Cyber Security: An Ultimate Guide [2024]

This is the ultimate guide to cyber security to stay protected online.

In this guide, we’ll discuss the following topics:

What do you need to know about Cybersecurity?
Areas covered under Cybersecurity
Consequences of a cyber attack
Types of cyber attacks
What Can Cybersecurity Protect?
How to prevent Cyberattacks?
5 ways to prevent cyber attacks

If you are interested in becoming an ethical hacker, here are the 15 best websites to learn about ethical hacking.

Contents

Guide To Cyber Security to Stay Protected Online

Cybersecurity (just like any security) is the protection from all internet-related systems, which includes hardware, software, and stored data, from the process used by attackers known as Cyberattack.

What do you need to know about Cybersecurity?

Cyber security is the type of security used by certain agencies to protect your internet-based physical data and data which are helpful for cyber attackers.

These cyber attackers are the people who crawl the internet to steal things that are useful for them and use illegal ways to breach the system, to get most of the benefit from this. Information security, which is designed to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data, is a subset of Cybersecurity.

It is high time to take our privacy very seriously.

Also read: DDoS Attack Explained: Types, Detection, Mitigation

Areas covered under Cyber Security

Some areas are covered by Cyber security, those areas are:

Application Security
Network Security
Information Security
Disaster Recovery
Operational Security

1. Application Security

Application security by its name protects the application from attackers that may lead to major threats for the application as well as its users. It shields applications from dangers that can come through blemishes in the application outline, advancement, organization, update, or support.

Some fundamental systems utilized for application security are

Input parameter approval
User/Role Authentication and Authorization
Session administration, parameter control, and exemption administration
Auditing and logging.

2. Network Security

Network security is the major cybercrime going on right now. Attackers use certain algorithms to breach your data network and steal confidential details. Network Security protects us from these attacks and protects them from spreading on the network.

Components of internet security are:

VPN (Virtual Private Networks)
Antivirus
IPS (Intrusion prevention systems)
Firewall or Firmware

3. Information Security

Information security is used to secure our personal as well as private information to keep it safe from cyber attackers. By this attackers are unable to get unauthorized access.

Some techniques that are used for information security are:

Cryptography
Identification, authentication & authorization of the user

4. Disaster Recovery

Disaster recovery is the system used by the Cyber security agency to recover fast from any cyber disaster in a business or organization to recover the actual position of the business.

The process of disaster recovery includes:

Assessment of performance risk
Establishing priorities
Developing recovering strategy

This 3-step process helps in resuming business as soon as possible. It is also known as business continuity planning.

5. Operational security

Operational security is a risk management process that is used by enterprises or government organizations to secure them from sensitive information falling into the wrong hands.

Steps involved in operational security:

Identification of sensitive data
Identification of possible threats
Analyzing security holes and other vulnerabilities
Appraising the level of risk associated with each vulnerability
Get countermeasures in place

Consequences of a Cyber Attack

The cyber breach has various consequences that include:

Change is the financial position
Damage to reputation/goodwill
Fines and litigation
Theft

According to the UK’s government survey, (Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2017), it is found that the average cost to recover from a Cybersecurity breach for a large-scale organization is £19,600, and for a small to medium-sized business is £1,570 which is bigger in amount.

As indicated by the 2018 Data Breach Investigation report discharged by Verizon, there were more than 53,000 occurrences and 2,300 breaks in 2017, with 75% of those sustained by pariahs.

Truth be told, all Internet-confronting associations are in danger of assault. What’s more, it is anything but an issue if you’ll be assaulted, however when you’ll be assaulted. The lion’s share of digital assaults is mechanized and unpredictable, abusing known vulnerabilities instead of focusing on associations. Your association could be ruptured at present and you don’t know.

Cybersecurity isn’t an IT issue – it’s a business basic. Embracing an exhaustive security methodology today can enable you to abstain from shutting up shop if programmers strike. Hackers use various sets of software and tools to breach the system and get unauthorized access.

Burpsuite is one of the latest sets of tools available in the market for common users. Here’s all you need to know about Burpsuite.

Types of Cyber Attacks

Several types of cyberattacks keep on updating following trends of theft. The process of keeping cyberattacks free from any disruption is very challenging for enterprises to keep updating. But it is necessary for enterprises to keep updating, to stand in the huge competition of cyberattacks.

Malware – It is a type of file or program that is used by attackers to harm your computer. It is stored on your system through file transfer, mail, internet browsing, and many more. Spyware and Trojan horses are examples of Malware.
Ransomware – It is the type of malware that uses encryption keys to lock the system file of your computer and ask for money to decrypt and unlock the system file. The amount is demanded according to the persons and majorly it is high.
Phishing – It is the fraud or fraudulent activity used by attackers to get your card details and access to saved passwords by sending emails that resemble reputable sources.
Social Attacks – In this attackers breach social accounts to get personal information and the task we do to gain sensitive information.

What Cyber Security can protect?

Cybersecurity helps in preventing the entire major task that can be done by cyber attackers. Rather it is a data breach or financial theft; the major task can be controlled by Cybersecurity measures.

If you have a business and have an effective Cyber security plan this will be going to help you in preventing cyber-attacks. So, for the business, it is important to have a cybersecurity backup to make your organization work continuously without any pause.

Basically, what cyber security does is safeguard each user against any type of theft, injury to the person or asset, and blockage of usage. Having cyber security is necessary nowadays. The reason behind this is the increasing number of cyberattacks.

Truth be told, all Internet-confronting associations are in danger of assault. Also, it is anything but an issue if you’ll be assaulted, however when you’ll be assaulted. The larger part of digital assaults is robotized and aimless, abusing known vulnerabilities instead of focusing on associations. Your association could be broken right now, and you don’t know.

How to Prevent Cyber Attacks?

Many bigger cybersecurity disasters have already happened in the past. So, it is better to move freely without any worry. We just need to follow some measures on how to prevent cyber-attacks.

It is required to strictly follow these majors’ ways and we should also know about the root cause of hacking before we move further.

Here are the 5 ways that are proven and preventive for any organization or individual. Check it now.

1. Limit 3rd Party Access

The most and top priority must be limiting access to third parties i.e. Third-party access. We put this measure at the top of the list because commonly most of the information in the organization is accessed by many of the employees or the people who are associated with the organization. Also, most of the cyber breaches that happened in the past are due to information leakage to the 3rd party, the reason is the loopholes in the organization and access to the 3rd party all the necessary details.

Follow these ways to limit 3rd party access:

Limit the documents that 3rd person can watch
Proper and protective control over the network
The background check of all 3rd party person
Use cloud storage
Limit the access to the system

2. Regularly Update Software

The 2nd way to prevent cyber-attacks is by updating software regularly. What is an update? Or to get access to the latest feature? Or removing bugs? It is right till some point but when it comes to cybersecurity it means updating to the latest cybersecurity measures that keep on updating by the security agencies and enterprises.

The update includes updating both the software and operating system. Introduce patches at whatever point is accessible. Your system is helpless when programs aren’t fixed and refreshed routinely. Microsoft currently has an item called Baseline Security Analyzer that can frequently check to guarantee all projects are fixed and in a la mode. This is a genuinely simple and financially savvy approach to reinforce your system and stop assaults before they happen.

3. Employee Training Program

Employee training in cyber security is a must. Employees often open emails that are spam or suspicious leading to downloading the virus. It is concluded from a survey that employees are weakest when it comes to cyber security.

To control this regular training programs must be continuously conducted once a month or once a quarter. One-time training is not enough to do so because people have a mind/ remembering power very less which cannot be developed from one session. So, it is required to train employees timely.

Training must be practical, and relevant and should be done by a cybersecurity professional to get the most out of the employee.

4. Hire a Security Expert

Outstanding amongst other courses for you to find if there are any gaps or security dangers introduced in your foundation is to employ a security advisor. While this may seem like a noteworthy cost, it is a precious administration that may assist you with saving a lot of cash and disappointment not far off.

There is a justifiable reason that expansive organizations, for example, Facebook, have made projects that reward the individuals who explore the security of a site. These are affectionately alluded to as “moral programmers” and can enable you to see where any security dangers may hide in your organization.

5. Developing a Cyber Breach Plan

Developing a cyber breach plan means having a plan on what to do at the time of any sudden breach that may lead to a pause in work.

What will happen when you go to work and find that the system is hacked, or it is not able to work due to a cyber-attack? For this only solution is a pre-planned cyber security plan.

Building up a far-reaching breach readiness design empowers both the representatives and the business to comprehend the potential harm that could happen. A business ought to be exceptionally straightforward concerning the extent of the rupture; workers need to know the reality.

A decent reaction design can confine lost profitability and avoid negative attention. Representatives feel irate when they discover that the organization, they work for had information break a half year prior and enlightened nobody let them know regarding it.