Background The revolutionary rise of technology has lead to a new “digital era”, resulting in more and more organizations becoming heavily dependent on technology. Each department of an organization, whether it be accounting, production or human resources, is creating, acquiring, handling, stockpiling and sharing more data every day. Worryingly, a number of potential risks accompany our dependence on technology with cybersecurity representing the biggest challenge. Cybersecurity threats can present themselves in many different forms and have provided a wake up call to organizations across the globe. Years of complacency from high-profile executives with regards to the possibility of a cyber attack have lead to a prioritizing push to …show more content…
JPMorgan, in August 2014, suffered a breach to 83 million records when hackers accessed email addresses and physical addresses. Adobe had 150 million records stolen by hackers in late 2013. Home Depot announced in September 2014 that records of 109 million customers were hacked for credit card numbers and email addresses (Collins). In terms of costs related to the Target hack, the company reported $148 million of breach related costs in its filings after the breach occurred. However, Abrams points out that researchers believe the cost should rise into the billions over time. Stemming from the Target hack, the cost to affected financial institutions was estimated at $200 million. Likewise, Home Depot paid approximately $62 million to cover costs of the attack and another $90 million in costs for banks to replace 7.4 million debit and credit cards. The stolen personal data, bad publicity and embarrassing stories are frequently becoming news headlines all over the world. The costs of the breach and the loss of consumer confidence hurts the bottom line. How can an organization protect itself from these issues? Cybersecurity has reached a critical point in its history, marked by the significant rise of cyber attacks. It is clear to most senior executives and board of directors that the old way of managing cybersecurity is no longer valid and that new strategies
The world of cyber security continues to introduce new threats each year against network infrastructures and computer devices. In the recent years, the impact from cyber-attacks has wreaked havoc on many company brands and organizational reputations. As this issue grows so does the technology to prevent and protect against these malicious attacks. It is absolutely crucial for organizations and businesses to shift focus from defense for different types of attacks to improving safeguards to mitigate the loss of sensitive data when an attack occurs. In addition to the traditional security technology used to detect an attack, companies will have to include
Cyber security, also referred to as information technology security, focuses on protecting computers, networks, software programs and data from unintended or unauthorized access, change or destruction. Post 9/11 and other terrorist attacks, the United States grows its endeavors to repulse cyberattacks, U.S. corporate organizations and the government agencies wind up in strife over how to adjust to new methods of security and privacy. The current state of security measure protocols and privacy policies placed by the US government in cyberspace raises concerns for the 99%. This is due to the recent cyber-attacks on American corporate organization systems and government alike, where their digital information and network infrastructures within the systems were compromised, and personal data was hacked and stolen.
Predicting attacks is important, but swift response is key. DHS realized that the only way to have effective incident responses is to have plenty of practice and close cooperation across government and with the private sector. To prepare for and ensure effective cooperation during a significant event, DHS instituted a cyber-attack exercise program to periodically test processes and procedures for responding to a significant cyber incident impacting the financial sector. These exercises will help clarify roles and responsibilities, identify gaps in response plans and capabilities, and assist with developing plans to address those
Just like every other organization, Adius, LLC relies on information technology to manage their information, processes, and assets in order to thrive, conduct their business efficiently, and deliver their services effectively. However, no organization is immune from cyber-attacks and threats. In fact, cyber-attacks and threats have been increasing exponentially during the past few years. Having outdated and irrelevant cybersecurity procedures, policies and practices places organizations in greater vulnerabilities and risks. For this reason, cybersecurity procedures, policies and practices in place must be in line and be more relevant to the security needs of Adius, LLC.
West, J., & Mar, S. (2017). Fundamentals of a cybersecurity program. Internal Auditor. Retrieved from
1. UMUC (2012).The Future of Cybersecurity Technology and Policy, CSEC 670 (Module 2). Document posted in University of Maryland University College CSEC 670 9042 online classroom, archived at: http://webtycho.umuc.edu
The author of this response is asked to answer to a few questions relating to cyber-attacks at several different mission-critical or otherwise very sensitive agencies or companies in the area. The ramifications of each incident and who will be affected by the same will be discussed. The outcomes of each will also be mentioned. The author is also asked to identify the steps and recovery path for one of the incidents in particular
The immediate cyber threats to national security has been assessed as high. Cyber security threats are increasing in the number, type and sophistication of the threat. Although a detailed analysis is currently being developed, the ACSC’s Threat Report 2015 predicts the following attributes of cybercrime to increase in the coming decade.
At this stage in evolution, society cannot escape its dependence on information technology. The need to protect sensitive data will continue as long as this persists. Amazingly, a recent poll of 4,100 enterprises revealed that 70-percent didn’t have a contingency plan for cyberattacks. The firms reported that they had the resources to purchase what was needed to secure their networks, but couldn’t find trained specialists to deploy the
When researching major security breaches that companies have endured, the company that really interested me was Home Depot. The company had a sever security breach in 2014, in which over 40 million credit card numbers and 50 million emails were compromised over a five-month period. As mentioned, the breach occurred in 2014 over a course of five-months. During the duration of those five months, an intruder obtained a vendor’s credentials and gained access to the company’s network. The security hack affected individuals who lived in the United States and Canada who had used the personal self-checkout machines at the stores. The impact the breach had on the company was frightful. The amount of repercussions the breach had on the company lasted for a long time. As a result of the breach, many lawsuits arose from whole situation. After the end of the trials, Home Depot paid 8.7 million in legal fees and had a 161 million pre tax expenses that covered the incident.
The availability of cheap cyber weapons has made cyber-terrorism a growing threat to the stability of America's critical infrastructures and society in general. Needless to say that cyber terrorism is a major issue for American policymakers and IT professionals. The growing threat to commercial and government entities has prompted organizations to develop effective strategies and methods to protect their resources and assets from the threat of attackers. Such strategies and methods include but are not limited to continual risk and vulnerability assessment, upgrade of software and use of tools such as encryption, firewalls and intrusion detection systems and the implementation of disaster recovery and business continuity plans in the case of a cyber incident. The following paper will offer a few basic definitions to illustrate the concept of cyber terrorism, discuss the physical and human aspects of cyber terrorism, offer assessment of the most pressing threats and the most vulnerable targets, recommend methods to combat national and international cyber terrorism. Finally, several preventative actions will be recommended for implementation. Finally, a basic checklist/template is also provided in order to better illustrate and summarize recommendations and suggestions.
Controls everywhere isn’t pragmatic – and this approach would be too expensive! However, Board of Directors are looking for evidence that cyber security risks are being proactively identified and addressed. The National Association of
In the previous five years, cybersecurity has turned into the most looked for after calling around the world. More than 90 percent of respondents to an overview directed by the Ponemon Institute (2011) detailed being a casualty to cyberattacks amid the most recent year, costing all things considered more than $2 million for each association. This number keeps on ascending as the two programmers and security devices progress. As indicated by PwC, roughly 33% of all U.S. organizations are as of now utilizing digital protection (Lindros and Tittel, 2016).
Whether it is Iran targeting American banks or casinos, China hacking into the federal government 's network, criminals attacking companies like Target, North Korea punishing Sony or Russia hacking President Obama’s email, cyber security is a major source of anxiety for the U.S. government and private sector. In a survey, 84% of global financial institutions ranked cyber-risk as one of their top five concerns.
Cybersecurity is an aspect of security that has shaped the way we as a people think and live our everyday lives. For the past 10 years and even before then, this trend of cybersecurity has been a constant topic of both discussion and protection of our data and of our financial assets as well. There have been numerous attacks on companies and federal organizations from big name Fortune 500 companies such as Visa, Target, etc. to big name federal agencies such as National Security Agency (NSA), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) just to name a couple. This principle of cybersecurity will continue to be something that will always remain a factor in all that we do. According to Bradley (2016), “Unfortunately, we don’t really have a clear vision from any of the candidates of how they intend to address the cybersecurity landscape or cyber threats against the United States if elected”. In 2016, the presidential election has come into full swing, cybersecurity has been something that has come to the forefront of candidates’ campaigns and speeches, the constant question of how can we continue to protect ourselves from cyber espionage.