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Cyber Crime Essay

The unlawful act of gaining unauthorised access to computer systems or digital devices is known as cybercrime. A detailed grasp of how to stop or recover from cyberattacks is provided by cyber security. Online courses offer guidance on how to avoid, safeguard against, and recover from cybercrime risks. Here are a few sample essays on the topic ‘Cyber Crime’.

100 Words Essay on Cyber Crime

200 words essay on cyber crime, 500 words essay on cyber crime.

Cyber Crime Essay

Cybercrime is the most discussed problem in the twenty-first century. The usage of cellphones and the internet is increasing dramatically over the world, which is generating questions about consumers' security and privacy. Because of this, it is crucial for all users to understand cybercrime and security. Cybercrime is defined as organised criminal conduct carried out by attackers online. Cybercrime comes in numerous forms, such as fraud, computer viruses, cyberstalking, and others. Due to these, businesses and government organisations are spending more on maintaining and employing professionals in cybercrime.

There are millions and billions of users and websites in the vast community known as cyberspace. People utilise it for a variety of activities including e-commerce, transactions, shopping, movies, music, and video games. Anyone can simply access anything online in the current technological era owing to accessible internet connection. As a result, crime in general and cybercrime in particular have surged dramatically. Additionally, the faster internet connection has greatly boosted the rate of data circulation. All of these problems are responsible as to why cyber security has grown to be a significant issue for society.

The government has created a number of cybercrime-related laws in an effort to curb the spread of the crime and to protect people's interests. These laws also provide defence against cybercrime. Aside from that, the government has established cyber cells in police stations to combat cybercrime as quickly as possible.

Cybercrime is an attack that can be harmful to both an individual and a business. There have been several instances where a cyber attack led to a data leak that caused a significant loss for a business or a person. These cyber-attacks could have negative effects on the country and the business. The countless instances of cyberattacks that have taken place in India and other nations have necessitated increased security measures. There are four main categories of cybercrime, according to a popular definition—hacking, money, privacy, and cyber terrorism.

Cybercrime is a type of crime in which illegal activities are carried out online or using computers. Cybercrime comes in a variety of forms which involves harassing online users. Cybercrime is the most serious and rapidly expanding type of crime in this day and age. Any person's life may be negatively impacted for a very long time by becoming a cyber victim. Cybercrimes have a wide range of repercussions on financial and investment activity in digital organisations.

One typical tactic used by criminals is to lure online users in by creating attractive websites and sending phoney emails purporting to be from banks or other organisations and asking for personal information. It makes it easier for criminals to access a person's bank account and personal data. Due to viruses, mail fraud, account hacking, and software piracy, people have been victims of cybercrimes. They also run into problems with unauthorised access mailing, threats from pornographic emails, and video transmission.

Types of Cyber Crime

Cyberstalking | It is the use of electronic communication to track down a person or to make repeated attempts to get in touch with them in order to foster personal interaction despite their blatant lack of interest. Anyone who monitors the internet, email, or any other form of electronic communication is guilty of stalking.

Phishing | It is a sort of fraud that includes collecting personal data from recipients of emails that seem to be coming from a reliable source, including Customer ID, IPIN, Credit/Debit Card number, Card expiration date, CVV number, etc.

Vishing | It is an attempt when criminals attempt to obtain personal information over the phone, such as Customer ID, Net Banking password, ATM PIN, OTP, Card expiration date, CVV, etc.

Smishing | It is a sort of fraud that employs text messages sent to mobile devices to entice victims into dialling a fake phone number, going to a fake website, or downloading harmful software.

Impersonation And Identity Theft | This includes the dishonest or fraudulent use of another person's electronic signature, password, or other distinctive identification trait.

Virus, Worms, Trojan | A computer virus is a programme designed to infiltrate your computer, corrupt your files and data, and spread itself. Worms are malicious software applications that repeatedly duplicate themselves on local drives, network shares, etc. Trojan is a malicious programme that mimics a legitimate application. Trojans offer unauthorised people and applications access to your computer through a backdoor entry, allowing them to steal sensitive data.

How to Prevent Cyber Crime

Backup every piece of information—data, systems, and considerations—to make it easier for businesses to recover from unforeseen events with the help of prior data.

Pick a firewall that offers protection from viruses, malware, and dishonest hackers.

Never divulge private information to a stranger since they might exploit it for fraud.

To avoid cybercrime, check your security settings—in order to determine if someone has logged into your computer, a cyber firewall analyses your network settings.

Antivirus software aids in identifying potential threats and malware before they infect a computer system. Never use software that has been cracked since it poses a serious risk of data loss or malware attack.

Keep your information protected when accessing untrusted websites—information can readily bypass the data through phishing websites.

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Cyber Crime Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on cyber crime.

Cyber Crime Essay – Everybody thinks that only stealing someone’s private data is Cyber Crime. But in defining terms we can say that ‘Cyber Crime refers to the use of an electronic device (computer, laptop, etc.) for stealing someone’s data or trying to harm them using a computer.

Besides, it is an illegal activity that involves a series of issues ranging from theft to using your system or IP address as a tool for committing a crime.

Cyber Crime Essay

Types of Cyber Crime

Speaking in a broadway we can say that Cyber Crime are categorized into four major types. These are Financial, Privacy, Hacking, and Cyber Terrorism.

The financial crime they steal the money of user or account holders. Likewise, they also stole data of companies which can lead to financial crimes. Also, transactions are heavily risked because of them. Every year hackers stole lakhs and crores of rupees of businessmen and government.

Privacy crime includes stealing your private data which you do not want to share with the world. Moreover, due to it, the people suffer a lot and some even commit suicide because of their data’s misuse.

In, hacking they intentional deface a website to cause damage or loss to the public or owner. Apart from that, they destroy or make changes in the existing websites to diminish its value.

Modern-day terrorism has grown way beyond what it was 10-20 years ago. But cyber terrorism is not just related to terrorists or terrorist organizations. But to threat some person or property to the level of creating fear is also Cyber Terrorism.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Cyber Crime in India

Web world or cyberspace is a massive community of millions and billions of users and websites. Also, people access it for different uses like shopping, movies, music, video games, transactions, and e-commerce, etc.

essay on cyber attack

In this Age of Technology and easy access to the internet, anyone can easily reach it. Because of this fast pace growth from the previous decade. Besides, the internet has opened a world of information on which anyone can connect.

Due to, this the rate of crime especially the rate of Cyber Crime has increased much fold. Moreover, the rate of circulation of data is also increased much fold due to the higher speed of internet. Above all, due to all these issues, the Cybersecurity has become a major concern for society.

Laws related to Cyber Crimes

To stop the spread of Cyber Crime and to safeguard the interest of people the government has made several laws related to Cyber Crimes. Also, these laws serve as protection against Cyber Crime. Apart from that, the government has also introduced cyber cells in police stations to counter the problem of Cyber Crime as fast as they can.

Ways of stopping Cyber Crime

Cyber Crime is not something which we cannot deal with our self. Likewise, with little use of our common sense and logic, we can stop Cyber Crimes from happening.

To conclude, we can say that Cyber Crime is a dangerous offense to someone’s privacy or any material. Also, we can avoid Cyber Crime by following some basic logical things and using our common sense. Above all, Cyber Crime is a violation of not only law but of human rights too.

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Essay on Cyber Crime

Cyber crime is the most discussed issue of the 21st century. The technology sector world wide is witnessing  a boom in the consumer of smartphones and the internet which is raising concerns with regard to the privacy and security of the users. Owing to this reason, it is highly essential for all the users to know about cyber crime  & security.  As a result, thi topic has become the most favorite topic of the examiner and can often be seen asked in the exams.  In this view, students must have information on cyber crime and stay prepared to tackle such topics in the essay question in the English paper.

Introduction

Cybercrime is a dangerous attack a company or an individual may face. There are many cases where the cyber attack has brought massive loss to the company and individuals due to the data hack. We live in a technology-driven era, and every piece of information is now fed on computers. Cybercrime involves an attack on computers and digital devices. These cyber-attacks can prove hazardous not just for the organization, but also for the nation. To date, there are many digital attack cases in India and global, pushing for more security measures. These attacks are also affecting the economy of the country if not controlled in the initial stage.

What is Cybercrime?

Cybercrime or attack is defined as the systematic criminal activity occurring digitally

and done by attackers. There are many examples of cybercrime, including fraud,

malware viruses, cyberstalking and others. Due to these, government agencies and

companies are investing more in the maintenance and hiring of cybercrime experts. 

Earlier, cybercrime was committed only by individuals or by small groups. However, now a highly complex cybercriminals network work on attacking the system for data

collection.

Three groups of cybercrimes-

This is the form of cyberstalking, trafficking, and grooming. Over the years, this

This type of cybercrime has been taken seriously by law enforcement agencies. It is

now keeping a track over every such attack on an individual.

Similar to the real world where criminals steal the property, in the cyber world,

attackers steal data. Here, the attacker steals a person's bank details and

misuse the credit card for online purchase. By using malicious software, the

attacker attacks the property to disrupt the system of the organization.

These types of crimes are denoted as cyber terrorism. This can be a terror because

the attacker can get hold of essential documents related to government

projects. An enemy nation or terrorist usually makes such attacks. There are

many cases globally where a terrorist hacks government data.

Apart from these, there is a financial crime where the hacker steals the money of the

user account holder. Moreover, they steal company data and finance.

In this type, the computer system of the person is hacked to get personal

information. In many countries, including India, hacking is a punishable act.

It is quite different from ethical hacking. In normal hacking, illegal use

different types of software to enter the system of the target person. Hacker is

then able to monitor every activity done by the person.

This Cybercrime is about violating copyright and downloading music or movies. In

India, many movies before their releases are leaked on the movie download

sites. In other words , theft is also called privacy, which can bring a huge

loss to the organization.

Cyber Stalking

It is online harassment by an individual or a group of people. Normally, these

stalkers target an individual and harass online. There are many cases of

cyberstalking in India, resulting in the target person ending up taking

Malicious Software

These are computer-based cybercrimes where virus-based software is installed in the

target people or organization computers. This is to damage the system and

corrupt the data of the target.

Laws Related to Cybercrime

In India, there are many cybercrime laws enacted to stop this threat. Be it for

the individual or the organization; these laws help to either bring down the

number of cases or eliminate these digital crimes.

Apart from these laws, as an individual, you also need to take steps to stop these

crimes. Like, not providing your login details, installing trust anti-virus

software and keeping your online profile private can help to act against such

Cybercrime is a significant threat that can bring huge loss to the individual and the

organization. It is essential to follow basic online rules to ensure the safety

of self and the organization.

Benefits of Cyber Crime Essay in English provided by Vedantu

The essay on cybercrime provided by Vedantu is prepared by highly qualified teachers which makes it a reliable source of information. This information could be utilized for a variety of reasons. Being a reliable piece of information the essay will benefit everyone curious to know about the topic.

Following are the highlights of its benefits:

Reliable information 

Adaptive to the context 

Precise language

Fulfills the requirements of the students for english exam questions 

Comprehensive and analytical. The  article digs in the depth of the issue and analyzes it through a 360 degree perspective.

The essay could also be used by the students for preparing themselves for the essay question in the English paper. This essay is an excellent guide to understand what the examiner is looking for in the exam. Moreover, the topic of cybercrime is quite a recurrent one in the exam. So the students use this essay to deal with the same topic.

The Essay on Cyber Crime is an excellent guide on averting any possibilities of a cyber attack. On today's date, one is mostly on the internet for a variety of reasons. It becomes essential for one to know important tips that can keep one safe from cyberbullies, thieves, or blackmailers. It is also important for one to understand the right course of actions to be taken in an eventuality of such an incident.

Download the cybercrime essay for students in English on the Vedantu website.

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FAQs on Cyber Crime Essay

1. How Does Cybercrime Work?

Group of people or an individual commits most of these cyber-crimes. These criminals use a systematic process to hack and commit these acts. These criminal communities share strategies and tools to launch attacks. Some of the cybercrime techniques

Fast Flux - In this method, the hacker moves data quickly among computers in a botnet, making it challenging to find the right source.

Social Engineering - This method includes using lies and manipulation to trick people into revealing their personal information.

Skimmers - This involves installing a skimming tool in an ATM and stealing the information. You may find such skimming devices in ATMs.

There are some digital criminals targeting organizations to steal personal information.

2. How Cybercrime Affects Society?

Cybercrime can hugely affect society. In 2018, the US faced a loss of $600 billion. As consumers are increasingly allowing technologies to get into their lives, cyber attackers are getting better access. Some of the essential information available are-

Personal health data, sleep schedules, and geo-locations Shopping history, account information, and passive conversations noticed voice-controlled devices, Private conversations on social media accounts.

Your entire life is now available on social media, making it vulnerable to hack or cyber-attack. Attackers use different techniques including- installing malware, virus, phishing, cyberstalking, etc. These can certainly bring loss of lives and data for individuals and organizations. For society, this is a significant loss in the long run.  One needs to be very careful when presenting himself socially.

3. How to stay secure in times of cybercrime?

Cybercrime is a real threat posing to society. It is the 21st-century version of theft and blackmailing. There are certain ways one should adopt to prevent any possibilities of cybercrime. Do not disclose the banking details to random people or fill the CVV of your debit or credit cards on an unknown and unverified website. Keep your passwords always discrete. The camera of the laptop should always be covered.

4. Where can I get a cybercrime essay?

One can find a good quality cyber crime essay on Vedantu's website. The essay which is prepared by the expert teachers describes everything that one needs to know about cybercrime. It is the one-stop solution for all your requirements on the topic. Their essay is available in PDF format on the website and could be downloaded on any device. One downloaded essay could be used in offline mode too. If one finds it feasible, the printout of the PDF could also be taken out.

essay on cyber attack

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✍️Essay on Cybercrime: Free Samples in 100, 200, 300 Words

essay on cyber attack

  • Updated on  
  • Apr 26, 2024

Essay on Cybercrime

The 21st century is a digital age, where any and every task is done on the internet. All thanks to the developments in technology which have been the main factor to ease human life on earth and maybe on other plants in future. But with the benefits of technology, there are several harmful effects, one of them which has recently gained popularity; Cyber Crime. 

Cybercrime has emerged as pervasive and evolved as one of the most dangerous threats to humans. There are several users on the internet who indulge in illegal and criminal activities, using computers and networks. To guide you through this hot debate topic, below we have discussed essays on cybercrime.

Table of Contents

  • 1 Essay on Cybercrime in 100 Words
  • 2 Essay on Cybercrime in 200 Words
  • 3 Essay on Cybercrime in 300 Words
  • 4 Short Essay on Cybercrime

Also Read: Essay on Student Life

Essay on Cybercrime in 100 Words

Cybercrime involves illegal activities like hacking, ransomware, cyberbullying, online fraud, etc. People who are involved in cybercrime or any similar activities are called hackers, scammers or fraudsters. Cybercrime leads to financial loss for individuals who have fallen victim to one. Cybercrime often invades a person’s privacy by stealing their personal details, including sensitive data, photos, and communication records, which can be used for blackmailing or any malicious purpose.

There are several governmental and non-government organizations which are working 

To tackle cybercrime by raising awareness among the masses, cyber security training, implementing robust security protocols, and enacting comprehensive cybercrime laws.

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Essay on Cybercrime in 200 Words

Cybercrime is a criminal activity done online using a computer, network and internet. With the increasing use of the internet and mobile phones, the number of criminal activities has also gained pace.  These criminal-minded people steal the personal details of a person, which leads to financial losses and damages the reputation of the victims. Various scams and fraudulent schemes are offered on the internet like online auctions, advance fees, or any investment scam, which are all aimed at deceiving individuals into parting with their money.

Cybercrime is not limited to financial losses or reputational damage, a more discrete term has emerged; cyberbullying.  In cyberbullying, a person is harassed, humiliated, or threatened online. This can have severe psychological and emotional consequences. Ethical hackers or white hat hackers can help organizations identify vulnerabilities in their systems before malicious hackers exploit them. 

Cybercrime doesn’t have any boundaries and is an international issue and international cooperation is crucial for tracking and prosecuting cybercriminals who operate across borders. To combat cybercrime effectively, a multi-faceted approach is required, involving education, technology, legislation, and international cooperation. As technology continues to advance, our efforts to combat cybercrime must keep pace to protect our increasingly interconnected world.

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Essay on Cybercrime in 300 Words

Economists have termed cybercrime as ‘ A Hidden Threat to the Digital World.’ Modern humans are relying on the internet for their day-to-day activities and every macro and micro activity. In this sense, the term cybercrime comes to the front. Cybercrime refers to criminal activities conducted through the use of computers, networks, and the Internet. 

Cybercrime consists of various malicious activities like hacking, phishing, ransomware attacks, identity theft, online fraud, and cyberbullying. Hackers, fraudsters, scammers, criminals, and even state-sponsored actors exploit vulnerabilities in digital systems to steal sensitive information, disrupt operations, and cause financial and emotional harm to victims.

The consequences of cybercrime are far-reaching. Financial losses run into 10 digits annually, affecting individuals and organizations alike. Personal privacy is invaded as cybercriminals steal sensitive data, photos, and communication records. In cases of cyberbullying and harassment, victims suffer reputational damages, psychological distress, and emotional trauma, particularly in cases of cyberbullying and harassment.

It’s necessary to look for a multifaceted approach to deal with cybercrime, some of which are.

  • Raising public awareness through campaigns where people are informed about the risks of cybercrime and educate them on best practices for online safety.
  • Individuals and organizations should implement robust security protocols, regularly update software, and use multi-factor authentication to protect their digital assets.
  • Governments should enact and enforce cybercrime laws, providing law enforcement agencies with the resources and expertise needed to prosecute cybercriminals effectively.
  • Looking at the global nature of cybercrime, international collaboration is vital. Countries should work together to share threat intelligence and cooperate in the investigation and prosecution of cybercriminals.
  • Ethical hackers can help organizations identify and rectify vulnerabilities in their systems before malicious actors exploit them.

Tackling cybercrime requires proactive measures, including education, strong cybersecurity practices, legislation, international cooperation, and the active involvement of ethical hackers.

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Short Essay on Cybercrime

Find the short essay on cyber crime from below:

Cybercrime is an illegal and unethical activity which is done by hackers and fraudsters to gain financial or any other benefits for themselves.

To tackle cybercrime, several measures can be taken. Some of these measures are education and public awareness, research and innovation, ethical hacking, etc.

To write an essay on cybercrime, you need to give details on how it works and the level of danger it poses to humans. Cybercrime consists of various malicious activities like hacking, phishing, ransomware attacks, identity theft, online fraud, and cyberbullying. Hackers, fraudsters, scammers, criminals, and even state-sponsored actors exploit vulnerabilities in digital systems to steal sensitive information, disrupt operations, and cause financial and emotional harm to victims.

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A cyberattack is any intentional effort to steal, expose, alter, disable, or destroy data, applications, or other assets through unauthorized access to a network, computer system or digital device.

Threat actors  start cyberattacks for all sorts of reasons, from petty theft to acts of war. They use various tactics, like  malware attacks ,  social engineering  scams, and password theft, to gain unauthorized access to their target systems.

Cyberattacks can disrupt, damage and even destroy businesses. The average cost of a data breach is  USD 4.35 million . This price tag includes the costs of discovering and responding to the violation, downtime and lost revenue, and the long-term reputational damage to a business and its brand.

But some cyberattacks can be considerably more costly than others. Ransomware attacks have commanded ransom payments as high as  USD 40 million  (link resides outside ibm.com). Business email compromise (BEC) scams have stolen as much as  USD 47 million from victims in a single attack  (link resides outside ibm.com). Cyberattacks that compromise customers'  personally identifiable information (PII)  can lead to a loss of customer trust, regulatory fines, and even legal action. By one estimate, cybercrime will cost the world economy  USD 10.5 trillion per year by 2025  (link resides outside ibm.com). 

Get insights to better manage the risk of a data breach with the latest Cost of a Data Breach report.

Register for the X-Force Threat Intelligence Index

The motivations behind cyberattacks can vary, but there are three main categories: 

Criminally motivated attackers seek financial gain through monetary theft, data theft , or business disruption. Cybercriminals may hack into a bank account to steal money directly or use social engineering scams to trick people into sending money to them. Hackers may steal data and use it to commit identity theft or sell it on the dark web or hold it for ransom.

Extortion is another tactic that is used. Hackers may use ransomware, DDoS attacks, or other tactics to hold data or devices hostage until a company pays. According to the  X-Force Threat Intelligence Index , 27 percent of cyberattacks aim to extort their victims.

Personally motivated attackers, such as disgruntled current or former employees, primarily seek retribution for some perceived slight. They may take money, steal sensitive data, or disrupt a company's systems.

Politically motivated attackers are often associated with cyberwarfare, cyberterrorism, or "hacktivism." In cyberwarfare, nation-state actors often target their enemies' government agencies or critical infrastructure. For example, since the start of the Russia-Ukraine War, both countries have experienced a rash of cyberattacks against vital institutions (link resides outside ibm.com). Activist hackers, called "hacktivists," may not cause extensive damage to their targets. Instead, they typically seek attention for their causes by making their attacks known to the public.

Less common cyberattack motivations include corporate espionage, in which hackers steal intellectual property to gain an unfair advantage over competitors, and vigilante hackers who use a system’s vulnerabilities to warn others about them. Some hackers hack for sport, savoring the intellectual challenge.

Criminal organizations, state actors, and private persons can all start cyberattacks. One way to classify threat actors is by categorizing them as outsider threats or insider threats.

Outsider threats aren’t authorized to use a network or device but break in anyway. External cyberthreat actors include organized criminal groups, professional hackers, state-sponsored actors, amateur hackers, and hacktivists.

Insider threats are users who have authorized and legitimate access to a company’s assets and misuse their privileges deliberately or accidentally. This category includes employees, business partners, clients, contractors, and suppliers with system access.

While negligent users can put their companies at risk, it’s only a cyberattack if the user intentionally uses their privileges to carry out malicious activity. An employee who carelessly stores sensitive information in an unsecured drive isn’t committing a cyberattack — but a disgruntled employee who knowingly makes copies of confidential data for personal gain is. 

Threat actors typically break into computer networks because they’re after something specific. Common targets include:

  • Businesses' financial data
  • Client lists
  • Customer data, including personally identifiable information (PII) or other sensitive personal data
  • Email addresses and login credentials
  • Intellectual property, like trade secrets or product designs

In some cases, cyberattackers don’t want to steal anything at all. Rather, they merely want to disrupt information systems or IT infrastructure to damage a business, government agency, or other target. 

If successful, cyberattacks can damage enterprises. They can cause downtime, data loss, and money loss. For example:

  • Hackers can use malware or denial-of-service attacks to cause system or server crashes. This downtime can lead to major service interruptions and financial losses. According to the Cost of a Data Breach report, the average breach results in USD 1.42 million in lost business.
  • SQL injection attacks allow hackers to alter, delete, or steal data from a system.
  • Phishing attacks allow hackers to trick people into sending money or sensitive information to them.
  • Ransomware attacks can disable a system until the company pays the attacker a ransom. According to one report (link resides outside ibm.com), the average ransom payment is USD 812,360.

In addition to directly harming the target, cyberattacks can have a host of secondary costs and consequences. For example, the Cost of a Data Breach report found that businesses spend an average of USD 2.62 million on detecting, responding to, and remediating breaches.

Cyberattacks can also have repercussions for victims beyond the immediate target. In 2021, the DarkSide ransomware gang attacked the Colonial Pipeline, the largest refined oil pipeline system in the US. The attackers entered the company’s network by using a compromised password (link resides outside ibm.com). They shut down the pipeline that carries 45% of the gas, diesel, and jet fuel supplied to the US East Coast, leading to widespread fuel shortages.

The cybercriminals demanded a ransom of almost USD 5 million in bitcoin cryptocurrency, which Colonial Pipeline paid (link resides outside ibm.com). However, with help from the US government, the company eventually recovered USD 2.3 million of the ransom.

Cybercriminals use many sophisticated tools and techniques to start cyberattacks against enterprise IT systems, personal computers, and other targets. Some of the most common types of cyberattacks include:

Malware is malicious software that can render infected systems inoperable. Malware can destroy data, steal information, or even wipe files critical to the operating system’s ability to run. Malware comes in many forms, including:

  • Trojan horses disguise themselves as useful programs or hide within legitimate software to trick users into installing them. A remote access Trojan (RAT) creates a secret back door on the victim’s device, while a dropper Trojan installs additional malware once it has a foothold.
  • Ransomware is sophisticated malware that uses strong encryption to hold data or systems hostage. Cybercriminals then demand payment in exchange for releasing the system and restoring functionality. According to IBM’s X-Force Threat Intelligence Index , ransomware is the second most common type of cyberattack, accounting for 17% of attacks.
  • Scareware uses fake messages to frighten victims into downloading malware or passing sensitive information to a fraudster.
  • Spyware is a type of malware that secretly gathers sensitive information, like usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers. It then sends this information back to the hacker.
  • Rootkits are malware packages that allow hackers to gain administrator-level access to a computer’s operating system or other assets.
  • Worms are self-replicating malicious code that can automatically spread between apps and devices. 

Social engineering attacks manipulate people into doing things that they shouldn’t do, like sharing information they shouldn’t share, downloading software they shouldn’t download, or sending money to criminals.

Phishing is one of the most pervasive social engineering attacks. According to the Cost of a Data Breach report, it is the second most common cause of breaches. The most basic phishing scams use fake emails or text messages to steal users’ credentials, exfiltrate sensitive data, or spread malware. Phishing messages are often designed to look as though they’re coming from a legitimate source. They usually direct the victim to click a hyperlink that takes them to a malicious website or open an email attachment that turns out to be malware.

Cybercriminals have also developed more sophisticated methods of phishing. Spear phishing is a highly targeted attack that aims to manipulate a specific individual, often by using details from the victim’s public social media profiles to make the ruse more convincing. Whale phishing is a type of spear phishing that specifically targets high-level corporate officers. In a business email compromise (BEC) scam, cybercriminals pose as executives, vendors, or other business associates to trick victims into wiring money or sharing sensitive data. 

Denial-of-service (DoS) and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks flood a system's resources with fraudulent traffic. This traffic overwhelms the system, preventing responses to legitimate requests and reducing the system's ability to perform. A denial-of-service attack may be an end in itself or a setup for another attack.

The difference between DoS attacks and DDoS attacks is simply that DoS attacks use a single source to generate fraudulent traffic, while DDoS attacks use multiple sources. DDoS attacks are often carried out with a botnet, a network of internet-connected, malware-infected devices under a hacker's control. Botnets can include laptops, smartphones, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Victims often don't know when a botnet has hijacked their devices.

Account compromise is any attack in which hackers hijack a legitimate user's account for malicious activity. Cybercriminals can break into a user's account in many ways. They can steal credentials through phishing attacks or buy stolen password databases off the dark web. They can use password attack tools like Hashcat and John the Ripper to break password encryptions or stage brute force attacks, in which they run automated scripts or bots to generate and test potential passwords until one works.

In a man-in-the-middle (MiTM) attack , also called an "eavesdropping attack," a hacker secretly intercepts communications between two people or between a user and a server. MitM attacks are commonly carried out via unsecured public wifi networks, where it's relatively easy for threat actors to spy on traffic.

Hackers may read a user's emails or even secretly alter the emails before they reach the recipient. In a session hijacking attack, the hacker interrupts the connection between a user and a server hosting important assets, like a confidential company database. The hacker swaps their IP address with the user's, making the server think they're a legitimate user logged into a legitimate session. This gives the hacker free rein to steal data or otherwise wreak havoc. 

Supply chain attacks are cyberattacks in which hackers breach a company by targeting its software vendors, material suppliers, and other service providers. Because vendors are often connected to their customers' networks in some way, hackers can use the vendor's network as an attack vector to access multiple targets at once.

For example, in 2020, Russian state actors hacked the software vendor SolarWinds and distributed malware to its customers under the guise of a software update (link resides outside ibm.com). The malware allowed Russian spies to access the sensitive data of various US government agencies using SolarWinds' services, including the Treasury, Justice, and State Departments. 

Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks insert malicious code into a legitimate web page or web application. When a user visits the site or app, the code automatically runs in the user's web browser, usually stealing sensitive information or redirecting the user to a spoofed, malicious website. Attackers frequently use JavaScript for XSS attacks.

SQL injection attacks use Structured Query Language (SQL) to send malicious commands to a website's or app's backend database. Hackers input the commands through user-facing fields like search bars and login windows. The commands are then passed to the database, prompting it to return private data like credit card numbers or customer details.

DNS tunneling hides malicious traffic inside DNS packets, allowing it to bypass firewalls and other security measures. Cybercriminals use DNS tunneling to create secret communication channels, which they can use to silently extract data or establish connections between malware and a command and control (C&C) server.

Zero-day exploits take advantage of zero-day vulnerabilities, which are vulnerabilities either unknown to the security community or identified but not yet patched. These vulnerabilities can exist for days, months, or years before developers learn about the flaws, making them prime targets for hackers.

Fileless attacks use vulnerabilities in legitimate software programs to inject malicious code directly into a computer's memory. Cybercriminals often use PowerShell, a scripting tool built into Microsoft Windows operating systems, to run malicious scripts that change configurations or steal passwords.

DNS spoofing attacks, also called "DNS poisoning," covertly edit DNS records to replace a website's real IP address with a fake one. When victims try to visit the real site, they're unknowingly delivered to a malicious copy that steals their data or spreads malware. 

Organizations can reduce cyberattacks by implementing cybersecurity systems and strategies. Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting critical systems and sensitive information from digital attacks by using a combination of technology, people, and processes. 

Many organizations implement a threat management strategy to identify and protect their most important assets and resources. Threat management may include policies and security solutions like:

  • Identity and access management (IAM) platforms and policies , including least-privilege access, multi-factor authentication, and strong password policies, can help ensure that only the right people have access to the right resources. Companies may also require remote employees to use virtual private networks (VPNs) when accessing sensitive resources over unsecured wifi.  
  • A comprehensive data security platform and data loss prevention (DLP) tools can encrypt sensitive data, monitor its access and usage, and raise alerts when suspicious activity is detected. Organizations can also make regular data backups to minimize damage if there is a breach.
  • Firewalls can help block threat actors from entering the network in the first place. Firewalls can also block malicious traffic flowing out of the network, such as malware attempting to communicate with a command and control server.  
  • Security awareness training can help users identify and avoid some of the most common cyberattack vectors, such as phishing and other social engineering attacks.
  • Vulnerability management policies , including patch management schedules and regular penetration testing , can help catch and close vulnerabilities before hackers can exploit them.
  • Attack surface management (ASM) tools can identify, catalog, and remediate potentially vulnerable assets before cyberattackers find them.
  • Unified endpoint management (UEM) tools can enforce security policies and controls around all endpoints on the corporate network, including laptops, desktops, and mobile devices.

It is impossible to prevent cyberattack attempts entirely, so organizations may also use continuous security monitoring and early detection processes to identify and flag cyberattacks in progress. Examples include:

  • Security information and event management (SIEM) systems centralize and track alerts from various internal cybersecurity tools, including intrusion detection systems (IDSs), endpoint detection and response systems (EDRs), and other security solutions.
  • Threat intelligence platforms enrich security alerts to help security teams understand the types of cybersecurity threats they may face.
  • Antivirus software can regularly scan computer systems for malicious programs and automatically eradicate identified malware.
  • Proactive threat hunting processes can track down cyberthreats secretly lurking in the network, such as advanced persistent threats (APTs).

Organizations may also take steps to ensure an appropriate response to ongoing cyberattacks and other cybersecurity events. Examples include:

  • Incident response plans can help contain and eradicate various kinds of cyberattacks, restore affected systems, and analyze root causes to prevent future attacks. Incident response plans are shown to reduce the overall costs of cyberattacks. According to the Cost of a Data Breach report, organizations with formal incident response teams and plans have 58% lower breach costs on average.
  • Security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) solutions  can enable security teams to coordinate disparate security tools in semi- or fully automated playbooks for responding to cyberattacks in real-time.
  • Extended detection and response (XDR)  solutions  integrate security tools and operations across all security layers—users, endpoints, email, applications, networks, cloud workloads, and data. XDRs can help automate complex cyberattack prevention, detection, investigation, and response processes, including proactive threat hunting.

Outsmart attacks with a connected, modernized security suite. The QRadar portfolio is embedded with enterprise-grade AI and offers integrated products for endpoint security, log management, SIEM and SOAR—all with a common user interface, shared insights and connected workflows.

Proactive threat hunting, continuous monitoring and a deep investigation of threats are just a few of the priorities facing an already busy IT department. Having a trusted incident response team on standby can reduce your response time, minimize the impact of a cyberattack, and help you recover faster.

To prevent and combat modern ransomware threats, IBM uses insight from 800 TB of threat activity data, information on more than 17 million spam and phishing attacks and reputation data on nearly 1 million malicious IP addresses from a network of 270 million endpoints.

The Cost of a Data Breach report shares the latest insights into the expanding threat landscape and offers recommendations for how to save time and limit losses.

The IBM Security® X-Force® Threat Intelligence Index offers CISOs, security teams and business leaders actionable insights to help you understand how threat actors are waging attacks, and how to proactively protect your organization.

The X-Force cyberattack preparation and execution frameworks provide a logical flow representative of attacks today and incorporate phases not typically included in other frameworks.

Cybersecurity threats are becoming more advanced, more persistent and are demanding more effort by security analysts to sift through countless alerts and incidents. IBM Security QRadar SIEM helps you remediate threats faster while maintaining your bottom line. QRadar SIEM prioritizes high-fidelity alerts to help you catch threats that others miss.

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Exposure to cyberattacks and policy attitudes, the mediating role of threat perceptions, experimental method.

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Cyberattacks, cyber threats, and attitudes toward cybersecurity policies

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Keren L G Snider, Ryan Shandler, Shay Zandani, Daphna Canetti, Cyberattacks, cyber threats, and attitudes toward cybersecurity policies, Journal of Cybersecurity , Volume 7, Issue 1, 2021, tyab019, https://doi.org/10.1093/cybsec/tyab019

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Does exposure to cyberattacks influence public support for intrusive cybersecurity policies? How do perceptions of cyber threats mediate this relationship? While past research has demonstrated how exposure to cyberattacks affects political attitudes, the mediating role played by threat perception has been overlooked. This study employs a controlled randomized survey experiment design to test the effect of exposure to lethal and nonlethal cyberattacks on support for different types of cybersecurity policies. One thousand twenty-two Israeli participants are exposed to scripted and simulated television reports of lethal or nonlethal cyberattacks against national infrastructure. Findings suggest that exposure to cyberattacks leads to greater support for stringent cybersecurity regulations, through a mechanism of threat perception. Results also indicate that different types of exposure relate to heightened support for different types of regulatory policies. People exposed to lethal cyberattacks tend to support cybersecurity policies that compel the government to alert citizens about cyberattacks. People who were exposed to nonlethal attacks, on the other hand, tend to support oversight policies at higher levels. More broadly, our research suggests that peoples’ willingness to accept government cybersecurity policies that limit personal civil liberties and privacy depends on the type of cyberattacks to which they were exposed and the perceptions associated with such exposure.

In recent years, the increase in civilian exposure to cyberattacks has been accompanied by heightened demands for governments to introduce comprehensive cybersecurity policies. These demands peaked in the aftermath of the 2021 Colonial Pipeline and SolarWinds cyberattacks, where the US government's lack of access to cybersecurity information in critical industries wrought havoc on the country's national and economic security. In the aftermath of these attacks, lawmakers and the public exhibited newfound enthusiasm for legislation that would mandate cyberattack reporting by private enterprises—accelerating a regulatory trend that has existed for several years [ 1 ]. In 2020, for example, 40 US states and territories introduced more than 280 cybersecurity related bills and resolutions [ 2 , 3 ]. A similar process has taken place in Europe [ 4 ] and in Israel [ 5 , 6 ].

The public willingness to accept government policies and regulations that limit personal civil liberties and privacy is part of a delicate tradeoff between security and privacy. In some ways, privacy is seen as an adequate cost of enhanced personal and societal security in the face of novel threats. However, the public has grown increasingly sensitive to the importance of online privacy, and is keenly aware of the ethical, political, legal, and rights-based dilemmas that revolve around government monitoring of online activity and communications [ 7 , 8 ].

The debate on digital surveillance centers on how and whether authorities should gain access to encrypted materials, and raise key questions concerning the extent of state interference in civic life, and the protection of civil rights in the context of security. Yet what lies at the heart of this willingness to accept government policies and regulations that limit personal civil liberties and privacy via increasing public demand for government intervention in cybersecurity? Does exposure to different types of cyberattacks lead to heightened support for different types of regulatory policies? And does the public differentiate between interventionist and regulatory forms of cybersecurity policies?

To test these questions, we ran a controlled randomized survey experiment that exposed 1022 Israeli participants to simulated video news reports of lethal and nonlethal cyberattacks. We argue that public support for governmental cybersecurity measures rises as a result of exposure to different forms of cyberattacks, and that perceived threat plays a mediating role in this relationship. More specifically, we propose that exposure to initial media reports about cyberattacks is a key to the exposure effect, since at this time the threat is magnified and the public has minimal information about the identity of the attacker and the type of cyberattack that was conducted. Past events show that in many cases, the public internalizes the details of an attack in its immediate aftermath when media reports are heaviest. While later reports in the days and weeks following an attack will include far more detailed information, the damage by this time has already been done and the public is already scared and alert.

Further to this, we suggest that the literature has erroneously pooled together all cyber regulatory policies under a single banner of cybersecurity. We propose that civilian exposure to different types of cyberattacks leads to increased support for different and specific cybersecurity policies. We therefore differentiate between support for policies that focus on alerting the public in cases of cyberattacks and others that call for oversight of cybersecurity. In examining how exposure to cyberattacks influences support for these specific policy positions, we distinguish between the outcome of cyberattacks—lethal attacks that cause lethal consequences as a first- or second-degree outcome of the attack, versus nonlethal attacks that merely involve financial consequences. This more nuanced breakdown of exposure types and policy options can help officials contend with certain policy debates without the need for a one-size-fits-all policy. For example, reservations expressed by conservative/libertarian scholars who are concerned about government intervention in the commercial marketplace need not disqualify all forms of cybersecurity policy [ 9 ]. Likewise, the reservations of those concerned with individual privacy violations need not lead to the denunciation of all policies [ 10 ].

To ground this analysis of how the public responds following exposure to both lethal and nonlethal cyberattacks, we apply theories associated with the literature on terrorism and political violence. These theories offer sophisticated mechanisms that explain how individual exposure to violence translates into political outcomes—including demands for government intervention and policymaking. This approach is especially applicable in the digital realm as cyberattacks track a middle ground between technological breakthroughs that constitute tactical developments and new strategic weapons [ 11 ]. The consequence of such ambiguity is that civilians who are exposed to digital political threats can only identify the outcomes of the attack—i.e. whether it is a lethal or nonlethal cyberattack—while the motivations and identities of attackers often remain veiled, or at least unsettled. In light of these attributional challenges, and reflecting the fact that the public typically operates in a low-information environment, we refrain from declaring that the cyberattacks that appear in our experimental manipulations are cybercrime, cyberterrorism, cyber-vandalism, or any other type of attack. Rather, we refer to all attacks under the general heading of "cyberattacks," leaving all respondents to react to the attacks in a way that they see as appropriate in light of the severity of the reported outcome.

The most common form of cyberattack is cybercrime. Reports of data breaches resulting from cyberattacks by criminal organizations show a growth of more than threefold between 2011 and 2018 [ 12 ]. In the first half of 2019 alone, the United States Treasury Department announced that there had been 3494 successful cyberattacks against financial institutions resulting in colossal financial losses and the capture of personal information relating to hundreds of millions of people [ 13 ]. Cyberattacks executed by terror organizations are a newer phenomenon, albeit one that has captured the popular imagination. While terror organizations predominantly make use of cyberspace for fundraising, propaganda, and recruitment [ 14 , 15 ], a recent development has been the next-generation capacity of cyber strikes to trigger lethal consequences, be it through first- or second-order effects. 1 We acknowledge that scholars have expressed some skepticism about the likelihood of impending destructive cyberterror incidents [ 16–18 ], yet national security officials have regularly predicted that lethal cyberattacks pose a "critical threat" [ 19 ]. In the last decade, the nature of this threat has evolved from the earlier depictions of an apocalyptic cyber "pearl harbor" that would ravage modern society from the shadows [ 20 ], to a more nuanced understanding that cyberattacks, while still posing a threat to critical infrastructure, are more likely to manifest through targeted strikes. For example, in April 2020, Israel narrowly averted a cyberattack targeting civilian water networks that would have killed scores of civilians by adding chlorine to the water supply [ 19 ]. Other physically destructive cyberattacks have caused explosive damage to critical infrastructure [ 21 ], while researchers have experimentally verified the ability of malicious digital actors to hack pacemakers and insulin pumps [ 22 ]. While the lethal stature of cyberattacks is still developing, these incidents establish the bona fides of this impending threat and the importance of understanding how the public responds to this type of event.

The discussion that follows has four parts. We begin by examining the theory of how exposure to violence translates into policy preferences, with a particular focus on the mediating role of threat perception. Second, we discuss the design of our controlled, randomized experiment that exposes participants to television news reports of lethal and nonlethal cyberattacks. Third, we present our main results and consider various mediation models that pertain to the different regulatory subsets. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for the study of cybersecurity and cyber threats more generally.

Civilians who are exposed to political violence often suffer from feelings of trauma, anxiety, and helplessness in the face of threatening external forces [ 23–25 ]. These emotional responses—whether caused by acts of cyber or conventional violence—are known to cause shifts in political attitudes. Research has shown how exposure to conventional terrorism, which targets civilians and disrupts their daily routines, has an impact on individuals’ support for attitudes toward peace and compromise with the other [ 26 ], political conservatism [ 27 ], exclusionism [ 28 ] and intragroup relations [ 29 ].

Despite the sizeable literature dealing with the effects of exposure to violence, few studies directly investigate the effects of exposure to destructive cyberattacks. This is despite the growing recognition that these threats have become a very tangible part of modern life. In a complex scenario described in the Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare, the authors contemplated how new forms of cyberattacks could be used to “acquire the credentials necessary to access the industrial control system of a nuclear power plant… with the intent of threatening to conduct cyber operations against the system in a manner that will cause significant damage or death…” [ 30 ]. Even more recently, reports have acknowledged how cyberterror attacks could immobilize a country's or region's electrical infrastructure [ 31 ], disable military defense systems [ 32 ], and even imperil nuclear stability [ 33 ]. While there is a difference between capability and intent, and we acknowledge that physically destructive cyber threats have remained scarce until now, understanding how civilians respond to such digital cyberattacks will become particularly important as the threat matures.

Studies that directly investigated exposure to digital political violence found that exposure had significant effects on political behavior and attitudes, akin to exposure to conventional political violence [ 34 , 35 ]. In a series of exploratory studies regarding the phenomena of cyberterrorism, Gross et al . [ 34 , 36 ] sought to empirically measure the effects of exposure to cyberterrorism under controlled experimental conditions. Their key finding was that exposure to cyberterrorism was severe enough to generate significant negative emotions and cognitive reactions (threat perceptions) at equivalent levels to those of conventional terror acts. Canetti et al . [ 37 ] found that victims of cyberattacks react by demanding government protection, with psychological distress explaining the relationship between exposure and the demand for government intervention. In a subsequent biologically focused experiment, Canetti et al . measured cortisol levels to show how participants who are exposed to cyberterror attacks and experience higher levels of stress are more likely to support hardline retaliatory policies [ 38 ].

Building on this foundation, other research has sought to refine a more precise psycho-political mechanism that understands how cyberattacks trigger shifts in political attitudes. Research by Shandler et al . [ 39 , 40 ], e.g. found that only lethal cyberattacks cause political consequences akin to conventional political violence, and that only the emotion of anger explained these shifts.

In the current paper, we aim to add to this emerging body of research by examining the topic of cybersecurity preferences in the aftermath of lethal and nonlethal cyberattacks. While one past study by Cheung-Blunden et al . [ 41 ] examined how emotional responses to cyber incidents sway cybersecurity preferences, no research has yet attempted to analyze how different types of cyberattacks affect different kinds of cybersecurity policies. As such, we add much needed nuance to the literature.

For the purpose of considering the effects of exposure to cyberattacks, this research focuses on the "outcome" of a cyberattack rather than the "identity" of the perpetrator or the "classification" of the attack. This is necessary for several reasons that relate to the specific characteristics of cyberspace. First, as introduced above, a new class of cyberattack exemplified by the ransomware epidemic has exhibited characteristics of both cybercrime and cyberterror operations, impeding the classification of cyber incidents into simple categories. Second, attribution in cyberspace is fraught with difficulty, and an age of manipulated information complicates the determination of provenance [ 42–44 ]. Sophisticated cyber operatives working from anywhere in the world can exploit the principle of anonymity that underlies the Internet infrastructure to hide their identity. Though authorities would be able to quickly identify the identity of an attacker behind any major cyberattack [ 42 ], this is essentially impossible for members of the public who are confronted with both structural and technical obstacles that prevent them from rendering an objective judgement about the attack source. This reality of publicly obscured cyber antagonists can be viewed in the timelines of several famous cyber incidents. It took between six months and three years for authorities and private actors to publicly reveal the actors behind the 2017 WannaCry attacks, the 2016 cyber intrusion into the Democratic National Committee's networks, and the 2016 cyberattack against the Bowman Dam in New York [ 45–47 ]. While each of these incidents were eventually attributed to an attack source, and the authorities may well have known the identity of the attacker from an early date, we can see that from the perspective of the public, there was a time lag of several months or years before a name was attached to any attack. Third, state involvement in cyberattacks—either as a direct attacker or via proxies—can add substantial background noise to the perception of an attack, raising the specter of interstate war. There is an interesting debate in the literature about whether states may be deemed capable of conducting cyberterrorism—or whether this is a label that can only be applied to nonstate actors. While the literature is still unsettled on this point, Macdonald, Jarvis and Nouri [ 48 ] found considerable expert support for the proposition that states can engage in cyberterrorism.

It is for these reasons that we choose to follow the lead of the scholars who are beginning to evaluate responses to cyber threats through the prism that is most readily available for the public—specifically, the outcome variable, or in other words, the lethality of the attack [ 33 ]. This focus on outcome rather than attacker is necessary in order to understand the factors that prompt emotional and political responses in the public. While these information asymmetries explain our focus on the outcome of the attack rather than the identity of the attacker, we acknowledge that the people draw inferences about the identity and motivations of attackers based on prior experiences and political orientation [ 49 ]. Liberman and Skitka's vicarious retribution theory [ 50 , 51 ] demonstrates how the public may impute responsibility to unrelated or symbolically related offenders when the identity of an attacker is unclear. Nonetheless, maintaining the highest standards of ecological validity demands that attribution and attack categorization is absent in initial public reports of cyber incidents.

Under this framework, we hypothesize that:

Hypothesis 1: Exposure to (i) lethal or (ii) nonlethal cyberattacks will lead to greater support for adopting cybersecurity policies compared with people who were not exposed to any cyberattack. In other words, exposure to cyberattacks—lethal (LC) or nonlethal (NLC)—will increase support for adopting cybersecurity policies, as compared with a control group.

Hypothesis 2: People who are exposed to lethal cyberattacks (LC) will exhibit to higher support for adopting cybersecurity policies than people who are exposed to nonlethal cyberattacks (NLC).

Civilians are notoriously weak at accurately assessing security threats—a fact that is amplified in the cyber realm due to low cybersecurity knowledge, general cognitive biases in calculating risk, and the distortion of cyber risks by the media, which focuses predominantly on spectacular yet low-likelihood attacks [ 52–54 ]. Perceived risk is partly reliant on the scope of the attack to which people are exposed. Victims of cybercrimes (identity theft and cyber bullying) report moderate or severe emotional distress such as anger, fear, anxiety, mistrust, and loss of confidence [ 55 ]. The effects of conventional terrorism include post-traumatic stress, depression, and anticipatory anxiety [ 56 , 29 ]. In both of these cases, threat perception is a common predictor of political attitudes and behavior. Indeed, the best predictor of hostile out-group attitudes is the perceived threat that out-group members will harm members of the in-group, whether physically, economically or symbolically [ 28 , 57 , 58 ]. In many of the studies cited above, threat perception was found to mediate the relationship between exposure to violence and support for harsh or restrictive policies, especially in conflict-related contexts [ 27 ]. Extending this empirical and theoretical evidence to digital political violence suggests that individuals are likely to respond similarly to cyber threats by supporting strong cybersecurity policies through the interceding influence of heightened threat perception.

A set of early studies compared the level of threat evoked by exposure to different forms of cyber threats, identifying key differences in the how cybercrime and cyberterrorism influenced attitudes toward government policy [ 34 , 36 ]. These studies concluded that direct exposure to cyberterrorism had no effect on support for hardline cybersecurity policies (increased digital surveillance, the introduction of intrusive new regulations), but threat perceptions relating to cyberterrorism successfully predicted support for these policies. Recognizing therefore that threat perception plays a central role in understanding the response to cyberattacks, we predict that

Hypothesis 3: Cyber threat perception will mediate the relationship between individual exposure to cyberattacks and support for cybersecurity policies.

To test our hypotheses, we conducted a controlled survey experiment that exposed respondents to simulated news reports about major cyberattacks. The experimental manipulation relied on professionally produced original video clips that broadcast feature news reports. The lethal treatment group viewed a feature report discussing several lethal cyberattacks that had taken place against Israeli targets, while the nonlethal treatment group broadcast a collection of stories pertaining to nonlethal cyber incidents (see below for additional details about each manipulation). The control group did not watch any news report.

We utilized the medium of video news reports for our experimental manipulation since experiments in recent years have shown how broadcast videos and media reports of major attacks arouse strong emotions among viewers, which in turn trigger reevaluations of policy positions and political attitudes related to issues of security [ 35 , 59 , 60 ]. The rationale behind these finding can be partly explained by Terror Management Theory, which explains how even indirect exposure to violent acts triggers potent emotional reactions as people confront threats to their mortality [ 61 , 62 ]. Just as importantly, news reports are a key avenue by which the public learns about major security incidents, and so this method maintains its ecological validity. Each of the groups completed a pre- and post-survey, answering a series of questions about their attitudes to cybersecurity along with relevant sociodemographic information.

Each of the television news reports was presented as an authentic feature story that appeared on Israeli channel 1 television station. The news reports described the global scale of cyber threats facing the public (i.e. two million malicious web sites launch each month and 60 000 new malware programs appear every day at an annual cost to the global economy of 500 billion dollars). The clips were screened in a feature format using on-camera interviews, voiceover and film footage to describe various cyberattacks. To increase the authenticity of the experience, the reports included interviews with well-known Israeli security experts. To mimic the challenges of cyber attribution, the perpetrators of the attacks described in the videos were not identified and were neutrally referred to as cyber operatives. Each video lasted approximately 3 min.

Lethal Cyber Condition—The television news report described various cyberattacks with lethal consequences that had targeted Israel during the previous years. For example, in one of the featured stories, an attack was revealed to have targeted the servers controlling Israel's electric power grid, cutting off electricity to a hospital and causing deaths. In another story, cyber operatives were said to have attacked a military navigation system, altering the course of a missile so that it killed three Israeli soldiers. A third story concerned the use of malware to infect the pacemaker of the Israeli Defense Minister, and a fourth involved the failure of an emergency call to 10 000 military reserve soldiers due to a cyberattack in which foreign agents changed the last digit of the soldiers’ telephone numbers in the military database. The video's interviews with well-known figures from Israel's security sector emphasized the life-threatening danger posed by cyberattacks.

Nonlethal Cyber Condition—The television news report revealed various nonlethal cyberattacks that had targeted Israel during recent years. For example, the broadcast explained how mobile phone users are made vulnerable to attackers by installing new games and applications, potentially introducing malware that can later access data like personal messages or financial details. Another example concerned the dangers posed by the Internet of Things and featured a story in which all the major credit cards companies suspended their customer support after hundreds of thousands of citizens were fraudulently charged for food purchases by their smart refrigerators. The Israeli experts in this video emphasized the potential financial damage from cyberattacks.

Participants

The online survey experiment was administered in Israel during September 2015 via the Midgam Survey Panel. One thousand twenty-two participants were randomly assigned to the three groups (lethal condition: N  = 387; nonlethal condition: N  = 374; control group: N  = 361). The experimental sample represents a random cross-section of the Jewish Israeli population. The sample is largely representative of the wider population, and balance checks reveal that the treatment distribution is acceptable. We note that due to data collection constraints, the sample does not include ultra-orthodox (religious) respondents due to difficulties in accessing this subgroup through online methods. The mean age of the participants was 41 (SD = 14.81), and gender distribution of 49.96% male and 50.04% female. With respect to political orientation, 44.35% of the sample define themself as right-wing ( N  = 452), 38.28% themselves as centrist ( N  = 390), and 17.37% as left-wing ( N  = 177) (this reflects the right-wing slant of the Israeli population that has been apparent in recent elections). The distribution of education and income levels was similar across the three groups (Education: F(2, 1120) = 0.20, P  < 0.82; Income: F(2, 1045) = 0.63, P  < 0.53). Sociodemographic characteristics of the participants are presented in Appendix A (Supporting Information), together with experimental balance checks.

The experiment incorporated three primary variables: the predictor variable (exposure to cyberattacks), the dependent variable (support for cybersecurity policies), and the mediator variable (threat perception). Sociodemographic measures were also collected.

Predictor variable—exposure to cyberattacks

Exposure to cyberattacks was operationalized by random assignment to one of the three experimental treatments described above—lethal cyberattacks/nonlethal cyberattacks/control condition.

Dependent variable: support for cybersecurity policies

Support for cybersecurity policies was examined using twelve questions taken from two scales developed by McCallister and Graves [ 63 , 64 ]. After separating out one item that reflected a unique form of cybersecurity policy, the remaining items were subjected to a principal component analysis (PCA), which highlighted different aspects of cybersecurity policy. Our criteria for the factor dimension extraction was an eigenvalue greater than one for number of dimensions, and factor loading greater than 0.35, for dimension assignment. We applied the PCA extraction method with the Varimax rotation to construct orthogonal factors [ 65 ]. This procedure gave rise to two clearly distinguishable cyber policy dimensions. Following this process, we combined the two remaining items that were excluded due to poor loadings (loading < 0.35) to create a third policy dimension with a high correlation between the items ( r  = 0.617, P  < 0.001) (see Appendix B in the Supporting Information for the PCA and complete list of the items used to construct each scale). The final three measures of cybersecurity policies reflected the breadth of available policy options, which emphasized different levels of government intervention and oversight strategies. The first of these is cybersecurity prevention policy (CPP); the second is cybersecurity alert policy (CAP); and the third is cybersecurity oversight policy (COP).

The cybersecurity prevention policy dimension (CPP) captures the idea that the state should mandate commercial companies to implement minimum levels of cybersecurity to prevent damage. Respondents were asked questions such as: “should the state compel business owners to protect themselves against cyberattacks?” Cronbach's α was within an acceptable range at 0.720.

The cybersecurity oversight policy dimension (COP) refers to the notion that the state should directly intervene to offer cyber protection to its citizens and businesses. Relevant questions for this dimension included “should the state protect its citizens from cyberattacks?” Cronbach's α was within an acceptable range at 0.737.

The cybersecurity alert policy dimension (CAP) relates to the state's presumed responsibility to ensure citizens are alerted when a hack of a cyberattack is discovered. For example, a related question would ask: “should the state alert citizens after a successful attack on critical infrastructure?” As opposed to the prevention policy dimension that relates to measures that must be taken before a cyberattack, the alert policy focuses on the measures to be taken after an attack. Cronbach's α was slightly below acceptable range at 0.632. All questions were measured on a scale ranging from 1 (“completely disagree”) to 6 (“completely agree”).

Mediator: perceptions of cybersecurity threats

Threat perception pertaining to cyber threats was gauged using a five-item scale based on studies conducted in the United States [ 66 ]. Respondents were asked how concerned they feel about the possibility of an actual threat to their security. Respondents answered questions including: “To what extent does the idea of a cyberattack on Israel affect your sense of personal security?” and “To what extent does a cyberattack on Israel threaten the country's critical infrastructure?,” and the answers ranged from 1 (“not at all”) to 6 (“to a very great degree”). The internal consistency of this measure was very high (Alpha = 0.913).

Control variables

Control variables collected included political ideology (assessed through a self-reported five-point scale ranging from 1 [very conservative] to 5 [very liberal]), age, gender, marital status, religiosity, education, and income.

We also measured and controlled for participants’ past exposure to cyberattacks. To measure this variable, we adapted a four-item scale used to measure exposure to terrorism and political violence [ 67 , 35 ]. Items included questions that asked the extent to which the respondents, their friends and their family had ever suffered harm or loss from a cyberattack. Similarly to past studies, we did not calculate the internal reliability for past exposure, given that one type of exposure does not necessarily portend another type.

Preliminary analyses

We begin our analysis by testing the variance between the treatment groups regarding attitudes toward cybersecurity policies, to establish that the experimental conditions produce at least minimal levels of differences in the dependent variables. Hence, we conducted a one-way univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA), in which the different cyber policies were the dependent variables. The results indicated differences between the three groups in support for policies regarding cybersecurity alerts (CAP: F(2, 1020) = 4.61, P  < 0.010). No differences between groups were found in support for cybersecurity prevention policy or cybersecurity oversight policy (CPP: F(2, 1020) = 1.35, P  < 0.259; COP: F(2, 1020) = 0.94, P  < 0.39). We followed the CAP ANOVA analysis with pairwise comparisons using Bonferroni corrections, which revealed that the highest level of support for cybersecurity alerts was expressed by the group exposed to lethal cyberattacks on average, while the other two groups showed lower levels of support for this policy. These results support the conclusion that the differences in cybersecurity policy preferences between the three groups derive from the video stimulus, and not from differences in participants’ sociodemographic characteristics (see Appendix C in the Supporting Information for means and standard deviations of study variables, in all three manipulation groups).

In addition, we tested group differences regarding threat perceptions and found significant differences in threat perceptions between the three groups (F(2, 1020) = 21.68, P  < 0.001). The follow up pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni corrections, revealed that participants in both experimental groups (LC and NLC) expressed higher levels of threat perceptions in comparison to participants in the control group. These analyses provide sufficient preliminary support to conduct more complex analyses that integrate multiple effects in this triangle of exposure to cyberattacks, cyber threat perception, and support for cybersecurity policies.

Mediation analysis

To test hypothesis 3, we ran a path analysis model, i.e. a structural equation modeling with observed indicators only. In this model, the exposure was divided into lethal vs control and nonlethal vs control. More specifically, with regard to the mediation effect, the model structure included two pathways from the experimental conditions to support for cybersecurity policies: From the lethal vs control, and from nonlethal vs control through threat perceptions. The latter variable was expected to mediate the effect condition effects on cyber policy positions as proposed in the theory section.

In order to further investigate the mediation mechanism, we constructed an integrative path analysis model [ 53 ]. Running this model enables us to identify direct and indirect effects among all the study variables. We provide modeling results in the following Table 1 and an illustration of the path analysis model in Fig. 1 .

Empirical model results—direct effects of exposure to lethal and nonlethal attack groups vs control group. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.

Empirical model results—direct effects of exposure to lethal and nonlethal attack groups vs control group. * P  < 0.05, ** P  < 0.01, *** P  < 0.001.

Path: analysis direct effects, standardized estimates

Standard error in parentheses; * P  < 0.05, ** P  < 0.01, *** P  < 0.001. NLC = non-ethal cyberattack; LC = lethal cyberattack.

Direct effects

Table 1 presents the results of the standardized estimates (beta coefficients) of each experimental group vis-à-vis the control group (i.e. NLC vs control, and LC vs control), perceptions of threat, past exposure to cyberattacks and socio demographic variables—gender, religiosity, education and political ideology—with the three dimensions of cybersecurity policies as the dependent variables. In the pairwise comparison of the experimental groups, which compares the lethal and nonlethal conditions to the control group, we find a larger direct effect in the LC (lethal) group compared with the NLC (nonlethal) group in predicting support for CAP.

A follow-up that compared the two regression weights further confirmed the stronger relative effect of the lethal exposure over the nonlethal exposure (H 2 : NLC-LC = −0.21 (0.10), P  = 0.047). This demonstrates support for our second hypothesis. People who were exposed to lethal cyberattacks tended to support cybersecurity policies that compel the government and security forces to alert citizens if they have evidence of citizens’ computers being hacked or if an act cyberattack is discovered (CAP) at higher levels than people who were exposed to nonlethal/economic cyberattacks compared with people in the control group.

Interestingly, this trend was reversed for the oversight policies (COP) form of cybersecurity regulation. Here, we identified a significant direct effect wherein exposure to nonlethal cyberattacks led to support for oversight policies (COP) at higher levels than respondents who were exposed to the lethal cyberattacks manipulation or the control group. However, the difference between the two treatment conditions was not significant (NLC-LC = 0.11(0.08), P  = 0.16). This indicates that exposure to any kind of cyberattack, lethal or nonlethal, predicts greater support for oversight regulation policies (COP) to the same extent. No direct effect was found between exposure to cyberattacks and support for prevention regulation policies (CPP). By breaking apart this analysis into different dimensions of cybersecurity polices our results reveal how exposure to different forms of cyberattacks contribute to support for distinct types of policy that emphasize oversight or intervention.

Most importantly, results indicate a significant direct effect of threat perceptions on all three dimensions of cybersecurity policy and higher levels of threat perception in the lethal cyber manipulation group compared with the nonlethal cyber manipulation group and the control group.

Mediating effects

Table 2 presents the indirect effects of each of the two treatment conditions in comparison to the control group for the three dimensions of cybersecurity policies—with threat perception as a mediator. The indirect effects are pathways from the independent variable to the policy variables through threat perceptions. In the path analysis model, each dependent variable, i.e. support for particular cybersecurity policies, could have two potential paths, one from the nonlethal condition and the one from the lethal condition. Altogether, six mediation pathways were tested. These indirect outcomes are illustrated in Fig. 1 . In the LC group we see a complete mediation effect of threat perceptions and no significant direct effect of exposure on COP support. This means that for those participants who were exposed to the lethal condition, the actual exposure was not as strong a predictor of policy support as the threat perception associated with the attacks.

Path: analysis mediation effects, standardized estimates

Standard error in parentheses; * P  < 0.05, ** P  < 0.01, *** P  < 0.001. In squared brackets 95% confidence interval with bias correction bootstrapping ( n  = 2000).

In our models predicting CAP, we see a partial mediation effect for both treatment groups, in addition to the direct effect that we described above. We see a larger indirect effect in the LC group than in the NLC group and this was confirmed by a test of difference. This indicates that people who were exposed to lethal cyberattacks reported higher levels of cyber threat perception as compared with people who were exposed to the nonlethal condition, and this heightened threat perception in turn led to more support for various cybersecurity polices.

Support for CAP (i.e. cybersecurity policies whereby the government or relevant organizations are expected to alert citizens if they have evidence of citizens’ computers being hacked or an act of cyberattack being detected) was predicted both by a direct effect of level of exposure to cyberattacks (NLC, LC) and by the mediation of threat perceptions.

Yet our models predicting support for oversight polices (COP) showed a different picture. In the NLC group we see a partial mediation of threat perceptions in addition to the direct effect that we found in the models shown in Table 2 . Support for COP (i.e. cybersecurity policies whereby the state should protect the country, organizations, and citizens from cyberattacks through direct government action) was predicted by a direct effect of NLC exposure and by the mediation of threat perceptions in both LC and NLC groups. In the LC group versus the control group, support of COP was predicted only through the mediation perceptions of threat. These results support our third hypothesis regarding the mediating role played by threat perception in predicting COP.

Our models predicting support for prevention policies (CPP) showed a complete mediation effect of threat perception in both experimental treatment groups. No direct effect of exposure on CPP was found, indicating that the mediating mechanism is the best predictor for CPP. Support for CPP (i.e. cybersecurity policies whereby the state compels commercial enterprises to install minimum thresholds of cybersecurity) was predicted by the indirect effect of threat perception.

These results emphasize the central role played by threat perception in predicting support for adopting stringent cybersecurity policies. What is especially noteworthy is that threat perception overrides past experience as the full mediation models indicate. For example, we found that when people are exposed to destructive cyberattacks, the level of perceived threat predicted support for adopting cybersecurity policies that required the state to protect citizens and organizations (COP). Similarly, we found that when it comes to predicting support for prevention policies—threat is the driving force.

In order to complement the indirect effect analyses and test the relative strength of the mediation pathways, we contrasted the indirect effects of the various groups on each policy option. According to the outcome estimates in Table 2 , model 3 has a significantly larger mediation effect compared with model 1 (difference = –0.014; 0.024 P  < 0.001) 2 , which indicates that within the NLC group, the mediation model is a stronger predictor of support for COP than CAP. In other words, participants who were exposed to the nonlethal condition were more likely to support oversight polices than alert policies.

Our findings draw on an experimental design that suggests that exposure to different types of cyberattacks intensifies perceptions of cyber threats and shifts political attitudes in support of stringent cybersecurity policies. We find that exposure to lethal cyberattacks affects individual-level political behavior in a manner akin to conventional terrorism [ 68–71 ]. This research was motivated by a desire to better understand what drives individuals to support strong or hardline cybersecurity policies, using Israel as a case study. The findings contribute to this research direction in a number of important ways.

First, exposure to lethal cyberattacks heightens perceptions of cyber threat to a greater degree than nonlethal/economic cyberattacks. Second, as a result of exposure to cyberattacks, respondents were willing to forfeit civil liberties and privacy in exchange for more security. Like conventional terrorism, cyberattacks with lethal consequences harden political attitudes, as individuals tend to support more government oversight, greater regulation of cybersecurity among commercial businesses, and the implementation of strategies to increase public awareness following cyberattacks. Third, our data suggest that in some cases the mere exposure to cyberattack, either lethal or nonlethal, affects the level of support for specific types of cybersecurity polices (stronger support of cybersecurity alert policies among participants in the lethal cyberattack manipulation, and stronger support of cybersecurity oversight policy among participants in the nonlethal cyberattack treatment group). In other cases, threat perception, rather than the exposure to the cyber-events themselves, drive the cognitive effects of cyberattacks on attitudes toward policy (A strong support for COP among the LC group was predicted only through the mediating role of threat perception, and support of CPP, in both manipulation groups was predicted only through a mediated pathway). Finally, we observed differences in the way our mediation model works in relation to different cybersecurity policies. The mediation model for the nonlethal condition group participants predicted greater support for cybersecurity policies focusing on oversight rather than policies focusing on alerting the public.

Our study examined public support for three distinct types of cybersecurity policies that we described as prevention policies, alert policies, and oversight policies. Each of these play a role in securing cyberspace, where the uncertainty regarding the form and nature of potential threats calls for a varied array of preventive actions [ 36 , 37 ]. Each of these policies raises questions about the delicate balancing act between privacy and security demands. In reality, policy approaches are likely to combine several of these elements—yet it behooves us to first consider each of them independently since very little is known about the public knowledge and familiarity with different cybersecurity policies. While preliminary research has looked at public support for cybersecurity preferences in general [ 41 ], these have yet to consider the varied approaches to cybersecurity. To that end, in the current paper we tried to simplify the different cybersecurity polices as much as possible based on real-world policies.

Overall, the study provides evidence that exposure to cyberattacks predicts support for cybersecurity policies through the mediating effect of threat perception. Yet our discovery of differential effects depending on the type of cybersecurity policy being proposed adds a new level of nuance that should be probed further in subsequent studies. More so, results indicate that the public worry and concern in the aftermath of cyberattacks leads directly to calls for governmental intervention. This information sheds light on public opinion processes and helps inform our understanding how individuals will likely respond to new cyber threats. It may also help policymakers understand the complex emotions and cognitions evoked by attacks, which can improve policy formulations that respond to the needs of the public.

Future studies should also investigate how fear appeals intervene in this mechanism, and how to motivate people to take cyber threats more seriously in a way that leads to positive behavioral change.

Participants who were exposed to the lethal manipulation supported cybersecurity policies that focus on alerting the public in cases of cyberattacks more than participants in the two other groups. On the other hand, participants who were exposed to the nonlethal manipulation tended to support cybersecurity policies that call for state oversight of cybersecurity. We found no evidence that any type of exposure has a direct effect on support for polices mandating minimum thresholds of cybersecurity in the commercial arena.

One possible explanation for these results is that thus far, cyberattacks have caused economic damage, but lethal cyberattacks that vividly resemble terrorism are a significantly rarer phenomenon. Hence, participants who were exposed to lethal terror cyberattacks supported cybersecurity policies that would alert them and keep them informed about impending cyber threats. Policies that focus on oversight are perceived as less important during violent terror attacks. On the other hand, exposure to nonlethal cyberattacks, which are typically focused on economic gain, is more common. The economic damage caused by cyberattacks is estimated to reach $6 trillion by 2021 [ 72 ]. As such, participants in the nonlethal manipulation may have regarded cyberattacks causing economic damage as more likely and therefore supported polices that will bolster digital protections.

We note a key condition about the temporal nature of these findings. In analyzing the effect of exposure to cyberattacks, this study focuses on people's immediate response following exposure to cyber threats. Assessing people's short-term responses is valuable as the responses speak to the direction of the political and psychological effects. Yet what is missing from this picture (and beyond the scope of our research design), is the longevity of the response, which speaks to the strength of the effect. If the measured distress and political outcomes swiftly dissipate, then the policy relevance of our findings comes into question.

The literature is split on the question of the temporal durability of attitudinal shifts in the aftermath of major attacks. There is one school of thought that holds that most political effects stemming from political violence or terrorism are fleeting, and that the public is broadly desensitized to political violence [ 73–75 ]. Yet a second school of thought suggests that exposure to attacks can trigger prolonged effects and lasting shifts in political and psychological attitudes. Brandon & Silke [ 76 ] assert that while the distress triggered by exposure dissipates over time, this is not an instantaneous process. Several longitudinal studies following the Oklahama bombing and 9/11 found lingering harms, with exposed individuals reporting elevated levels of psychological distress and altered political attitudes for months or years following the event [ 77–79 ].

In applying this to the case of cyberattacks, there is insufficient evidence to positively determine the longevity of the political and psychological effects that we identified in our study. We anticipate that the effects will be more than fleeting, since the novelty of cyber threats means that people have yet to undergo any cognitive or emotional desensitization to cyberattacks [ 80 ]. However, we acknowledge that this this position requires further empirical substantiation in future research.

A central conclusion of this study is that the implementation of cybersecurity regulations should take account of public perception of cyber threats and public exposure to cyberattacks. This position challenges two unspoken yet ubiquitous notions in the field of cybersecurity. First, the formulation of cybersecurity policies—in a manner akin to national security and espionage discussions—has typically taken place without public input due to the perception that it is a question best left to experts with engineering or national security expertise [ 81 ]. Scholars argue that this complete abdication of cybersecurity policy to specialists is a profound mistake, since excluding “the general public from any meaningful voice in cyber policymaking removes citizens from democratic governance in an area where our welfare is deeply implicated” [ 82 ]. Functional cybersecurity relies on good practices by the ordinary public, and the failure of cybersecurity awareness campaigns to effectively change behavior may well be linked to the lack of public input in its regulation [ 81 ]. Our findings indicate that growing civilian exposure to cyberattacks leads to more defined attitudes toward specific cybersecurity regulations through the mechanism of heightened threat perception. Governments will increasingly need to engage the public as one of the stakeholders in effecting new cyber regulations.

A second conceptual dilemma about the role of public exposure and opinion has to do with the question of whether cybersecurity is a public good deserving of government investment and regulation at all. Much of the field of cybersecurity is dominated by private enterprise, with government involvement taking place in limited ways. Support for government intervention in the realm of cybersecurity is premised on the astronomical public costs of cybercrime, the threat of cyberterror attacks, and the claim of a market failure in the provision of cybersecurity whose negative externalities in the absence of government involvement would cause substantial national damage [ 83 ]. A prominent counter-school of thought, resting on a belief that the private market is the most efficient system of allocating economic resources, claims that there is no need for government intervention in the cybersecurity market [ 84 ]. These proponents of private sector cybersecurity suggest that the private sector can more effectively achieve cybersecurity outcomes, an assertion that is backed up by the fact that private spending on cybersecurity in 2018 reached USD $96 billion [ 85 ]. This raises the question of how civilian exposure to cyberattacks and the subsequent support for cybersecurity regulation can translate to real outcomes if the market responds to both public and private interests, which take account of public opinion and civilian threat perception in different ways.

Seeing that cyber threats are continuously evolving, there are opportunities to expand and consolidate this research in future studies. In the current article, we focus on the effect of exposure to lethal and nonlethal cyberattacks on support for different types of cybersecurity policies among Israeli participants. Yet despite this singular geographic focus, the results offer lessons that can be applied widely. Like several other Western countries, Israel has been repeatedly exposed to publicly reported cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. And, similarly to American and some European countries, Israel has high levels of Internet penetration and publicly renowned levels of cybersecurity readiness to deal with such attacks. Past studies that examined public perceptions of cyber threats have replicated the findings across multiple countries. Shandler et al . [ 80 ] found that psychological responses to internalized reports of cyberattacks explains support for military retaliation, and that this mechanism applies similarly in Israel, the United States, and England. Though requiring additional research, the evidence suggests that cyber threats operate via an underlying psycho-political mechanism that transcends national borders. In fact, the effects of cyberattacks may prove weaker in Israel than elsewhere as the constant exposure among Israelis to political violence places digital violence in the context of a political struggle that has, in many ways, fixed and acceptable costs [ 34 ]. Therefore, we believe that an Israeli sample offers major advantages in understanding the effects of cyberattacks among other Western nations. Nonetheless, we encourage future studies to corroborate these findings in different settings.

A second area where our findings could benefit from additional research relates to the nature of the media exposure. In this study, we exposed respondents to "initial" media reports about major cyberattacks where there is minimal information pertaining to the identity of the attacker and the type of attack that was conducted. While this in many ways reflects the reality of media reports about cyberattacks, it does not discount that journalists will sometimes make inferences about the details of an attack, and that later reports in the days and weeks following an attack will include far more detailed information. More so, this article bears implications for a wide literature beyond the political violence discipline. The public discussion regarding digital privacy and surveillance has spurred crucial new research on the dynamics of digital insecurity. In communications and media studies, for example, scientists are focusing on information-age warfare via different social media platforms, and early results show that citizens are as active in correcting disinformation online as they are in spreading disinformation [ 86 , 87 ]. The debate in the field of business management is also developing as it focuses on consumer expectations surrounding information technology and big data, as well as on the roles and responsibilities of public and private actors in securing personal data [ 88 , 89 ].

Cyber threats are a critical and growing component of national security. As this threat continues to grow all over the world, both in its public perception and in the true scope of the threat, the need to implement strong cybersecurity regulations will grow as well. Our findings indicate that particular forms of exposure to cyberattacks can contribute to support for various types of cybersecurity legislation and contribute to their public legitimacy. This is especially important since the introduction of these regulations constitutes a sacrifice of civil liberties, a sacrifice that citizens are prone to support only under particular conditions.

Though a DDoS attack, e.g. may not trigger physical casualties, its crippling of emergency services and telecommunications could catastrophically amplify the second- and third-order damage during a physical attack; for more, see Catherine A. Theohary and John W. Rollins,   Cyberwarfare and cyberterrorism: In brief (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2015).

We also see a marginal significant effect between mediation 1 and 5 and 2 and 6. The differences between mediation 1 and mediation 5 show mediation 5 (NLC/control-threat-CPP) has a marginal significant larger mediation effect compared with mediation 1 (NLC/control-threat-CAP) (difference = –0.035; 0.035 P  = 0.073). This means that within the NLC group the mediation model predicts stronger predicting CPP than CAP. In other words, participants who were exposed to the nonlethal (NLC) condition were more likely to support CPP than CAP. We saw that the CAP is stronger in the LC group. Another marginal significant effect was found between mediation 2 and mediation 6. The differences between mediation 2 and mediation 6 show mediation 6 (LC/control-threat-CPP) has a marginal significant larger mediation effect compared with mediation 2 (LC/control-threat-CAP) (difference = −0.044; 0.024 P  = 0.062). This means that within the LC group the mediation model predicts stronger predicting CPP than CAP. In other words, participants who were exposed to the lethal (LC) condition were more likely to support CPP than CAP. We saw a direct effect of LC on CAP.

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The Real Issue Behind Cyber-Security

The steady trend towards digitalization has been occurring for a long time, and as of lately, a new type of crime market has risen alongside digitalization. In recent years, companies all over the world have been affected by some form of cybersecurity issue whether that be attacks to infrastructure or momentary paralyzation of the company itself through the exploitation of security measures. Over the years the number of attacks all around the world has increased exponentially with many more cyber-attacks […]

Cybersecurity Today

Networks (internet) are not secure enough due to the lack of efficient cybersecurity. As a result, ransomware attacks are increasing, affecting most businesses and individuals today. Enacting measures to detect cyberattacks and ransomware attacks can be helpful in preventing unforeseen repercussions from the attacker in the corporate network. Cybersecurity needs to implement new policies and recommendations so that ransomware attacks can be reduced. This report will first discuss some ransomware attacks that have happened before. Next, the report will discuss […]

Cybersecurity as a Form of Digital Protection

Cybersecurity is an ever-growing form of digital protection, created and used for the sole purpose of protecting confidential information against hard drive malfunctions, power outages, and adversaries. In healthcare, it is crucial for hospitals and health providers to keep up with the security of digital health data through cybersecurity in order to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and avoid potentially devastating consequences. Insider threats, access control breaches, and network breaches are some of the main […]

Virtual Reality: Game Transfer Phenomena

Imagine if you were you were floating through space, watching a horror film,s or perhaps playing a video game, and it seemed like you were actually there. With the invention of virtual reality (VR), people are able to explore the illusion of this reality. Virtual reality is computer-generated technology used to create a manufactured environment. There is a range of systems that are used for this purpose such as special headsets and fiber optic gloves. The term virtual reality means […]

Cybersecurity Paper

With cybersecurity attacks on the rise, the ability of an organization to ensure uninterrupted operations is an imperative. No longer can an organization solely rely upon software applications to identify and mitigate cyber risks. It takes a skilled team led by an experienced manager to holistically address an organization's technology risks. The National Infrastructure Advisory Council's (NIAC's) definition of infrastructure resilience is "the ability to reduce the magnitude and/or duration of disruptive events. The effectiveness of a resilient infrastructure or […]

Cybercrimes: an Unprecedented Threat to the Society

What is a Cybercrime? Cybercrime, or computer-oriented crime, is the crime that involves computer and its network. The computer may have been used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target. Cybercrimes can be defined as: "Offences that are committed against individuals or groups of individuals with a criminal motive to intentionally harm the reputation of the victim or cause physical or mental harm, or loss, to the victim directly or indirectly, using modern telecommunication networks […]

Cybersecurity for a Successful Acquisition Report

The act of conducting a policy gap analysis is crucial in determining any missing overlap or technical deficiencies when planning to join the IT architecture and network topologies of two or more companies. During the acquisition process, the policies of either party will be examined in order to confirm current software updates and patches, proper configuration of tools, and employee protocol during the transition. Once the initial merger is complete, it'll be important to compare the outcome with each company's […]

Reasons of Cyber Attacks

1. Substandard User ID and Password Every individual need to have their own password secure and stronger. For an instance strong password can be obtained by latest maintaining minimum of having15-character length with an least one special character, number, capital and small alphabet. Most importantly choosing password like own name, date of birth, phone number may become hacker to simply figure out easy to break through your personal account security. In the same way User ID should not be shared […]

Laws of Cybercrimes

Abstract This paper examines the cyber security and its challenges in current temperamental circumstance of security in present world. These day's innovation of technology persistently developing more quickly than expected. As a public that runs on latest innovation technologies, we are likewise therefore reliant on it. Where similarly as innovation of technology brings ever more noteworthy advantages, it likewise brings ever more prominent threats. We should look some significant concerns confronting that incorporate threats, information theft, identity theft, cyber war, […]

Developing and Testing Photorealistic Avatar with Body Motions and Facial Expressions for Communication in Social Virtual Reality Applications

Developing and Testing Photorealistic Avatar with Body Motions and Facial Expressions for Communication in Social Virtual Reality Applications Abstract Providing effective communication in social virtual reality (VR) applications requires a high level of avatar representation realism and body movement to convey users’ thoughts and behaviours. In this research, we investigate the influence of avatar representation and behaviour on communication in an immersive virtual environment (IVE) by comparing video-based versus model-based avatar representations. Additionally, we introduce a novel VR communication system […]

Advantages of Cybersecurity in a Digital World

Ever stopped to think about how much of your life plays out in the digital realm? Our lives are undeniably intertwined with technology, from morning alarms on our smartphones to evening Netflix binges. Yet, while we eagerly embrace the latest app or gadget, there's an unsung hero behind the scenes, ensuring our digital escapades are safe and sound: cybersecurity. It's easy to dismiss it as mere technical jargon or something only businesses need to worry about. But, truth be told, […]

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How To Write an Essay About Cyber Security

Understanding cyber security.

Before writing an essay about cyber security, it is essential to understand what it encompasses. Cyber security refers to the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks. These cyber attacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information; extorting money from users; or interrupting normal business processes. Begin your essay by defining cyber security and discussing its importance in the contemporary digital world. Explore the different types of cyber threats, such as malware, phishing, ransomware, and denial-of-service attacks. It’s also crucial to understand the impact of these threats on individuals, businesses, and governments.

Developing a Thesis Statement

A strong essay on cyber security should be anchored by a clear, focused thesis statement. This statement should present a specific viewpoint or argument about cyber security. For instance, you might discuss the evolving nature of cyber threats, the challenges of cyber security in a particular sector (like finance or healthcare), or analyze the effectiveness of current cyber security measures. Your thesis will guide the direction of your essay and provide a structured approach to your analysis.

Gathering Supporting Evidence

To support your thesis, gather evidence from credible sources. This might include recent studies on cyber security, statistics about cyber attacks, examples of significant security breaches, or expert opinions. Use this evidence to support your thesis and build a persuasive argument. Remember to consider different perspectives, including technological, ethical, and legal viewpoints.

Analyzing Cyber Security Strategies and Challenges

Dedicate a section of your essay to analyzing cyber security strategies and the challenges faced in implementing them. Discuss various approaches to cyber security, such as technological solutions, policy measures, and user education. Explore the challenges in keeping up with constantly evolving cyber threats and the balance between security and privacy. For example, consider how advancements in areas like artificial intelligence and machine learning are influencing cyber security practices.

Concluding the Essay

Conclude your essay by summarizing the main points of your discussion and restating your thesis in light of the evidence provided. Your conclusion should tie together your analysis and emphasize the significance of cyber security in the digital age. You might also want to reflect on future trends in cyber security or suggest areas where further research or policy development is needed.

Reviewing and Refining Your Essay

After completing your essay, review and edit it for clarity and coherence. Ensure that your arguments are well-structured and supported by evidence. Check for grammatical accuracy and ensure that your essay flows logically from one point to the next. Consider seeking feedback from peers or experts in the field to refine your essay further. A well-written essay on cyber security will not only demonstrate your understanding of the topic but also your ability to engage with complex technological and societal issues.

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127 Cyber Security Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

With the increasing reliance on technology, cyber security has become a critical concern for individuals, organizations, and governments worldwide. As cyber threats continue to evolve and become more sophisticated, it is essential to stay informed about the latest trends and issues in this field. If you are tasked with writing an essay on cyber security, here are 127 topic ideas and examples to get your creative juices flowing.

The role of artificial intelligence in enhancing cyber security.

The impact of cyber attacks on critical infrastructure.

The ethical considerations of cyber warfare.

The legal frameworks governing cyber security.

The challenges of securing the Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

The role of encryption in protecting sensitive information.

The effectiveness of password policies in preventing cyber attacks.

The psychology behind social engineering attacks.

The impact of cyber attacks on the global economy.

The future of biometrics in cyber security.

The role of cyber insurance in mitigating cyber risks.

The ethics of hacking for the greater good.

The impact of cyber attacks on healthcare systems.

The role of education in raising cyber security awareness.

The challenges of securing cloud computing environments.

The implications of quantum computing on cyber security.

The importance of international cooperation in combating cyber crime.

The role of cyber security in protecting intellectual property.

The impact of cyber attacks on national security.

The challenges of securing critical data in the cloud.

The role of cybersecurity audits in identifying vulnerabilities.

The impact of cyber attacks on the banking and financial sector.

The ethical implications of government surveillance for cyber security purposes.

The role of cybersecurity professionals in addressing the skills gap.

The challenges of securing personal information in the digital age.

The impact of cyber attacks on elections and democratic processes.

The role of user awareness training in preventing cyber attacks.

The implications of data breaches for consumer trust.

The challenges of securing mobile devices in the workplace.

The role of cyber security in protecting personal privacy.

The impact of cyber attacks on small businesses.

The role of cyber security in safeguarding intellectual property in academia.

The challenges of securing critical infrastructure in developing countries.

The ethical considerations of vulnerability disclosure.

The impact of cyber attacks on the transportation sector.

The role of cyber security in protecting children online.

The challenges of securing Internet of Things (IoT) in smart homes.

The implications of cyber attacks on the aviation industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against ransomware attacks.

The impact of cyber attacks on the entertainment industry.

The challenges of securing e-commerce platforms.

The role of cyber security in preventing identity theft.

The implications of cyber attacks on the energy sector.

The ethical considerations of government backdoor access to encrypted data.

The impact of cyber attacks on the hospitality and tourism industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting sensitive government information.

The challenges of securing online gaming platforms.

The implications of cyber attacks on the media and journalism.

The role of cyber security in protecting against social media threats.

The impact of cyber attacks on the transportation and logistics industry.

The challenges of securing online banking and financial transactions.

The role of cyber security in protecting against insider threats.

The implications of cyber attacks on the education sector.

The ethical considerations of using cyber weapons in warfare.

The impact of cyber attacks on the retail industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against insider trading.

The challenges of securing online voting systems.

The implications of cyber attacks on the gaming industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against intellectual property theft.

The impact of cyber attacks on the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry.

The challenges of securing social media platforms.

The ethical considerations of cyber security in autonomous vehicles.

The implications of cyber attacks on the hospitality industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against credit card fraud.

The impact of cyber attacks on the manufacturing industry.

The challenges of securing online dating platforms.

The implications of cyber attacks on the insurance industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against corporate espionage.

The impact of cyber attacks on the food and beverage industry.

The challenges of securing online marketplaces.

The implications of cyber attacks on the pharmaceutical industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against intellectual property infringement.

The impact of cyber attacks on the nonprofit sector.

The challenges of securing online streaming platforms.

The ethical considerations of cyber security in wearable technology.

The implications of cyber attacks on the real estate industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against medical identity theft.

The impact of cyber attacks on the telecommunications industry.

The challenges of securing online job portals.

The implications of cyber attacks on the automotive industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against data breaches in the legal sector.

The impact of cyber attacks on the music industry.

The challenges of securing online auction platforms.

The implications of cyber attacks on the construction industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against online harassment.

The impact of cyber attacks on the advertising and marketing industry.

The challenges of securing online learning platforms.

The implications of cyber attacks on the fashion industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against online stalking.

The impact of cyber attacks on the sports industry.

The challenges of securing online travel booking platforms.

The implications of cyber attacks on the beauty and cosmetics industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against online scams.

The impact of cyber attacks on the hospitality and catering industry.

The challenges of securing online dating applications.

The implications of cyber attacks on the healthcare and wellness industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against online bullying.

The impact of cyber attacks on the entertainment and events industry.

The challenges of securing online food delivery platforms.

The implications of cyber attacks on the fitness and wellness industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against online fraud.

The impact of cyber attacks on the home services industry.

The challenges of securing online social networking platforms.

The implications of cyber attacks on the pet care industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against online piracy.

The impact of cyber attacks on the restaurant industry.

The challenges of securing online fashion retail platforms.

The implications of cyber attacks on the healthcare and fitness industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against online hate speech.

The impact of cyber attacks on the wedding and event planning industry.

The challenges of securing online grocery delivery platforms.

The implications of cyber attacks on the gaming and entertainment industry.

The impact of cyber attacks on the music and entertainment industry.

The challenges of securing online travel and tourism platforms.

The implications of cyber attacks on the beauty and wellness industry.

The role of cyber security in protecting against online identity theft.

The impact of cyber attacks on the fashion and retail industry.

The challenges of securing online health and wellness platforms.

The implications of cyber attacks on the food and beverage industry.

These essay topic ideas cover a broad range of industries and sectors, highlighting the pervasive nature of cyber security threats. Whether you choose to explore the implications of cyber attacks on a specific industry, examine the challenges of securing a particular platform, or discuss the ethical considerations of cyber security, there are endless possibilities for research and analysis in this field. Remember to choose a topic that interests you and aligns with your objectives, ensuring a rewarding and engaging essay-writing experience.

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Home — Essay Samples — Information Science and Technology — Cyber Security — Cyber Attacks And Its Prevention: Analysis of Response Strategies

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Cyber Attacks and Its Prevention: Analysis of Response Strategies

  • Categories: Cyber Security

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16 min read

Published: Aug 14, 2023

Words: 3065 | Pages: 7 | 16 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, response strategies for cyber-attacks beyond borders, usa, uk and australia responses to cyber-attacks beyond borders.

  • Marks, A. (2013). Counter cyber terrorism and international law. Computer Law & Security Review, 29(4), 391-402.
  • Inserra, D. (2017). The state of the cyber nation: A global conflict and cooperation assessment of the digital age. Strategic Studies Quarterly, 11(1), 49-81.
  • Ndi, G. (2018). War in cyberspace: A comparative analysis of the legal regimes governing the use of force in cyber operations. International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, 32(2), 230-251.
  • UN Charter (full text). (2020). United Nations. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/un-charter-full-text/
  • What Are the Rules of War and Why Do They Matter? (2020). International Committee of the Red Cross. Retrieved from https://www.icrc.org/en/document/what-are-rules-war-and-why-do-they-matter
  • Schmitt, M. N. (n.d.). Cyber operations and the jus ad bellum revisited. In Cyber Operations and International Law (pp. 47-70). Oxford University Press.
  • MCQUADE, S. C. (2018). The strategic implications of North Korea’s cyber-attacks. Journal of Cybersecurity, 4(1), 1-11.
  • Haggard, S. (2015). North Korea's cyber operations and strategy. Asian Survey, 55(3), 396-418.
  • O'Flaherty, K. (2020). The US government wants to know how it can crack down on hackers in the DPRK. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2020/11/27/the-us-government-wants-to-know-how-it-can-crack-down-on-hackers-in-the-dprk/
  • The Cold War 2.0 between China and the US is already a virtual reality. (2020). South China Morning Post. Retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3086887/cold-war-20-between-china-and-us-already-virtual-reality

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Home / Blog

How to Prevent Cyberattacks: Top Ways to Protect Yourself

March 17, 2021 

essay on cyber attack

According to a 2020 Verizon report, 86% of global data breaches are financially motivated. Now more than ever, individuals and businesses must proactively maintain their cybersecurity because the cost of a cyberattack can run well into the millions — a price few are able or willing to pay.

To learn more, check out the infographic below, created by Maryville University’s Online Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity program.

Cybersecurity statistics and information on how to prevent cyber attacks

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Cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Businesses large and small should be aware of the top 10 cybersecurity vulnerabilities and take steps to protect themselves from the high cost of a data breach.

The rise of cybercrime

Cybercrime is expensive. The average cost of a data breach is $3.86 million, with the global annual cost of cybercrime estimated to reach $6 trillion by 2021. Phishing attacks, for example, steal a jaw-dropping $17,700 per minute.

Hackers use a variety of techniques, but trends are revealing which tactics they prefer. Six out of 10 breaches involve vulnerabilities for which a patch was created but not applied, while 45% of reported breaches involve hacking and 94% of malware is delivered by email.

In the first half of 2019, attacks on internet of things (IoT) devices tripled and fileless attacks increased by 265%.

Organizations of all sizes are being affected by data breaches, with 63% of companies saying their data may have been compromised by a hardware-level security breach within the past 12 months. Some 40% of information technology (IT) leaders say cybersecurity positions are the most difficult to fill.

Top 10 cybersecurity vulnerabilities

Businesses should be aware of the most common cybersecurity vulnerabilities; these include legacy software, default configuration, lack of encryption, remote access policies (backdoor access), gaps in policies and procedures, lack of network segmentation, unpatched security weaknesses, unprotected web applications, unrestricted user account access, and unknown programming bugs.

Common types of cyberattacks

Though cybercrime methods and techniques continue to grow in sophistication, hackers still use seven basic types of cyberattacks.

7 types of cyberattacks

During a malware attack , a hacker sends a dangerous link or email attachment that, when clicked, installs software that can block access to key network components, install malware or other types of destructive software, access the hard drive to transmit and collect data, and disrupt components to make the system inoperable.

A phishing attack involves sending communication, usually through email, that impersonates a reputable source. The goals of this attack may be to steal sensitive data, such as login information and credit card details, and to install malware.

A man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack occurs when a hacker infiltrates a two-party transaction with the intent to filter and steal data. Common entry points for this type of attack include unsecure public Wi-Fi and software installed on a victim’s device.

During a denial-of-service attack , a bad actor floods servers, systems, or networks with traffic to clog bandwidth and cripple the system. This type of attack may use multiple compromised devices in a distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.

An SQL injection involves inserting malicious code into a server using structured query language (SQL) to force the server to reveal sensitive information. The cybercriminal may enter malicious code into a website search box to carry out this type of attack.

A zero-day exploit attack involves targeting a disclosed vulnerability before a solution or patch has been implemented. Organizations that fail to act quickly may find themselves the target of this type of attack.

DNS tunneling occurs when a bad actor sends HTTP and other protocol traffic over the domain name system (DNS) to mask outbound traffic as DNS and hide data that is typically shared through a secure internet connection; acquire data from a compromised system; and send commands to a compromised system and obtain information.

5 emerging cybersecurity threats

Deepfakes and deepfake voice technology use artificial intelligence technology to create an image, video, or sound that appears real. The dangers of this threat include incriminating individuals of actions or statements they have not made.

A similar cybersecurity threat is the mixing of real and fabricated credentials to create a synthetic identity. For example, the identity may have a legitimate physical address but a birthdate and Social Security number unassociated with the address.

AI-powered cyberattacks use artificial intelligence to create programs that mimic human behavior. When successful, this type of attack can trick individuals into disclosing personal or financial information.

Vehicle cyberattacks may involve accessing vehicles to steal personal data, track an individual’s location, obtain driving histories, or take over or disable safety functions.

Cybercriminals may also engage in cloud jacking by infiltrating systems and programs of businesses that use cloud storage to use these resources for cryptocurrency mining.

Tips for protecting yourself from cyberattacks

Individuals and organizations can take simple steps to prevent data breaches and keep their information secure.

5 cybersecurity tips for individuals

The first and most basic step in maintaining cybersecurity is to create a unique and original password for each account. Users should also remember to update passwords every three months.

Keeping up with software updates is important, as cybercriminals often target known flaws in software to access a user’s system.

Cybercriminals may comb through social media posts in search of information commonly used in security questions, such as a pet’s name or mother’s maiden name. To combat this risk, social media users should set their account to private or avoid revealing sensitive information in posts.

A virtual private network (VPN) is a great way to protect sensitive data, especially when accessing a public Wi-Fi network. A VPN encrypts all information transmitted by your device and helps prevent many types of cyberattacks.

And finally, teachers and parents should educate children about proper internet usage. Children and teens should know what the rules and guidelines are for surfing the internet and using social media.

5 cybersecurity tips for organizations

To protect business data, it’s important to secure hardware, back up and encrypt data, invest in cybersecurity insurance, promote a security-focused culture, and use robust cybersecurity software. Taking these steps will help reduce risk and keep the business operating without interruption.

Reducing risk

Prevention is the key to reducing the risk of a data breach. By investing in cybersecurity software, using a VPN, and being aware of common attack methods, individuals and organizations can deter hackers and keep their data private.

Check Point, “Top 10 Critical Infrastructure And SCADA/ICS Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities And Threats”

Cisco, “What Are The Most Common Cyber Attacks”

Compuquip, “Top 9 Cybersecurity Threats And Vulnerabilities”

CSO Online, “Top Cybersecurity Facts, Figures and Statistics”

Cybercrime Magazine, “Cybercrime To Cost The World $10.5 Trillion Annually By 2025”

Dell Technologies, “BIOS Security — The Next Frontier for Endpoint Protection”

Entrepreneur, “Five Ways To Protect Your Company Against Cyber Attacks”

F-Secure, “Attack Landscape: H1 2019”

IBM, “Data Breach”

IDG, “2020 State of the CIO”

Norton, “11 Ways to Help Protect Yourself Against Cybercrime”

Norton, “Cyberthreat Trends: 15 Cybersecurity Threats For 2020”

RiskIQ, “The Evil Internet Minute 2019”

ServiceNow, “Costs and Consequences of Gaps in Vulnerability Response”

Verizon, “2019 Data Breach Investigations Report”

Verizon, “2020 Data Breach Investigations Report”

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essay on cyber attack

Need help protecting your applications?

See how imperva can help, cyber attack, what is a cyber attack.

A cyber attack is a set of actions performed by threat actors, who try to gain unauthorized access, steal data or cause damage to computers, computer networks, or other computing systems. A cyber attack can be launched from any location. The attack can be performed by an individual or a group using one or more tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs).

The individuals who launch cyber attacks are usually referred to as cybercriminals, threat actors, bad actors, or hackers. They can work alone, in collaboration with other attackers, or as part of an organized criminal group. They try to identify vulnerabilities—problems or weaknesses in computer systems—and exploit them to further their goals.

Cybercriminals can have various motivations when launching cyber attacks. Some carry out attacks for personal or financial gain. Others are “ hacktivists ” acting in the name of social or political causes. Some attacks are part of cyberwarfare operations conducted by nation states against their opponents, or operating as part of known terrorist groups.

This is part of an extensive series of guides about application security .

Cyber Attack Statistics

What are the costs and impact of cyber attacks for businesses?

The global cost of cyber attacks is expected to grow by 15% per year and is expected to reach over $10 trillion. A growing part of this cost is Ransomware attacks, which now cost businesses in the US $20 billion per year.

The average cost of a data breach in the US is $3.8 million. Another alarming statistic is that public companies lose an average of 8% of their stock value after a successful breach.

How well are organizations prepared for cyber attacks?

In a recent survey, 78% of respondents said they believe their company’s cybersecurity measures need to be improved. As many as 43% of small businesses do not have any cyber defenses in place. At the same time, organizations of all sizes are facing a global cybersecurity skills shortage, with almost 3.5 million open jobs worldwide, 500,000 of them in the US alone.

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Cyber Attack Examples

Here are a few recent examples of cyber attacks that had a global impact.

Kaseya Ransomware Attack

Kaseya, a US-based provider of remote management software, experienced a supply chain attack, which was made public on July 2, 2021. The company announced that attackers could use its VSA product to infect customer machines with ransomware.

The attack was reported to be highly sophisticated, chaining together several new vulnerabilities discovered in the Kaseya product: CVE-2021-30116 (credentials leak and business logic flaw), CVE-2021-30119 (XSS), and CVE-2021-30120 (two-factor authentication flaw). The malware exploiting these vulnerabilities was pushed to customers using a fake software update labelled “Kaseya VSA Agent Hot Fix”.

The attack was carried out by the Russian-based REvil cybercrime group. Kaseya said less than 0.1% of their customers were affected by the breach, however, some of them were managed service providers (MSP) who used Kaseya software, and the attack affected their customers. A short time after the attack, press reports said 800-1500 small to mid-sized companies were infected by REvil ransomware as a result of the attack.

SolarWinds Supply Chain Attack

This was a massive, highly innovative supply chain attack detected in December 2020, and named after its victim, Austin-based IT management company SolarWinds. It was conducted by APT 29, an organized cybercrime group connected to the Russian government.

The attack compromised an update meant for SolarWinds’s software platform, Orion. During the attack, threat actors injected malware, which came to be known as the Sunburst or Solorigate malware—into Orion’s updates. The updates were then distributed to SolarWinds customers.

The SolarWinds attack is considered one of the most serious cyber espionage attacks on the United States, because it successfully breached the US military, many US-based federal agencies, including agencies responsible for nuclear weapons, critical infrastructure services, and a majority of Fortune 500 organizations.

Amazon DDoS Attack

In February 2020, Amazon Web Services (AWS) was the target of a large-scale distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. The company experienced and mitigated a 2.3 Tbps (terabits per second) DDoS attack, which had a packet forwarding rate of 293.1 Mpps and a request rate per second (rps) of 694,201. It is considered one of the largest DDoS attacks in history.

Microsoft Exchange Remote Code Execution Attack

In March 2021, a large-scale cyber attack was carried out against Microsoft Exchange, a popular enterprise email server. It leveraged four separate zero-day vulnerabilities discovered in Microsoft Exchange servers.

These vulnerabilities enable attackers to forge untrusted URLs, use them to access an Exchange Server system, and provide a direct server-side storage path for malware. It is a Remote Code Execution (RCE) attack, which allows attackers to completely compromise a server and gain access to all its data. On affected servers, attackers stole sensitive information, injected ransomware, and deployed backdoors in a way that was almost untraceable.

In the United States alone, the attacks affected nine government agencies and more than 60,000 private businesses.

Twitter Celebrities Attack

In July 2020, Twitter was breached by a group of three attackers, who took over popular Twitter accounts. They used social engineering attacks to steal employee credentials and gain access to the company’s internal management systems, later identified by Twitter as vishing (phone phishing).

Dozens of well-known accounts were hacked, including Barack Obama, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk. The attackers used the stolen accounts to post bitcoin scams and earned more than $100,000. Two weeks after the events, the US Justice Department charged three suspects, one of whom was 17 years old at the time.

Other Notable Attacks

  • Marriott’s Starwood Hotels announced a breach that leaked the personal data of more than 500 million guests.
  • UnderArmor’s MyFitnessPal brand leaked the email addresses and login information of 150 million user accounts.
  • The WannaCry ransomware attack affected more than 300,000 computers in 150 countries, causing billions of dollars in damages.
  • Equifax experienced an open source vulnerability in an unpatched software component, which leaked the personal information of 145 million people.
  • The NotPetya attack hit targets around the world, with several waves continuing for more than a year, costing more than $10 billion in damage.
  • An attack on the FriendFinder adult dating website compromised the data of 412 million users.
  • Yahoo’s data breach incident compromised the accounts of 1 billion users, not long after a previous attack exposed personal information contained in 500 million user accounts.

6 Types of Cyber Attacks

While there are thousands of known variants of cyber attacks, here are a few of the most common attacks experienced by organizations every day.

Ransomware is malware that uses encryption to deny access to resources (such as the user’s files), usually in an attempt to compel the victim to pay a ransom. Once a system has been infected, files are irreversibly encrypted, and the victim must either pay the ransom to unlock the encrypted resources, or use backups to restore them.

Ransomware is one of the most prevalent types of attacks, with some attacks using extortion techniques, such as threatening to expose sensitive data if the target fails to pay the ransom. In many cases, paying the ransom is ineffective and does not restore the user’s data.

There are many types of malware , of which ransomware is just one variant. Malware can be used for a range of objectives from stealing information, to defacing or altering web content , to damaging a computing system permanently.

The malware landscape evolves very quickly, but the most prevalent forms of malware are:

  • Botnet Malware —adds infected systems to a botnet, allowing attackers to use them for criminal activity
  • Cryptominers —mines cryptocurrency using the target’s computer
  • Infostealers —collects sensitive information on the target’s computer
  • Banking trojans —steals financial and credential information for banking websites
  • Mobile Malware —targets devices via apps or SMS
  • Rootkits —gives the attacker complete control over a device’s operating system

DoS and DDoS Attacks

Denial-of-service (DoS) attacks overwhelm the target system so it cannot respond to legitimate requests. Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are similar but involve multiple host machines. The target site is flooded with illegitimate service requests and is forced to deny service to legitimate users. This is because servers consume all available resources to respond to the request overload.

These attacks don’t provide the attacker with access to the target system or any direct benefit. They are used purely for the purpose of sabotage, or as a diversion used to distract security teams while attackers carry out other attacks.

Firewalls and network security solutions can help protect against small-scale DoS attacks. To protect against large scale DDoS, organizations leverage cloud-based DDoS protection which can scale on demand to respond to a huge number of malicious requests.

Phishing and Social Engineering Attacks

Social engineering is an attack vector that relies heavily on human interaction, used in over 90% of cyberattacks. It involves impersonating a trusted person or entity, and tricking individuals into granting an attacker sensitive information, transferring funds, or providing access to systems or networks.

Phishing attacks occur when a malicious attacker obtains sensitive information from a target and sends a message that appears to be from a trusted and legitimate source. The name “phishing” alludes to the fact that attackers are “fishing” for access or sensitive information, baiting the unsuspecting user with an emotional hook and a trusted identity.

As part of a phishing message, attackers typically send links to malicious websites, prompt the user to download malicious software, or request sensitive information directly through email, text messaging systems or social media platforms. A variation on phishing is “spear phishing”, where attackers send carefully crafted messages to individuals with special privileges, such as network administrators, executives, or employees in financial roles.

MitM Attacks

Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks are breaches that allow attackers to intercept the data transmitted between networks, computers or users. The attacker is positioned in the “middle” of the two parties and can spy on their communication, often without being detected. The attacker can also modify messages before sending them on to the intended recipient.

You can use VPNs or apply strong encryption to access points to protect yourself from MitM attacks.

Fileless Attacks

Fileless attacks are a new type of malware attack, which takes advantage of applications already installed on a user’s device. Unlike traditional malware, which needs to deploy itself on a target machine, fileless attacks use already installed applications that are considered safe, and so are undetectable by legacy antivirus tools.

Fileless malware attacks can be triggered by user-initiated actions, or may be triggered with no user action, by exploiting operating system vulnerabilities. Fileless malware resides in the device’s RAM and typically access native operating system tools, like PowerShell and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to inject malicious code.

A trusted application on a privileged system can carry out system operations on multiple endpoints, making them ideal targets for fileless malware attacks.

Cyber Attack Prevention: Common Cybersecurity Solutions

Following are a few security tools commonly deployed by organizations to prevent cyber attacks. Of course, tools are not enough to prevent attacks—every organization needs trained IT and security staff, or outsourced security services, to manage the tools and effectively use them to mitigate threats.

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

A WAF protects web applications by analyzing HTTP requests and detecting suspected malicious traffic. This may be inbound traffic, as in a malicious user attempting a code injection attack, or outbound traffic, as in malware deployed on a local server communicating with a command and control (C&C) center.

WAFs can block malicious traffic before it reaches a web application, and can prevent attackers from exploiting many common vulnerabilities—even if the vulnerabilities have not been fixed in the underlying application. It complements traditional firewalls and intrusion detection systems (IDS), protecting attacks performed by attackers at the application layer (layer 7 of the OSI network model).

DDoS Protection

A DDoS protection solution can protect a network or server from denial of service attacks. It does this using dedicated network equipment, deployed on-premises by the organization, or as a cloud-based service. Only cloud based services are able to deflect large scale DDoS attacks, which involve millions of bots, because they are able to scale on demand.

A DDoS protection system or service monitors traffic to detect a DDoS attack pattern, and distinguish legitimate from malicious traffic. When it detects an attack, it performs “scrubbing”, inspecting traffic packets and dropping those that are deemed malicious, preventing them from reaching the target server or network. At the same time, it routes legitimate traffic to the target system to ensure there is no disruption of service.

Bot Protection

Bots make up a large percentage of Internet traffic. Bots put a heavy load on websites, taking up system resources. While some bots are useful (such as bots that index websites for search engines), others can perform malicious activities. Bots can be used for DDoS, to scrape content from websites, automatically perform web application attacks, spread spam and malware, and more.

A bot protection system detects and blocks bad bots, while allowing legitimate bots to perform activities like search indexing, testing and performance monitoring. It does this by maintaining a large database of known bot sources, and detecting behavior patterns that might indicate a bot is malicious.

Cloud Security

Almost all organizations today manage infrastructure, applications, and data in the cloud. Cloud systems are especially vulnerable to cyber threats, because they are commonly exposed to public networks, and often suffer from a low level of visibility, because they are highly dynamic and running outside the corporate network.

Cloud providers take responsibility for securing their infrastructure, and offer built-in security tools that can help cloud users secure their data and workloads. However, first-party cloud security tools are limited, and there is no guarantee that they are being used properly and all cloud resources are really secured. Many organizations use dedicated cloud security solutions to ensure that all sensitive assets deployed in the cloud are properly protected.

Database Security

Databases typically hold sensitive, mission critical information, and are a prime target for attackers. Securing databases involves hardening database servers, properly configuring databases to enable access control and encryption, and monitoring for malicious activities.

Database security solutions can help ensure a consistent level of security for databases across the organization. They can help prevent issues like excessive privileges, unpatched vulnerabilities in database engines, unprotected sensitive data, and database injection.

API Security

Modern applications use application programming interfaces (APIs) to communicate with other applications, to obtain data or services. APIs are used to integrate systems inside an organization, and are increasingly used to contact and receive data from systems operated by third parties.

All APIs, especially public APIs that are accessed over the Internet, are sensitive to attacks. Because APIs are highly structured and documented, they are easy for attackers to learn and manipulate. Many APIs are not properly secured, may be weakly authenticated, or exposed to vulnerabilities like cross site scripting (XSS), SQL injection, and man in the middle (MitM) attacks.

Securing APIs requires a variety of measures, including strong multi factor authentication (MFA), secure use of authentication tokens, encryption of data in transit, and sanitization of user inputs to prevent injection attacks. API solutions can help enforce these security controls for APIs in a centralized manner.

Threat Intelligence

Threat intelligence operates in the background and supports many modern security tools. It is also used directly by security teams when investigating incidents. Threat intelligence databases contain structured information, gathered from a variety of sources, about threat actors, attack tactics, techniques, and procedures, and known vulnerabilities in computing systems.

Threat intelligence solutions gather data from a large number of feeds and information sources, and allows an organization to quickly indicators of compromise (IOCs), use them to identify attacks, understand the motivation and mode of operation of the threat actor, and design an appropriate response.

Cyber Attack Prevention with Imperva

Imperva provides security solutions that protect organizations against all common cyber attacks.

Imperva Application Security

Imperva provides comprehensive protection for applications, APIs, and microservices:

Web Application Firewall – Prevent attacks with world-class analysis of web traffic to your applications.

Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP) – Real-time attack detection and prevention from your application runtime environment goes wherever your applications go. Stop external attacks and injections and reduce your vulnerability backlog.

API Security – Automated API protection ensures your API endpoints are protected as they are published, shielding your applications from exploitation.

Advanced Bot Protection – Prevent business logic attacks from all access points – websites, mobile apps and APIs. Gain seamless visibility and control over bot traffic to stop online fraud through account takeover or competitive price scraping.

DDoS Protection – Block attack traffic at the edge to ensure business continuity with guaranteed uptime and no performance impact. Secure your on premises or cloud-based assets – whether you’re hosted in AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Public Cloud.

Attack Analytics – Ensures complete visibility with machine learning and domain expertise across the application security stack to reveal patterns in the noise and detect application attacks, enabling you to isolate and prevent attack campaigns.

Client-Side Protection – Gain visibility and control over third-party JavaScript code to reduce the risk of supply chain fraud, prevent data breaches, and client-side attacks.

Imperva Data Security

Imperva protects all cloud-based data stores to ensure compliance and preserve the agility and cost benefits you get from your cloud investments:

Cloud Data Security – Simplify securing your cloud databases to catch up and keep up with DevOps. Imperva’s solution enables cloud-managed services users to rapidly gain visibility and control of cloud data.

Database Security – Imperva delivers analytics, protection and response across your data assets, on-premise and in the cloud – giving you the risk visibility to prevent data breaches and avoid compliance incidents. Integrate with any database to gain instant visibility, implement universal policies, and speed time to value.

Data Risk Analysis – Automate the detection of non-compliant, risky, or malicious data access behavior across all of your databases enterprise-wide to accelerate remediation.

See Additional Guides on Key Application Security Topics

Together with our content partners, we have authored in-depth guides on several other topics that can also be useful as you explore the world of application security .

Authored by Bright Security

  • What Is API security? The Complete Guide
  • REST API Testing: The Basics and 8 API Testing Tips
  • WS-Security: Is It Enough to Secure Your SOAP Web Services?

Vulnerability Management

  • Vulnerability Management: Lifecycle, Tools, and Best Practices
  • Vulnerability Examples: Common Types and 5 Real World Examples
  • Vulnerability Testing: Methods, Tools, and 10 Best Practices
  • Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF): Impact, Examples, and Prevention
  • Open Redirect Vulnerability: Impact, Severity, and Prevention
  • How to test for Cross-Site Request Forgery?

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Analysis of Trending Topics and Text-based Channels of Information Delivery in Cybersecurity

Computer users are generally faced with difficulties in making correct security decisions. While an increasingly fewer number of people are trying or willing to take formal security training, online sources including news, security blogs, and websites are continuously making security knowledge more accessible. Analysis of cybersecurity texts from this grey literature can provide insights into the trending topics and identify current security issues as well as how cyber attacks evolve over time. These in turn can support researchers and practitioners in predicting and preparing for these attacks. Comparing different sources may facilitate the learning process for normal users by creating the patterns of the security knowledge gained from different sources. Prior studies neither systematically analysed the wide range of digital sources nor provided any standardisation in analysing the trending topics from recent security texts. Moreover, existing topic modelling methods are not capable of identifying the cybersecurity concepts completely and the generated topics considerably overlap. To address this issue, we propose a semi-automated classification method to generate comprehensive security categories to analyse trending topics. We further compare the identified 16 security categories across different sources based on their popularity and impact. We have revealed several surprising findings as follows: (1) The impact reflected from cybersecurity texts strongly correlates with the monetary loss caused by cybercrimes, (2) security blogs have produced the context of cybersecurity most intensively, and (3) websites deliver security information without caring about timeliness much.

Adaptive distributed Kalman-like filter for power system with cyber attacks

Designing and evaluating an automatic forensic model for fast response of cross-border e-commerce security incidents.

The rapid development of cross-border e-commerce over the past decade has accelerated the integration of the global economy. At the same time, cross-border e-commerce has increased the prevalence of cybercrime, and the future success of e-commerce depends on enhanced online privacy and security. However, investigating security incidents is time- and cost-intensive as identifying telltale anomalies and the source of attacks requires the use of multiple forensic tools and technologies and security domain knowledge. Prompt responses to cyber-attacks are important to reduce damage and loss and to improve the security of cross-border e-commerce. This article proposes a digital forensic model for first incident responders to identify suspicious system behaviors. A prototype system is developed and evaluated by incident response handlers. The model and system are proven to help reduce time and effort in investigating cyberattacks. The proposed model is expected to enhance security incident handling efficiency for cross-border e-commerce.

Designing and Evaluating an Automatic Forensic Model for Fast Response of Cross-Border E-Commerce Security Incidents

Spi: automated identification of security patches via commits.

Security patches in open source software, providing security fixes to identified vulnerabilities, are crucial in protecting against cyber attacks. Security advisories and announcements are often publicly released to inform the users about potential security vulnerability. Despite the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) publishes identified vulnerabilities, a vast majority of vulnerabilities and their corresponding security patches remain beyond public exposure, e.g., in the open source libraries that are heavily relied on by developers. As many of these patches exist in open sourced projects, the problem of curating and gathering security patches can be difficult due to their hidden nature. An extensive and complete security patches dataset could help end-users such as security companies, e.g., building a security knowledge base, or researcher, e.g., aiding in vulnerability research. To efficiently curate security patches including undisclosed patches at large scale and low cost, we propose a deep neural-network-based approach built upon commits of open source repositories. First, we design and build security patch datasets that include 38,291 security-related commits and 1,045 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) patches from four large-scale C programming language libraries. We manually verify each commit, among the 38,291 security-related commits, to determine if they are security related. We devise and implement a deep learning-based security patch identification system that consists of two composite neural networks: one commit-message neural network that utilizes pretrained word representations learned from our commits dataset and one code-revision neural network that takes code before revision and after revision and learns the distinction on the statement level. Our system leverages the power of the two networks for Security Patch Identification. Evaluation results show that our system significantly outperforms SVM and K-fold stacking algorithms. The result on the combined dataset achieves as high as 87.93% F1-score and precision of 86.24%. We deployed our pipeline and learned model in an industrial production environment to evaluate the generalization ability of our approach. The industrial dataset consists of 298,917 commits from 410 new libraries that range from a wide functionalities. Our experiment results and observation on the industrial dataset proved that our approach can identify security patches effectively among open sourced projects.

Cyber Security Frameworks

Abstract: In this paper we attempt to explain and establish certain frameworks that can be assessed for implementing security systems against cyber-threats and cyber-criminals. We give a brief overview of electronic signature generation procedures which include its validation and efficiency for promoting cyber security for confidential documents and information stored in the cloud. We strictly avoid the mathematical modelling of the electronic signature generation process as it is beyond the scope of this paper, instead we take a theoretical approach to explain the procedures. We also model the threats posed by a malicious hacker seeking to induce disturbances in the functioning of a power transmission grid via the means of cyber-physical networks and systems. We use the strategy of a load redistribution attack, while clearly acknowledging that the hacker would form its decision policy on inadequate information. Our research indicate that inaccurate admittance values often cause moderately invasive cyber-attacks that still compromise the grid security, while inadequate capacity values result in comparatively less efficient attacks. In the end we propose a security framework for the security systems utilised by companies and corporations at global scale to conduct cyber-security related operations. Keywords: Electronic signature, Key pair, sequence modelling, hacker, power transmission grid, Threat response, framework.

Information Security in Medical Robotics: A Survey on the Level of Training, Awareness and Use of the Physiotherapist

Cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly important aspect to investigate for the adoption and use of care robots, in term of both patients’ safety, and the availability, integrity and privacy of their data. This study focuses on opinions about cybersecurity relevance and related skills for physiotherapists involved in rehabilitation and assistance thanks to the aid of robotics. The goal was to investigate the awareness among insiders about some facets of cybersecurity concerning human–robot interactions. We designed an electronic questionnaire and submitted it to a relevant sample of physiotherapists. The questionnaire allowed us to collect data related to: (i) use of robots and its relationship with cybersecurity in the context of physiotherapy; (ii) training in cybersecurity and robotics for the insiders; (iii) insiders’ self-assessment on cybersecurity and robotics in some usage scenarios, and (iv) their experiences of cyber-attacks in this area and proposals for improvement. Besides contributing some specific statistics, the study highlights the importance of both acculturation processes in this field and monitoring initiatives based on surveys. The study exposes direct suggestions for continuation of these types of investigations in the context of scientific societies operating in the rehabilitation and assistance robotics. The study also shows the need to stimulate similar initiatives in other sectors of medical robotics (robotic surgery, care and socially assistive robots, rehabilitation systems, training for health and care workers) involving insiders.

Challenges, Trends and Solutions for Communication Networks and Cyber-Security in Smart Grid.

Abstract: Power grid is one of the most important manifestations of the modern civilization and the engine of it where it is described as a digestive system of the civil life. It is a structure has three main functions: generation, transmission lines, distribution. This concept was appropriate for a century. However, the beginning of the twenty-first century brought dramatic changes on different domains: media, human growth, economic, environmental, political, and technical etc. Smart grid is a sophisticated structure including cyber and physical bodies hence it reinforces the sustainability, the energy management, the capability of integration with microgrids, and exploiting the renewable energy resources. The quantum leap of smart grid is related to the advanced communication networks that deal with the cyber part. Moreover, the communication networks of smart grid offer attractive capabilities such as monitoring, control, and protection at the level of real time. The wireless communication techniques in integration frame are promised solution to compensate the requirements of smart grid designing such as wireless local area networks, worldwide interoperability for microwave access, long term evolution, and narrowband- internet of things. These technologies could provide high capacity, flexibility, low-cost maintenance for smart grid. However, the multi-interfaces in smart grid may exploit by persons or agencies to implement different types of cyber-attacks may lead to dangerous damage. This research paper reviews the up-to-date researches in the field of smart grid to handle the new trends and topics in one frame in order to offer integration vision in this vital section. It concentrates on the section of communication networks the mainstay of smart grid. This paper discusses the challenging and requirements of adopting the wireless communication technologies and delves deeply into literature review to devise and suggest solutions to compensate the impairments efficiently. Moreover, it explores the cyber security that representing the real defiant to implement the concept of smart grid safely.

Application of Bayesian network in risk assessment for website deployment scenarios

Abstract—The rapid development of web-based systems in the digital transformation era has led to a dramatic increase in the number and the severity of cyber-attacks. Current attack prevention solutions such as system monitoring, security testing and assessment are installed after the system has been deployed, thus requiring more cost and manpower. In that context, the need to assess cyber security risks before the deployment of web-based systems becomes increasingly urgent. This paper introduces a cyber security risk assessment mechanism for web-based systems before deployment. We use the Bayesian network to analyze and quantify the cyber security risks posed by threats to the deployment components of a website. First, the deployment components of potential website deployment scenarios are considered assets, so that their properties are mapped to specific vulnerabilities or threats. Next, the vulnerabilities or threats of each deployment component will be assessed according to the considered risk criteria in specific steps of a deployment process. The risk assessment results for deployment components are aggregated into the risk assessment results for their composed deployment scenario. Based on these results, administrators can compare and choose the least risky deployment scenario. Tóm tắt—Sự phát triển mạnh mẽ của các hệ thống trên nền tảng web trong công cuộc chuyển đổi số kéo theo sự gia tăng nhanh chóng về số lượng và mức độ nguy hiểm của các cuộc tấn công mạng. Các giải pháp phòng chống tấn công hiện nay như theo dõi hoạt động hệ thống, kiểm tra và đánh giá an toàn thông tin mạng được thực hiện khi hệ thống đã được triển khai, do đó đòi hỏi chi phí và nhân lực thực hiện lớn. Trong bối cảnh đó, nhu cầu đánh giá rủi ro an toàn thông tin mạng cho các hệ thống website trước khi triển khai thực tế trở nên cấp thiết. Bài báo này giới thiệu một cơ chế đánh giá rủi ro an toàn thông tin mạng cho các hệ thống website trước khi triển khai thực tế. Chúng tôi sử dụng mạng Bayes để phân tích và định lượng rủi ro về an toàn thông tin do các nguồn đe dọa khác nhau gây ra trên các thành phần triển khai của một website. Đầu tiên, các thành phần triển khai của các kịch bản triển khai website tiềm năng được mô hình hoá dưới dạng các tài sản, sao cho các thuộc tính của chúng đều được ánh xạ với các điểm yếu hoặc nguy cơ cụ thể. Tiếp đó, các điểm yếu, nguy cơ của từng thành phần triển khai sẽ được đánh giá theo các tiêu chí rủi ro đang xét tại mỗi thời điểm cụ thể trong quy trình triển khai. Kết quả đánh giá của các thành phần triển khai được tập hợp lại thành kết quả đánh giá hệ thống trong một kịch bản cụ thể. Căn cứ vào kết quả đánh giá rủi ro, người quản trị có thể so sánh các kịch bản triển khai tiềm năng với nhau để lựa chọn kịch bản triển khai ít rủi ro nhất.

A Hybrid Framework for Intrusion Detection in Healthcare Systems Using Deep Learning

The unbounded increase in network traffic and user data has made it difficult for network intrusion detection systems to be abreast and perform well. Intrusion Systems are crucial in e-healthcare since the patients' medical records should be kept highly secure, confidential, and accurate. Any change in the actual patient data can lead to errors in the diagnosis and treatment. Most of the existing artificial intelligence-based systems are trained on outdated intrusion detection repositories, which can produce more false positives and require retraining the algorithm from scratch to support new attacks. These processes also make it challenging to secure patient records in medical systems as the intrusion detection mechanisms can become frequently obsolete. This paper proposes a hybrid framework using Deep Learning named “ImmuneNet” to recognize the latest intrusion attacks and defend healthcare data. The proposed framework uses multiple feature engineering processes, oversampling methods to improve class balance, and hyper-parameter optimization techniques to achieve high accuracy and performance. The architecture contains &lt;1 million parameters, making it lightweight, fast, and IoT-friendly, suitable for deploying the IDS on medical devices and healthcare systems. The performance of ImmuneNet was benchmarked against several other machine learning algorithms on the Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity's Intrusion Detection System 2017, 2018, and Bell DNS 2021 datasets which contain extensive real-time and latest cyber attack data. Out of all the experiments, ImmuneNet performed the best on the CIC Bell DNS 2021 dataset with about 99.19% accuracy, 99.22% precision, 99.19% recall, and 99.2% ROC-AUC scores, which are comparatively better and up-to-date than other existing approaches in classifying between requests that are normal, intrusion, and other cyber attacks.

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Free Cyber Security Essay Examples & Topics

Need to write a cyber security essay? It won’t be a problem. This is a broad subject that offers a wide variety of issues to discuss. Besides, writing a paper on it can help you understand how data is stored and preserved nowadays.

Cyber security is the protection of electronic systems, servers, computers, and mobile devices from hacker attacks. Today, a lot of operations are performed online. Medical, financial, military, governmental services collect and store data on electronic devices and transfer it via the Internet. Moreover, people share their personal information in the network. That’s why cyber security is so important.

With the rapid technological progress, the number of cyber-crimes increased as well. To avoid data leaks and prevent cyber threats, people invented new ways to secure their information.

In this article, you will find topics prepared by our experts . You can write an essay or research paper on them using the recommendations we’ve provided. If our ideas and tips aren’t enough, check the cyber security essay examples. They will get you inspired and excited to complete the task.

5 Types of Cyber Security

The risks associated with data security are indeed dangerous. The hackers can do actual harm to you by:

  • erasing your entire system,
  • delivering your data to third parties,
  • stealing your personal information, such as your bank account details.

Thus, everyone who deals with electronic systems needs proper cyber security. It can be divided into five key types. You can explore them in your essay about cyber security:

  • Network Security.

It focuses on protecting your internal networks from unauthorized intrusion. Security teams use artificial intelligence machines to detect abnormal traffic and prevent threats in real-time. Network security can reduce your risks of becoming a victim of a cybercrime. For that, you can employ their antivirus programs, antispyware software, extra logins, etc.

  • Critical Infrastructure Security .

There are numerous examples of critical infrastructure that you may be familiar with. Think of the following: electricity grid, water purification, traffic lights, shopping centers, hospitals, etc. These infrastructures are vital to society. Therefore, protecting them properly should be the top priority. Critical infrastructure security is responsible for keeping their data protected.

  • Application Security .

This type plays an essential role for ordinary Internet users. We download and use various apps daily. Yet, we tend to disregard possible threats that these apps may cause. In reality, the majority of cyber-crimes happen through such networks as they can be easily hacked. Thus, application security is a must-have in cyberspace. You can explore it in your cyber security research paper.

  • Cloud Security.

As organizations store more and more information on electronic devices, a new issue arises. There isn’t enough space for all the data. Therefore, companies started applying cloud computing. It’s a technology that helps to preserve data online. Cloud security focuses on protecting sensitive information stored this way.

  • Internet of Things (IoT) Security.

The term IoT is used to describe critical and non-critical cyber systems. These are sensors, televisions, appliances, routers, security cameras, printers, etc. IoT devices usually offer very poor security patching. Thus, IoT security’s main emphasis is on preventing cyber-attacks caused by the use of gadgets.

15 Cyber Security Essay Topics

In the following section, you will find unique ideas for your essay on cyber security. Choose the most appropriate one and create your outstanding paper. Don’t forget to compose a catchy introduction, a clear thesis statement, and a dynamic conclusion.

You can get more ideas by using our topic generator . Or come up with your own based on one of these:

  • An important email or attempt to fool you: the most effective ways to detect phishing.
  • What security threats arise when using public Wi-Fi?
  • The most efficient methods to prevent network attacks.
  • The role of cyber services in ensuring national security.
  • What is the purpose of data encryption?
  • Cybersafety 101: what should you do when your social media profile is hacked?
  • The risks associated with online banking.
  • What are the cookies on the Internet, and how do they work?
  • Is cyber warfare as much harm to society as actual war?
  • Why are software updates essential for digital security?
  • Schools should have a cyber security awareness subject.
  • Pros and cons of double-step authentication.
  • Windows vs. macOS: what security measures are more effective?
  • Security challenges that an ordinary Internet user may face.
  • Are there any laws against cyber-crimes adopted in the USA?

Thanks for reading our article. We are sure that now you will be able to start any paper on the subject. See some useful cyber security essay examples below.

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Fallout From Cyberattack at Ascension Hospitals Persists, Causing Delays in Patient Care

For two weeks at the 140-hospital system, doctors and nurses have had little access to digital records for patient histories, resorting to paper and faxes to treat people.

An exterior view of an Ascension hospital in Milwaukee on a rainy evening.

By Reed Abelson

In more than a dozen states, doctors and nurses have resorted to paper and handwritten treatment orders to chart patient illnesses and track them, unable to access the detailed medical histories that have long been available only through computerized records.

Patients have waited for long stints in emergency rooms, and their treatments have been delayed while lab results and readings from machines like M.R.I.s are ferried through makeshift efforts lacking the speed of electronic uploads.

For more than two weeks, thousands of medical personnel have turned to manual methods after a cyberattack on Ascension, one of the nation’s largest health systems with about 140 hospitals in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

The large-scale attack on May 8 was eerily reminiscent of the hack of Change Healthcare, a unit of UnitedHealth Group that manages the nation’s largest health care payment system. The assault shut down Change’s digital billing and payment routes, leaving hospitals, doctors and pharmacists without ways to communicate with health insurers for weeks. Patients were unable to fill prescriptions, and providers could not get paid for care.

While some earlier cyberattacks affected a single hospital or smaller medical networks, the breakdown at Change, which handles a third of all U.S. patient records, underscored the dangers of consolidation when one entity becomes so essential to the nation’s health system.

Ascension systems remain down indefinitely, but doctors and nurses are working to find ways of getting access to some information about patients’ medical histories by looking at health records kept by other providers. Ascension is also telling doctors and nurses that they will soon be able to see existing digital records.

“It is a huge disruption for everyone involved,” said Kristine Kittelson, a nurse with Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin, Texas, who is a member of the National Nurses United union.

The Ascension attack has had a similarly widespread impact as Change, with some hospitals in Indiana , Michigan and elsewhere diverting ambulances. Ascension hospitals handle roughly three million emergency room visits a year and perform nearly 600,000 surgeries.

Like Change, Ascension was the subject of a ransomware attack, and the hospital group says it is working with federal law enforcement agencies. The attack appears to be the work of a group known as Black Basta, which may be linked to Russian-speaking cybercriminals, according to news reports .

There are concerns that the hackers could release private medical information, and patients have already begun filing federal lawsuits against Ascension saying it did not do enough to safeguard their data.

Large health care organizations have increasingly become a prime target for cybercriminals, intent on creating as much havoc as they can on a vital part of the U.S. infrastructure. “This is something that is going to happen over and over again,” said Steve Cagle, the chief executive of Clearwater, a health care compliance firm.

With a sprawling network of hospitals and clinics, big organizations have not yet identified where they are vulnerable and how to minimize the disruption of a serious attack. The industry “never planned for this,” Mr. Cagle said.

While Ascension continues to treat patients, the dangers of missing pieces of a patient’s history are palpable. In interviews, doctors and nurses outlined the threats to patient care: People may not remember what medications they are taking; previous visits may be omitted as well as the outcome of earlier procedures or tests.

In Austin, Ms. Kittelson said she had to search through dozens of pieces of paper to find what medication a doctor may have ordered or to find something about the patient’s status. “I’m worried about the charting,” she said, noting that she had been painstakingly chronicling a patient’s condition and treatment by hand.

And many of the routine safeguards have not been available. Nurses couldn’t scan a medicine and a patient’s wristband to make sure the right patient was getting the right drug, increasing the odds of a medication error. And they have grown far less certain that doctors have received important updates of a patient’s status.

“Our big issue is that the cyberattack has crippled the nurses,” said Lisa Watson, a union nurse at an Ascension hospital in Wichita, Kan. She noted that the workload had significantly increased.

“This is much more than the old-time paper charting,” Ms. Watson said. Nurses have had to write prescriptions and other treatments on separate forms that go to different departments. Instead of getting immediate alerts on a computer, a nurse may not see a new lab result for hours.

On Tuesday, Ascension said it was “making progress in both restoring operations and reconnecting our partners into the network,” and some nurses say they may soon have limited access to previous records. But Ascension has not offered a timeline for restoration of full digital access, saying in an emailed statement Tuesday night only that “it will take time to return to normal operations.”

Few providers were willing to publicly discuss the extent of the damage wrought by the ransomware attacks, across many states and medical departments. The havoc has yet to be fully assessed, and Ascension is intent on keeping as much of its operations open as possible.

Union nurses say the cyberattack has worsened staffing shortages . The issue has dogged labor relations with Ascension, although the company has denied it. Nurses in Wichita recently clashed with the hospital’s management over whether there were too few nurses in the intensive care unit.

“Despite the challenges posed by the recent ransomware attack, patient safety continues to be our utmost priority,” Ascension said in an emailed statement. “Our dedicated doctors, nurses and care teams are demonstrating incredible thoughtfulness and resilience as we utilize manual and paper-based systems during the ongoing disruption to normal systems.”

“Our care teams are well versed on dynamic situations and are appropriately trained to maintain high-quality care during downtime,” it added. “Our leadership, physicians, care teams and associates are working to ensure patient care continues with minimal to no interruption.”

Ascension said it would tell patients if an appointment or a procedure might need to be rescheduled. The organization has not yet determined whether sensitive patient data has been compromised, and it is referring the public to its website for updates.

The risks to patient care from cyberattacks have been well-documented. Studies have shown that hospital mortality rises after an attack, and the effects may be felt even by neighboring hospitals, lowering the quality of care at the hospitals forced to take on additional patients.

An added concern is whether sensitive patient information has been compromised and who should be held accountable. In the fallout from the Change attack, doctors are pushing U.S. government health officials to make clear that Change bears responsibility for alerting patients. According to a letter from the American Medical Association and other physician groups earlier this week, doctors urged officials to “publicly state that its breach investigation and immediate efforts at remediation will be focused on Change Healthcare, and not the providers affected by Change Healthcare’s breach.”

These kinds of ransomware attacks have become increasingly common, as cybercriminals, often backed by criminals with ties to foreign states like Russia or China, have determined just how lucrative and disruptive targeting large health organizations can be. UnitedHealth’s chief executive, Andrew Witty, recently told Congress the company paid $22 million in ransom to cybercriminals.

The Change attack has drawn a lot more government attention to the problem. The White House and federal agencies have held several meetings with industry officials, and Congress asked Mr. Witty to appear earlier this month to discuss the hack in detail. Many lawmakers pointed to the increasing size of health care organizations as a reason the nation’s delivery of medical care to millions of Americans has become increasingly vulnerable.

Experts in cybersecurity say hospitals have little choice but to shut their systems down if a hacker manages to gain entry. Because the criminals infiltrate the entire computer system, “hospitals have no choice but to go to paper,” said Errol Weiss, chief security officer for the Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which he described as a virtual neighborhood watch for the industry.

He says it would be unrealistic to expect a hospital to have redundant systems in the event of a ransomware or malware attack. “It’s just not possible and feasible in this economic environment,” Mr. Weiss said.

Reed Abelson covers the business of health care, focusing on how financial incentives are affecting the delivery of care, from the costs to consumers to the profits to providers. More about Reed Abelson

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Klein isd student accused of orchestrating cyber attack that disrupted staar testing.

Christian Terry , Digital Content Producer

Bryce Newberry , Reporter

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A 18-year-old student at Klein Forest High School is currently wanted by police after they say he was responsible for cyber attacks that disrupted STAAR testing for thousands of students in the district.

Keontra Lamont Kenemore is accused of electronic access interference, which is a third degree felony. A warrant for his arrest was filed Thursday and records show he hasn’t been taken into custody.

Kenemore allegedly used his school-issued Chromebook to access sites that initiated Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, causing major internet disruptions during State Mandated Testing (STAAR) in the district back in April.

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On April 16, the Klein Forest High School testing coordinator started having internet service issues during the STAAR testing, according to court records.

The IT department investigated and found the district was experiencing a DDoS attack.

“This is like pulling the fire alarm in all schools in the Klein ISD school district at the same time and continuously for a number of hours,” said Nigel Neilsen, who owns local IT company Nickel Idealtek Inc.

The internet disruptions affected all campuses district-wide and about 3,000 students on their STAAR tests on April 16, which was the first day of the English Language Arts (ELA1/Reading) test. Students were locked out and had to stop and restart their writing essays and multiple choice test answer due to the online attack, records show.

“This is a really easy attack to perform. It probably only cost him about $20,” Neilsen said. “Literally, you can do it in about five minutes.”

The next day, April 17, 700 students were locked out of testing across the district and had to completely retake their STAAR tests due to the online disruption, according to records.

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On the third day of testing, April 18, Klein ISD IT received service interruptions at Klein Forest High School, which affected the district online testing.

In total, 6,981 students tested on April 16, with an additional 17,298 students testing on April 17. The number of students impacted by the disruptions to the district’s internet service across both days was 24,279, according to the documents.

When questioned by school administrators, Kenemore allegedly said he knew why they were having the meeting, before admitting to accessing the websites used to send the DDoS attacks on multiple occasions.

Neilsen compared the attack to a flash mob filling a restaurant, with no intention of dining or buying, leaving those who want to eat there unable to because it’s full.

“(Users) would have had timeout notices on the web browser. It would have been a 404 error saying, ‘Oh, sorry, something has gone wrong’,” he said.

After utilizing a link creator site that can collect the IP addresses of anyone who clicks on it, Kenemore allegedly used that information on a network stress tester site that appears to be hosted in Sweden, records show. The site didn’t have any safeguards of legitimate tools and is likely only used in a malicious environment, Neilsen said.

“This would have been a deliberate action because he utilized two different tools in order to identify the public IP address of the school district and then he would have had to manually copy and paste that into the attacking website," he said.

At Kenemore’s current address, no one came to the door on Monday evening, but a family member told KPRC 2′s Bryce Newberry over the phone he claimed it was an accident, that he was expelled and unable to graduate.

Investigators claim it was intentional in court records.

Klein ISD’s Accountability Rating from the Texas Education Agency could be impacted, records show. The TEA was closed Monday for a holiday and has not responded to KPRC 2′s request for comment.

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Klein ISD acknowledged KPRC 2′s request for comment on Monday evening, but the district was closed for the holiday and a spokesperson said a response may not come until Tuesday.

Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston - All rights reserved.

About the Authors

Christian terry.

Christian Terry covered digital news in Tyler and Wichita Falls before returning to the Houston area where he grew up. He is passionate about weather and the outdoors and often spends his days off on the water fishing.

Bryce Newberry

Bryce Newberry joined KPRC 2 in July 2022. He loves the thrill of breaking news and digging deep on a story that gets people talking.

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    A cyberattack is any intentional effort to steal, expose, alter, disable, or destroy data, applications, or other assets through unauthorized access to a network, computer system or digital device. Threat actors start cyberattacks for all sorts of reasons, from petty theft to acts of war. They use various tactics, like malware attacks , social ...

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    A virtual private network (VPN) is a great way to protect sensitive data, especially when accessing a public Wi-Fi network. A VPN encrypts all information transmitted by your device and helps prevent many types of cyberattacks. And finally, teachers and parents should educate children about proper internet usage.

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