What is Cyber Security?

Defining Cyber Security

Cyber security is becoming a more popular topic in our society due to our lives being essentially held on our electronic devices. Understanding cyber security and why you should care about it is the first step in being able to protect yourself and your information. We at KidsShield want to help you to understand these topics which can seem daunting, and too vast to learn. Today we will focus on defining cyber security and the aspects involved in it. 

We can define cyber security as simply as the practice of protecting computers, mobile devices, internet networks and electronic systems from malicious attacks (Check out this blog post to learn what a malicious attack is). There are different categories within cyber security that make up the concept, so we need to define each category to know what cyber security is!

Aspects of Cyber Security

The first category we will talk about is End-user Education, and probably the most simple of all. This is being conscious and aware when clicking certain links, downloading online applications, using a strange USB drive and much more. When browsing online be conscious of the websites you visit as they may be posing as a trusted website but are really out to steal your information. Similar can happen if you see an account password reset message on your email that you did not request, you can learn more about this topic here and here!

Next up is Mobile Security which is the protection of your devices that are on the go with you! There are different ways to protect these devices compared to your classic anti-virus software that you would install on your computer. This can overlap a little bit with end-user education because a lot of it comes down to how you operate on your devices. But there are also apps now, such as VPN blockers that can help to encrypt your information when connecting to public wifi sources (read more here!). Or specific encrypted apps to store your information on rather than the way your device already does it. 

The third aspect is Information Security and this is referring to protecting the sensitive information that is on your devices from illegal activity. This information can range from credit card numbers, your SIN, your address and other things that hackers can use against you in attacks. These things can be protected by simply not storing the information on your devices, clearing all of the history and stored information currently on your device, and by frequently monitoring accounts to ensure no one has gained access. 

Network Security is the fourth category that we will discuss in regard to defining cyber security. This refers to the protection of the network you operate on aka your internet connection. You can protect this in many different ways such as turning on network encryption that will make your information look jumbled and unrecognizable to people you don't want to view it. Or by turning on your router firewall to prevent unwanted traffic on your network.

The last aspect we will look at is Disaster Recovery, or how you respond to cyber attack or hacking situations. After something like that happens it is key to change all of your password and account information, credit card or bank account information, and even create new accounts that are more secure to ensure that those who had access in the past no longer do. 

It can feel overwhelming to learn about cyber security and how to protect yourself but we at Kids Shields are here to help you. Make sure to check out our other blogs to find more information and resources. You can also sign up for our email list to ensure you never miss a new post, and have access to more valuable information!