The Essential Role of IT Security in Contemporary Society - Essay Sample

Introduction

The internet has become a fundamental part of contemporary society. The increasing use of the internet has made IT security even more vital than before.IT security involves protecting programs, networks, and data from change, destruction or unauthorized access. It includes all the activities and operations taken to reduce threats and vulnerabilities and incorporating necessary policies for recovery, data assurance, and other IT-related activities. Generally, IT security entails all the processes and mechanisms that safeguard digital records, data, and equipment from destruction, manipulation or illegal access. Business companies, especially small-sized ones have faced critical challenges when it comes to safeguarding their data. Most data exposure and breaches come from human mistakes and in some circumstances unintended misconduct (McIlwraith, 2016). Increased awareness towards IT security as well as proper planning, has, however, and proved to be very beneficial for most firms in safeguarding their trade secrets and data from being exposed. For workers to be able to notice and prevent IT security breaches, they have to undergo basic training on the various ways that IT security threats can occur. These include; social engineering, ransomware, malware, and phishing.

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Computer viruses, network outages and hacking of important information are IT related threats that impact many companies and range from minor incidents to serious inconveniences. IT-related threats have been in many cases caused by vulnerabilities, negligence as well as other unintended accidents. However, cyber threats can also be intentional or planned such as accessing or hacking by unauthorized users. The major aim of these system hackers or attackers is always to steal confidential data, make illegal money transfers or transactions or even to change or destroy some information (McIlwraith, 2016). One major way of harming or infecting the computer includes the use of viruses or malicious logic to get illegal access to a computer.

Workers require both online and physical training to protect their respective firms against cyber-attacks. By training workers about cybersecurity threats, they get to know the right procedures to follow when a threat is spotted hence strengthen the most important links in the chain. To begin with, IT security training helps workers recognize spam content that could be hiding malicious files. Employees should be made aware that spam content does not just exist in mails but also in social media invitations and messages.

Second, companies could consider proving phishing training for both its new and old employees. The trainers should give instances of real phishing scams that make the workers understand what a falsified email may look like, where such mails might come from and the kind of data it may ask for. These phishing emails always ask for financial data, personal data, passwords, and usernames that enable criminals to access organization programs or even involve in fraudulent activities (Siponen et al., 2014). The training should also involve the IT security tips for workers who might be convinced into downloading ransomware of malware. These are significant threats to any business as they tend to leverage the website of a company or other major platforms to exhort money.

Lastly, social engineering should be a vital topic in IT security training and awareness for workers. Social engineers tend to impersonate themselves with trusted but fake online identities and then trick workers into giving them data that they should not give out. All workers should be trained on how to deal with and keep away such social engineers (Colwill, 2009). Workers should be made aware that every device they use and every email they get may have clues about a password hack, phishing scam or even a lurking virus. It is therefore important to mobilize them as a force against such attacks. They should be first trained on legit antivirus warnings, spam content and unexplained errors. They should be later educated on the procedure that they are supposed to follow to report such warnings and red flags and all the appropriate people to discuss with these cyber-attack suspicions. The reason behind IT security training is for workers to constantly do away with their behaviors and habits and develop a sense of shared responsibility and accountability so that the organization is safe from cyber-attacks (Siponen et al., 2014). Companies should also consider upgrading their security system and staying updated with the changing technology.

As the number of digital data applications and networks is increasing, so does the chances of cybercrimes and IT exploitation. Increasing IT security threats like phishing scams, data theft, and other vulnerabilities demand that companies and employees should always be vigilant about data protection. The failure to properly secure accounts has made it simpler for illegal users and hackers to spread malicious files or socially engineered attacks that are meant to steal both money and information. Such issues emphasize the need for IT security as a vital strategy in safeguarding and preventing the inappropriate use of data. Continuous training will enable an organization to enforce policy changes and data about the latest cyber scams. This will play a vital role in the company's IT security.

References

Colwill, C. (2009). Human factors in information security: The insider threat-Who can you trust these days?. Information security technical report, 14(4), 186-196.

McIlwraith, A. (2016). Information security and employee behavior: how to reduce risk through employee education, training, and awareness. Routledge.

Siponen, M., Mahmood, M. A., & Pahnila, S. (2014). Employees' adherence to information security policies: An exploratory field study. Information & management, 51(2), 217-224.