COMP3260 Data Security

Introduction

Security of data or information is a very common problem for JL organization and in the last five years the problem of cybersecurity has increased. The JL organization started their company with few employees and it provides various kinds of online services to their customers and currently, only five people are working in this organization (Abomhara, & Køien, 2015). The main purpose of this report is to understand the fundamental concept of cybersecurity issues and methods to address the issues of computer securities. In the last few months, the employees of JL organization was facing the issue of performance, computer systems were not working properly and some malware are observed on the server of JL. The employees and manager of JL Company use D-link wireless routers which are very less secure and hackers use malicious software to block the networks of JL organization. This report is divided into four parts such as cybersecurity issues, methods to address these issues, a comparison between chosen methods and alternative approaches and cost of technologies or software.

Cybersecurity issues

There are many kinds of cybersecurity issues and threats identified that are faced by JL organization and their employees:

Ransomware attack

It is a very common security threat and cyber-attack which is a very serious problem for JL organization. It is a type of virus that attacks human peripheral devices like computer and mobile (AbouZahr, et al., 2015). In which first hackers send unwanted signals or mails to JL employees and after that, they collect all relevant data, for example, IP address and type of data links. Attackers use malware and botnet process to block the servers of JL and they store all personal information of consumers. At the end of ransomware attack hackers communicate with consumers and employees of JL through social Media and demand money to restore back their data. The employees of JL Company has identified that their data files and computer networks were corrupted and encrypted by attackers (Buczak, & Guven, 2016). Due to this kind of cyber issue the performance and efficiency of computer networks are also decreased.

Figure: ransomware attack steps

(Source: Gupta, Agrawal, & Yamaguchi, 2016)

DOS and DDOS attack

DOS is defined as a denial of services attack that is a very serious problem in the field of computer networks. In which hackers produce a large number of traffic signals and unwanted data with the help of malware software. JL organization faced the problem of DOS and DDOS because their employees use unauthorized websites. It is identified the JL community use wireless networks for communication purpose but they do not use any security system due to which the problem of DOS attack has occurred. In DOS attack hackers use flooding process and generate complex algorithm to block the servers of JL organization.

Figure: DOS attack

(Source: Lee, Bagheri, & Jin, 2016)

Poor passwords

The employees of JL used the poor password-based system and they do not use any security programmes for their computer systems. Hacker’s uses very advanced malicious systems to detect the location and passwords of employee’s peripheral devices. Due to poor passwords the data or information of JL can be leaked and they can suffer from any financial problem. To reduce this kind of security issues the management teams can adopt biometric recognition systems like a fingerprint, iris, and hand geometry (Lee, Bagheri, & Jin, 2016). Employees ensure that they use only authorized servers and make strong passwords on their accounts and computer devices.

Phishing

Phishing is a very common cybersecurity attack which try to collect personal data of an individual, for example, username, bank account, credit, and debit card details. It is also called as fraud attack that uses botnet process to produce spam emails and send to the JL organization websites. When employees click on spam links or emails then hackers identified users’ accounts details and control all information with the help of malware software. In the case of JL organization, they use third-party applications and software’s to store data or information which are developed by the malicious process. Due to which the performance and efficiency of computer networks are also reduced and users can lose their personal data.

Figure: phishing attack

(Source: Tweneboah, et al., 2017)

Unprecedented Attacks

There are many consumers that store their valuable data or information in a single computer and they log in their accounts into different computer devices by which they reduce security and privacy. The JL organization use cloud-based services to store data that are provided by third party sellers due to which they lose their privacy. JL can adopt the advanced communication systems and technologies like the internet of thing and cryptography to improve the security of their computer networks. JL society must make security programmes to avoid this type of cyber-attacks and use only private cloud-based services rather than public CBS (Li, Tao, Cheng, & Zhao, 2015).

All these security issues and threats should be addressed immediately because due to which the employees of JL can lose their private details like login ID, passwords, and bank details. Data breach is a very common problem for an organization and it occurs due to all these security threats and risks.

Methods to reduce the cybersecurity issues

Information technology has developed various kinds of techniques and processes to address the issues and threats of cyber security which are described below:

Figure: cybersecurity strategies

(Source: Min, Chai, & Han, 2015)

Encryption method

It is one of the most common processes to address security issues and many organizations use this technology. Hackers use malicious software to block the computer networks and servers and they collect data. In this technique, the data or signals converted into a form of code which is transmitted from one source to other. The main advantage of this process is that hackers are not able to decrypt the input code without permission and JL organization can adopt this method to improve the privacy of signals.

Figure: an Encryption process

(Source: Tweneboah, et al., 2017)

Cryptography

It is an advanced technology in the field of computer security which is used to detect the malware and unwanted signals from the server. It has the ability to hide the data and convert into a particular data bit and keep data secure and confidential. JL Company deals with a large amount of data for which they can develop the cryptography technology and employees should ensure that they use only authorized websites.

Figure: Cryptography process

(Source: Safa, Von & Furnell, 2016)

Firewall software

Firewall is a type of security application which is developed to avoid malware and cyber-attacks and it identifies the traffic signals from computer networks. In the case of JL management team can purchase the firewall software and download into their computer devices to block the malware signals.

Figure: Firewall versus antivirus

(Source: Tsai, et al., 2015)

Antivirus and backup plans

Antivirus is a process to analyze and controls the malware attacks and many organizations use this step to reduce the DDOS attacks. The main advantage of this process is that employees can identify the fraud emails and messages after that they can block the networks of malicious software’s. Backup plan is also an important step and cloud computing is a modern method that can be adopted by JL.

Comparison of the chosen solution and alternative solutions

For the security of JL organization, there are main two technologies can be used, for example, encryption and cryptography which secure the information from the attackers. Moreover, if the data or information is lost the attackers ate not able to access the accounts of users and JL can take their benefits to secure data. As compared to other alternative solution the encryption is very popular techniques in the field of computer security (Sharma, & Rawat, 2015). This process is more effective and very low cost rather than alternative solution due to this advantage JL can adopt this process and it converts signals into a code which cannot be read by any hacker. It provides security to users data at the time of transmission and at receiver side decryption process is used to convert code into original information. Cryptography is the latest security process that can be used along with the encryption process because it has the capability to identify the malware and fraud signals as compared to an alternative process.

Breakdown of the cost of addressing the security issue

To reduce the issues and threats of cyber security the JL organization can adopt security programmes and steps. The cost of using the network security systems the JL community requires around 1200 dollar in which 50% cost is used for installation and development of security and rest of money is used for maintenance and establishment purpose. Around 30 to 70 dollars are used for security applications and software’s like antivirus and firewall systems. The amount requires for encryption process for JL organization is not fixed because it is completely depended upon the size of data and networks.

Figure: a cost of implementing the encryption technology

(Source: Shafqat, & Masood, 2016)

Conclusion

Cybersecurity is defined as a process that provides a platform to protect data of JL organization and security of computer networks is a very complex process. The JL organization is a very small social authority that faced many security issues and threats due to which the performance of computer devices are also decreased. This report described the security threats and issues faced by JL society and methods to address their security issues. The employees of JL should use strong password base system and they can adopt biometric recognition process to improve the privacy of their data. JL ensure that employees use only authentic servers and websites to access their private accounts and use only private networks to store personal data.

References

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Gupta, B., Agrawal, D. P., & Yamaguchi, S. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of research on modern cryptographic solutions for computer and cybersecurity. IGI Global.

Lee, J., Bagheri, B., & Jin, C. (2016). Introduction to cyber manufacturing. Manufacturing Letters, 8, 11-15.

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Shafqat, N., & Masood, A. (2016). Comparative analysis of various national cybersecurity strategies. International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security, 14(1), 129.

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