Paper
The Importance of Cyber Hygiene
Annastaygia Gillispie
Old Dominion University
Introduction: Overview of Problem and the Innovation
A major problem that needs to be addressed but is continuously being ignored, is the lack of cyber hygiene. Cyber hygiene is defined as “the practices and steps that users of computers and other devices take to maintain system health and improve online security” (Brook, 2018). Unfortunately, computer users, today have severely disregarded the basic steps that is needed to protect themselves online. Poor cyber hygiene has resulted in thousands of hacking. Vulnerability at the beginning leaves an open door for someone or something to take advantage; especially when it comes to online. Any vulnerabilities can easily become exploited. There are statistics that prove the correlation between cyber hygiene habits and hacking. As mentioned in an article by NBC News called “The Surprising Reason Why You Keep Getting Hacked,” it reveals that seventy-six percent of users are aware that they need to protect themselves online, however they still participate in unsafe practices(Swan, 2016); forty-four percent of users have reported that they feel overwhelmed about the amount of personal data they are responsible for protecting (Swan, 2016); Thirty-five percent of users have admitted that they have at least one unsecured device, leaving them vulnerable (Swan, 2016). At home users are more susceptible to online attacks; they are in need of an application or program that will remind them and help them protect themselves and their personal information.
The target audience for the cyber hygiene application is home users; however, it could also benefit companies. They have the same issues that users at home have but more extensive. The lack of cyber hygiene has been the cause of some corporations to fall. If safe browsing habits or proper computer maintenance is not practiced, then all of a sudden, a person or a company is very exploitable. According to SecureLink, in an article they published titled “Seven Reasons why Businesses get Hacked,” one of the top reasons is that people are considered to be a “weak link” (Seven Reasons, 2017). Their logic for saying this is that humans are made to make errors and mistakes. Human mistakes are unavoidable; therefore, it is one of the reoccurring reasons for hackings. Another reason that is mentioned inside of the article is that “Humans do fall asleep in the cyber battlefield” (Seven Reasons, 2017). This means that people fail to keep up with security systems and products on their own. A poor security system has also been known to be a cause for company hacking.
Innovation means to come up with “a new idea, method, or device.” (Innovation, n.d.) The innovation to solve the problems for the lack of hygiene with at home computer users and companies is to develop an application that will assist them with maintaining their systems and company/personal data; while also reminding users of the steps they need to take to help prevent computer hackings. It will have continuous updates to maintain compatibility and also keep up with the always advancing technology. The application would be a great initiative to solving the cyber hygiene issue because while developing the idea, design thinking was used. Design thinking is a process that focusses on the needs of the user; and that is what the application will do (Dam & Siang, 2017). When thinking of the application, it was made sure that the targeted audience is fully understood. In order to think of a way to solve the lack of cyber hygiene dilemma, it was necessary to “redefine the issue” (Dam & Siang, 2017) and feel empathy for the users; which is part of two of the phases necessary for design thinking. The other three phases of the design thinking process are ideating, prototype and test (Dam & Siang, 2017). These steps were also done when thinking of a new way to improve cyber hygiene. The application is interactive and will and will assist in multiple ways that typical antivirus or security application could not. The cyber hygiene application has to be “outside of the box” in order for it to gather the right amount of attention and become successful. This innovative method to solve the lack of cyber hygiene will be greatly effective since it tailors to the users’ needs and it is a creative solution to the problem.
Literature Review
In a journal entry titled “An exploratory study of cyber hygiene behaviors and knowledge,” it does a great job at emphasizing where people are making mistakes with their cyber hygiene; not only does it admit what errors people are making, but it also gives great detail and statistics on each aspect involved in cyber hygiene (Cain & Edwards, 2018). According to the journal, it reveals that many people have poor cyber hygiene (Cain & Edwards, 2018). Computer users are too eager to share their personal information on social media. In today’s technological society, it is normal to respond to people online and give them their number. A phone number could be used to look up more information about a person if needed. Attackers are knowledgeable of the easiest techniques to hack into someone’s system; it is easy for them to take advantage of the vulnerability once it is found (Cain & Edwards, 2018). The cyber hygiene application will assist with reminding people of some of the basic steps of cyber hygiene, such as, do not share numbers or addresses online. With technology advancing, it is only getting more and less complicated to find out information about an individual.
Due to the lack of cyber hygiene, hackings have become a tremendous cost to society. The Journal reports that the total average cost of cybercrime in 2014, estimated to be approximately 17.36 million (Cain & Edwards, 2018). The United States cybersecurity costs are more than Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, Brazil, and Australia. The average has only been increasing since then. The averages are totaled from organizations. They experience attacks from malware, phishing/ social engineering, web-based attacks, malicious code, stolen devices and etc. Most of the attacks were related to the malware and phishing/ social engineering (Cain & Edwards, 2018). 98 percent from malware and 70 percent from phishing and social engineering (Cain & Edwards, 2018). The cyber hygiene application can help companies reduce their costs. It will have virus protection capabilities which will help with the malware. With technology progressing, it may not catch all, however, it will continuously update its virus definitions to stay up to date. When it comes to the phishing and social engineering issue, the app can give users advice and tips on what fake emails and scams look like. With the help of the application, them the phishing and social engineering emails percentage will reduce, and the costs of cybercrime will gradually reduce if a good amount of people get the app and adopt its practices.
End Users are facing major losses from the security breaches that occur. An end user is defined as a “Person or organization that actually uses a product, as opposed to the person or organization that authorizes, orders, procures, or pays for it” (End User, n.d.). End users suffer more from security breaches because they are considered to be a “back door” on a network for potential hackers to go through (Bulgurcu & Benbasat, 2009). Since end users get the most uses out of products and “actually” uses them it makes them more vulnerable. They suffer from 95 percent of attacks (Talib & Clarke, 2010). Another factor that makes the end users a target is that a lot of the times they end up using their personal devices to use the software/product (Cain & Edwards, 2018). Personal devices often lack the amount of security that the devices in a company may have (Anderson & Agarwal, 2010). Even the cyber hygiene application can help companies as well; the target audience is home users who use personal devices. The reason for this is because they are more susceptible to attacks because they lack adequate security. The app will help the users keep their software and hardware up to date to avoid infiltration. Due to the high number of hackings through end users, the amount of monetary losses has also been high. “Attackers look for vulnerabilities; these can come from users who are exhibiting poor cyber hygiene ” (Cain & Edwards, 2018). End users lack cyber hygiene habits and do not have much knowledge on what the right steps are to protect themselves. The cyber hygiene application is not only designed to automatically protect against certain attacks, but it is also meant to teach users the basic steps to protect themselves so that they are able to prevent information from getting out or taken.
Companies make it easy for their employees and their customers to have access to security software; security software such as antivirus protection, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems (Cain & Edwards, 2018). Even though access to the software is attainable, it requires knowledge to know how to use them and how important they are. The cyber hygiene application will be an integration of the security softwares. Since the app is an integration of the various software’s, knowledge on how to use them and when they apply will be provided through the app as well. A survey revealed that most users do not know the difference between antivirus protection and what the function of a firewall is (Cain & Edwards, 2018). Antivirus software is meant to protect against malware and viruses when a firewall is meant to protect the network and make sure no “outsiders” get in. One of the many functions that the cyber hygiene app will be responsible for doing is scanning the network to make sure that there is a properly secured firewall in place. It is essential that computer users become informed on how to properly protect themselves. A survey was conducted, and 67 percent of users reported that their antivirus software is either not updated or they do not have one installed. 72 percent of users have said that they did not have an adequate firewall on their network (Talib & Clarke, 2010). In the journal entry, with some of the conclusions that the researchers have discovered that 97 percent have a firewall on their network, but they do not update their firewall settings (Talib & Clarke, 2010). Many computer users are unknowledgeable of the risks of not updating security software.
In the journal entry called “An exploratory study of cyber hygiene behaviors and knowledge,” the research conducted a study in order to look at the factors that contribute to poor cyber hygiene. Some of the factors they evaluated were age, gender, what the people knew about security software and how often they used them (Cain & Edwards, 2018). The also looked at how users viewed passwords and how they followed the password rules. Fortunately, most of the users knew how to properly make a password and use special characters. Unfortunately, only 5 percent of the users from the survey reported knowing not to share their passwords with other people (Cain & Edwards, 2018). The cyber hygiene application will also address the password issue. The app will work to protect the passwords of its users. It will have a vault option that will secure the passwords and make sure they are encrypted just in case someone tries to hack into a person’s computer. The app will also provide advice on what and what not to do online; such as the costs of sharing a password online with other people. Users do not do well with phishing attacks; they are easily manipulated into falling for tricks.
According to the statics provided in the journal, 96 percent of users from the survey have admitted that they click on links from unknown senders; 98 percent of users also have reported downloading unknown material from people they do not know; 94 percent of the users have said that they send personal data to unknown people, even though they have no confirmation. Even with the high rate of phishing attacks, 84 percent of users use a spam filter (Cain & Edwards, 2018). However, there are tricks for spam mail to still make its way through. The hackers and scammers that send out the phishing emails use certain words that the filter should pick up on (Almeida & Yamakami, 2011). This is called word processing. However, this technique is not recommended in spam filtering because it does not ensure that spam will not get through. There are ways around this technique (Almeida & Yamakami, 2011). The cyber hygiene application will ensure that the emailing systems have sufficient techniques to ensure that spam will not go through. If this is successful then, the amount of computer user at home and in companies will no longer be so vulnerable to phishing scams. The percentage will greatly decrease, and the cybercrimes costs will too as well.
An article titled “Cyber Threat and Response Combating Advanced Attacks and Cyber Espionage” talks about the cyber threats that are on the rise and how we should go about handling it (Lewis, 2014). According to the author of the article James Lewis, the greatest risk in the cyber world comes from the people that have the means and the resources to do so. The attackers that constantly continue to attack companies are called APT’s (Lewis, 2014). APT stands for advanced persistent threat (Lewis, 2014). Since the main goal of Advanced persistent threats is to get into companies or government agencies, then end users may be the target for them. As indicated earlier, the end user is typically the back door to networks; making them the ideal target for hackers. What is interesting is that APT’s are individual’s that have found ways to go through the traditional cyber defenses that are known to rely on a method called “pattern matching.” The “pattern matching” method is used to recognize and stop attacks. APT’s are aware of this method and has found ways to avoid the typical security detection (Lewis, 2014). “The combination of poorly secured networks and dynamic, innovative attackers has led to proliferation of attacks” (Lewis, 2014). The cyber hygiene application will work to enforce security software’s and methods that do not fall within the usual “pattern matching” methods. Security software’s and other cyber defenses need to develop new techniques for detecting cyber threats. Eventually, the attackers are going to evolve and find a way to get in. This is only one out of the many reasons why security defenses such as antivirus software’s and firewalls are important to stay up to date. Out of date software’s are more vulnerable to attacks; thus, making them more exploitable to breaches.
The cyber-attacks are advancing faster than the protection is. Society is failing to stay updated with technology. Numerous companies have unfortunately been hacked and are unaware of it (Lewis, 2014). Advanced persistent threats take advantage of the poor security that companies have. A weak system makes it easy for them to go through. Cyber attackers use multiple stage attacks that can expand over the course of months. The multiple stage attack consists of analyzing the different aspects of the target (Lewis, 2014). The cyber hygiene app will help to prevent the attackers from fully being able to go through the stages. For example, it could help stop them from gaining personal information about the company and its consumers. “Cyber ‘hygiene’ is the starting point” to proving better security for companies (Lewis, 2014). A company cannot properly assess what their cybersecurity problems are without starting at the root. As stated in the article, many issues could be avoided if the basic steps and practices of cyber hygiene are enforced with the workers and the company in general (Lewis, 2014). Companies of all sizes only know a portion of how to protect themselves from outside cyber threats. Currently the “situational awareness” that companies have about cyber threats is all wrong. The amount of information that Tech companies and people know about cyber threats, is way less than we are known about the entire threat (Lewis, 2014). The cyber hygiene application can assist with gaining knowledge about the threat that is attempting to breach the company or hack into someone’s computer. Even though the main goal of the application is to focus on cyber hygiene, there are integrations of software’s, and techniques to properly help to combat cyber threats. There will be different versions of the application depending on how extensive the needs are of the company and/or individual.
In the article, it is suggested the information is combined since society does not know much about how to successfully combat threats. Combining threat information could be greatly beneficial, however, there are legal issues in the way of this being able to happen anytime soon (Lewis, 2014). It is said that the United States has constructed many ways to enhance collaboration. However, new legislation in Congress is needed to make acceptable and helpful collaborations. Combining threat information could reduce the number of cyber crimes that are occurring every year (Lewis, 2014). The cyber hygiene application will work to gather information from other sources and apply the knowledge to how it protects the device.
According to a journal called “Cybersecurity and Mobile Threats: The Need for Antivirus Applications for Smartphones,” Smartphone are known to be the breeding ground for attackers (Wright & Omar, 2012). Unfortunately, the operating systems that are on cell phones do not have security software to protect their phones. The usual security software that is found on PC computers and personal desktops are not found on smartphones (Wright & Omar, 2012). Mobile devices are not updated like PC computers typically are. Attackers such as APT’s take advantage of this. An example of the cyber attackers taking advantage of mobile users is an incident that happened in the year 2011; the 2011 Valentine’s Day Attack. During this incident, the attackers sent out a mobile picture sharing an application that then sent out messages that cost money from the user’s phone (Ruggiero, 2011). Scams such as the Valentine’s Day attack could be avoided if cell phones had the proper protection against hackers. The cyber hygiene application will assist with preventing outside sources into cellphones. As mentioned earlier, the application is targeted to at home user’s meaning personal devices like cellphones. Having the capability to be on different devices and confront multiple issues within cybersecurity, will set the application apart when it comes to marketing.
Having security software on smartphones is essential because people rely on their phones for daily activities; daily activities such as sending emails, storing contact information, passwords, and other sensitive and personal information. Over the last decades, smartphones have become responsible for storing so much information but yet, they lack the proper protection. It is evident that security software was not thought of for smartphones due to the number of cyber crimes that have occurred because of them. Smartphones are known to be the first choice when it comes to social networking; because of this, social networks have become a target for hackers. Social networks are said to be a loophole for cyber attackers to take personal information from users who least suspect to become a victim (Ruggiero, 2011). Social networks data mines an enormous amount of data. Storing information on social media is the norm in today’s cyberspace, which is why cyber hygiene is important. User’s needs to know what and what not to do when it comes to sharing personal information; especially since it is already easily attainable (Ruggiero, 2011). “Consequences of a cyber attacker on a smartphone can be just as detrimental, or even more detrimental than an attack on a PC” (Wright & Omar, 2012). This is because of the amount of information that people keep on their phones.
Mobile application relies on the browser to operate; because of this web-based attacks on smartphones has had a steady increase throughout the years (Traynor, Ahmad, Alperovitch, Conti & Davis, 2012). In order to decreases the number of attacks on smartphones IT professionals and computer scientist’s needs to research the difference between mobile and PC browsers in order to fully comprehend how to prevent more cyber attacks from occurring. For example, the web browsers for smartphones tend to disappear after a few seconds of being on the internet (Traynor, Ahmad, Alperovitch, Conti & Davis, 2012). Although it makes sense to push the browser bar away in order to make more room on the screen, this is an issue because it is considered to be the “first line” of defense when browsing the web (Traynor, Ahmad, Alperovitch, Conti & Davis, 2012). The web address bar is important for things such as website certificates; without this proof of verification, users are more prone to go on unsecured websites and fall for fake website scams. When it comes to apps on smartphones. Apple does better at protecting its users. Apple specific applications make sure that the app is easy to use and prevents the intervention of third-party sources (Barrera & Van Ooscott, 2011). Android operating systems do not have the function to stop third parties from taking the information. The Android operating system is considered to be an open source application execution environment (Barrera & Van Ooscott, 2011). This type of set up presents challenges to securing sensitive information. The cyber hygiene application is a great innovation to solving multiple problems that users have with protecting themselves online. This will be the first step to reducing the number of cyber crimes and protecting user information.
Overview of How Innovation and Problem Relates to Courses outside Major
Some courses that I took outside of my major definitely had an impact on how the innovation was applied to the problem. One of the courses that relate to innovation is Interdisciplinary Theory and Concepts (IDS). This course teaches how important it is to include different perspectives and disciplines into a project. Without the incorporation of different backgrounds, the chance of something being successful becomes very slim. In today’s “modern” working world, places are starting to look for employees that are capable of working with different disciplines. The way the Interdisciplinary Theory and Concepts has affected the innovation for the lack of cyber hygiene. While developing the different aspects of the cyber hygiene application different disciplines such as math, cybersecurity and law was incorporated. Math is a part of developing the code and right algorithm for the application. The cybersecurity discipline assists with thinking of different solutions and advice that can help with the basic steps of cyber hygiene. The law discipline helps with the legal parts of the application. Each discipline involved in the making of the application will help it become fully functional. The Interdisciplinary Theory and Concepts course helps can knowledge on how to properly integrate different disciplines into the innovation.
Another course that assisted with the innovation and the problem is Introduction to Literature. This course assisted with analyzing the problem in different ways in order to come up with a solution. In the literature course, it teaches students how to properly analyze text and figure out the different meanings and the different possibilities based on what was said in the story. Even though Literature is part of the general education section requirements, it teaches skills that can be used throughout life. When it comes to the innovation for the lack of cyber hygiene application, the analyzing techniques can be used to think of different ways to solve the problem. Literature also teaches the different ways to address a problem or how a situation can be looked at; it has some similarities to the Interdisciplinary Theory and Concepts course in this way. Like the IDS course, students look at interpretations. This helps think of different approaches for the lack of cyber hygiene application.
Introduction to Social Research is also a course that assisted with the innovation for the lack of cyber hygiene problem. The Social Research course helped with applying different kinds of quantitative data. When analyzing the problem, applying data is necessary to think of how to solve the problem. The course also taught how to compare data and graph them while also conducting surveys and experimental analysis. Graphing and comparing data were needed in order to look at results and decide if the lack of cyber hygiene is an issue that is worth addressing.
An additional course that helped with the innovation and the problem is Introduction to Oceanography. Science courses teach more than people may realize. The Oceanography course helped with teaching the basic steps of the scientific method. The basic steps of the scientific method are important when doing research of any kind. When it comes to the innovation of the cyber hygiene application there was, of course, a hypothesis and a prediction of how the application will be effective. The test period of the application will be the first couple months of its startup. The oceanography course taught how important it is to conduct the test so that time and resources are not wasted. The course also shares some teaching from the Literature and the Social Research course. They all teach a common thing, analyzing and how important it is do research. Without analyzation and conducting proper research, it will be hard to tell what problem needs to be solved and steps need to be taken to begin solving the issue. Even though these courses are outside of the Cybercrime major, they still helped with the development and the process of innovation for the lack of cyber hygiene.
Effectiveness of the Innovation
Regarding the innovation for the lack of cyber hygiene, there are multiple things that will help determine the effectiveness of the application. As mentioned in the previous section, the applicated will go through a test period. One of the ways to test the app is to have a test group that will provide feedback on the different aspects of it. The test group will be able to tell how effective the app is so far, and what things need to be changed and/or approved for the future. Receiving feedback from the targeted audience will be very beneficial. Another thing that could help determine the effectiveness of the cyber hygiene application is the number of downloads along with the number of users that are using the application. If there is a steady number of users on the app, then that shows that the application is going in the right direction. The number of engagements that are in the application also plays a part in deciding if the innovation is effective or not. If there is a high number of engagements in the app, then this means that people are actively using the application.
The retention rate of the application is something to monitor as well. The retention rate correlates with the engagement. The retention rate refers to how many times the users went back to the application since the first time they logged on. Monitoring the activities of each user determines how effective the innovation is. Monitoring things such as registrations, subscriptions, and the growth rate. Reviews and ratings should be overseen as well; even though these may seem like simple part of the process, they contribute a lot to determining the effectiveness of the innovation. In the long run, if the application is used by companies and the number of cyber crimes along with their costs decrease, then the app is successful. Decreasing the cybercrimes and increasing the knowledge of cyber hygiene is the goal of the application. If there is a steady decrease in the number of cyber crimes due to the installment of the application, then this is a sign that the application is being effective.
How to Turn Innovation to Reality
Thinking of the innovation was not too difficult; however, turning it into a reality will be. There are various steps that I will need to take in order to make the innovation an actuality. The innovation for the lack of cyber hygiene is to develop an application that will provide advice and assistance on how users should take care of their device. Some of the steps needed to ensure a successful app would be conducting research on marketing tools for the targeted customer, design an application that makes it simple for users to understand right away, and to make constant upgrades based off customer feedback (How Hard, 2018). When it comes to the marketing techniques for the application, it is essential to look at the competitors, and most importantly, the needs of the customers. Marketing research is beneficial because will tell the developer what it needed to be the application successful. A user-friendly application is significant in the development of the application; if the app it too difficult to use or confusing, then it becomes more likely that users will steer away from the app once finished. Another element that should be considered is a mock app; a mock app would be a smart step to take before releasing the cyber hygiene application. The reason for this is because the developer will be able to see beforehand how everything is operating. Developing the innovation based off of user feedback will reduce the chances of failure and bad ratings when in the app store.
Some other steps that will be useful in turning the lack of cyber hygiene application into application is to conduct technical feasibility of the application. According to an article titled “How hard is it to make an app?”, the application can have very complex prosperities involved in them (How Hard, 2018). Due to the complex properties involved in making an app, it is important to have back-end support, is compatible with API’s and has the support of other third-party sources (How Hard, 2018). Compatible on different devices is ideal to have due to the various layouts that different devices have. The goal for the cyber hygiene application is compatible on most, if not all devices so that there could be a bigger impact on reducing the cybercrimes
Summary of Next Steps
The cyber hygiene application is designed to assist others with their lack of cyber hygiene while also providing guidance on how to do so. The next steps in the entrepreneurial process and the cyber hygiene application will be to think about the ways to turn the app into a reality and how to make it successful. If the application is successful then, the developers and the entrepreneurs will need to stay up to date on how the application is doing. This means that they need to stay relevant to the techniques needed to fight cybercrimes. Staying up to date is important for the next steps if the application does not stay up to date then the applications “life” is likely to fail. When looking at the entrepreneurial aspect of the next steps, it would be to better the business and research the market in order to develop new skills. As mentioned in the previous section, marketing techniques could help increase the chances of people downloading the application, thus gaining a better chance of success. Maintaining the life of the application is part of the next steps. Even though the cyber hygiene application is meant to protect others, the security of the app is also important. There need to be constant updates for the application too. Providing application security will help prevent it from having future crashes and attempted hacks. If the application were to become a victim of a hacking then, the business would fail; and it would no longer be trustworthy.
If the cyber hygiene application does well then part of the next steps would be to focus on the growth and decreasing the number of cyberattacks; investing in retention is also something to keep in mind for the future. Investing in retention means hiring and keeping the people that are involved in the company invested; especially if they are great at their job. If the retention rate of the employees falls, then the cyber hygiene application could suffer as well. The application could start to suffer due to the lack of experience being put into the app. It is better to keep the same individuals working on the app because they will already know how it operates. Planning and gaining opportunities for the application is part of the next steps too. If adequate planning is involved in the business, the opportunities could come along. For example, if there is a new company that is thriving in antivirus software, it would be smart if the cyber hygiene app did a collaboration with them in order to improve business.
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