Types Of Cyber Threat And The Main Components And Of Technology Security

Introduction

Digital Technology is the most evolved developments in the recent years. Computers have reached every place in the past 50 years and are still evolving and getting better every single day. To keep everyone connected, the next technology which evolved is internet. The network which connects every single computer being used is Internet. In past 10 years, Internet has evolved at a very rapid pace and has become the most important tool

to connect all sectors of the society. The information is being shared throughout the world with a single click of button. With increase in usage of computers and internet every business sector is trying to or already moved to Technology to survive in the rapidly growing Tech World. Name any sector, let it be education, health, travel, transportation, retail, banking, insurance every sector is trying to achieve globalization and reach every individual irrespective of their location with use of Technology.

availability and reliability of the internet has become very important with growing use of Technology fast pace evolution of hardware around the world. With everyone connected to each other irrespective of their geographies and information all over the place on internet the Technology Security had to evolve at the similar pace. It has become essential to secure the information and provide safe communication amongst the users all over the world.

The increase of usage of computers and all Smart devices available in the market has brought many benefits to every sector of the society. With benefits of internet, off course comes the threat of cyber-crimes all over the internet which are easier to commit and can potentially ruin a business and reputation of a company. Cyber-crimes have evolved at a similar pace as internet and has existed from the inception of internet. Internet has always been targeted for the malicious use, and with rapid spread of data all over the internet, Technology security is becoming integral part of every business.

Technology Security Threats

With evolution of technology and constant internet connectivity, security threats to technology have also evolved at the same pace.

Types of Threats

Below are the various types of security threats

Virus

The most common terminology in the world of security threats is Computer virus. Computer virus is a type of program written to play with the way a normal computer operates without user’s permissions or knowledge. In other words, accessing someone’s machine without permission and making a damage to computer. Virus can enter in computer in different ways like free software’s, downloads, spam emails from unknown senders etc.

Spyware Threats

Spyware is another critical security threat which can damage a user’s computer by monitoring their online activities and installing a program to their machine without their consent to capture personal information. The most common source of spyware can be softwares/Applications being downloaded over the internet which takes consent from a user with large number of lines in Terms and Conditions which a user usually ignores.

Hackers and Predators

Unlike Computer threats, these are people who can be a threat to information security over the internet. The people who are always looking for victims for their profit by breaking into their systems to steal personal information and use it for their personal gain are Hackers or Predators. The most common activities which Hackers target are Credit card information, steal identity to use for personal gain.

Phishing

Phishing is a process of stealing sensitive financial and personal information through spam emails or messages. Phishing has been evolving, only the ways to do has changed with time from a fraudulent call in the past to text messages, to emails, to social networking connections.

Mobile Malware

Mobile malware is one of the latest security threats to technology. Number of users for mobile devices has increased drastically in the recent past and making it more vulnerable way of injecting virus, spyware into User’s device for personal gain and damage.

Social Media Attacks

The latest threat to information and data are social media attacks. Increase of users on social networks have given a new way to hackers and predators to monitor user’s activities for their personal gain. Now cyber criminals are targeting social media to distribute complex geographical attack.

Social Engineering

Social engineering is one of the latest development in the evolution of the security threats in the recent past. Social engineering is use of deception to manipulate individuals into sharing their personal information for their personal gain and frauds.

Ways to achieve Technology Security

There are different ways to handle each of threats which are explained above.

Protection against Spam

There are different technologies which can be used to safeguard a system or user’s account from Spam Activities. Below are few techniques defined to save against Spam.

Whitelisting: The technique to filter people who can email a user, all other people are blocked. This is one of the popular techniques in email world to block all unwanted users communicating with users through email. This technique has disadvantages as any genuine unknown user who is not on whitelist is blocked too and it can lead to potential loss to business if a user is not allowed to communicate.

Blacklisting: This is opposite of Whitelisting, technique to filter people who cannot email a user. Instead of maintaining a list of users who can contact, a user needs to maintain the list of users who are not allowed to contact and block them. Maintaining a blacklist is a bigger challenge, as unsolicited users can maintain more number of ways to spam a user’s account and it is difficult to block creating of new accounts. 3

Heuristic filters: The technique to recognize features which are uncommon in normal emails but are frequent in spam to distinguish spam from a normal email.

Machine learning based filters: The technique which uses machine learning algorithms to filter the spams. Using machine’s capability to remember historical activity from each account and deciding on that basis whether to allow a user or not.

DNSBL’s: Maintain database to record IP addresses of spam sources and allow the mail agent to go through the maintained database before a unsolicited user can contact over the internet.

Rate Limiting: allows the user to make a certain amount of calls per day. When the user exceeds the limit, he is likely to be a spam source and will be blocked. This simple technique doesn’t bother average users, but will limit spammers.

Protection against Malware

Anti-Malware softwares can help protection against the Malware attacks by identifying, blocking and removing the malware. Anti-virus softwares, anti-spyware softwares, IP blacklisting, Data loss prevention tools can be few techniques tools which can be used for protection against Malware.

Protection against Spyware

Protection against spyware can be achieved by installing few softwares and user awareness when using any devices.

Protect and Scan your System: Every user should have anti-virus softwares installed to their devices which can safeguard a device from viruses or the malicious code which can damage the system. Even though, the Anti-virus softwares are able to detect the viruses, still user should have a habit of scanning the system at regular intervals to keep a check on viruses which could have breached the anti-virus and can be a potential threat.

Download Carefully: All freeware and open source softwares can be tempting for an easy access, but these softwares can actually spyware attack. To protect against this, user should search for the freeware from the trusted sites.

Read before you click: This is very important thing which should be taken care of before clicking any link on the websites or the spam emails which can harm any devices. Read Terms and Conditions before installing any application, software or tool, it might breach your privacy with consent.

Protection against Hackers and Predators

This is one of the most difficult to achieve, as its against other human brains which are actually trying to damage or steal user’s data. Still there are precautionary measures which a user should implement to safeguard the system from hackers and predators who are all over the internet.

Keep Softwares and OS Updated: The thumb rule of saving computer and other devices from security threats is to keep the operating system and installed softwares up to date with the latest Anti-Virus software.

Protection against Phishing

Below are few basic techniques to save data and sensitive information from phishing attacks.

Read Content Carefully: Read every email link, and content carefully before clicking or accessing it. Look for patterns in the emails which can help distinguish between a normal email and spam.

Browse securely with HTTPS: Try making secure calls to the servers using HTTPS link, particularly when sensitive information is being shared online.

Never use public networks for Secured Data: Try not using public Wi-Fi or free internet connection when doing sensitive transactions like banking, health, retail etc.

Protection against Social Media Attacks:

Protect your account: A user should never share passwords to anyone and should make sure password is being changed frequently. User should try utilizing Two Factor authentication to further secure the account.

Choose Privacy Carefully: A user should read Privacy policies carefully before writing or posting something on the social networks. Always keep a check on who can or cannot see what’s being posted online.

Protection against Social Engineering:

Think before you share: The golden rule behind protection against Social engineering is to think twice before sharing any information to any third party. People target the way human brain thinks and use it for personal gain. But a user should always be careful about what is being shared and is the person authorized to get the information. Also, user should beware of the tempting offers being shared on the social networks to target vulnerable users.

Multi factor Authentication: One of the important measures that are taken in-order to prevent social engineering attacks is by using multi factor authentication system. Under this system authentication of the sender is done at two or more independent levels.

Conclusion

There is always a five step framework which should be considered to achieve Technology security in any organization. Technology is ever evolving process and so are the threats to Technology. Every organization who thinks of expanding the technology have to consider the threats which comes with technology and should be aware of the ways to handle it. Every user who uses technology, no matter in form of any devices available should know the basics of how to save their information and data. Education and Awareness about information security plays a very important role. The important factor that helps in building the secure network is to identify and define what security means to your need of time and use.