Introduction to Cyber Security

Introduction To Cyber Security

The Internet has become one of the most important useful source of information for cyber users. The expansion of cyberspace in the digital world has created numerous opportunities and challenges for cyber users to exchange information across the globe. The advent of computers and communication technologies has open the doors for malicious users to weaken security systems of the society. Today, computing devices like laptops, tablets, and smart phones has become a crime instrument for malicious users. Every computing devices is connected to the networks which can access and transmit the data anywhere, making it more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. More complexities were added to the cyber world with the emergence of Artificial Intelligence & machine learning algorithms. Further, Computers with wireless networking creates space for free malicious access. With digital information being stored, security & privacy has been a major concern around the world to protect vital data. The sophisticated modern tools and techniques used by cybercriminals to perform malicious activities aims at disrupting, distorting & stealing sensitive data for self-financial gains. Cybercriminals take advantage of this barrier & build their network to commit cybercrimes across the globe. These cybercriminals create barriers to innovations, financial, economic growth and free flow of information. Thus there is a need to secure these system. The main goal of cyber security is to protect valuable assets. These assets could be hardware, software, network and data (Priyadarshini, I. 2019).

Imagine that you are travelling in a bus having a smart phone with Bluetooth enabled unknowingly in it. A nondescript guy who is sitting away few distance in the same bus might be fiddling with his android phone which syncs with your device through Bluetooth & load the malware into it. All your phone contacts will get an offensive messages which were not sent by you but are from your phone. This is one classic example of security breach through smart devices.

Today, new opportunities are open up for wireless network devices which can be hacked. The airports, restaurants & hotels, libraries, coffee shops & other public places are the prime target sites for cybercriminals to hack assets through wireless networks. Even though these sites are password protected, still it is dangerous because there is slight control who has gained the password. On a wireless network, anyone can listen in on anyone else on the network. A victim in a public place has got no clue who is nearby with respect to wireless network (Waschke, M. 2017, Herrmann, D., & Pridöhl, H. 2020). So let’s take a brief overview about cybersecurity