What is Cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity is the overarching term referring to all of the people, practices, and policies that serve to protect businesses and their customers from cyber attacks. It’s one part of the larger field of IT security, which also includes data integrity and physical security of hardware.
Cybersecurity best practices make sure to account for potential vulnerabilities when it comes to people, processes, and technology.
The “People” aspect of cybersecurity:
Social engineering is one example of how the “people” element of cybersecurity is probably the most volatile and unpredictable. Employees must be trained to be alert to potential threats or scams, and know how to respond when they occur.
Naturally, having experts in place in an organization is also a critical “people” factor. Those who are skilled at automating tools, ensuring vulnerabilities are prioritized and acted upon in a timely manner, and who might pen test or otherwise spot-check systems is absolutely essential.
The “Process” aspect of cybersecurity:
Business processes must support and account for cybersecurity best practices. Having a robust
incident response plan in place is one example of a process that’s put in place to detect, remediate, and respond to cybersecurity threats in a timely manner, while looping in all affected stakeholders.
The “Technology” aspect of cybersecurity:
Automated tools that do
vulnerability scanning, provide
real-time IT asset information, or
endpoint protection platforms are examples of the technology that organizations can put in place to protect sensitive information from being accessed by unauthorized people or cyber threats.
