Cybersecurity Guides Archives

Hardware Firewall vs Software Firewall

Organizations and individuals use firewalls as one of the standard security tools. They use the security appliance to regulate ongoing connections and incoming traffic within a network. A firewall acts as a security barrier by detecting and filtering malicious data packets. These packets can potentially harm an entire network and connected personal computers or other physical devices. Moreover, depending on the firewall’s configuration, it can prevent specific programs or applications from accessing internet connectivity and block outgoing or incoming traffic. There are two primary groups of firewall models – hardware firewall vs software firewall. They both provide the same security … Read more

Cybersecurity Risk Management in 2021

by George Mutune

Cybersecurity risk management refers to the process of identifying, analyzing, evaluating, and responding to your organization’s cybersecurity threats. The process takes the idea of real-world enterprise risk management and applies it to the cyber world. This strategy, in turn, helps enterprises identify risks and vulnerabilities and apply comprehensive security solutions and administrative actions to keep the entire organization protected. A cyber risk assessment is the first step of any cybersecurity risk management process. This step would give a business owner an overview of the threats that could endanger their company’s cybersecurity, as well as their severity. NIST defines cyber risk … Read more

How Cybercriminals Plan Attacks

by Joseph Ochieng

How cybercriminals plan attacks is a basic question that every cybersecurity expert needs to know. Cybercriminals use various tools and techniques to identify the vulnerabilities of their target victims. The target can either be an individual or an organization. Most cyber-attacks aim at stealing valuable information or breaching systems. Criminals plan active and passive attacks. Active attacks actively aim to alter the targeted system. On the other hand, passive attacks only attempt to acquire as much information as possible about their target. Active attacks may affect the integrity, authenticity, and availability of data, whereas passive attacks lead to breaches of … Read more

Multi Factor Authentication (MFA)

by Donald Korinchak, MBA, PMP, CISSP, CASP, ITILv3

More and more companies and private individuals have been looking for better ways to keep their data secure in recent years. No one is truly safe, with huge companies like Facebook, Ticketfly, and T-Mobile suffering from devastating data breaches in 2018. With data breaches happening so frequently, many individuals are understandably worried about exposing their data and suffering from financial loss. Key cybersecurity measures like enabling a firewall, installing antivirus software, and using encryption technology can only do so much against cybercriminals. Hackers have been using more sophisticated software to steal corporate and private data, so you should do everything … Read more

Incident Response – A Complete Guide

by Joseph Ochieng

Incident response is an organized approach addressing and managing the aftermath of a security breach or cyber-attack, also known as a security incident, computer incident, or IT incident. A cyber-attack such as a data breach can cause havoc to an organization and, therefore, should be handled to limit damage and reduce associated costs and recovery time. A comprehensive investigation is done about the given incident to prepare for the future. Advancement in technology has led to an increase in the number of security incidents. As technology becomes better, black hats also enhance their skills and techniques, implying that organizations are … Read more

Ethical Hacking – A Complete Guide

by Joseph Ochieng

Ethical hacking is the science of testing your computers and networks for security vulnerabilities and plugging the loopholes you find before guys with malicious intentions get a chance to exploit them. Ethical, for the sake of professional security testing techniques covered in this article, has been used to mean conforming to accepted professional standards of conduct. All the tests included in this text require obtaining written permission from the owner(s) of the system. Defining Hacker Traditionally, a hacker is someone who likes to tinker with electronic systems, software, or computers. Hackers enjoy learning and exploring new techniques on how to … Read more

Virtualization Security – A Complete Guide

by Joseph Ochieng

Despite being a concept born fifty years ago, virtualization has advanced and can satisfy complex applications currently being developed. Half of all servers run on Virtual Machines (VMs), and the IDC predicts that close to 70% of entire computer workloads will run on VMs by 2024. As virtualization components increase and the virtualized environment expands, the main concern becomes how to maintain safe security levels and integrity. Below is a brief look into some of the differences, issues, challenges, and risks caused by virtualization. This paper also provides some recommendations to ensure that the network is secure to the required … Read more

Cybersecurity Alliances – A Complete Guide

by George Mutune

In the English Poet Jon Donne’s (1624) words, “No man is an island, entire of itself.” This statement is true for nations, corporations, and individuals. In an article about “The Importance of Alliances for U.S. Security” published on Heritage.org, Martin Murphy states that “states of roughly equivalent weights may feel emboldened to pursue riskier foreign policies because their allies are obligated to come to their rescue.” An alliance can be a formal, written treaty or an informal, unwritten agreement based on anything that ranges between tacit understandings and verbal assurances. The primary goal of any alliance is to advance the … Read more

Cyber Threat Hunting – A Complete Guide

by Joseph Ochieng

Cyber threat hunting is the process of proactively hunting for attackers or malware that are lurking in your network system and may have laid undetected. Just like real-life hunting, cyber threat hunting can be quite challenging and requires a uniquely trained professional with considerable patience, creativity, critical thinking, and a keen eye for sporting out the target prey. The prey may be quietly listening for confidential information, patiently siphoning off data, or working their way toward significant data, which can help them access crucial information or assets. Every organization needs additional cyber protections in addition to commercial cybersecurity solutions. This … Read more

Network Security Policy – A Complete Guide

by Joseph Ochieng

The organization’s network security policy is an official document that lays out the organization’s security expectations. The Network Security Policy outlines the security processes and the sanctions faced by those who fail to comply with the stated doctrines. Lack of a well-defined network security policy may lead to a loss of resources and opportunities for the organization. An ill-defined policy lacks any usefulness to the organization and only makes security an ad hoc process governed by the person in charge at that given moment. Loosely, a security policy is a formal set of rules that those who are granted access … Read more

Computer Forensics – A Complete Guide

by Joseph Ochieng

Introduction to Computer Forensics Computer Forensics is used to answer two of the most commonly asked questions about hacking attempts and data breaches: How did the attack happen? Is there a possibility of recurrence, and can such threats be prevented from ever happening again in the future? There are no specific answers to these questions as it depends on the level of severity or rather the complexity of the cyber-attack. The process of identifying how the attack happened and whether it can happen again in the future can take weeks or even months. For an in-depth analysis of the origin … Read more

Cyber Threat Analysis – A Complete Guide

by Joseph Ochieng

Cyber threat analysis is the process of assessing the cyber activities and capabilities of unknown intelligence entities or criminals. A cybersecurity threat or “cyber threat” can be defined as a malicious act that seeks to disrupt digital life. This act could be the disruption of a communication pathway, the damage of data, or stealing data. Hackers target enterprises, governments, institutions, or even individuals with valuable information. Threats posed by cyber-attacks include denial of service attacks (DoS), computer viruses, malware, phishing emails, and others. The attacks target anyone with an online presence. Cyber-attacks can lead to electrical blackouts, breaches of government … Read more

Types of Cybersecurity

by Hicham

The purpose of this Types of Cybersecurity Guide is to provide a simple framework for integrating cybersecurity activities and give a brief overview of the security controls that should be exercised. Cybercrime is a growing concern in the digital environment. Most smaller companies do not have their own cyber security teams and cyber criminals who seek financial or business benefits are likely to target these smaller and more vulnerable targets. This Types of Cybersecurity Guide contains the different types of cybersecurity and their safeguards. We have compiled a list of 12 cybersecurity themes, along with basic and advanced recommendations that … Read more