A dig into the term 'Cybersecurity'

What are the thoughts that first break into your mind after hearing the term 'cybersecurity'? Well, there were certain thoughts, common enough, that floated within my mind when I was introduced to this terminology.

Cybersecurity is all about securing and safeguarding systems from getting hacked or your Facebook or Instagram passwords cracked and compromised. A big NO to all these assumptions!

Cybersecurity is not just a self-explanatory term, but encompasses myriad tools and techniques, strategies, methods and mechanisms to monitor as well as protect information and systems in every domain one can count, far and beyond. The domains include defense, entertainment, science and technology, human resources and many more.

Be it Artificial Intelligence or Machine learning, or cloud computing and Internet of Things, security has to prevail. Therefore, cyber security is the salt to each and every core advancement.

Imagine your house door left wide open, with a freedom to people to move freely in and out of your house anytime, and carry out anything they want. There are no security restrictions imposed or measures taken to safeguard or monitor any activity. Will it be alright to let this happen? Of course not! Also, it would be hard to even imagine such an insecure scenario. Thus, security is the key aspect in any domain or field you can think of.

One can title cybersecurity as the superset of security aspects and strategies involving networks, data, databases, storage mechanisms, memory etc.

There's a space we provide to ourselves on the web or internet, which provides us the reach to different websites, social handles, blogs and search engines. The space is called 'cyberspace' in general. Hence, Cybersecurity aims to control and protect the cyberspace for a user. Being an infinite pool of security tactics, cybersecurity is also associated with the moral ethics, values and protocols one has to abide by, while working and checking onto systems and dealing with data and other elements of a cyberspace. More than safeguarding, cybersecurity also includes looking for loopholes and existing or predictable vulnerabilities, risks and threats that may cause potential harm to a target and turn it into a victim. Companies and corporates do hire security professionals in the form of white hat hackers who continuously check for such loopholes and report to the administration.

There are national and international organizations that specifically deal with cybersecurity, out of which some of them are listed below:

InfoSec

NIST

Palo Alto Networks

We are seamlessly progressing in newer technologies, hence, security goes in tandem. As the advancements rise to the peak, so do the risks associated with them. There are vicious circles to get their tentacles make a reach to any susceptible target for cyber attack. Thus, stay well aware about your cyberspace and 'cybersecurity' to stay safe and powered.