500+ Words Essay on Cyber Security
“If you spend more on coffee than on IT, you will be hacked.” ~ Richard Clarke
The world is now one global digital village with all of its population and cultures connected. India has the second-largest internet-using population in the world, with more than 400 million users. Cybersecurity is the protection of computer systems from damage to their hardware, software and electronic data. It is also a measure to prevent thefts, disruption of data and misleading of services. The need for cybersecurity has drastically increased because of the huge reliance on wireless networks and the internet. Cybersecurity is one of the major challenges being faced by the modern-day world.
Need for Cyber Security
It is estimated that on average, companies spend more than 400 billion dollars on cybersecurity. While many choose to protect their systems, others do not invest in cybersecurity to keep their costs down. Following are some reasons why you should invest in cybersecurity now more than ever-:
The cost of a security breach can be very high for a company. It not only causes financial damage but affects the reputation of the firm as well. Clients or customers upon knowing that a breach has happened would think that the company has a flawed security system and would hence like to take their business elsewhere.
People who illegally enter into your electronic systems are known as hackers. The number of hackers in the world has increased, and so has their level of sophistication. When even Deloitte, the largest cybersecurity consultant company in the world was not able to protect itself from a cyber-attack, think of how easy it would be for a hacker to enter your cell phones.
The easy availability of hacking tools on the internet has made cyber attacks an even stronger possibility. These tools are getting more updated and superior day by day, and so are the people using them. They are slowly and steadily mastering the art of unethical hacking.
Cyber Crime
Cybercrime is any criminal or illegal activity that takes place on or through the internet. There are various types of cybercrimes-:
Many innocent individuals, mostly women, are victims of cyberstalking. It is a type of sexual harassment that involves sending messages and emails online. The content of these messages and emails may be threatening and even provocative. The cyberstalker aims to make the victim’s life miserable and make him or her feel dejected.
Phishing is another very common type of cyber-attack. In this, identical emails are sent to a very large number of people. The cyber attacker poses as a trustworthy entity of an institution and tries to obtain sensitive information from you like your bank details, credit card details and passwords.
Another very popular type of cyber-crime is virus dissemination. Some people spread viruses through files and other programs that if opened by you in your system, can highly infect it. It can cause your system to crash. This can also lead to all of your existing data getting modified or deleted.
Email bombing and spamming have also been in use for a long time now. Email bombing happens when a cyber attacker sends thousands of emails to the same email addresses through the help of bots. The emails sent are mostly meaningless and use up lots of internet bandwidth. Because of receiving such heavy traffic in the account at once, the email accounts of many people are crashed, and then they fail to access them. Through email spamming, people are sent inappropriate links, fake news and attachments that when clicked on, inject viruses in the computer.
Benefits of Cyber Security
Individuals and companies are always on the risk of cyber-attacks. No one is safe from them in the current world. Hence, it is advisable to have a cyber security plan or some sort of protection software. The advantages of having a cybersecurity solution are as follows-:
The major advantage to companies is that cybersecurity helps in protecting their business. Small companies and newer businesses are more prone to such breaches, and hence, having a cybersecurity plan can save the company its resources in more than one way.
It allows employees to work and surf freely without any threats and does not let work productivity diminish. Cybersecurity also helps the company’s website from shutting down by getting electronically infected. The crashing of the website can cause e-commerce giants to lose a lot of revenue and transactions.
A lot of times, hackers pose as you and access your bank accounts. This is known as identity theft. Cybersecurity helps to prevent it. It also keeps spyware and adware from infecting your system. Spyware is a system through which a cyber-criminal gets all your browsing and surfing information, whereas adware is the continuous pop up of unnecessary and often vulgar ads.
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