Cybersecurity is the protection against malicious activities concerning computer systems, networks, and data. The malicious activities include unauthorized access and entry, data breaches, malware, ransomware, or any form of cyber-attack. The primary purpose of cybersecurity is based on the principles of the CIA triad, which stand for CONFIDENTIALITY, INTEGRITY, and AVAILABILITY.

Confidentiality means that the sensitive information is secret and allowed to be accessed only by an authorized person. It ensures that data remains accurate and unaltered during its lifetime. Availability guarantees information and other resources are available to only authorized users as and when needed.

• Network Security: Network security involves measures designed to protect network infrastructure integrity, confidentiality, and availability. This includes the setup of firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS), virtual private networks (VPNs). The key practice includes segmenting a network into smaller segments that would limit access. For example, a cyberattack might be aimed at endpoints of different kinds – computers, mobile devices, and servers. Hence, endpoint security is the hardening of those endpoints by applying antivirus programs, encryption, and patch management lest not to fail to provide them with protection against malicious persons or entities that may choose to misuse these programs. Otherwise, regular updates and vulnerability assessments determine robustness in endpoint security.
• Application security: This is ensuring that applications of software have security as early as possible in the lifecycle of their development. It is closing on vulnerabilities and making sure that applications do not have holes, which can attract attackers to gain unauthorized information. Some of the security-testing methodologies on ensuring techniques for the application include penetration testing, secure coding, and application firewalls.
• Identity and Access Management (IAM): This ensures that only the authenticated and authorized people are allowed access to specific resources in the organization. This is in line with the policies of MFA, which advises on the proper use of authentication and RBAC, which goes by telling that users must be given just about as much privilege as they require. The rights to access must also be reviewed and audited periodically.
• Data Security: Data security deals with protecting data both at rest, in transit, and in use. It uses encryption to make data unreadable to its unauthorized users. It has DLP solutions that help monitor and control the movement of data so leakage can be prevented. It ensures proper backup and disaster recovery plan so that data could be recovered in case of an incident.
• SIEM: SIEMs collect and analyze security-related data aggregated from throughout the organization’s IT infrastructure. SIEM does some aggregation and correlation of logs and events for alerts on potential threats and anomalies, thus enabling near-in-time incident response. Latest generations of SIEM use AI and ML for more sophisticated threat detection.

The cybersecurity landscape continues to advance and brings on new, ever-evolving threats. Some of the present hotspots include the following:

• Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs): This is an advanced long-term targeted attack in which an adversary gains unauthorized access to a network and then remains there unidentified for a long period.
• Ransomware attacks: These types of malware encrypt a victim’s data and demand a ransom for the decryption key. These ransomware attacks are getting advanced and most often come through phishing emails.
• Phishing attacks: The deceitfully titled emails or websites use false information to deceive victims into surrendering sensitive information, such as login credentials or financial information.

Zero-Day Exploits. These attacks target previously unknown vulnerabilities in software or hardware. Zero-day exploits are dangerous precisely because they happen before developers have a chance to patch the vulnerability.