Protecting people, systems and data from cyber attacks, so the business can keep working.
Cyber security is the practice of lowering both the chance and the damage of cyber attacks, for individuals and for organisations. It protects the digital services and devices people depend on, and the data and personal information held on them, whether that sits on local equipment or in the cloud. It also helps new technologies, artificial intelligence among them, to be adopted safely so that their benefits can be realised.
In practice it is a mix of technology, working processes and policies. For a business it is part of managing risk, and it is best treated as a core part of operational resilience and not as a separate IT topic.
Most organisations rely on digital technology to operate. Cyber security helps essential services and national infrastructure keep running in an increasingly connected world.
An organisation hit by a cyber attack or a data breach can face financial loss, a long service disruption, regulatory penalties and damage to its reputation.
Phones, smart devices, computers and online accounts are part of daily life. Good security keeps criminals out of accounts and lets people go online with confidence.
Attackers also follow technology. Each new way of working gives them a new opening, which is why the threat keeps changing and why the defence has to keep up.
Cyber security is not only a matter for specialists. Whether someone runs critical infrastructure or simply sets up a child’s phone, they influence how safe the wider digital world is. Organisations stay ahead of criminals and hostile states only when everyone takes their share of the responsibility.
Fast, on-demand access to computing makes networks harder to manage. Misconfigured settings and poorly secured connections between systems can give attackers a way in.
Using more than one provider can leave gaps in who has access to what, scatter security tools and multiply the chances of human error.
More people, devices and applications connecting from more places means more to protect, including personal devices used for work.
Many internet-connected devices are sold with weak protection or none, which makes them easy to take over.
AI tools bring risks of their own, such as being tricked into revealing confidential information. Attackers also use AI to produce convincing scams and harmful code quickly.
Effective protection comes in layers across an organisation’s technology. Different organisations group the layers differently. These eight are a common way to look at them.
Stops unauthorised access to networks, detects and halts attacks in progress, and keeps authorised people able to reach what they need.
Protects the laptops, phones, servers and other devices that connect to the organisation, often managed together from one place.
Finds and fixes weaknesses in software, with security testing built into the way it is developed.
Protects cloud-based systems and data. The work is shared: the provider secures its services, and the customer protects its own data, code and settings.
Protects important information in any form, digital or paper, from unauthorised access, use or change. Data security is its digital part.
Protects digital identities and the systems that manage them, through identity checks, access control and blocking unauthorised access.
Protects the systems and data that a society relies on for national security, the economy and public safety.
Protects AI systems from misuse and attack. The phrase is also used for using AI to strengthen security.
Software written to harm a computer system or its users. Nearly every modern attack involves some form of it.
Malware that locks data or devices and demands payment to release them.
Fraudulent emails, texts or calls that trick people into installing malware, giving up information or sending money. Targeted versions aim at particular people, such as those who approve payments.
Attackers steal or guess logins to take over accounts, often starting with a phishing message.
Misuse of legitimate access by employees, contractors or partners, deliberate or accidental, or an account taken over by criminals. It can be hard to spot because it looks like normal activity.
Criminals use AI to produce convincing fake messages and documents quickly, and try to manipulate an organisation’s own AI tools into leaking data.
Secretly using someone else’s device to mine cryptocurrency, which uses up its computing power.
Overloading a website or online service with traffic until it fails, often with a network of hijacked machines. Attackers sometimes combine it with ransomware or threaten it to demand payment.
Awareness training helps staff spot phishing and avoid risky habits, such as oversharing online or ignoring software updates.
Use tools that detect and block attempted data theft, and encryption that makes any stolen data useless.
Manage who can reach what. Multi-factor authentication means a stolen password alone is not enough, and a zero trust approach enforces strict checks.
Keep finding, assessing and fixing weaknesses and exposed entry points, looking at the organisation the way an attacker would.
Monitoring and analysis tools help spot attacks in progress. They work best as part of a written incident response plan.
Disaster recovery capability, such as switching to a backup held elsewhere, helps a business resume operations after an attack such as ransomware.
A few myths are worth dropping. A strong password is a good start but not enough on its own, because passwords can be phished, captured by malware or bought. The list of risks is never complete, because threats keep changing. No sector is exempt, and small organisations are targeted as well as large ones.
Prevention is only half the story. However good the defences, an incident can still get through, so organisations also plan how to keep critical services running and how to recover. That is where business continuity, IT service continuity and IT disaster recovery meet cyber security. The NCSC puts it plainly: cyber security should be a key part of every organisation’s operational resilience.
ADVOX looks at cyber incidents as one of the disruptions an organisation should plan, test and exercise for. See Cyber Threats and IT Service Continuity, what is operational resilience? and ADVOX’s incident response and crisis management simulations. This guide is an introduction. It is not a technical security assessment or a substitute for specialist cyber security advice.
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Source: UK National Cyber Security Centre, What is cyber security?
Source: IBM, What is cybersecurity?
This guide is ADVOX’s own summary, written in its own words, and is not an NCSC or IBM publication. The sources remain the reference. ADVOX is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the NCSC or IBM. Copyright in the sources named above belongs to their owners.