Updated October 23, 2023
Introduction to Cybersecurity Fundamentals
For a few years, the growth of the internet has increased exponentially. A decade back, most of the things were handled offline while these days one can internet for almost of the purpose. Together with the growth of the internet, security has become a point of concern. The attackers are sitting all across the world to breach the system for their personal benefits. Several AI-based complex applications have also been developed these days that make hacking easier. In contrast to that, the cybersecurity auditors have also reinforced their court by using the same complex applications to protect the system. Here in this article, we are going to learn about cybersecurity fundamentals. Cybersecurity is comprised of various components.
Understanding the Fundamentals of Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity refers to the term which means protecting the system on the internet. It can also be considered as fortifying the systems in order to stay protected against breaches online. Cybersecurity compromise is several modules where every module has is responsible for protecting the system in a particular manner. Eventually, what all the modules take care of is to prevent the system from malicious attacks that could lead to harm to the system. Below are some of the modules of cybersecurity that helps in protecting the system, especially to the systems that are having a public interface.
Some of the cybersecurity fundamentals are given below:
1. Network Security
Network security can be defined as protecting the internal network from being attacked by malicious users. The organizations use internal servers that have to stay protected in order to protect the system and business operations. The server has to be configured with the security aspects so that it has the capability to oppose the attack. Network security is also about protecting all the devices connected to the network like computers, printers, routers, switches, etc. The server should have a strong mechanism implemented to detect malicious activity to stop before it harms the network. The main purpose of this network security is to ensure that the network is secure so that the entire system could stay protected. Below are some of the technologies and tools used in network security.
- IPS & IDS – These are the tools that are used to detect malicious activity and stop it from being executed. IPS stands for intrusion prevention system, and IDS stands for the intrusion detection system.
- Firewall – Firewall works are the checking point for all of the requests that hit the ports of the server to get inside the network. It ensures that the ports not in use should be closed or filtered based on the business need.
2. Security Compliances
Compliances are the policies that have to be implemented in the organization to protect its system. The compliances comprise a set of rules that define the security measures that the organization must have to take care of to stay protected. All the policies that restrict the users or the employees of the organization from performing particular activities are the outcome of security compliances. ISO 27001 is one of the most popular compliance is usually practiced by large, mid, and some of the small organizations. Below are some of the compliance that vary industry-wise.
- PCI DSS: The compliance is applicable for all of the organizations that accept online payment. It stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. It is mandatory for all organizations to adopt this compliance before they can bring the functionality of accepting online payment into their system.
- HIPPA: It stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This is the compliance that has to be followed by all of the organization that works with patients data. The purpose of this complaint is to ensure that the sensitive data of the patients are protected.
3. Web Application Security
Web Application Security may be defined as the term that defines the protection of the web application that the users of that system use in order to interact with them. The web application must be developed by keeping security in mind as attackers can leverage the vulnerability in order to breach the system. Compromising any vulnerability can also make a path for the attacker to attack the organization’s network. To make sure that the application is protected from vulnerabilities, there is a mechanism to perform manual and automated checks. There are several tools available that allow cybersecurity analysts to run the scan and check if the web application is vulnerable to any attack. The OWASP Top 10 is the list of commonly found vulnerabilities in any application and are very severe in nature.
Below are some of the common web application vulnerabilities that are usually found in the application.
- SQL Injection: SQL injection is the vulnerability that lets the attacker inject SQL queries in the application in order to access the data from the database without authorization.
- Cross-site Scripting: This vulnerability allows an attacker to execute the Javascript at the client-side to get the information stored on the client-side and force the client to perform a particular activity.
- Broken Authentication: The is the second vulnerability mentioned in the list of OWASP top 10. Any application that allows the authentication bypass is vulnerable to this attack.
- XML External Entity: Any application that parses the XML entity from the external data is vulnerable to this attack. The hacker can gain access to sensitive files stored in the server using this weakness of the application.
Conclusion
Cybersecurity is a huge domain and comprises several modules. These modules have their own importance and can be used to protect the system in a particular manner. We have covered some of the modules in this article while several other cybersecurity professionals protect the system from being breached. The more features we add to our system, the more it has the chance to be vulnerable, but by using the current technologies, we can design the best solutions.
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