Cyber Security Hypothesis

Technological development has continued to be at heart and the driving point of the industrial revolution in the world. Technology refers to the process of using scientific principles and procedures in the production process. People rely on technology now more than ever, given the convenience, speed, and security it offers to individuals. Computers and the internet are the driving force that has continued to offer the base for groundbreaking inventions and development. Computers and the internet have continued to dominate the world's mechanical, communication, health and medicine, business, social, and real estate industries. Technology has revolutionized the telecommunication industry and offered people convenience, speed, and cost-effective means of communication. However, the development in technology has been marred with series of challenges such as data theft, loss of privacy, and financial losses. To offer security and confidentiality for individual data, scientists develop new and varied technology to improve security and deter criminal individuals from unauthorized entry to information technology systems. Such technologies form the basis of the cybersecurity aspect of technology. Cybersecurity represents the aspect of protecting computer systems from unauthorized access that could lead to damage, data loss, or denial of access.

Cybersecurity experts continue to develop prevention techniques against various cybersecurity threats that continue to face information technology systems. Some of the cyber threats that have continued to cause havoc to information technology systems include malware, which represents malicious software such as viruses, spyware, worms, and ransomware that activates and installs on a computer system when a user clicks on insecure links or attachments. Malware leads to spillage of personal data, leads to denial of access to one's computer systems, and can damage computer systems. Denial of service is another cybersecurity threat that acts by flooding a computer system or network system so that the system does not respond to commands. Lastly, the SQL injection or the Structured Query Language injection represents a cybersecurity threat from the injection of malicious codes into servers that use SQL systems, leading to loss of information.

Experts in the field of cybersecurity continue to put more emphasis on two particular aspects considered to be the weak links in cybersecurity protection. To begin with, the Internet of Things technology has evolved to the point that almost every device within our homes can have access to the internet and either sent or receive information over the internet. Experts are increasingly concerned that these technologies do not meet the technical security capabilities to prevent hackers from accessing other information systems using the device. Secondly, data explosion; storage of data and information on individual computers and mobile phones make it easier for individuals to access a network using these devices.

Organizations need to enforce strict password rules to improve cybersecurity and prevent an organization from losing data and other economic losses arising from cyber-attacks. Passwords act as the first line of defense. Secondly, an organization needs to update its operating systems, browsers constantly, and other essential software. Lastly, organizations also need to implement and use Virtual Private Networks, which are more secure than regular networks.

The increasing use of the advanced technology has attracted more cases of cybercrimes because most people and firms currently value data that is handled technologically and criminals try to access them. The technological growth and advancement were rapid in a manner that the users of the technology lack the skills and expertise that would protect them from common fraud. There are several common cyber threats that are experienced due to the increasing use of the computer technology. There is the need for the National security agencies to research and understand the common cyber threats that are experienced within United States in order to invest more resources on the highlighted cyber threats (Kshetri, 2016).

Malware is a common cyber threat that affects business organization and is characterized by an organized integration of a diverse sort of cyber and virtual threats that consists of the Trojan and other specific viruses. The malware attacks are considered a technique that employ a systematic devised code of instruction that is designed to intentionally hack a vulnerable system in an organization to access confidential data for the cybercriminal personal benefits (Kshetri, 2016). The kind of cyber threat has the capacity of demolishing an entire set of information and this is a huge threat to the success of an organization and understanding the kind of information helps the National Security Agencies to prioritize on mitigating the threat.

The type of cyber threat is common and targets on the employees in an organization that are unsuspecting because the attackers use links that are similar to that of the organization and the moment a staff clicks on the like is when he/she offers access to the data to the fraudsters. The links and attachments that are always used by the fraudsters ask for the user’s personal and confidential information like the passwords where they use them to access sensitive information (Rawat & Bajracharya, 2015). The hackers advance their tricks always by making it easier for them to administrate their malicious intent by developing a sophisticated version where they encourage the user to redirect a third interface and the intruders to steal the available sensitive data.

The use of passwords by individual or organization as a security mechanism to minimize unauthorized access is threatened by cybercriminals. There are the cases of password attacks launched by cybercriminals where they employ the malicious codes using unique software that staunchly manipulate and violate the passwords of the user (Rawat & Bajracharya, 2015). The intent of the password attack is to crack the password of the user and the cybercriminal accesses the confidential data.

The Denial-of-Service attack is a cyber-attack where the criminals interfere with the network resource, system function or the machine basically to make the services or resources needed by the users’ unavailable temporarily or indefinite service disruption. There are various ways in which the intruders employ in making services and resources unavailable and this includes transmitting a large volume of data that cannot be handled by the system causing congestion that makes the system slow and the users’ finds it difficult accessing services (Kshetri, 2016). The kind of attack has a huge loss to an organization because it damages reputation and lose their customers or clients.

MITM stands for Man in the Middle is a cyber-attack that is characterized by impersonation where a criminal tries to pretend in the end nodes during information exchange. The kind of attack is common especially when conducting an online transaction that is associated with finances and this is common for the banking and financial sector.

The type of attack is characterized by a visual interface that the attackers use in employing their malicious tricks where the impose instructions in the form of cryptic codes. The trick that is employed by the attacker is to lure the user click on a suspicious button that is designed basically to redirect the hacker to the users’ web page that carries confidential information. The attackers using the clickjacking technique are prone to stealing important and sensitive information from the user’s system.

The cyber threats mentioned above have catastrophic consequences to the organization and they are commonly experienced in organizations and the National Security agencies should consider implementing the mitigation strategies by creating awareness to the citizens and organizations (Kshetri, 2016). Most of the mentioned attacks are contributed by the negligence or lack of understanding of the employee or the victims because their contribution led to the success of the attack. Mitigation strategies ensue that the cybercriminal tricks do not succeed like the use of links and attachments that the user have to click in order for the criminal to access the sensitive information. Some of the mitigation strategies include educating the organization employees to differentiate between the legitimate content on the emails and suspicious content.

One of the common mitigation strategies of mitigating the common cyber threats is through encrypting the information or data and this makes it difficult for the hackers to access sensitive and confidential information. The organization staff should be subjected to a cybersecurity training and awareness in order to avoid sharing confidential or sensitive information in a public space while exchanging the information to minimize the attack by cybercriminals (Rawat & Bajracharya, 2015). The organization and user data should be updated in a regular basis and avoid saving the passwords in the computer. The password used should always a complex one that use the capital letters, small letters, numbers and symbols.

Globally, the driving point of the industrial revolution is the technological development that has been embraced by billions of people. The invention of the computer and the internet has been the one of the best developments that made the world a small village where people can communicate instantly without the geographical barrier. The internet technology has been the best innovation that promoted globalization of firms and companies that were capable to reach their global customers through the social media and other online channels marketing their products. The internet technology and computers came with their own challenges and that is the issue of cybersecurity that include cases of data theft, loss of privacy and financial losses (Shin &Lowry, 2020). The threat of cybersecurity has been a global concern and a lot of effort has been directed towards the prevention techniques against cyber threats that are experienced in most organizations both public and private.

Cybersecurity experts have come up with different techniques in an approach of minimizing the damage brought by the cyber risks through risk management ways. According to Shin & Lowry (2020), the global crippling cyber-attacks targeting organizations has contributed to most firms opting for cyber threat intelligence (CTI). The cyber threat intelligence is all about actionable threat information that is known to be relevant in the process of managing risks for specific firms where it demands a close monitoring and attention (CIS, 2021). CTI play an important role in collecting intelligence about the enemies that are after the organization data and the more understanding about those responsible of the cyber attackers and their motives would assist much in the process of managing the cyber risks. The CTI approach works best in proactive, preventive and timely threat detection that allow for a quick response in order to minimize the damage that the cyber threat would have caused. The growing use of the CTI by organization has been contributed by the fact that CTI has the potential of addressing the existing cybersecurity challenges by investing more on the prevention techniques through collecting data intelligence. The CTI capability model (CTI-CM) is the best in the process of effectively engaging in the CTI activities.

The challenges of cybersecurity do not exceed the benefits of the internet and computer technology that organization has embraced in terms of efficiency, increased production and service delivery (Shin &Lowry, 2020). An implementation of a well-developed CTI program would contribute much in the effort of narrowing the gap of cyber threats and minimizes the possibility of occurring and also limits the level of damages they might cause. The CTI program is more about understanding the enemies of the organization and the motives that drives them in order to develop a proactive intervention in ways of preventing their actions from causing data losses and privacy issues that would damage the reputation of the company (CIS, 2021). Based on Shin & Lowry (2020), CTI initiative is growing traction over the years showcasing the confidence that organization has towards the program where it has given confidence to organizations that the precision-guided defense measures are essential in protecting the organization from cyber threats. The CTI-CM model is important for organization where it provides the guides to the practitioners and cyber security experts and also establishes a theoretical model that offer necessary research opportunities for organization on the move of curbing the effects of successful cyber-attack (Shin &Lowry, 2020). Prevention through data collection about the potential risks are critical in minimizing the losses associated with cyber-attacks and also build a positive reputation about an organization.

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