Michael Roman
CYSE 201S
10/06/22
Prof. Armistead
Article Review 1
For my first article review, I have chosen an article that can probably relate to most users of any windows software or computer. This article refers to people who like to keep their software up to date and on time with when they are released. With this being said the article reflects one of the many principles of cyber security. This falls under detecting, in this article they are explaining how users are downloading faulty windows updates that actually end up having them install ransomware onto their computers. Detecting this is one of the first steps to avoiding the installation of one, being able to spot the difference and understand what a correct download looks like compared to one that is fake or trying to trick you into downloading something completely different. One of the research questions it’s more of a why, on why they would do this or why it would happen. This relates back to the motives of them just wanting money from random users that download the windows update. It actually has more than one motive is that they want money, bored, and also some entertainment. They aren’t whaling any huge organizations or companies but to everyday users just like us. I think they are doing this as practice for them to potentially pull off something bigger to people with more money and more vulnerabilities at stake. Finding this article wasn’t extremely hard as I was searching for something that was kind of relatable to everyone but also something that everyone fears but may not have had to happen to them yet. Once I found this article I realized this is something that people can understand and maybe even relate to, it spreads awareness of simple phishing attacks that can happen to anyone at any time. The data that was done and used to analyze this was how many were executed and actually fell for the trap of getting caught in this ransomware. There was no exact data used for this article but if they were to that’s what I would imagine just being the number of people that were targeted as well as the number of people that actually clicked on it and downloaded the ransomware compared to the ones that did not. A concept that was talked about in class that this matches well with is Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. I think it relates well because if you think about it people that understand the technology and how to use and operate their windows software probably did not fall for this ransomware attack. With that being said the people that are either new to windows or don’t understand technology fully could have fallen for this and thought maybe this is the way windows sends out its updates for people to install. The concept fits perfectly as that is the case with this ransomware attack, some of the updates are very easy to tell that they are fake and users could’ve disregarded them thinking it was the right way to install and update their Windows software. This topic relates to the challenges of how this can be stopped, and how can innocent people stop getting targeted for simple things like this that can ruin their life so easily just by thinking they are trying to update their software. This also creates more jobs in the cyber field of how to stop these random ransomware attacks and create solutions to better-protected software that users can trust. The final question of the overall contribution to society is that this shows how badly we need more people in the cyber industry and how rapidly it is growing. Bringing awareness to stuff like this is very important in today’s society as the only thing growing this rapidly is technology and we can’t keep up with it as it grows exponentially.
References
08, Brien Posey | Jun. “Fake Windows Updates Trick Users into Installing Ransomware.” ITPro Today: IT News, How-Tos, Trends, Case Studies, Career Tips, More, 8 June 2022, https://www.itprotoday.com/vulnerabilities-and-threats/fake-windows-updates-trick-users-installing-ransomware.
“Cyber Security Principles.” Cyber Security Principles | Cyber.gov.au, https://www.cyber.gov.au/acsc/view-all-content/advice/cyber-security-principles.