Ever since the beginning of the Internet, there have been risks that have followed. “The first cyber-attack transpired only seven years after the internet was made public on April 30th, 1993(FBI).” After the first cyberattack, many more started to follow throughout the years. The rise in cyber-attacks is starting to impact our society, due to the fact that everything is becoming digitalized in our society and the lack of knowledge of cyber threats. These led to the rise of jobs in the cyber security field and the increase of cyber risks and threats.
Everything is becoming digital in our world, things that our predecessors never would’ve thought of. Humanity has grown heavily reliant on technology. It seems that nowadays everyone is involved with some type of technology that connects to the internet, whether that be a phone, computer, or even a watch. All of these things that we’ve become attached to can also be our enemies at given times. We become so accustomed to disseminating information via social media or any other means of communication around the globe that we are unaware of the risk involved.
This not only impacts everyday individuals but raises lots of risks for organizations small or large. In a world dominated by social networks, online transactions, cloud computing, and automated operations, technology is advancing quickly. But as technology advances, cybercrime also advances, creating new tools and strategies that let attackers get inside more sophisticated or tightly controlled environments to inflict harm. No matter how many times we strengthen our defenses throughout the years, there will always be something that will break the defense. “In 2021, the average number of cyberattacks and data breaches increased by 15.1% from the previous year. Over the next two years, the security executives polled by Thought Lab saw a rise in attacks from social engineering and ransomware as nation-states and cybercriminals grow more sophisticated” (Brooks). Cyber-attacks can affect lots of different things from simple mobile devices to huge international organizations. There have even been reports of being able to hack humans by digitizing DNA and changing it.
Another cause for the need for cyber security is the lack of knowledge that we as people have. “According to the Penamon Institute’s recently published report, Cost of a Data Breach, human error was the main contributing factor to 24% of data breaches in the last year, ranking it amongst the top three causes sitting just behind technical glitches and criminal attacks” (Cybervadis). One of the most common ways that everyone is prone to cyber-attacks in today’s world is phishing. A phishing attack occurs when a perpetrator tries to deceive an unwary victim into disclosing sensitive data, such as passwords, credit cards, and any other personal information. Phishing attempts mostly take the shape of an email purporting to be from trustworthy institutions. Phishing assaults are mostly the product of carelessness, whether it be personal or business-related. In the business world, the best defense against them would be security awareness training. Employees should receive adequate training to recognize shady emails, links, and websites and to understand not to submit information or download anything from unreliable sources. Another common form of a cyber-attack is a Distributed Denial-of-Service attack also known as a (DDoS) Attack. When a server is the target of a DDoS assault, the attacker effectively floods it with traffic in an effort to disrupt and maybe even bring it down. The easiest approach to avoid this is to use a firewall or intrusion prevention system (IPS), which will provide you with real-time information about any traffic irregularities, network problems, or uncommon website breakdowns. In order to be able to swap to a different server if the current one fails, it would also be a good idea to place your servers in various data centers. many respects, having a tried-and-true response strategy in place that would allow you to quickly restore your systems to service while maintaining business activities is the greatest method to protect your network against DDoS assaults. There are countless more ways that can affect the daily lives of people and corporations. Many individuals don’t have knowledge of these things therefore that’s why there has been an increase in jobs dealing with cybersecurity (Jefferson, 2022).
Because of the lack of knowledge of cybersecurity, the increased jobs in this field skyrocketed. Many different jobs are out there for cyber security nowadays and they will continually rise throughout the years. “At the end of 2021, there were 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs- enough to fill 50 NFL stadiums (Morgan, 2021)”. Hackers don’t simply target computers, websites, and servers. They may also attempt to access any code-based technology. More items and systems than ever before are vulnerable to hacker takeover, including power grids, security systems, and alarm systems for cars and airplanes. Businesses want the best internet security specialists to recognize and eliminate security risks for every technological advancement, businesses want the greatest internet security specialists to recognize and eliminate security risks. Many colleges and universities are starting to realize this and invest in this major. According to Steve Morgan, “Four-year colleges and universities have invested heavily into cybersecurity curriculums and degrees over the past five years. As a result, we expect a growing pipeline of computer science graduates to enter the cybersecurity field between now and 2031” (Morgan, 2021).
In conclusion, due to the increasing digitalization of our society and the general lack of awareness of cyber risks, the rise in cyberattacks is beginning to have an impact on our society. These result in a growth in the need for workers in the field of cyber security as well as in cyber risks and hazards.
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