Become a Cybersecurity Expert
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Home / What is Cybersecurity
As we progress in our digitalization, the chances of becoming a target to damaging cyberattacks increases. While there is no way to stop the occurrence, staying vigilant and adopting a holistic security approach is key to surviving the attacks. The evolving threat landscape today emphasizes the need to analyze and dive deep into the core of cybersecurity, its evolution, and its role in preventing cyberattacks. So, what is cybersecurity, and why is it so important today? This article will discuss everything you must know about cybersecurity: what it is all about, its importance and benefits, the best career opportunities in the domain, and more.
Cybersecurity is popularly defined as the practice of implementing tools, processes, and technology to protect computers, networks, electronic devices, systems, and data against cyberattacks. It is adopted by individuals and enterprises to limit the risks of theft, attack, damage, and unauthorized access to computer systems, networks, and sensitive user data. Since its inception in the 1970s, cybersecurity has undergone constant evolution. Today, cybersecurity is no longer restricted to the practice of only protecting computers but also individuals against malicious cyberattacks. The main purpose of cybersecurity is to prevent the leak of sensitive data while simultaneously ensuring cyber resilience to respond and recover from cyberattacks with lesser damage.
As cyberattacks become more innovative and complex, the scope and domains expand to encompass several disciplines. Based on its application areas, cybersecurity can be broadly classified into six distinct types:
Based on Akamai’s report, it was demonstrated that SQL Injection currently represents about 65.1 percent (almost two-thirds) of all web application attacks. This is 44 percent above the web application layer attacks represented by SQLi in 2017. Many web applications have SQL Injection vulnerabilities, indicate the fairly limited attention given to the security application development phase.
With evolving cybercrimes causing havoc to enterprises and individuals, cybersecurity is increasingly important. Cybersecurity is essential to protecting individuals and businesses against diverse cyberthreats (as discussed above). It strengthens an organization’s defense posture and is critical in mitigation and response. The benefits of cybersecurity are not only limited to data protection but also extend to employing cyber-resilience approaches to help organizations recover from a cyberattack as quickly as possible.
While cybersecurity professionals are required to have a bachelor’s degree in computer science, additional certifications can prove to be beneficial in enhancing their expertise and landing high-paying jobs. EC-Council offers cybersecurity certifications in various cybersecurity domains to enable professionals to transition to excellence. Candidates leverage hands-on learning to acquire deep knowledge of various cybersecurity aspects, from ethical hacking to cyber forensics, and make an excellent career progression with expert guidance. Some of the renowned certifications by EC-Council include:
Statista. (2022, August 3). Annual number of ransomware attacks worldwide from 2016 to first half 2022 (in millions). https://www.statista.com/statistics/494947/ransomware-attacks-per-year-worldwide
Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1183457/iot-connected-devices-worldwide/
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. Information Security Analysts. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/information-security-analysts.htm
Vailshery, L. (2022, November 22). Number of IoT connected devices worldwide 2019-2021, with forecasts to 2030. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1183457/iot-connected-devices-worldwide/