Computers and Cybersecurity
Introduction
Computer technology has found its way in every sector of the society from governance, to health, education and the business sector among many others. The introduction of smart mobile technology and the easy access to internet services has led to the increase in the ways in which computer technologies can be applied including building social networks through social media networks, to money transactions through mobile applications. This means that there is a lot of data sharing and storage through the computer networks which comes at the cost of cyber-attacks which have grown at the same level and speed with technological advancements. There is a need to protect and recover networks, devices, and programs from cyber-attacks and threats in order to protect people, data, businesses, and organizations from damage.
Security issues with ubiquitous data, mobile device, and Cybersecurity
Smartphones in the last decade have become very ubiquitous more than half of the adults in the United States of America own one. Due to the availability of the Internet of Things, people tend to put so much trust in the smartphones and store a lot of their personal information including credit card numbers in the devices (Novak, 2016). Most of the mobile phone applications such as social media apps require the user to state their location. Attackers may take advantage of the location information to track the user’s movements. State actors may also use the location of a device user, to track the employees of a particular organization and execute their attacks based on the surveillance information. Attackers also use mobile devices to attack an organization whereby an employee’s device infected through the public access point. On one hand, the employee’s device gets infected by connecting to the free public Wi-Fi and spreads the malware when they connect to their organization’s networks. On the other hand, the devices could be infected when off the network and when the user attaches to their organization’s network, the malware spreads causing theft or damage of data among other cybercrimes. Mobile device users need to keep checking their devices for any abnormalities in their functioning and take immediate action to mitigate cyber threats.
Cybersecurity implications of cloud computing
Cloud computing involves the storage of data, applications and software in a cloud that one can easily have access to business resources through any device, given that they have a connection to the internet (Zissis & Lekkas, 2012). It, therefore, poses a huge threat to cyber-attacks since information is stored online where an attacker can easily it. Majority of the cloud service are public such as those by Google or Azure which mean that the resources offered for use in handling computing workloads are available to many people. Data can, therefore, be easily accessed by third parties is appropriate measures are not taken. It is wise to make use of private clouds that are designed exclusively for each organization for improved security and protection from cyber-attacks. Another major issue that may face the use of computing for an organization is the fact that employees can access the resources from any location and device hence increasing exposure to threats. It is therefore very important that multiple authentication steps which include password, PINS and VPNs be used. Accidental deletion of data by the cloud service provider may occur leading to the loss of data for an organization or personal data. Loss of the encryption key despite having encrypting data before storing it to the cloud will also lead to the loss of data. Cloud computing, therefore, requires more than having a strong authentication measure for data safety and protection.
Cybersecurity implication of quantum computing
Quantum computers operate on data that is in the form of qubits or quantum bits. Qubits have the ability to reside more than one of two positions simultaneously making the quantum more convenient in terms of its enhanced computing power. Quantum computing is believed to bring positive changes to cybersecurity due to its pleasant speed boost that it provides when it comes to providing a solution to complex mathematical problems (Keplinger, 2018). It promises to offer security that facilitates the sharing of cryptographic keys among remote parties. However, it faces some cybersecurity implications. Due to their ability to make cryptographic calculations to break various cryptosystems, attackers may take advantage of this highly sophisticated ability to crack into systems previously known to be safe from attacks. If the quantum computers are not separated from the outside environment and maintained at zero temperatures, they lead to the loss of significant data through quantum decoherence. Quantum decoherence cannot be removed once it starts to occur hence the need to use the quantum computer in a well-controlled environment for efficiency and for data protection.
Conclusion
Cybersecurity is an issue with no promise of ending as it advances with the expansion in technology. The ubiquitous access to mobile devices largely facilitates cyber-attacks as surveillance is made easy and personal information is largely available. The cloud is a convenient space for storing information but poses a great threat to attacks based on whether the server is private or public. Quantum computing is the future of technology with a promise of enhanced security, however, if it falls on the hands of attackers, the damage I estimated to be grave.
References
Keplinger, K. (2018). Is quantum computing becoming relevant to cyber-security? Network Security, 2018(9), 16-19.
Novak, E. (2016). Security and Privacy for Ubiquitous Mobile Devices.
Zissis, D., & Lekkas, D. (2012). Addressing cloud computing security issues. Future Generation computer systems, 28(3), 583-592.
