult security challenges. Organizations must address third-party risk in the supply chain and reduce software supply issues, for example, by using software bills of materials.

Cybersecurity best practices

To minimize the chance of a cyberattack, it's important to implement and follow a set of best practices that includes the following:

How is automation used in cybersecurity?

Automation has become an integral component to keeping companies protected from the increasing number and sophistication of cyberthreats. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in areas with high-volume data streams can help improve cybersecurity in the following three main categories:

Other benefits of automation in cybersecurity include attack classification, malware classification, traffic analysis, compliance analysis and more.

Cybersecurity vendors and tools

Vendors in the cybersecurity field offer a variety of security products and services that fall into the following categories:

Examples of cybersecurity vendors include the following:

What are the career opportunities in cybersecurity?

As the cyberthreat landscape continues to grow and new threats emerge, organizations need individuals with cybersecurity awareness and hardware and software skills.

IT professionals and other computer specialists are needed in the following security roles:

Other cybersecurity careers include security consultants, data protection officers, cloud security architects, security operations managers and analysts, security investigators, cryptographers and security administrators.

Entry-level cybersecurity positions typically require one to three years of experience and a bachelor's degree in business or liberal arts, as well as certifications such as CompTIA Security+. Jobs in this area include associate cybersecurity analysts and network security analyst positions, as well as cybersecurity risk and SOC analysts.

Mid-level positions typically require three to five years of experience. These positions typically include security engineers, security analysts and forensics analysts.

Senior-level positions typically require five to eight years of experience. They typically include positions such as senior cybersecurity risk analyst, principal application security engineer, penetration tester, threat hunter and cloud security analyst.

Higher-level positions generally require more than eight years of experience and typically encompass C-level positions.

Advancements in cybersecurity technology

As newer technologies evolve, they can be applied to cybersecurity to advance security practices. Some recent technology trends in cybersecurity include the following:

Cybersecurity has many facets that require a keen and consistent eye for successful implementation. Improve your own cybersecurity implementation using these cybersecurity best practices and tips.

22 Feb 2024

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