What Is Cyber-Security?
Cyber-security is the practice of safeguarding internet-connected devices and services from hackers, cybercriminals, phishing attacks, ransomware attacks, data breaches, identity theft, financial losses and more. Cybersecurity is especially important for companies and organizations that handle sensitive information, such as national security, health, financial or personal data.
The field of cyber security encompasses several subdomains, each with its own specific duties and functions. For example, the cryptography-related subdomain of cybersecurity encrypts emails, files and other critical data to protect it from theft or loss. The disaster recovery/business continuity (DR BC) subdomain provides processes, alerts and plans to help keep business systems running in the event of a disruption.
With increasing frequency, cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated and targeted. These threats are often undetectable by legacy security solutions that rely on detection. The speed and stealth of modern malware requires a shift to prevention.
Staff awareness is an essential piece of the cyber security puzzle, raising awareness of industry best practices, organizational procedures and policies as well as monitoring and reporting suspicious activities. This subdomain also includes training for individuals working in sensitive or high-risk areas, such as those in the government, military or healthcare.
The rise of bring your own device and remote work policies has made securing a company’s IT infrastructure more difficult than ever. This subdomain addresses the different approaches to protecting these environments, including secure code development, robust data input validation and more.