Are Cyber-attacks a Threat to Today's Society? Essay Example

What can be done to strengthen our cyber security and prevent cyber-attacks on people, businesses, and computer networks? Due to the advancement in modern technology and the creation of brand new technology some problems have resulted over the last decade. Due to the increased cyber-attacks in the modern world, digital security has gone past the limits of general data security. Nowadays, it incorporates the assurance of data assets, as well as that of different resources, including the individual him/herself (Van & Von, 2013). As we build and improve our technology, they become even more involved. Therefore, we dont have to necessary build software that prevents people from targeting our businesses, computer networks, and peoples privacy.

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These past few years businesses have had their computer systems compromised which put peoples private information at risk, websites have been taken down by hackers, and people have been victims of cyber-attacks because hackers are trying to tamper with their lives. This paper is based on extensive research, and it mainly highlights cyber-crimes committed, the results of these crimes, and how protection can be acquired from the cyber-attacks (Sharif & Tipper, 2012). Most of all, what can we do to enhance technologic capabilities to prevent hackers from gaining access from computer networks? Once hackers come across any computer system, they can access all files that can hurt not only the business, and the people involved. They are also able to see classified information thats probably unavailable to the public eye.

The internet has been around since the 1990s. People have committed cyber-crimes since those periods, and this has led to damages of a lot of capital. One report from the New York Times (2009) stated: during the year 2000, a 15yr old Canadian boy committed the first-ever denial of service (DoS) attack. This kind of cyber-attack floods computer networks with data that causes outages, thus, taking their target offline. An attack like the DoS attack is a big issue because it can target banks websites and take them offline. Once such a crime occurs, the banks consumers and investors can undergo huge losses due to lack of security within their computer networks. Another cyber-crime thats been common over the last few years has been against financial systems. At the beginning of 2017, we saw one of our first major cyber-crime which was against Bangladesh Bank. According to the international banker (2017), Hackers were able to gain access to the bank's security system stealing 101 million dollars from the banks. Attacks on banks like Bangladesh have shown the potential threat against financial institutions.

Over the years, hackers have targeted people who hold a valuable position in todays society (Cybercrime, 2017). An example of such people includes an individual who is a leading member of a company such as a CEO. How are these people targeted? According to the Washington Post (2012), these people are focused by using social engineering. Social engineering is learning about the target you want to hack; the hacker will attempt to find out your interest, whos your friend, and other highly valuable information that you will usually safeguard. Its difficult to prevent social engineering since the flaw is human error in most cases.

Hacking people is an effective way for hackers to gain access to a companys computer network. According to the Washington Post (2012), hackers will use a technique called spear-phishing against an employee who is working at the company that is targeted by the hackers. Spear-Phishing refers to the attempt of the hacker to compromise a computer system through the use of emails (Spear Phishing, 2017). When a hacker sends his target an email, the email will contain a document that contains malware. Once that document is downloaded to a computer at work, the computer becomes infected with a computer virus (Spear Phishing, 2017). Unfortunately, its difficult to prevent occurrences like these from happening. As indicated above, its difficult to avoid an error that occurs as a result of the actions of another individual regarding computer viruses.

How can someone protect themselves from cyber-attacks? According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), you can do a few things to protect yourself from being a victim of a cyber-attack. DHS (2017) has stated that, never click on links in an email if you think the email is not coming from a legitimate sender, dont open attachments in an email, and never give your personal information out to anyone over the phone, and in an email. DHS also recommend people always to have a secure password and to ensure their anti-virus on their computer is always updated to prevent viruses and malware from getting onto their networks. To protect yourself and your network even further, if you have wireless internet, ensure that you have the latest security setting enabled on your router.

How can a business protect itself from cyber-attacks? The Guardian (2015) stated that any business should regularly patch firewalls, continue updating their firmware, setting strong passwords, and ensuring that employees install anti-virus software on to their own personal devices. However, businesses never intent to always keep their computer networks secured unless theyre victims of a cyber-attack (Scott, 2015). This is due to the high cost of maintaining their computer systems. The cost of ensuring most businesses are keeping their computer systems secured at all times has plagued markets for years now. Some companies cant afford to not keep their computer systems secured under all circumstances (Scott, 2015).

Through extensive research, its clear that both businesses and people cant always keep themselves secured at all times. Its possible to create a software and even heighten the security on any computer network and devices to prevent the work of hackers (Walters, 2017). However, its still possible for such computer networks to be hacked. As hardware and software become more complex, the chances of finding the flaws to infiltrate these things become imminent. Now I understand why the Pentagon hire hackers every year to penetrate their computer networks. If you think youre safe from cyber-attacks, youre probably not because theres a way to prevent it, but theres no permanent solution to the issue. Most governments especially the United States are working towards building departments within governments and in the military specifically for Cyber Warfare (Cybercrime, 2017).

References

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Sharif, H., & Tipper, D. (2012). A Survey on Cyber Security for Smart Grid Communications. IEEE Communications Surveys and tutorials, 14(4), 998-1010.

James, R. (2009, June 01). Cybercrime. Retrieved February 22, 2017, from http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1902073,00.html

Cybercrime: The Growing Threat to Global Banking. (2016, November 30). Retrieved February 22, 2017, from https://internationalbanker.com/banking/cybercrime-growing-threat-global-banking/

Jr., R. O. (2012, September 26). In cyberattacks, hacking humans is highly effective way to access systems. Retrieved February 22, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/in-cyberattacks-hacking-humans-is-highly-effective-way-to-access-systems/2012/09/26/2da66866-ddab-11e1-8e43-4a3c4375504a_story.html?utm_term=.337c775e22a8

Spear Phishing 101: What is Spear Phishing? (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2017, from https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/cyber-attacks/spear-phishing-101-what-is-spear-phishing

Protect Myself from Cyber Attacks. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2017, from https://www.dhs.gov/how-do-i/protect-myself-cyber-attacks

Scott, C. (2015, October 14). How to stop cyber-attacks on your organisation. Retrieved February 24, 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2015/oct/14/how-to-stop-cyber-attacks-on-your-organisation

Ilves, T. H. (2016). The consequences of cyber-attacks. Journal of International Affairs, 70(1), 175-178,11. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/1855796600?accountid=272Hashimoto, Y., Toyoshima, T., Yogo, S., Koike, M., Hamaguchi, T., Jing, S., & Koshijima, I. (2013). Safety securing approach against cyber-attacks for process control system. Computers and Chemical Engineering, 57, 181. doi: 10.1016/j.compchemeng.2013.04.019

Szoldra, P. (2015, December 30). The 9 worst cyberattacks of 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2017, from http://www.businessinsider.com/cyberattacks-2015-12/#hackers-breached-the-systems-of-the-health-insurer-anthem-inc-exposing-nearly-80-million-personal-records-1

Wells Fargo Is Latest Bank Hit by Cyber Attacks. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2017, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/b/da235614-3740-4f68-8176-c1a640fc73a1

Walters, R. (n.d.). Cyber Attacks on U.S. Companies in 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2017, from http://www.heritage.org/defense/report/cyber-attacks-us-companies-2016