Nowadays, we live much of our lives online, so understanding cybersecurity – what it is, why it is critical, and how we can protect ourselves from cyber threats – is more relevant than ever. You will learn how Elixir works within this environment and the world of cybersecurity in this post.
Importance of Cybersecurity
Cyber-security involves preventing unauthorized access to electronic systems and data. It encompasses everything from small computer networks to large-scale enterprise networks.
Every individual, business, and organization needs cybersecurity. Hackers can use our personal information, financial information, and private photos. It is possible to lose critical data, intellectual property, financial resources, or even your reputation after a cyberattack.
An overview of cyber security threats that are known and unknown
- Malware
The purpose of malware is to damage or disable computers intentionally. Users are often unaware that it is present, as it spreads quickly and easily. Your computer can be severely damaged by malware, including corruption of files, data theft, and even total system hacking.
- Ransomware
A ransomware attack encrypts your files and demands a ransom to unlock them. A data breach can be devastating for businesses, especially if sensitive information is lost. An email attachment or a malicious website can spread ransomware. Your files can be encrypted in minutes once it has been installed on your computer.
- Insider threats
Due to the attacker’s legitimate access to your systems, insider threats can be difficult to detect and prevent. Cyberattacks within an organization are called internal threats. In some cases, sensitive data is stolen by employees, or malware is installed by contractors who have access to sensitive data.
- Phishing
Cyberattacks such as phishing use fraudulent emails or websites to trick users into divulging personal information. Hackers use social engineering to trick you into revealing your personal information through phone calls or texts. Due to the ease of use and effectiveness of this attack, it is one of the most common types.
- Man-in-the-middle
An attacker can silently eavesdrop on the communication without either party being aware of it, which makes man-in-the-middle attacks difficult to detect and prevent. An attacker usually carries out this attack by physically accessing the communication channels between two parties, like on an open Wi-Fi network.
How does Elixir meet the requirements for cyber security?
On the Erlang virtual machine, Elixir runs as a functional, dynamic language. The scalability and fault tolerance of Elixir makes it ideal for large corporations like Pinterest and Moz.
There is a growing interest in Elixir in the programming community, even though it is not as well-known as some other languages. Is cybersecurity a concern? Can Elixir be used to develop secure applications?
- Functional programming
The Elixir programming language is designed to produce reasonable and understandable code. Security vulnerabilities can be more easily detected in code that way, which is helpful for cybersecurity. The error resistance of functional programming languages is higher than that of other types of programming languages.
- Concurrency
Many different programming languages can be simultaneously programmed with Elixir without causing your system to slow down. Additionally, Elixir supports concurrency well, which is essential in cybersecurity.
- Fault Tolerance
It appears the Elixir language is well suited to cybersecurity applications due to its many features. The language has features such as functional programming and concurrency that keep your application secure despite its relative youth. Elixir is also fault-tolerant. It refers to the ability of a system to continue to operate even if parts of it fail.
