The Invisible War: How
Cybersecurity Protects
Our Digital Lives
By:Muhammad Mamsa
What is Cybersecurity?
● Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting computer systems, networks, and data from malicious
digital attacks.
●
● Cybersecurity is crucial to safeguarding sensitive information from being compromised, altered, or
stolen. With the rapid expansion of the Internet, it’s more important than ever to protect both personal
and organizational data.
● Cyber attacks have become more of a problem now than ever before due to the world evolving
through a digital lens
IBM claimed “According to Cybersecurity Ventures, global spending on cybersecurity products and services
will exceed USD 1.75 trillion total during the years 2021 through 2025.”
Common Cyber Threats
● Malware (software designed to damage or gain unauthorized access to a computer system)
● Phishing (fraudulent attempts to obtain sensitive information, typically via email)
● Ransomware (malware that encrypts a user’s data and demands payment for its release)
● Denial of Service (DoS) attacks (overloading systems to make them unavailable to users)
Tools that help fight Cyber Attacks
● FireWall:
They keep an eye on all incoming and outgoing traffic and use pre-established security rules
to filter out malicious requests.
Firewalls
are the first line of protection against unwanted access to
computers, stopping hackers from taking advantage of vulnerabilities.
●
●
Antivirus software
: The purpose of
antivirus
software is to identify, stop, and eliminate “malware,” or
malicious software, from computer systems. It checks applications and files for
, spyware,
known infections, and other malware.This program is crucial for safeguarding organizational and
personal devices from harmful code that could corrupt files or steal confidential information.
ransomware
Encryption:
Encryption is a process that changes readable data into an unreadable format. It is a way
of securing sensitive information, such as personal details and financial transactions, from unauthorized
access. There are mainly two types:
symmetric encryption
, which uses the same key for both
encryption and decryption, and asymmetric encryption, in which a public key is used for encryption and
a private key for decryption.
Asymmetric encryption
is considered more secure for online
transactions.
Innovative technology in Cybersecurity
● Artificial Intelligence: This works on patterns and behaviors by examining a large amount of data for
anomalies in real time. It could even automate responses to possible threats on its own and reduce
response time while increasing the effectiveness of security.
●
●
Blockchain
: This helps to make transactions secure and transparent by recording data in a
digitized
ledger. That is tamper-resistant; making it more fit for the protection of financial transactions and
authentication of identity.
Biometric Authentication
: Biometric authentication relies on unique physiological traits, such as
fingerprints or facial recognition, to authenticate a person’s identity. This provides high security since it
will be very difficult for an intruder to break into a system or access an account.
The Father of CyberSecurity
● Bob Thomas was a programmer widely regarded as “The father of Cybersecurity”, In the 1970’s he
created a program called “Creeper” that accessed a public network and left a trail wherever it went
● This resulted in the world’s first self replicating computer virus ever created, It had no malicious intent
and was used to create antiviruses
● As a response to the creeper virus, Ray Tomlinson (the inventor of email) created “Reaper” the first
ever antivirus system introduced
● 1987 is known as the birth year of commercial Antivirus software, Countries around the world started
creating their own antivirus programs
● In America, John Mcafee founded McAfee and released his own antivirus scan.
Impact of Cybersecurity breaches
● One example of a data breach was in 2017, Equifax one of America’s top 3 credit reporting agencies,
was hacked. 143 million American consumers information was available to these hackers including
social security and driver’s license numbers.
● This was a very severe case where many people’s names, Birthdates, personal addresses, and credit card
numbers were stolen.
● Another infamous example was Yahoo’s data breach in 2016, 500 million users data was hacked and
stolen.
● a hacker who goes by the name of “Peace” claimed to be selling data from 200 million Yahoo users
online
Future of Cybersecurity
● 5g networks is a major look to the future as companies promise faster network speeds, While
sacrificing the potential for cyberattacks due to their larger, more complex infrastructure.
● Cloud Computing saves all your personal information and data to the cloud, Apple users know this as
“Icloud”. While it does help with storage and holding you information it makes it easy for hackers to
access your data in one fell swoop.
● As these technologies evolve more digitally, they will require innovative cybersecurity strategies to
protect against emerging threats
Why cybersecurity is important
Cybersecurity is, in effect, the protection of our digital lives in a world of expanding connections. The
more our technology advances, the greater the cyber threats become, and the defensive strategies and
technologies must be updated accordingly. Staying ahead of threats requires continuing education,
increasing awareness, and proactive actions. By being progressive in their approach, individuals or
organizations can more effectively protect sensitive data and maintain integrity in their systems against
such fast-moving cyber threats.
References
● Bernard, T. S., Hsu, T., Perlroth, N., & Lieber, R. (2017, September 7). Equifax says cyber attack may
have affected 143 million in the U.S. The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/business/equifax-cyberattack.html
● Fiegerman, S. (2016, September 22). Yahoo says 500 million accounts stolen. CNNMoney.
https://money.cnn.com/2016/09/22/technology/yahoo-data-breach/index.html
● GeeksforGeeks. (2024, June 28). Introduction of firewall in computer network. GeeksforGeeks.
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/introduction-of-firewall-in-computer-network/
● Davies, V. (2021, October 4). The history of cybersecurity.
https://cybermagazine.com/cyber-security/history-cybersecurity