Cybersecurity types
All levels of an organization’s IT infrastructure are shielded from cyberthreats and crimes by comprehensive cybersecurity plans. Among the most crucial areas of cybersecurity are:
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Security of AI
The term “AI security” describes tools and strategies designed to stop or lessen cyberthreats and cyberattacks that target AI systems or applications or that employ AI maliciously.
Threat actors have new assault avenues to take advantage of thanks to generative AI. Malicious prompts can be used by hackers to control AI applications, contaminate data sources to skew AI results, and even fool AI tools into disclosing private information. Additionally, they can (and have) employ generative AI to produce phishing emails and harmful malware.
To defend the AI attack surface, AI security employs specific risk management frameworks and, more and more, AI-enabled cybersecurity technologies. The Cost of a Data Breach 2024 Report states that companies who heavily used automation and AI-enabled security systems to avoid cyberthreats saw an average cost per breach that was USD 2.2 million lower than those that did not use AI.
Security of critical infrastructure
A society’s computer systems, apps, networks, data, and digital assets that are essential to public safety, economic stability, and national security are safeguarded by critical infrastructure security.
To assist IT providers and stakeholders in safeguarding vital infrastructure, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the US provides a cybersecurity framework.5. Guidelines are also offered by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the US Department of Homeland Security.6.
Security of networks
Preventing unwanted access to networks and their resources is the main goal of network security. Additionally, it helps guarantee that authorized users have dependable and safe access to the assets and resources they require to do their duties.
Security of applications
Application security aids in preventing illegal usage and access to apps and associated data. It also aids in locating and addressing defects or weaknesses in the design of applications. Security and security testing are integrated into the development process by contemporary application development methodologies like DevOps and DevSecOps.
Cloud protection
Applications, data, virtual servers, and other infrastructure are among the cloud-based services and assets that are protected by cloud security.
In general, the shared responsibility approach governs cloud security. The security of the infrastructure and services that the cloud provider offers is their responsibility. Data, code, and other assets stored or operated on the cloud must be protected by the client.
Data security and information security
Information security (InfoSec) guards against unwanted access, use, or modification of an organization’s critical data, including digital files and data, paper documents, and physical media.
The majority of cybersecurity-related InfoSec measures center on data security, which is the safeguarding of digital information.
Security on the go
Mobile application management (MAM) and enterprise mobility management (EMM), among other cybersecurity techniques and technologies unique to smartphones and other mobile devices, are included in mobile security.
In order to secure, configure, and manage all endpoint devices—including mobile devices—from a single interface, businesses are increasingly using unified endpoint management (UEM) systems.
Typical risks to cybersecurity
Malware
Malware—an acronym for “malicious software”—is any computer program or piece of software that is purposefully created to damage a computer system or its users. Malware is used in almost all contemporary cyberattacks.
To get illegal access to computer systems and sensitive data, take control of computer systems and run them remotely, disrupt or destroy computer systems, or hold data or systems hostage for hefty sums of money, hackers and cybercriminals develop and utilize malware (see “Ransomware”).
Ransomware
Malware that encrypts a victim’s data or device and threatens to keep it encrypted—or worse—unless the victim pays the attacker a ransom is known as ransomware.
The encryption key needed to open the victim’s data was sought as payment in the first ransomware assaults. Nearly all ransomware attacks began in 2019 and were double extortion assaults that threatened to release victims’ data to the public; some triple extortion attacks also included the possibility of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.
Attacks using ransomware have decreased in recent years. The IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2024 states that ransomware assaults made about 20% of all attacks in 2023, which is an 11.5% decrease from 2022. Better ransomware prevention, more successful law enforcement action, and data backup and protection procedures that allow companies to recover without having to pay the ransom are probably the causes of the reduction.
Meanwhile, ransomware attackers have redirected their resources to launch other kinds of cyberthreats, such as data destruction attacks, which destroy or threaten to destroy data for specific purposes, and infostealer malware, which enables attackers to steal data and hold it hostage without locking down the victim’s systems.
