CYBER SECURITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE

INTRODUCTION: It is now considered to be one of the most important problems of the

present-day network environment. As technology continues to become a part of
personal, business, and government activity, the need for protecting digital data and
networks has increased . It affects the mechanism to safeguard computer systems well
as information.

Why Cybersecurity is Essential Today:

With each passing day, relationship with the internet grows deeper and deeper. Take
any domain: e-health, telemedicine, financial operations, the work of enterprises, and
the list continues. There are many reasons why cybersecurity is important: In the first
place, it is important as a means of safeguarding against identity theft. With increasing
developments in technology and more activities being conducted online, consumers are
increasingly becoming vulnerable to sabotage, financial loss, and data theft.

Secondly, businesses are continuously under the threat of cybercrime and when
terrorists attack them, they can completely incapacitate a business's normal operational
rhythm resulting in loss of income, business reputation, and even legal suits.

Preserving National Security: Cyber threats are not only an issue of business risk,
they also pose a risk for the national concern. So, Federal systems, national critical
infrastructure and military communications are the objects of interest for
cybercriminals and sovereign sponsors with strategic objectives.

Dynamics of Global Cyber Security Challenges:

The shift to Cloud applications, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things has
exacerbated the attack surface, bringing with it new cybersecurity challenges. The
technical level of issues like ‘viruses’ and ‘worms’ in the early cybersecurity era was
quite low and they were more of a nuisance than a major threat to organizations.

For instance, in 2017 due to WannaCry ransomware, organizations in every corner of

the world including hospitals and corporates were struck, thus showing the fragility of
such crucial infrastructures to cyber attacks. In the same manner as the latter, the 2020
SolarWinds cyberattack affected essential information related to many government
departments in the US thus further establishing cyber vulnerabilities as a risk to
national security.
Understanding Cybersecurity's Scope

It can either be protective strategies or solutions, the following cybersecurity practices

include:

Technical solutions such as encryption, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems(IDS).

Regulatory Measures, policies such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and
California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) meant to safeguard user information.
Applying the knowledge of what and who are typically cyber threats, the importance of
robust passwords, and multi-factor authentication (MFA).

The state of cybersecurity over the years has changed as have the attackers, who have
since become much more intelligent. The following section will discuss the major
threats posed by cyber-security and will detail mechanisms, consequences and
examples to classify the type of threat.

1. Malware

Definition: Malware is a word derived from malicious software which means an

unauthorized undesirable code deliberately programmed to affect computers and their
related units negatively. Basic examples of malware are: a) Viruses b) Worms c) Trojans
d) Ransomware.

Mechanisms: It is obtained through phishing emails, downloads from the internet,

visiting malicious websites, infected USB devices among others. After that it can read,
write, change, encrypt or delete the data, spy on user or take over the control.

Examples:

WannaCry Ransomware (2017): This attack targeted a loop hole in the Microsoft
operating systems to encrypt a user’s data and demanded a specific amount of Bitcoin to
unlock the files. It infected more than computers of 200,000 in 150 countries involving
hospitals, banks, and business organizations.

Examples:

Business Email Compromise (BEC): This is a refined technique of phishing where

attackers focus on businesses, where employees are duped into wired amount to some
other account. BEC scams also for the Perpetrated in the year 2020 with globalizing a
total of 1.8 billion USD.

Spear Phishing: While ordinary phishing is more of a random attack with bait hooked
to many, spear phishing is far more refined and would use information peculiar to the
victim. For instance, cyber criminals may pretend to be an organization’s director and
request an employee to effect a wire transfer due to an emergency.

Encryption: Ensures that data is visible by only those users whom are authorized.
Application of end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a well-known technique for the
protection of the messages exchanged in applications for messaging.

Firewalls and Antivirus Software: Firewalls check the incoming and outgoing traffic
of the network with certain standard concerning security while antivirus check devices
for viruses and removes them.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): MFA also makes it difficult for unauthorized

people to access your accounts because the use of two or more verification factors are
demanded.

AI and Machine Learning: Security driven by AI concepts identifies patterns and can
identify threats and security breaching attempts in real-time.
Zero-Trust Security Models: This has no inherent trust, it must verify at each layer of
entry. It’s particularly helpful to applied settings where users connect to different
networks when working remotely.

Functions of Government and the Legal Structures

Culturally, governments across the globe assume the responsibility of setting the legal
policies that are bodily to protecting individual and institutional information. Key
frameworks include:

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): Implemented in the EU, GDPR regulate
the ways of collecting, processing and storing data while violators face severe
consequences.

Data Privacy Laws: Most countries have incorporated data privacy laws in the hope of
safeguarding their citizens’ information and to guarantee that organizations are running
high standard privacy measures in accordance with the same.

Cybersecurity Legislation: Governments around the world have also passed

legislation regulating cyber security for Facilities such as power plants, water utilities
and others (example; Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act in United States).
These frameworks have the intention of volunteering and enhancing global security
standards as well as providing organizations with the means for developing resistance
against cyberts by bringing attention to data security.Cognitive Category 1 of
Cybersecurity focuses on its relevance and application to the business and economy
sectors.That is why cybersecurity is important – it is the only way to protect business
reputation, ideas, and money. Key impacts include:

Financial Implications: Cyber threats result in legal action, claim settlements for
clients, and regulatory penalties that are all expensive. For example, approximately the
cost of cybercrime worldwide is set to rise to more than $10 trillion in the year 2025.

Risk Management: The companies use security measures and carry out checks
periodically; they also spend on security equipment. Data protection is also widely used
to protect against monetary risk as a result of cyber events and more common
nowadays for reimbursement, cyber insurance.

Reputational Impact: Any cyber intrusion poses risk to consumer confidence and
results in revenue drops as well as brand degeneration over an extended period. An
example of reputational losses can be seen with the Free Credit Monitoring Disaster at
Equifax.

Data Protection: Organizations are spending a huge amount of resources on protecting

consumers’ information, now that regulations around privacy imposes severe penalties
for non adherence to the recognized standards.Thus, information security has become a
necessity for enterprises, because the risks of threats with a business can surpass the
costs of effective protection.

Challenges And Future of Cybersecurity

As one can see, with the constant changes in cyber threats there are changes in the
challenges that cybersecurity encounters. Key ongoing challenges include:

Skills Gap: The shortage of cybersecurity personnel is universal. Citing previous

research, there has been a deficit of close to 3 million talented cybersecurity employees
across the globe.

Advanced Cyber Threats: As machine learning improves, so do the techniques of

attackers employing ml to develop more elaborate attacks like phishing and deep fake
scams.

Complexity of IoT Security: As more and more devices continue to feature in the IoT
scenario, protection of such devices has not been an easy encounter. A large number of
IoT devices do not contain protective measures that would make them vulnerable to
attacks.

Quantum Computing: Artificial neural network applications could learn the pattern of
encrypted data and thereby threatening the security of information as quantum
computing could break the common cryptographic protocols. This means that they are
now seeking quantum-safe encryption algorithms.

Cyber security of the future will mean that progress must be constant with regard to
matters such as quantum-resistant encryption and AI defence mechanisms. Besides,
organizations need to establish procedures for education and training in order to take
care of the skills mismatch.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity is required in the present society because it is a foundation for personal,

corporate, and state security. As threats evolved to become more sophisticated, the
significant roles of advanced technologies, the government recommendations, and
experts are necessary more than ever before. So, this paper focuses on the active
management of the cybersecurity problem by increasing spendings on advanced
technologies and adopting tough legal requirements. Therefore, referring to the future,
the joint, international effort would be inevitable to counter new and existing threats
and to provide both national and global users with the secure digital environment
indispensable today.

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Ref: Ponemon Institute. (2021). Cost of a Data Breach Report 2021. IBM