What Is Cyber Security and How It Works ?

Nikhil orca
5 min readNov 10, 2021

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Meet Anne She often shops from dot shopping cart dot com. She has her information, like email address and credit card details, saved on the website to enable a faster and has free shopping experience. The required information is stored in a server. One day, Anne received an email which stated her eligibility for a special discount boucher from shopping cart dot Com. In order to receive the coupon code, she was asked to fill-in her shopping cart dotcom account credentials. Cyber Security services in Australia

This didn’t seem fishy to her at the time, as she thought it was just an account verification step. Little did she realize the danger she would be facing. She was knocked off her feet when a substantial amount of money was wiped off her account. How do you think this happened?

Well, yes, the email she received was Fat Anne’s shopping cart dotcom account witnessed unauthorized access from a third party. This type of attack is known as a cyber attack, and the person who carries it out is called a hacker. Could Anne have prevented this attack? Indeed, she could have, with the help of cyber security. Cyber security involves techniques that help in securing various digital components, networks, data and computer systems from unauthorized digital access. There are multiple ways to implement cyber security, depending on the kind of network you are connected to and the type of cyber attacks you are prone to. So let’s take a look at the various cyber attacks that Anne could have been exposed to. One of the most common types of cyber attacks is a malware attack, like trojan adware and spyware, to name a few. Had Anne downloaded any suspicious attachments online, her system could have gotten corrupted by certain malicious viruses embedded within the attachments. Cyber Security expert in Sydney

Next is a fishing attack, the type of cyber attack which Anne experienced here. The hacker usually sends fraudulent emails which appear to be coming from a legitimate source. This is done to install malware or to steal sensitive data like credit card information and login credentials. Another type of attack is the man in the middle attack. Here the hacker gains access to the information path between Anne’s device and the website’s server. The hacker’s computer takes over Anne’s ip address. By doing so, the communication line between Anne and the website is secretly intercepted. This commonly happens with unsecured wifi networks and also through malware. Password attack is one of the easiest ways to hack a system.

Here, Ann’s password could have been cracked by using either common passwords or trying all possible alphabetical combinations to prevent future cyber attacks, Anne sought to implement a few cyber security practices. First, she installed a firewall. As the name suggests, it is a virtual wall between Anne’s computer and the internet. Firewalls filter the incoming and outgoing traffic from your device to safeguard your network, and they can either be software applications or hardware reinforcements. Secondly, an implemented honeypots, just like how flowers attract bees. Dummy computer systems called honeypots are used to attract attackers. These systems are made to look vulnerable in order to deceive attackers, and this in turn defends the real system. In addition to these, she also decided to use unique alphanumeric passwords, antivirus software and started avoiding mails from unknown cinders.

That was Anne’s story. Cyber attacks are not just confined to individuals, but also to public and private organizations. The cyber attacks carried out in such places are more deadly and they result in colossal losses. Motives of such attacks are many, starting from tampering with crucial data to monetary gain. Let’s have a look at a few of the cyber attacks that companies are subjected to. Various public sector organizations and large corporations face the advanced, persistent threat in this form of attack. Hackers gain access to networks for a prolonged period in order to continuously gain confidential information. Companies also witness the denial of service attack, where networks are flooded with traffic, which in turn leaves legitimate service requests unattended. A variant of this is the distributed denial of service attack, when multiple systems are used to launch the attack. When a hacker manipulates a standard sql query in a database driven website, it is known as sql injection attack. By doing so, hackers can view, edit and delete tables from databases amidst a plethora of cyber attacks.

It is indeed a challenge for organizations with several networks and servers to ensure complete security. This is not an easy task and to help with this, cyber security professionals are hired to work on identifying cyber threats and securing a company’s network. There are multiple job rolls in the field of cyber security. If hacking fascinates you, then the role of an ethical hacker is something to be explored. Such professionals try to networks vulnerabilities just like how a hacker would do, but only to identify those poor abilities and resolve them for protection against an actual cyber attack. But if you are looking to design robust security structures, then the role of a security architect is more apt. Chief information security officer plays a crucial role in enterprise security and is entrusted with the overall safety of the information in an organization.

So here’s a question for you: identify the type of cyber attack, or the hackers system takes over the client’s ip address, ddos attack, man in the middle attack, see fishing attack, password attack, give it a thought and leave your answers in the comment section below. Three lucky winners will receive Amazon gift vouchers. With the increase in the production of global digital data, it is anticipated that cyber attacks will quadruple in the near future. Organizations are going to need cyber security professionals who can prevent these attacks. A career in the field of cyber security is lucrative and a very smart decision for professionals now. So what are you waiting for? Get certified with simply learned and become a cyber security expert? If you enjoyed this video, thumbs up would be really appreciated. Don’t forget to subscribe to the simply learned channel and hit the bell icon to never miss an update on the latest trending technologies. Thank you for watching and stay tuned for more from simply learn.

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