Module 4

Megan Flinders

Module 4

 

Can You Hear Me Now?

 

                For this assignment I researched cybersecurity jobs and interviewed my husband who works in the field (he is responsible for helping clients at his work who run into issues with all sorts of fraud and identity theft related incidents).  I also chose this specific topic due to the several recent stories in the news about big companies with cybersecurity incidents including Target and Home Depot.  What I found in reading several articles on the topic was a central theme of people being defrauded.  Sometimes companies had system vulnerabilities or weaknesses that went unnoticed for long periods of time, and many customer’s information was unintentionally shared.  Other times individuals did not know the party with which they were communicating was in fact the fraudster.  In the end, Verizon’s catchy theme of “Can you hear me now?” all of the sudden had a new meaning to me.  With whom are we really communicating, and are these the parties with which we want to share our confidential information?

                In my research I came across several types of cyber security jobs.  The jobs ranged from Security Analysts and Engineers who asses the vulnerabilities of software, hardware, and networks and engage in forensic analysis to detect security incidents (which is what my husband deals with), to those of Cryptanalysts and Cryptographers who analyze and break malicious code to determine the intent of the program or build programs which use complex algorithms to encrypt information.  There are also Chief Information Officers who are responsible for the entire Information Security operation all the way down to very specialized analysts who work directly with specific systems or issues.

I also came across all sorts of fraud that occurs due to the vast network of computers and information.  We have been reading and discussing in “The World is Flat” all of the different ways globalization has flattened information barriers and increased the connectivity of people.  Most of the discussion revolves around the positives of information sharing and popular technological enhancements such as online libraries for music, photo libraries, and mass storage.  However, with all of the positives come some negatives.  There are those people who not only want to share productive forms of information and entertainment, but those who wish to spread viruses, malware and other harmful, and mostly unwanted products.  This is where cybersecurity comes to the forefront.

                Most companies have an IT department that focuses on the security of their company’s network.  My husband described in my interview the fact that this goes above and beyond simply anti-virus software and computer firewalls.  He mentioned that his work often goes through testing scenarios to detect certain vulnerabilities in their systems and to also fortify the policies and procedures to protect their employees and clients from acts of fraud.  The difficult part, he said, not only keeping up with the new trends and hacking attempts, but trying to be one step ahead.  He mentioned that his work has dedicated teams that focus on all areas of cybersecurity prevention and remediation.

                Several resources are available for everyday people to educate themselves on the different forms of fraud and how to protect oneself from becoming a victim.  OnGuardeOnline.gov is a site my husband directed me to that aims to educate about cybersecurity.  It lists ways to avoid scams, protect your kids online, and securing your computer to name a few.  I think for most people my age and younger, most of this stuff is pretty inherent.  My parent’s generation may not be quite as savvy though, so these broad-based tips would help them greatly.  I did, however, find information and articles that were even helpful to me in explaining how to properly secure a network and computer.  After all, the last thing I want is to be giving my credit card number or other personal information to a fraudster through a phishing scheme or virus of some sort.

                In the end, cybersecurity is only going to continue to increase in importance as more people and their devices become interconnected through our ever flattening world.  It is vital to stay up to date on the latest prevention techniques and to be sure our information is secure with all those whom we are communicating.