Cyber Security

Cyber Security

1. KEY TERMS

   • Unauthorised Access
     • This refers to someone gaining entry without permission to an organisation’s system, software or data.
   • Cyber Security
     • refers to the range of measures that can be taken to protect computer systems, networks and data from unauthorised access or cyberattack.
   • Threat
     • External
       • caused outside the organisation
     • Internal
       • caused by an incident inside an organisation
     • is an incident or an action which is deliberate or unintended that results in disruption, down time or data loss
   • Attack
     • an attack is a deliberate action, targeting an organisation's digital system or data.

2. Hackers

   • Black Hat Hacker
     • is someone who tries to inflict damage by compromising security systems
   • Grey Hat Hacker
     • is someone who does it for fun and not with malicious intent
   • White Hat Hacker
     • is someone who works with organizations to strengthen the security of a system
   • is someone who seeks out and exploits these vulnerabilities.

3. Types of Threats

   • MALWARE
     • Virus
       • A piece of malicious code that attaches to a legitimate program. It is capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer
     • Worm
       • Worms get around by exploiting vulnerabilities in operating systems and attaching themselves to emails. They self replicate at a tremendous rate, using up hard drive space and bandwidth, overloading servers.
     • This is an umbrella term given to software that is designed to harm a digital system, damage data or harvest sensitive information.
     • Trojan Horse
       • Users are tricked into downloading it to their computer. Once installed the Trojan works undercover to carry out a predetermined task.
     • Rootkit
       • Designed to remotely access and control a computer system without being detected by security software or the user.
     • Ransomware
       • Encrypts files stored on a computer to extort/demand or steal money from organisations.
     • Spyware
       • Is secretly installed to collect information from someone else's computer
     • Keyloggers
       • spyware that records every keystroke made on a computer to steal personal information
     • Adware
       • Automatically shows adverts such as popups. Most adware is harmless
     • Botnet
       • Bots take control of a computer system, without the user’s knowledge. A botnet is a large collection of malware-infected devices (zombies). An attacker (‘bot herder’) chooses when to ‘wake’ the zombies to perform an attack.
     • DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service attack)
       • flooding a website with useless traffic to inundate and overwhelm the network

4. Social Engineering

   • is a set of methods used by cybercriminals to deceive individuals into handing over information that they can use for fraudulent purposes
   • Shouldering
     • It involves the attacker watching the victim while they provide sensitive information
   • Phishing
     • is an attack in which the victim receives an email disguised to look as if it has come from a reputable source, in order to trick them into giving up valuable data. The email usually provides a link to another website where the information can be inputted.