CYBER SECURITY AND CRIME –HOW TO PREVENT  IT

BY B.K.Mishra

If we can defeat them sitting at home ….who needs to fight with tanks and Guns!!!!

Delivering the valedictory address on concluding day of the three-day DGPs/IGPs conference At BSF Academy Tekanpur Madhyapradesh, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi told police heads from across the country to deal with issues relating to cyber security on an immediate and priority basis.

Here we discuss some measures On how to prevent cyber Crime as also how to fight Cyber Security.

Cyber crime, or Computer oriented Crime, is crime that involves a computer and a network. The computer may have been used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target. Cybercrimes can be defined as: “Offences that are committed against individuals or groups of individuals with a criminal motive to intentionally harm the reputation of the victim or cause physical or mental harm, or loss, to the victim directly or indirectly, using modern telecommunication networks such as Internet (networks including but not limited to Chat rooms, emails, notice boards and groups) and mobile phones (Bluetooth/SMS/MMS) Cybercrime may threaten a person or a nation’s security and financial health.

To help us stay safe from becoming a victim of cyber crime, here are some precautions we could take:–

1. Using a strong password:
2. Never disclose our account details to anyone or any personal data to someone on the internet or on the phone:
3. Use a trusted anti-virus:
4. Never send credit/debit card details on any untrusted site:
5. Report a Cyber Crime immediately:

Cyber security is the body of technologies, processes and practices designed to protect networks, computers, programs and data from attack, damage or unauthorized access.In a computing context, security includes both cyber security and physical security.

According to Forbes, the global cyber security market is expected to reach 170 billion by 2020.

Why Cyber security is Important

The core functionality of cyber security involves protecting information and systems from major cyber threats. These cyber threats take many forms (e.g., application attacks, malware, ransom ware, phishing, exploit kits etc). Unfortunately, cyber adversaries have learned to launch automated and sophisticated attacks using these tactics – at lower cost.  As a result, keeping pace with cyber security strategy and operations can be a challenge, particularly in government and enterprise networks where, in their most disruptive form, cyber threats often take aim at secret, political, military or infrastructural assets of a nation, or its people. Some of the common threats are outlined below :-

• Cyber terrorism is the disruptive use of information technology by terrorist groups to further their ideological or political agenda. This takes the form of attacks on networks, computer systems and telecommunication infrastructures.
• Cyber warfare involves nation-states using information technology to penetrate another nation’s networks to cause damage or disruption. In the U.S. and many other nations, cyber warfare has been acknowledged as the fifth domain of warfare (following land, sea, air and space). Cyber warfare attacks are primarily executed by hackers who are well-trained in exploiting the intricacies of computer networks, and operate under the auspices and support of nation-states. Rather than “shutting down” a target’s key networks, a cyber warfare attack may intrude into networks to compromise valuable data, degrade communications, impair such infrastructural services as transportation and medical services, or interrupt commerce.
• Cyber espionage is the practice of using information technology to obtain secret information without permission from its owners or holders. Cyber espionage is most often used to gain strategic, economic, political or military advantage, and is conducted using cracking techniques and malware.

Here are some of the most common types of cyber attacks, and some of the cyber security methods used to fight back.

Malware

Malware has been around for a long time, and continues to plague computers to this day. Malware is catch-all word for any software designed to damage a computer or computer system. The first widely spread malware, known as the Melissa Virus, was unleashed in 1999. Eighteen years later, malware remains a dangerous weapon, used by cyber criminals to harvest information, commit fraud, or just cause mayhem.

Cyber security strategies for malware

For both homes and businesses, good anti-malware software is essential. Anti-malware programs can both find and remove malware that has been installed on a computer, and prevent malware from installing itself in the first place. Also essential is instructing users to practice common sense when using the internet: never open unexpected email or chat attachments, and be careful when clicking links on the internet if you can’t be certain where they’ll lead.

DoS (Denial of Service) attacks

One of the simplest forms of cyber attack, DoS attacks shut down a target’s servers, making it impossible to access their websites or use their online services. This is most commonly done by flooding a target’s servers with traffic until they overload and crash. One of the most common forms DoS attack involves getting large numbers of attackers to flood their target’s servers at once, making it almost impossible to block the incoming traffic.

Strategies for DoS attacks

The simplest method for thwarting DoS attacks is having extra bandwidth. If you fear your business might be targeted for DoS attacks, simply having enough server space to handle the increased traffic can render the attacks moot. There are also third-party services who can help your company stay online during a DoS attack

Phishing

In a phishing attack, a cyber criminal attempts to extract personal information out of you by tricking you into giving it to them. Bolder scam artists might attempt to acquire a victim’s social security number or bank account information. However, many phishing scams involve tricking a victim into giving away their password for a single website or app. A recent phishing scam used Google Docs to trick users into entering their Google login information.

Strategies for Phishing attacks

Phishing attacks are particularly worrisome because they involve tricking users through the appearance of legitimacy; the Google Docs scam spread by tricking users into opening a shared document sent to them by someone they knew and submitting their login info. Their attackers could then steal that information and send the document to everyone on the victim’s contact list, causing the scam to spread rapidly.

The simplest way to combat phishing is to make sure employees know both of how common and damaging attacks can be; remind them to keep their guard up when checking emails and to report any email they find suspicious. Additionally, have employees use two-factor authentication for their email accounts. This can prevent scammers from accessing compromised accounts.

(The author can be contacted over [email protected] )