THE IMPORTANCE OF CYBER SECURITY

Cyber Security has evolved drastically since it was first developed.  People often associate

cybersecurity with computers, but it actually has a far broader application than just this. 

The first instance of a cyber attack was in 1903, when magician Nevil Maskelyne disrupted 

John Ambrose Fleming’s demonstration by sending insulting Morse code messages that were

projected onto the auditorium’s screen! You can learn more about the attack here.

Modern-day Hackers have had 114 years to upgrade and improve at breaking down 

cyber security systems. Tool and methods for hacking have increased as the internet has grown 

and it is now much easier to attack a business or an individual in this way. 

These tools have become known as “Exploit Kits” and are designed to exploit human weakness

or vulnerabilities in your PC or Servers; those who operate these tools have been dubbed 

as “Script Kiddies"

            Effective cyber security is not necessarily about protecting a network, as most Hackers 

will not attempt to attack a network but instead will target a website or a server. 

Accessing networks is more difficult for Hackers, as most individuals and businesses have a

firewall in place which are difficult for Hackers to penetrate.

Minimum cyber security requirements for a network should be as follows:

Endpoint Protection

Firewall

Intrusion Detection System / Intrusion Prevention System

Web Filtering Software

Radius Server

Logging Software

Encryption

           

 Businesses can incur huge fines for failing to protect and handle data effectively. The PCI Security 

Standards Council are now urging all businesses to ensure they meet the requirements necessary

 to keep their data secure, especially since there will now be new charges and fines under EU Data

 Protection Laws. 

These new laws could see businesses immediately bankrupted by up to £122 Billion in fines.

A staggering 90% of large businesses declared security breaches in 2015, which led to an 

estimated 1.4 Billion in losses due to the fines incurred. The current penalty for a data

breach is £500,000, however by 2018 the European Union’s General Data Protection

Regulation (GDPR) will have introduced new fines that will be a minimum of €20 Million,

or 4% of the business’ annual turnover, whichever is the greatest.well-known companies such as

• Ashley Madison
• Sony
• Home Depot
• JP Morgan
• eBay
• Amazon
• Talk-Talk, and Target have had data breaches in the last five years.

Companies such as these demonstrate the increasing need to effectively counter the rising

 threat of cyber security breaches.

There are various methods to ensure that your data is kept secure. For example, you can use

a method called “hardening” which is very much like the 

structure of a conker: the good stuff is inside, but on the outside is a hard shell that will take

longer to crack. With logging software in place, any attempt to access the hardened network 

will be logged, allowing the hacker to be traced.

Another method, which is referred to as the “honeypot” method, is a very clever 

method of tricking a hacker or an attacker. It is known that if the right software is in place, any 

connection that comes in or out of a network can be traced. Therefore, an area of the network

can be created that is deliberately vulnerable. 

Thus, when the hacker attacks, they will go straight to the vulnerable area of the network – 

when they get there, they grab the files and leave. 

But they then later realise it was nothing, and they have left a trace behind of their attack!

If a network is secure, hackers will sometimes target users of the network instead –

this is known as social engineering.

Recent trends have seen the rise of social engineering and this has evolved from a simple email 

asking people to click on a link, to social engineering taking place through internet browsing.