Cybercrime, as the name suggests, refers to the unlawful acts where computers are either used as the tool or the target, so, one must understand the importance of cybersecurity to keep their computer networks secure and protect the data against unlawful circumvention. With its inherent vulnerabilities, cybersecurity is faced with many challenges while cyber offenders are causing cyber exploitation with the rapid technological advancement of various cyber offenses such as viruses, hacking websites and accounts, identity theft, phishing, cyber espionage, and more.
Cyberattacks have increased rapidly since the last decade, exposing the sensitive and personal content and business classified information, disrupting the critical operations, and imposing high risks on the economy due to which the need to establish a cybersecurity framework has become so pertinent.
CHALLENGES POSED BY CYBER OFFENDERS
The latest study shows that cybercrimes are likely to expand in its extent and complexity as more and more people are using the medium of the internet for various purposes. Some of the challenges against cybersecurity are:
Due to the exponential increase in the use of mobile without much knowledge of data security, it has become easier to attack the users by trespassing into their confidential zone.
Lack of proper security infrastructure in some devices.
Lack of awareness on cybersecurity leading to ignorance of suspicious activities which can turn out to be highly dangerous with inevitable
The dearth of cybersecurity specialists in India who can provide a safe cyber environment and educate people about cyber offenses.
Use of cyberspace by the terror organizations for the trading of arms and ammunitions and selling their ideology among people.
STEPS TO ENSURE CYBER SAFETY
In order to curb cybercrimes, some efforts must be made. The following are the 5 important measures that one must take to protect themselves against the majority of cyber threats.
NETWORK SECURITY
Network security must be ensured to protect the network against external and internal attacks. One needs to manage a network’s security from the cyber-attacks on a priority basis and filter out all the unauthorized access and malicious content. After determining the malicious content, it should be monitored keenly and security controls must be tested on them.
MALWARE PROTECTION & MONITORING
Proper scanning must be done in order to identify any malware across the entire business system and an anti-malware defense must be established in all the business areas, which will monitor the network against possible cyber intruders. It protects the classified documents from being leaked or accessed by only letting the verified data flow in the system.
After ensuring malware protection, one must establish a monitoring strategy and form supporting policies. Rigorous and continuous monitoring of all systems and networks must be ensured to determine any unusual activity which could indicate any cyber-attack.
SECURE CONFIGURATION AND ENCRYPTION
Various security patches must be applied to ensure that a secure configuration of all the systems is monitored and maintained. A system inventory must be created to keep track of all the ICT devices.
Furthermore, encryption will help in the protection of the data in transit by converting the plain text into the codified language. Through this method, only the receiver can decrypt the data by entering the private key and hence can access the information shared.
REVIEW WEBSITE AND SOFTWARE
One must understand the importance of private and confidential information, and different privacy policies while using software or accessing a website. It is pertinent to understand how an organization might collect and use our personal information before we actually share it with them as it can result in leakage of our personal information. Many of these policies intend to have their unauthorized access over our contacts, mailbox, message box, etc.
SAFEGUARD PERSONAL INFORMATION
One must be alert while sharing their personal information such as name, home address, phone number, and email address online. While using many online services, one will inevitably have to provide personal information on e-commerce sites in order to handle billing and shipping of purchased goods. Since not providing any personal information is rarely an option, some points must be kept in mind while sharing personal information safely online such as phony emails, phishing messages requiring personal information and malicious links which might lead to fraudulent websites.
CONCLUSION
In this digital era, almost all the personal information of an individual is available online and may lead to unauthorized activities. Also, all the enterprises have their data on their cloud and any breach by the cyber offenders may lead to the disclosure of the confidential information and result in the loss of money and integrity of the organization.
Even the amount of confidential data maintained by the government sectors related to a country’s geographical, military and strategic assets, etc. and citizens is of utmost importance and the leakage of which may lead to loss of millions.
It is time to take strict measures against such threats and formulate a setup towards cybersecurity, data integrity, and data security verticals. Also, every nation needs to protect their cyberspace against any unauthorized access to the data which may lead to serious threats to a country.
