Cybersecurity

It aims to reduce the risk of cyber-attacks and protect against the unauthorized exploitation of systems, networks, and technologies.

• Increased exposure to attacks in organisations.

• Increased Cybersecurity threats faced by individuals.

• Newer hacking methods.

• The costs of cyber security breaches are rising.

• Cyber security is a critical, board-level issue.

• Cyber crime is a big business.

• Cyber attacks are increasingly sophisticated. Hackers are Everywhere.

• Malware: such as ransomware, botnet software, RATs (remote access Trojans), rootkits and bootkits, spyware, Trojans, viruses, and worms.

• Backdoors : which allow remote access.

• Formjacking : which inserts malicious code into online forms.

• Cryptojacking : which installs illicit cryptocurrency mining software.

• DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks : which flood servers, systems, and networks with traffic to knock them offline.

• DNS (domain name system) poisoning attacks : which compromise the DNS to redirect traffic to malicious sites.

To cover all of its bases, an organization should develop a comprehensive plan that includes not only these five types of cybersecurity, but also the three components that play active roles in a cybersecurity posture: people, processes and technology.

Effective cyber security management must come from the top of the organisation. A robust cyber security culture, reinforced by regular training will ensure that every employee recognises cyber security as their responsibility. Good security and effective working practices must go hand in hand.

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, is 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.

• Business protection against cyberattacks and data breaches.

• Protection for data and networks.

• Prevention of unauthorized user access.

• Improved recovery time after a breach.

• Protection for end users and endpoint devices.

• Regulatory compliance.

• Business continuity.

• Improved confidence in the company's reputation and trust for developers, partners, customers, stakeholders and employees.

Well-known cybersecurity vendors include Check Point, Cisco, Code42, CrowdStrike, FireEye, Fortinet, IBM, Imperva, KnowBe4, McAfee, Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks, Rapid7, Splunk, Symantec by Broadcom, Trend Micro and Trustwave.