A Review of Cyber Security and Cyber-Attacks – What to Know?

Abstract

In this era, human activities have seen a shift and our majority activities including social, cultural, economic and even governmental and NGOs are being done in the cyberspace, especially during and after the crisis of corona pandemic. Due to this shift in communication culture, many individuals and organizations including governments have to face cyber-attacks. Due to heavy reliance on technology and little awareness, defending against cyber-attacks is very challenging. Cyber attacks are usually conducted with the goal of harming an organization or individual financially or these attacks may also be motivated for political or military purposes. Viruses, malwares, ransomwares,denial-of-service and phishing attacks are some of the examples. To protect themselves, organizations employ variety of strategies to mitigate or prevent the threat of these attacks. To prevent and mitigate cyber-attacks, researchers and professionals have devised a number of techniques. This paper is written to thoroughly study and analyze these various approaches and proposed cybersecurity standards, and also to look into the problems, limitations and strengths of these techniques. Fundamental concepts of cyber-attacks and cyber security are discussed along with the current advancements and upcoming trends in security of cyberspace. Such a comprehensive review paper would be highly beneficial.