What Is Cyber-Security?
Cyber-security protects the data and infrastructure of computers, smart devices, routers, and other electronic systems against cyberattacks. These attacks can range from identity theft to extortion attempts and the loss of personal data like family photos. At a larger scale, they can impact critical infrastructure like power plants or even lead to air traffic control outages and loss of life. Fortunately, advanced cybersecurity solutions are available to protect against these threats.
The best way to ensure the security of your system is to have a holistic approach that covers all potential points of vulnerability. This is especially important since most breaches are due to a combination of vulnerabilities that attackers exploited. It is also necessary to focus on end-user education to teach users to properly handle email attachments, avoid plugging in unidentified USB drives, and other basic security practices.
Computer security technologies include tools to protect and monitor individual endpoints (computers, smartphones, tablets), networks, and the cloud. These can be in the form of next-generation firewalls, DNS filtering, malware protection software, and antivirus solutions. Some of these tools utilize techniques to verify the integrity of the system, such as automated theorem proving and code verification.
The motivations for breaching computer security can vary from thrill-seeking hackers to political activists and organized criminal groups. Attackers can also use phishing, spoofing, and social engineering to gain access to computer systems. Other tactics include logic bombs that lie dormant until triggered, and unikernels which run software on a minimalistic operating system limiting attack surface.