Question

The militarization of cyberspace is inevitable. We should simply prepare our companies for the inevitable “war on the digital front.” write a 3 page paper.

Answer 1

Cyber Attack

A cyber attack is an attack launched from one or more computers against another computer, multiple computers or networks. Cyber attacks can be broken down into two broad types: attacks where the goal is to disable the target computer or knock it offline, or attacks where the goal is to get access to the target computer's data and perhaps gain admin privileges on it.

8 types of cyber attack

To achieve those goals of gaining access or disabling operations, a number of different technical methods are deployed by cybercriminals. There are always new methods proliferating, and some of these categories overlap, but these are the terms that you're most likely to hear discussed.

1. Malware

2. Phishing

3. Ransomware

4. Denial of service

5. Man in the middle

6. Cryptojacking

7. SQL injection

8. Zero-day exploits

1. Malware — Short for malicious software, malware can refer to any kind of software, no matter how it's structured or operated, that "is a designed to cause damage to a single computer, server, or computer network," as Microsoft puts it. Worms, viruses, and trojans are all varieties of malware, distinguished from one another by the means by which they reproduce and spread. These attacks may render the computer or network inoperable, or grant the attacker root access so they can control the system remotely.

2. Phishing — Phishing is a technique by which cybercriminals craft emails to fool a target into taking some harmful action. The recipient might be tricked into downloading malware that's disguised as an important document, for instance, or urged to click on a link that takes them to a fake website where they'll be asked for sensitive information like bank usernames and passwords. Many phishing emails are relatively crude and emailed to thousands of potential victims, but some are specifically crafted for valuable target individuals to try to get them to part with useful information.

3. Ransomware — Ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts a victim's files. The attacker then demands a ransom from the victim to restore access to the data upon payment. Users are shown instructions for how to pay a fee to get the decryption key. The costs can range from a few hundred dollars to thousands, and are typically payable to cybercriminals in cyptocurrency.

4. Denial of service — A denial of service attack is a brute force method to try stop some online service from working properly. For instance, attackers might send so much traffic to a website or so many requests to a database that it overwhelms those systems ability to function, making them unavailable to anybody. A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack uses an army of computers, usually compromised by malware and under the control of cybercriminals, to funnel the traffic towards the targets.

5. Man in the middle — A man in the middle attack (MITM) is a method by which attackers manage to interpose themselves secretly between the user and a web service they're trying to access. For instance, an attacker might set up a Wi-Fi network with a login screen designed to mimic a hotel network; once a user logs in, the attacker can harvest any information that user sends, including banking passwords.

6. Cryptojacking — Cryptojacking is a specialized attack that involves getting someone else's computer to do the work of generating cryptocurrency for you (a process called mining in crypto lingo). The attackers will either install malware on the victim's computer to perform the necessary calculations, or sometimes run the code in JavaScript that executes in the victim's browser.

7. SQL injection — SQL injection is a means by which an attacker can exploit a vulnerability to take control of a victim's database. Many databases are designed to obey commands written in the Structured Query Language (SQL), and many websites that take information from users send that data to SQL databases. In a SQL injection attack, a hacker will, for instance, write some SQL commands into a web form that's asking for name and address information; if the web site and database aren't programmed correctly, the database might try to execute those commands.

8. Zero-day exploits — Zero-days are vulnerabilities in software that have yet to be fixed. The name arises because once a patch is released, each day represents fewer and fewer computers open to attack as users download their security updates. Techniques for exploiting such vulnerabilites are often bought and sold on the dark web — and are sometimes discovered by government agencies that controversially may use them for their own hacking purposes, rather than releasing information about them for the common benefit.

Don’t Equate Small with Safe:

Despite significant cybersecurity exposures, 85 percent of small business owners believe their company is safe from hackers, viruses, malware or a data breach. This disconnect is largely due to the widespread, albeit mistaken, belief that small businesses are unlikely targets for cyber attacks. In reality, data thieves are simply looking for the path of least resistance. Symantec’s study found that 40 percent of attacks are against organizations with fewer than 500 employees.

Outside sources like hackers aren’t the only way your company can be attacked. Often smaller companies have a family-like atmosphere and put too much trust in their employees. This can lead to complacency, which is exactly what a disgruntled or recently fired employee needs to execute an attack on the business.

Attacks Could Destroy Your Business:

As large companies continue to get serious about data security, small businesses are becoming increasingly attractive targets and the results are often devastating for small business owners.

According to the Kaspersky Lab, the average annual cost of cyber attacks to small and medium-sized businesses was over $200,000 in 2014. Most small businesses don’t have that kind of money lying around and, as a result, nearly 60 percent of the small businesses victimized by a cyber attack close permanently within six months of the attack. Many of these businesses put off making necessary improvements to their cyber security protocols until it was too late because they feared the costs would be prohibitive.

10 Ways to Prevent Cyber Attacks:

Even if you don’t currently have the resources to bring in an outside expert to test your computer systems and make security recommendations, there are simple, economical steps you can take to reduce your risk of falling victim to a costly cyber attack:

1. Cyber Attacks on businesses seems to be inevitable- at least with the prevailing situation in the cyber landscape. But security analysts say that to a large extent most of these attacks are avoidable if companies chose to follow the below-specified steps crafted specifically to protect their enterprises against cyber attacks.

2. The first and foremost solution to prevent cyber attacks on companies is to have a secure and sophisticated hardware which are password protected and backed up by 2-way authentication. Also, it is better if you don’t overlook the effectiveness of protecting your physical storage disks. Because if neglected, then it gives an opportunity to anyone and everyone to walk away with your firm’s sensitive data.

3. Safeguard your company’s hardware- A survey conducted by IDC says that most of the data breaches occur when stolen equipment reaches the hands of the hackers. For instance, if one of your employees working in R&D loses his/her laptop, then the company for which he/she working for can land into serious troubles if the sensitive data reaches the hands of the competitors or those having nefarious intentions. Thus, it’s better to outline some physical security strategies before any untoward incident occurs. Like storing the data on the cloud which is protected by multiple security layers and inculcating responsible BYOD security policies among the employees working for your business environment.

4. Encrypt data- Encryption of data gives your company an upper hand when your data falls into wrong hands. And that’s due to the fact that it becomes useless even if a hacker sniffs it out- and mind you it’s not that easy to break into the encryption available in the market these days.

5. Backup data- Sometimes no matter how hard you try, hackers get into your network and try to encrypt your data with ransomware. But if your enterprise has a backup copy of the latest, then you or your company need not bow to the demands of the hackers. But remember, the backup should be done in an effective manner and that too should be in the retrievable form as soon as a disaster strikes.

6. It’s wise to invest in cybersecurity insurance these days- Because cybercriminals are becoming too sophisticated these days, they are coming up with ways to break into the most advanced cyber defenses. Therefore, even the most security-conscious businesses get vulnerable to cyber attacks. This is where a cyber insurance cover can come to your rescue. If in case, an attack occurs, most of the policies not only cover the financial loss caused from data theft but also help in co-paying the costs involved in recovering data and that includes paying to data recovery experts and for buying new hardware as well as software.

7. Educate employees on the latest happening in the cyber landscape, so that they can help mitigate cyber risks with ease. This includes educating them about risks associated with using unsecured networks to access work info and avoiding unsecured websites and sharing sensitive data on social media. Restricting them from password sharing will also help.

8. Use of anti-malware solutions and protecting enterprise networks with efficient firewalls will also help in keeping your enterprise IT safe from attacks.