Cybersecurity

 

    In our world today, technology is changing and improving drastically. As technology improves in a good way it will always be advancing in harmful ways as well. Technology will continue to get smarter but the good will just have to take a few steps ahead of the cyber attacks and this is what cybersecurity is for. Cybersecurity is the protection of digital systems, devices, networks, and information that is not accessible to outsiders along with theft and damage to a system. Different companies have their own forms of cybersecurity that can consist of techniques and technological safeguard systems that flag and attack cyber threats like malware, hacking, and ransomware attacks. Cybersecurity is put in place to stop viruses, hackers, or anything of the sort from breaking into your systems. Most cybersecurity programs include firewalls which basically are several tough layers of protection that the hacker would have to break through in order to get to the information they are searching for so this may cause the hackers to give up before they get to the finish line. This could also help the system detect that something sketchy is going on in their system and it will give them time to stop the hacker. 

    Most businesses have ways they prevent cyber attacks and if they don't then they are running a huge risk of hackers getting their hands on your company's information and using it against them. There are several different steps that you can follow to protect your business from cyber-attacks such as backing up your data regularly. Backing up your data will make sure that you will help you recover any data that you may lose in case of a cyber-attack or computer issues. It is also a good idea to back up all of your information to an external drive so that you will have a second copy and put it in a safe spot off of the site of the company. Next, you should always keep your software updated. You can set up your system to automatically update so that you will not have to worry about missing the newest updates. New updates will have security upgrades for the newest cyber-attacks and viruses. Updates will help with any bugs in the security system so it is vital that you update your system. Along with updating your system regularly, you should also install security software that includes anti-virus, set up a firewall that will protect your computer from the internet, and turn on spam filters. Another option is to encrypt your important information so that you will be able to protect your information from being stolen. Installing an MFA(multi-factor authentication) to your system is a way to make sure there are no intruders in your system. An MFA is a verification process that requires two or more security questions before you are allowed to access the system's information. Having paraphrases in your system is also a good way to trick a machine that can't understand information that humans can. Businesses should always keep track of all of the devices and equipment that are being used throughout their company. Keeping track of your devices will make it easier to make sure they are all up to date on their updates and ensure that they are being used properly by the employees. Put policies in place to guide your staff through what information they can share like data, computers, devices, emails, and internet sites. Educating your staff to be smart online is also a big step in protecting your company. You will need to educate them on maintaining good passwords and paraphrases, how to avoid and identify cyber threats, what to do if they ever encounter a cyber threat, and how to report a cyber threat. Protecting customer's information is very important and if their information gets into the wrong hands your company may be in for a lawsuit. As a company, you can purchase cybersecurity liability insurance because it can get pricey trying to fix what a cyber attack has damaged. Your company should get updates on the latest security risks. The ACSC(Australian Cyber Security Centres) for updates on the latest risks and how to deal with them. If you ever get in a situation where you are having cyber problems the ACSC has a cyber security hotline that you can call 24/7. 

 Personally, I have never had a serious encounter with a cyber attack or scam however I do have experiences with friends that have dealt with scams and hacking. Recently one of my friend's Instagram accounts was hacked through direct messages. I along with other friends was sent a direct message from his account that was spammed saying "I need help!". I was cautious about responding so I texted him separately and he informed me that he had been hacked and to not respond to the message. Another one of my friends immediately responded to the scam message he received and this led to his account being hacked as well. 

    The only experience I have had with a hacker is someone hacking into my Snapchat account and changing my password. I noticed it immediately and reported the activity and changed my password and everything has seemed to be fine with my account since. 

    On a funnier note, my friend has had her Spotify hacked by someone who just appeared to want to listen to music through a Spotify Premium account that they were not willing to pay for. She informed me that she assumed the person was Indian because that is the only music they would ever add to her account. When listening to music on a Spotify account, only one person is allowed to listen to music at once. She said that she would be listening to music in her car and it would cut off and change to Indian music and they would go back and forth trying to play music. She finally deleted her account and made a new one with a different password. 

    From a very young age, my mother always told me to be cautious about the things I clicked on while browsing the internet. Until I got to the age of 13 or so, I had to ask her permission before I could click on a website to ensure I wasn't clicking on anything that would cause a virus. You never know what is real and fake these days when it comes to ads and scams. It always makes me nervous thinking about my grandparents on social media because I feel like they could be easily fooled by fake ads that pop up. In today's world technology is going to keep becoming more advanced hackers and cyber-attacks will continue to happen. It is important to educate yourself on the risks for your business and personal use while using the internet.