The Importance for Cyber Security
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Cyber security is an essential element to any business and our Government. Unfortunately many corporations do not realize the importance of computer security until it is too late and have experienced a cyber-attack. The consequences of such an attack can be quite severe, as businesses carry an obligation to everyone involved to protect their identity and personal information.
Today we are more reliant on computers and to the networks related to them more than ever, because of this reliance, security has become priority number one. Cyber security is an essential factor to be measured in order to defend ourselves and livelihood from hackers and dangerous software designed by people with ill intent. The majority of these dangers to computer networks come from the internet and these are frequently intended to have terrorist like effect on networks and most importantly, people’s lives. Recent attacks have been very high profile, including the Sony hack which is still being investigated. Cyber security is, therefore, by definition an attempt by an individual or entity to protect their personal information and data from cyber-attack.
Cyber security involves multiple steps, the most significant of these being an individual’s understanding of the diversity of these cyber-attacks. Once one has knowledge of this, then it is the individual’s responsibility to make sure they have reliable and up to date software in place. This software is designed to deal with threats that range from spam or spyware to very complex and damaging computer viruses with intent to steal or destroy. Some of these more complex and intelligent computer bugs are sophisticated enough to take down entire computer operating systems. These viruses also enable hackers to have admittance to all the data stored in the infected computers, ensuring that they have access to personal data, which can be used for financial gain. Without a doubt cyber security of the utmost importance in this day and age and just this last Tuesday the President of the United States Barack Obama talked about this in his State of the Union address stating, "No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy of American families, especially our kids. We are making sure our government integrates intelligence to combat cyber threats, just as we have done to combat terrorism. So tonight, I urge this Congress to finally pass the legislation we need to better meet the evolving threat of cyber-attacks, combat identity theft, and protect our children’s information. That should be a bipartisan effort. If we don’t act, we’ll leave our nation and our economy vulnerable. If we do, we can continue to protect the technologies that have unleashed untold opportunities for people around the globe." Cyber Security starts with us and it is extremely vital to ensure each one of us take steps to safeguard their personally identifiable information and create strong passwords. With technology ever increasing this problem can only be mitigated by our efforts to thwart the hackers.