Network Security Concerns in the Current Society

Network Security Concerns in the Current Society

Reasons for Uptick in Network Security Concerns

Various reasons have fostered a slight upward trend in network security concerns in society. The first reason responsible for this rise is that organizations are in a position to afford the cost of cyber insurance. One of the recent reports released at the onset of this year indicates that the number of organizations experiencing cyber-insurance challenges may double as the second half of this financial year begins (Pereira et al., 2017). One of the most significant challenges outlined in the just-released report is that many organizations cannot afford the charges for cyber insurance, as exhibited by the global decline in coverage. While most organizations cannot comply with the current regulations, it would be an uphill task for organizations to comply with the newly introduced requirements focused on risk mitigation and security program maturity.

The second reason for the increase in Network Security Concerns is the rapid expansion of the attack surface. Recent research conducted in 2021 indicated that there was a total of 11.3 billion IoT devices globally (Pereira et al., 2017). However, this number has increased to 15.1 billion in less than two years. Therefore, the current increase in the number of IoT devices has served to increase network security concerns as intruders are not only stealing sensitive data but also attacking corporate assets stored on a device connected to a home network (Pereira et al., 2017). Lastly, the rising cases of hacktivism have also increased concerns about network security. In the geopolitical space, the pro-Ukraine and pro-Russian hackers often launch attacks with political motives, while environmental hacktivists are fond of targeting mining and oil production firms.

Table for Common Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Risks for “Real World Security”

Common Threats	Vulnerabilities	Risks
Angry employees	Software bugs	Financial losses
Criminals	Ineffective controls	Loss of confidence
Governments	Hardware flaws	Disruption of business
Terrorists	Broken processes	Legal penalties
The Press	System misconfigurations	Damage to reputation
Competitors	Poor Data encryption	Loss of life
Hackers	Week authorization credentials	The decline in the company’s market share
Nature	Sensitive Data Exposure	Impaired growth

 

Examples of Security Vulnerabilities

Phishing is one of the security vulnerabilities that an end user needs to understand beforehand. It refers to targeting individuals or groups by email, text messaging, phone calls, or social media updates (Ranaweera et al., 2021). An end user should be aware of the various types of phishing, such as spear phishing and whaling. A user can protect himself from these attacks by confirming the legitimacy of all the messages they receive by using a trusted phone number to reach the sender. The second example of security vulnerability is password reuse (Ranaweera et al., 2021). This vulnerability encompasses using one password for multiple accounts. In this case, once a scammer steals one password, the password can be used to log on to various sites. Therefore, users should consider using unique and lengthy passwords for each account.

An Instance of Security Breach in an Organization

Security was breached in Marriott International in September 2018 when it announced that sensitive details belonging to half a million of its guests had been exposed to third-party individuals. After conducting investigations, the company discovered that an authorized party had copied and encrypted information. However, by November 2018, Marriott was able to decrypt the information and took significant steps towards removing it. Some of the data that had been lost included guests’ names, phone numbers, mailing addresses, and email information. Despite these measures, the company was fined £18.4 million by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) IN 2020 for failure to keep personal data secure.

References

Pereira, T., Barreto, L., & Amaral, A. (2017). Network and information security challenges within the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Procedia Manufacturing, 13, 1253-1260.

Ranaweera, P., Jurcut, A., & Liyanage, M. (2021). MEC-enabled 5G use cases: a survey on security vulnerabilities and countermeasures. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), 54(9), 1–37.

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Create a 1- to 2-page (single-spaced) paper on the reasons for network security concerns using Microsoft® Word to detail the following:

Describe 3 possible reasons for the uptick in Network Security Concerns.

Include an additional page for a table of common threats, vulnerabilities, and risks for “real-world security.”
Based on your knowledge of current affairs, this week’s readings, or online research, describe 2 examples of security vulnerabilities that an end user needs to know in order to take precautions beforehand.
Describe an instance when security was breached in your organization, school, or an organization known to you. Include a description of how the attack was detected, what protocol was used, and what steps were used to resolve it.

Cite any sources to support your assignment.

Format your citations according to APA guidelines.