CYBERSECURITY AT A GLANCE

The cyber security industry has grown in leaps and bounds over the years. From a mere afterthought, cyber security is now one of the most keenly discussed topics amongst senior management and Board of Directors

But what is Cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is the field of technology which covers the protection of inter-connected information systems from cyber-attacks. Cybersecurity is all the activities involved in ensuring that an organisation's network, security infrastructure, electronic data/information are not breached by malicious persons (often called hackers). One of the major goals of cybersecurity is to limit risk and protect IT assets from attackers.

Cybersecurity is important because, over the years, as the need to adopt technology systems has become increasingly important in every industry, there has been a corresponding increase in need to stop these electronic systems from getting into the wrong hands. For example, if a hacker can gain access to a Bank's network, he could encrypt sensitive information belonging to that Bank and demand a fee to decrypt this information. This kind of attack is called a Ransomware

Brief History of Cybersecurity:

In the early days of computing, cyber-attacks were rarely expected as computer networks and inter-connectivity were not common-place. Even after the creation of the internet, it's creators were not particularly keen on security because of the internet's low usage.

Cybersecurity was a brainchild of the 1971 research project which created The Creeper (the first virus). The Creeper was a computer programme (created by computer programmer Bob Thomas) which could move across networks. On appearing on a new workstation, the Creeper left the message:

“I’m the Creeper: catch me if you can.”

Subsequently, Ray Tomlinson (Yes, the guy that invented the email) created another programme called the Reaper (the first antivirus) which chased the Creeper and deleted it.

Cybersecurity was born.