Nowadays everything relies on computers and the internet – from communication and entertainment to transportation, shopping, even banking, and healthcare. And because so much of our personal information is stored online, cybersecurity is more important than ever. Without cybersecurity to protect the computer system from cyber attacks, hackers can access the system and gain access to personal information, business intelligence, and so on.
As a business owner, you should be aware that neglecting cybersecurity is very risky and can expose your business, employees, and customers to potential harms. Read on to find out which are the five types of cybersecurity you should know about and how to build a strong strategy to avoid cyber attacks.
Critical infrastructure security
Critical infrastructure security includes cyber-physical systems such as electricity grid, traffic lights, water purification, shopping centers, hospitals, etc. If an organization is responsible for critical infrastructure, they need to make sure they understand deeply the vulnerabilities and have a solid security strategy to protect from cyber-attacks. If an organization is not responsible for critical infrastructure but rely on it for its business, it should have a plan on how to react in case there is an attack on critical infrastructure that might affect them.
Application security
Application security is a must-have security measure to protect your system. It uses hardware and software methods to deal with external threats that can appear in the application development process. Application security types include firewalls, antivirus programs, and encryption programs, which help to prevent unauthorized access.
Network security
Network security is important because it secures internal networks by protecting the infrastructure and preventing unauthorized access to it. The security team will use machine learning to identify unusual traffic and signal for alerts in real-time. Typical examples of network security implementation include new passwords, extra logins, and application security (antivirus programs, antispyware software firewalls, encryption, monitored internet access).
Cloud security
Cloud security monitors and protects the data in cloud resources and cloud providers constantly create and implement new tools to secure better protection of the user data. There is a certain popular myth that physical servers storage is more secure than cloud storage but in reality, cloud storage is just as, if not, safer. Cloud computing security is a lot similar to physical data centers, just without the high cost and time that it takes to maintain these huge facilities.
Internet of things (IoT) security
IoT, or the Internet of Things, includes a wide variety of different cyber-physical systems, both critical and non-critical, such as sensors, appliances, TVs, WiFi routers, security cameras, printers, etc. These devices offer almost no security patching and can be a security challenge. If your business is about products that connect to the internet, you need to ensure that defense strategies were implemented because devices are at risk everywhere.
In summary, cyber-security is not to be underestimated. As we rely more and more on the internet and even our cars and kitchen appliances are connected to the system, cyber-attacks can be highly risky and cause significant damage. And since hackers constantly adapt to new technology, so should IT security experts in order to be able to always be a few steps ahead of potential threats and breaches.
