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Cybersecurity: why we all make part of it
April 5, 2022
1 min read
For those who are not completely familiar with the concept of cybersecurity, here it is in simplified terms:
"Cybersecurity is the implementation of techniques and protocols in order to protect systems and networks from cyberattacks."
However, the implementation of cybersecurity is seen, by most people, as an exclusive responsibility of the IT Department and employees are not considered to be part of the cybersecurity chain.
Well, this idea is far from the truth.
To give a perspective how cyberattacks have evolved throughout the years, we must go back to 1971. In 1971, the very first computer virus was created. Named as Creeper, since the message appearing was: "I'M THE CREEPER: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN". Despite the Creeper virus being harmless to the systems, it created the awareness that digital security was paramount.
Nowadays, there are over 1 Billion computer viruses, capable to cause massive damages to companies, including stealing employee's credentials.
Quite often, we see news of companies being hacked and having their business completely disrupted. And even worse, if a major breach occurs, confidential information is stolen. Sometimes, both situations happen at the same time.
A big percentage of this is caused by human error, because cyberattacks are becoming even more complexes, appearing by many forms (ex: ransomware, phishing, spear phishing, MITM, DDoS, ...) and even being driven by a cyberwarfare campaign.
To fight this, companies have spent huge budgets on hardware and software to protect their business, but we shouldn't forget, and I'm quoting Nick Espinoza second law of cybersecurity "Everything is vulnerable in some way".
This means, that there is no such thing as perfect firewalls, antivirus or IT Department that can caught everything. Sometimes it will get through, and when it happens, it will probably target employees.
So, what can companies continue to do to protect themselves?
Companies can create what is known as a "Human Firewall".
This "Human firewall" can be implemented by:
- Empowering employees with cybersecurity knowledge;
- Giving to employees tools, simple enough, to identify digital threats;
- Creating an internal report system to rapidly reach the IT Department about any cybersecurity issues;
- Training regularly the incident response program within the company.
Previously, companies may have turned their employees (the weakest link in the cybersecurity chain), into their last line of defense. It is time to transform them into the first line.
Válter Nogueira
Systems and Networks Administrator