Network Security

Technology is one of the main factors in everyone’s day-to-day lives. Individuals and organizations both heavily depend on computers to store, process, and share information globally. Users being too dependent on technology allow for threat actors to come in. Cybersecurity plays a major role in our lives because we want to prevent being the next victim. People should grow their understanding of different emerging threats and find ways to implement defenses to secure their data against common threats such as malware, ransomware, and social engineering.

Malware and Ransomware

One of the most common threats today are malware and ransomware. Computers are vulnerable to these kinds of things simply from the user not following good practices. Malware, short for “malicious software,” is any program designed to harm or exploit a system. Ransomware is a particularly damaging form that encrypts files and demands payment in exchange for restoring access (Kharraz et al., 2015). Once infected, your computer slows down tremendously or even crashes. Ransomware will often lock your computer entirely rendering it inaccessible. These attacks can happen to your home computer or entire enterprise networks. These can often cost millions of dollars in data loss, downtime, and reputational damage.

To defend against these kinds of attacks, you should follow a few simple rules. First, update your computer often. You can check for updates weekly, as these include things like security updates and software patches. Secondly, organizations mainly, should implement data backup and recovery plans, ensuring that even if systems are compromised, critical data can be restored without paying a ransom (Siciliano, 2020). And lastly, never download software from unknown or credible sources. These types of programs tend to come with malware or some sort of virus to affect your computer.

Social Engineering

Targeting human behavior has the potential to be more dangerous than malware. These types of attacks trick individuals into giving up their own confidential information such as banking information, usernames and passwords, and even social security numbers. Phishing emails, deceptive phone calls, and fraudulent websites are common social engineering methods (Mitnick & Simon, 2011). Majority of social engineering occurs from spam phone calls or copycat websites, a site that appears to look just like the real website but is a spoofer to steal your information. Victims of these kinds of attacks may notice things like suspicious account activity emails, unauthorized purchases on your bank statements, or worse, identity theft. Social engineering can bypass mostly every kind of advanced defense system since it targets humans specifically and not your computer.

Combating social engineering attacks is all about population awareness. By understanding and spotting these types of attacks, you can protect yourself and educate your loved ones. Awareness of the links you are clicking on, or the types of information you are providing over the phone will help defend you against most of these deceiving attacks. Most companies require annual training, so their own systems do not become compromised. To protect your website logins, implement two-factor authentication that requires you to enter a constantly changing pin after login.

Conclusion Being resilient to new types of threats in the cyber environment is crucial to your safety. Malware and ransomware target and exploit system weaknesses, while social engineering targets and manipulates human weaknesses. Both can be a headache to deal with but are preventable with the right strategies. When you combine protection software such as antivirus programs with user education and vigilance, both individuals and organizations can reduce their exposure to cyber threats.