Cyber Security - An Introduction

Note: This is part 1 of a series of blog posts about cyber security. The main aim of this series is to provide information about cyber security that is easier to read and understandable for beginners and novice users.

What is Cyber Security?

Cyber Security is the process by which our cyberspace is protected against digital attacks. The cyberspace includes our personal data, private and public networks, hardware (devices) and software (applications). Digital attacks come in different types and include hardware theft, malware (infecting the system or network with malicious code), denial of service attacks, social engineering attacks and phishing.

Why is Cyber Security Important?

Once you understand what cyber security is, it is quite easy to understand how important it is to the evolving world of cyberspace. Everything from personal identification information to nuclear missile launch codes are now in our cyberspace. Our whole life is uploaded as Instagram photos, YouTube videos, LinkedIn profiles, Facebook statuses to the world wide web. While these companies spend millions of dollars in cyber security every year, the end user (us), we are the most vulnerable. We have the most to lose from a cyber attack and we are also the most vulnerable to attacks from a hacker.

Hence, cyber security is something we should all be aware of, something all of us should be ready to fight for.

CIA Triad

When I say CIA Triad, I am not referring to the intelligence agency but the three major concepts or principles in cyber security. The letters stand for:
- Confidentiality,
- Integrity and
- Availability

These concepts ensure a secure, trustworthy and usable cyberspace.

Next in the series:
- More into CIA and what each of these represent.
- Why are these principles so important in cyberspace?
- All you need to know about passwords

P.S: Much love and shoutout to my inspiring girlfriend for motivating me to start this series.