With handheld devicesbecoming more and more ubiquitous each day and networking having its roots sodeeply embedded in our lives, the world around us is becoming more and morecyber and technologically advanced with each passing day and it’s hard to avoidthe threats it entails. Cyber attackers range from sophisticatedhackers to naive teenagers using cyber vulnerabilities to their advantage. Onesuch threat reported as of May 2017, when the world witnessed one of the worstcyber outcries, Wanna Cry Ransomware, a malicious malware that affectedthousands of companies in over 150 countries. Britain’s Nation Health Servicewas worst hit by the attack and it also brought many of Spain’s top companiesto a halt. This malicious malware first targeted computers functioning onobsolete versions of Microsoft Operating System and then infected other systemson the network. The attack lasted 4 days bringing about an extensive damage ofhundred billion dollars.
Numerous businesses andinstitutions now function solely on technology and share sensitive data andeffectuate transactions over networking. This advancement makes cyber securityindispensable and calls for a robust and standardized solution to remedy technologicalvulnerabilities that can compromise one’s identity and privacy and at timescost livelihood. Enlisted are some of the most effective measures to protectyour computer and keep your data intact:· Strong Passwords:Implementing complex and various alpha-numeric combinations for a password canprevent an attack or an unwanted encroachment of your devices to an extent.· Data back-up:Performing regular back-up for your data is a key feature of data security.
Incase our security systems get compromised causing loss of data, we still haveaccess to our data.· Implementing control access and updatingsystems and installing Intrusion Detectors: Restrictingdata and service access to limited authorized personal and controlling physicalapproach to the premise can help keep threats at bay. Also keeping critical data offline and itslimited sharing is crucial. Timely updating our security systems can help usstay one step ahead of the attackers. Intrusion Detectors helps monitor networktraffic and alerts and issues warning on detecting any suspicious activity. · Installing Firewalls, Antivirusprograms: Firewallfilters the incoming and outgoing data on a network and block malicious contentfrom infecting your systems. Also prevents navigating unsecure websites andpotentially threatening content from being downloaded to your computers.
Antivirus programs, on the other hand monitors your systems for any unusualbehavior, traces and destructs any dangerous software or viruses. · Data Encryption: Encryptionadds an extra wall of security to sensitive information stored on a system or anetwork. It employs a systematic algorithm to encrypt data to a code formallycalled ciphertext which can only beread if one has the permitted key or password to access that data , restrictingdata interpretation and manipulation.
· Cybercrime Insurance: Smallor large scale business projects shall issue a cybercrime insurance that cancover for their losses in case of a cyber attack.· OTP(One Time Password): Various business institutions canenforce OTP’s to ensure secure financial transactions with customers. OTP’s aregenerated by employing various algorithms and they have a limited validityof one transaction/session. OTP’s are more secure than staticpasswords as they are not vulnerable to encroachment or accidentalrevelation. · CAPTCHA (Completely Automated PublicTuring Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart): Hackers can employ various webapplications or design specific algorithms to make spurious entries or hoaxregistrations and create a passage to upload malicious content on your systemsor network. CAPTHA is a real-time test that calls for an immediate response toa random distorted piece of information that can only be interpreted by humans,thus differentiating bots and humans. Cloud Computing Security:Cloudcomputing and cloud storage are the latest trends in this world of constantlyevolving web applications and cyber security. The idea is to make data moremobile and accessible and also creating an effective scheme to securely storedata online than on local storage devices.
Cloudcomputing is internet based computing that helps us retrieve various IT based servicesand several other web resources and data by the means of internet. CloudStorage enables seamless data storage on the web on remote databases which canbe accessed anywhere, anytime on any devices with appropriate permission. CloudComputing saves the effort of large data movement and facilitates recovery ondevice destruction, loss or if the device becomes obsolete. Theterm ‘cloud’ basically stresses on fact the information is available on the ‘cloud’i.e. on the web and that one can easily gain access to data and myriad othersoftwares via internet without being physically restricted to a specificlocation to gain access to it.CloudComputing and Storage benefits a lot of businesses and institutions on monetarygrounds as it saves them from the need for a storage infrastructure and devicesthat could cost them in millions otherwise.
Butinternet being so prone to data breaches and hacking, there’s raising concernregarding the safety of data stored on clouds and calls for the need of robustsecurity arrangements i.e. Cloud Computing Security. Data not only needssecurity from breaches and hacking but also the notorious employees of theCloud service providers. Therefore it is usually advised to chose your cloudservice providers wisely.Thedemanding question of as to why one should choose Cloud Computing and CloudStorage over our conventional means of data management is because cloud serviceproviders have superior security provisions like firewalls, encryption and VP’sand skilled data experts to deal with any technical casualty.