Lesson Goal
To provide an overview of the basic principles and practices of cybersecurity, emphasizing its importance in protecting data and systems.
Cybersecurity involves protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks. These cyberattacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information; extorting money from users; or interrupting normal business processes.
Understanding the Core Aspects of Cybersecurity:
- Information Security: Protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data. It’s not just about safeguarding information from unauthorized access, but also about ensuring that it’s available when needed and has not been tampered with.
- Network Security: Involves measures to protect the underlying networking infrastructure from unauthorized access, misuse, malfunction, modification, destruction, or improper disclosure.
- Application Security: Focuses on keeping software and devices free of threats. A compromised application could provide access to the data it’s designed to protect.
Key Principles of Cybersecurity:
- Confidentiality: Ensuring that private information remains private and is not accessed by unauthorized individuals.
- Integrity: Protecting information from being modified by unauthorized parties. Integrity assures that data can be trusted and is accurate.
- Availability: Ensuring that data and services are available to authorized users when needed.
Common Threats in Cybersecurity:
- Malware: Includes viruses, worms, and Trojan horses that can disrupt or damage systems.
- Phishing Attacks: Attempt to trick users into giving up sensitive information or installing malware.
- Ransomware: A type of malware that locks users’ data or systems and demands payment for access.
- Denial-of-Service Attacks: Overwhelm a system’s resources, making it unable to respond to service requests.
Implementing Cybersecurity Measures:
- Risk Assessment: Identifying assets, threats, and vulnerabilities.
- Use of Firewalls and Antivirus Software: To block unauthorized access and screen out viruses and other malicious online traffic.
- Data Encryption: Encrypting data can protect its confidentiality and integrity while in transit and at rest.
- Regular Updates and Patches: Keeping software up-to-date to protect against the latest threats.
Summary: Cybersecurity is a critical field focused on protecting information and systems from digital threats. It involves various practices and principles to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data.
For an in-depth look at cybersecurity and its various aspects, visit the Wikipedia page: Cybersecurity Wikipedia.