Understanding critical cybersecurity and IT terms
Fundamental to the defense and betterment of cybersecurity strategies is knowledge of concepts and terminology. More so now with the rapid expanse of remote services, technology, and adoption. Management and staff alike should arm themselves with understanding cybersecurity concepts. It allows them to approach “red-flag” scenarios in a dynamic, educated way.
It isn’t to suggest you will need an expert’s knowledge. However, as with any concept, knowing the basics makes a big difference. Concepts in cybersecurity include terms related to defense philosophies, cybersecurity attack types, and software tools.
Basic cybersecurity concepts
DDoS (or DoS)
A denial of service/direct denial of service attack is a longstanding method used by malicious parties, designed to overload services to render websites/services unusable. External IP addresses overwhelm targets with traffic for an indeterminate amount of time.
Typically, attackers utilize this to stall services and/or demand a ransom. If possible, having service backups can help mitigate the effects of a DDoS.
Incident Response
An umbrella phrase for the unilateral and coordinated response to IT events, such as system failure, malware attacks, or unexpected service disruptions reaching across sections of a network.
Also serves as a set of guidelines and rules to navigate cybersecurity intrusion events.
MSP (Managed Service Provider)
An MSP, like Bytagig, is a third-party IT resource with remote accessibility. Can provide in full the necessary services and infrastructure for businesses, such as security support, software suites, and cloud functionality. Often used when an enterprise lacks the expertise to manage its own IT.
Security Event Management
A SIEM (security information and event management) is a central platform for managing aspects of cybersecurity. Maintains logs and information about cybersecurity behavior for use in other programs and/or strategies.
Threat Climate
A phrase referring to the risk level of current cybersecurity trends, international or otherwise. For example, during the start of the COVID pandemic and adoption of remote work services, the threat climate was dangerous with the increase in unsafe internet-facing devices and networks.
Persistent Threat
As the name implies, a persistent threat is a malicious event that remains in a network after intrusion. Usually ransomware or other data sniffing entities do so to eventually encrypt information. The longer a persistent threat lasts, the more damage is done to a network.
User Behavior Analytics
A method to analyze user behavior internally and externally. Analytics help gauge threat factors, best determining where malicious actions occur from. Insider threats pose the same, if not greater, risk to an enterprise, so it’s important to utilize this tool when deemed necessary.
Internet Facing (Device)
Any and all devices, such as mobile hardware, laptops, or “smart” devices with internet connection capabilities. The more internet-facing devices there are on a network, the higher the risk there is for intrusion. Enterprise leads should keep tabs on what they allow to connect to their network to help mitigate said risks.
There are other cybersecurity concepts and terms to familiarize with, but the core concepts are listed here. Understanding these branches can greatly improve competency within an organization. Individuals can also benefit from knowing key cybersecurity terms too.
If you want to learn more, you can contact Bytagig for additional information.
