Cyber security
What is cyber security or information technology security, why is it important, and what are some common threats and vulnerabilities?
Cyber security: What is it?
Cyber security is the practice of protecting networks, systems, and programs from digital attacks. That can be attacks such as social engineering, financial cyber crime, and other types.
Cyber attacks are usually aimed at interrupting business processes; obtaining financial gain; or accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information. Cyber security may also be referred to as information technology security.
The core of cyber security is about businesses building a strong security culture. It is also about raising security awareness among citizens to prevent cyber crime from happening–and succeeding. Whether we talk about individuals, businesses, or governments, our entire society depends on a safe, stable, and resilient cyber space.
Why is cyber security important?
Governments, the military, and other socially critical organisations collect, process, and store large amounts of data on computers, in data warehouses and other devices. Much of this data can include sensitive information.
Exposure of this data, such as personal information, financial data, intellectual property, can in many cases have negative consequences. This includes harm to business competitiveness, citizen trust in institutions, consumer trust in companies, and personal reputations.
Establishing a strong security culture within organisations—as well as raising awareness among the world’s citizens—is becoming increasingly important. Now, as cyber security faces more sophisticated threats, the focus on solutions needs to be even stronger.
Learn more about why cyber security is such an important topic.
Cyber security threats and vulnerabilities
A cyber security threat is a malicious act with the intent of accessing, stealing, or damaging data. These acts can come in a variety of forms that can be devastating to an individual, a business, and society as a whole. Cyber attackers can also have a goal to damage a person’s reputation or perform extortion of different kinds.
Two of the most widespread types of cyber attacks are different types of social engineering, also known as social manipulation, and financial cyber crime. Often, cyber criminals gain advantage by exploiting vulnerabilities in code.
What might such attacks look like?
Malware
Malicious code that the victim is tricked into downloading. Malware often infects devices through phishing or smishing (see definitions below).
Ransomware
Attacks where the attacker locks the user’s system files and demands a payment to decrypt and unlock them.
Social engineering
Manipulation technique where cyber criminals trick users into carrying out specific actions. This includes providing confidential information, transferring money, or downloading files that install malware on the company network.
Phishing
Tactics include fake emails, websites, and text messages to steal information. These emails are sent to thousands of people and do not target you specifically. Phishing attacks might also be performed through SMS (smishing) or voice mails and phone calls (vishing).
How we work with security in Visma
For us at Visma, security is and will continue to be one of our main priorities. That means it is integrated into all parts of our complex organisation. We do this to ensure that our customers’ data, our own data, and our own infrastructure are top-notch. This is a basic requirement for our business and services. It is, and will continue to be, one of our highest concerns.
We work with security in several ways. One is to establish a strong security culture among our employees. Another is to ensure that we have established processes, methods, technologies and embraced proven standards. This is to ensure security and accessibility for our customers.
The nature of security threats and cybercrime is constantly changing. In our role as a cloud solutions provider, we have made security awareness a natural part of our process.
Questions and answers about cyber security
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