In the past few years, we have experienced global automation. It started with banks going online, and every business started having an online presence. In the pandemic era, going online became a necessity. Now, as a result, we have everything online. You can shop what you desire, from local grocery shops to global brands using their online stores.
Many negative aspects have also been observed both for the consumers and producers. Due to the presence of hackers, internet security has become a major issue and has cost many people a lot more than they would like to admit. Even if you aren’t some big company, if you are winning big on Intertops poker bonus, do you really want some unfriendly characters realizing you have a hidden stache of wealth?
Hence, you must learn about internet security and how to maintain it. In the following article, I will take you through all of its aspects in simple language so that you can understand and implement internet security.
What Is Internet Security
Internet security is a broad term that encompasses all security matters while on the Internet. It includes browser security, network security, Internet, website security, applications, and operating systems. It is considered the main aspect of cyber security. The main purpose of internet security is to safeguard users from cyber threats and risks and to protect corporate IT Assets from attacks that travel on the Internet.
There are many types of cyber threats. Some of them are pointed at individuals, which can be avoided by keeping passwords; however, the company risks pose the greatest threats. Most companies build a cyber firewall that ensures the security of their data; however, when employees work beyond their office’s premises, they are exposed to all kinds of threats and risks.
This phenomenon was observed during the Covid-19 pandemic when most organizations had to work from home. Detecting these threats comes under the umbrella of internet security solutions developed to detect and block these cyber-attacks before they compromise on the employees’ computers.
10 Common Internet Security Threats
People with dishonest intentions perform Internet security threats. They could be employees exploiting their position within an organization by stealing data, or spies, stealing military data or state secrets for terrorist groups. Whatever the reason, their main aim is to cause damage or disrupt computing systems. Below are the ten most common internet security threats used.
Malware
Malicious Software is referred to as malware, which means injecting dangerous codes into the business system. It is the biggest internet threat that companies face. Some common examples of Malware are Viruses, Worms, Trojans, Bots, Spyware, and Malvertising. The injected code gets embedded in an application and executes when the application runs.
Cloud Vulnerability
Cloud Applications brought about a transformation in the cyber world. It brought big and small enterprises on the same platform. However, Cloud applications are vulnerable to cyber-attacks because of poor cyber security management and misconfigured services. It is easy to attack them as they are exposed to the simplest cybercrime.
Ransomware
Ransomware is used for ransom, as the name suggests. It is a simple code that is injected into the business code. It is a type of malware but is written independently because of its common use. Once executed, it blocks the system, and the users are denied access via encryption.
The attackers then demand a ransom for the encryption key, but there is no guarantee that the key will work or give access back to the administrator.
Man-In-The-Middle
As the name suggests, it involves breaking in between two ends. This means that the communication between two ends (like a user and an application) is intercepted by a hacker. This hacker can eavesdrop on a conversation or steal private data.
It is a very common Internet Threat. A few examples of MitM attacks are Wi-Fi eavesdropping, Email hijacking, DNS spoofing, IP spoofing, and HTTPS spoofing.
Social Engineering
Social engineering is not technical but simply involves human psychology. The attacker fools the victim into giving information to gain access to the data. The attacker can also trick the victim into “accidentally” installing malware into a particular module.
Social engineering is all about exploiting human nature, which is why social engineers are skilled actors rather than computer engineers.
Distributed Denial of Service/ Denial of Service
Denial of Service Attack or DoS Attack involves flooding the target system with so many requests that it becomes overwhelmed and cannot respond to other requests. When this attack is carried out on a network, it is called Distributed DoS or DDoS. The most common type of DDoS is HTTP flood DDoS, SYN flood DDoS, UDP flood DDoS, ICMP flood, and NTP amplification.
Phishing
Technically, Phishing is a type of Social Engineering but deserves mention on its own because of its popularity. It is simple engineering, sending an email to the victim with a link containing malware. The best way to avoid it is to teach your employees to evaluate each link and attachment before opening it.
Emotet
It is also a form of malware but is powerful enough to cripple a whole business code. It is one of the biggest cyber security threats. It is also called a banking trojan.
Zero-day Threats
The exploitation of vulnerabilities comes under Zero-day Attack. Every Software has some error or a security flaw. When a hacker utilizes this flaw to his advantage, it is called Zero-Day Attack.
Internal Threats
Internal threat is not a technical danger but rather an emotional one. The threat rises from within an organization and hence is called an internal threat. Any of your employees or associates can leak information or install damaging viruses for personal or emotional gain. Whether a human error or technical, it is still a cyber-attack.
How To Implement Internet Security?
Implementing adequate cyber security is imperative in today’s world of rapid technological advancement. The rate of cybercrime is rising exponentially, but so is the number of anti-cybercrime strategies. For your business security, you should choose one that best suits your business requirements. I will discuss a few, per my experience, and I hope they are useful for you.
Network Segmentation
It is a highly effective security measure that is implemented at the time of project building. It involves building smaller sub-networks for bigger networks and isolating these from each other. In case of an attack, it keeps the other networks safe.
Application security
It is used during development to test software application vulnerabilities and protect them during production.
Cloud Security
It detects and fixes false security configurations for a hybrid cloud environment.
Security Awareness Training
It is extremely important to keep educating your employees regarding security threats. Teach them how to scrutinize links and attachments before opening them. Share the number of cyber crimes, especially social engineering crimes.
Vulnerability Management and Remediation
Cyber Security professionals should stay ahead by running constant checks on different modules to detect any vulnerability or possible crime.
Bottom Line:
The Internet has made life easier for everybody. You can send your message in a second, call your friends in no time and see what’s happening around the world in a few clicks. Having such advantages make you unsafe as well.
You need to take care of certain things, like keeping an eye on your children to see if they are receiving the right information. Internet security doesn’t only concern your children; there are too many aspects we need to look at too.