Cyber Security and You

As high schoolers in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, we may not consider what is happening on a global scale, or even a national scale. We may not think about how daily, people are trying to steal our information, our parents information from servers across the web. In 2018 alone, billions of people were affected by cyber attacks(“Export Markets”), rounding up 500 billion dollars in 2015 through cyber crime (“Export Markets”).

(Cyber Security)

These crimes may not directly occur on our devices, to impact our lives. An example of this occurred in 2017. According to USA Today, when Equifax, one of the three largest credit reporting companies, recognized an error in one of their web application tools, and didn’t repair it quick enough. Within the two months it took to fix this hole in the web tool, hackers busted through and gained access to 143 million Americans information. These hackers targeted personal information such as the users name, social security information, birth dates, and so on. From this attack, 143 million Americans are at risk of identity theft (Bomeyn).

The cyber attack on Equifax would never have happened had Equifax kept up to date on cyber security, and ran a system up to standards.

Not all companies have this track record when it comes to cyber security. Amazon, an online retail tycoon, has relatively good cyber security. To prevent information from being stolen, Amazon, has a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). This “layer” keeps third parties from intervening with transactions from the consumer to the website(“How does Amazon”). This helps to prevent information being stolen during or after a transaction has occurred, because the information is only going from the consumer, direct to the site. Amazon also secures the data from insider breach, an employee taking the information with the intent to misuse (“How Does Amazon”). Along with these securities, Amazon verifies the information given to the site, to make sure its linked to an account (“How does Amazon”).

(Amazon Logo)

  Even with these protocols in place, Amazon is susceptible to cyber attacks. This past year, 2018, Amazon suffered multiple breaches, with one being a breach that released customer names and emails to the web (Brignall). Another attack removed funds from merchant accounts to fund their own accounts (Brignall).

With cyber security being a game of cat and mouse, between protocols and hackers, there is immense growth. A hacker may find a way around a firewall, but then the company improves, to form a stronger fire wall, or puts up new programs to stop future hackers. By being one of the fastest growing industries, we can plan on seeing lots of new developments within the field of cyber security.

Works Cited

Amazon Logo. Story Board, Aug. 2014, www.vmastoryboard.com/case-stories/2648/turner_duckworth_amazon_smile_logo/#sthash.aYnQ5zBF.dpbs. Accessed 16 Dec. 2019.

Bomeyn, Nathan et al. "Equifax data breach: What you need to know about hacking crisis." USA Today, 15 Sept. 2017, www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/09/15/equifax-data-breach-what-you-need-know-hacking-crisis/670166001/. Accessed 16 Dec. 2019.

Brignall, Miles. "Amazon hit with major data breach days before Black Friday." The Guardian, 21 Nov. 2018, www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/nov/21/amazon-hit-with-major-data-breach-days-before-black-friday. Accessed 16 Dec. 2019.

Cyber Security . ITU, 2019, www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Cybersecurity/Pages/global-cybersecurity-index.aspx. Accessed 16 Dec. 2019.

"Export markets - United States of America." Australian Government , Australian Trade and Investment Commission, 2019, www.austrade.gov.au/australian/export/export-markets/countries/united-states-of-america/industries/cyber-security-to-the-united-states. Accessed 16 Dec. 2019.

"How does Amazon handle cybersecurity?" UpGuard, 9 Dec. 2019, www.upguard.com/blog/prime-day-how-amazon-handles-cybersecurity. Accessed 16 Dec. 2019.

"What is cyber security? What you need to know." Norton, NortonLifeLock Inc. , 2019, us.norton.com/internetsecurity-malware-what-is-cybersecurity-what-you-need-to-know.html. Accessed 16 Dec. 2019.