Research Paper. Evaluating Cyber Security and Risk Management

Evaluating Cyber Security and Risk Management
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Background
Technology can be considered as a discovery and use of the wheel of the century. This is relative to the impact that it has had on the society. More importantly, this is an innovation that has impacted almost all areas of the economy, social and even cultural processes. Over the years, technology has brought about innovations that make life much easier at every level of interaction. Whether using technology for communication, transportation, and even production among others, the impacts are subtle. One of the areas where technology has enhanced with subtle applications in almost all areas of the economy and social interactions is through the development of computers. These are systems that have virtually taken on over the entire economy (Galinec, Možnik & Guberina, 2017). The use of a computer while may be taken for granted by many is a subtle application and one that makes an immense number of operations swift and efficient. However, there are risks associated with the use of computers in virtually all areas of production; these are in the form of malicious programs. Hackers in the black hat lane understand the impact that computers have on the economy. Using computer programs that are designed with malicious intents, they can take charge of the computer resources and more importantly access information on databases for profit or malice. There is a variety of malicious programs that are used to attack computers at various levels (Sharkasi, 2015). There are those that are targeted at personal computers, organizational computers, organizational networks, government servers and networks among others. In all of these systems, there are various levels of attacks and programs that are used to access the information on them and resources. The means of attack largely depend on the nature of information or resources that the hackers want to gain access to. More important, the level of information and resource sensitivity also determines the level of sophistication of the programs (Galinec, Možnik & Guberina, 2017). Over the years, hackers have also evolved with the level of security features that have been introduced on the computer systems. The average personal computer will have a firewall and an antivirus program running in the background. While in the past the malicious programs majored in disrupting processes on the computers and the network systems, they have since evolved to gaining root access and controlling resources on systems along with accessing information. By taking control of a server system of a subway system, the hackers can not only access sensitive information of the users but also gain control of the trains, their schedules and even physical control of the trains, about acceleration, routes, braking and lighting among others. Some of the most important malicious programs which are of focus in this paper are the Rootkits. These are malware programs that take on administrative control of the computer without the consent of the user. In most cases, they are bundled with software such that, where a user downloads a program and run it on their system, the rootkit also installs in the background. It is also common for users to install malware through opening downloaded and malicious files from the internet. Given their ability to take control as administrators, they can track all user processes such as opening programs, control hardware, record keystrokes and even scan through internet requests. Given the impact that rootkits have at the personal, corporate, national and international levels, there is need to increase the security, robust risk management and cybersecurity strategies (Galinec, Možnik & Guberina, 2017).
Problem Statement
Cybersecurity is an element that for most companies determines the success of their ventures locally and abroad. However, this is not just a concern for the large corporation; somewhat it affects the people at the individual levels. With the advent of technology and most importantly the internet, there are immense benefits from communications to production systems. The internet according to Krombholz, Hobel, Huber, and Weippl indicate in their paper, has become the largest communication and information exchange medium (Krombholz, Hobel, Huber & Weippl, 2018). Distributed over several platforms online, the internet offers the users a myriad of channels where they can access information and share with other users across the globe. Relative to the level of application of computer systems and the internet, the attacks have also evolved over the years to reflect the complexities and the integrated nature of the information systems (Krombholz, Hobel, Huber & Weippl, 2018). Bissell Kelly points out that in the last ten years, the cybersecurity criminals have evolved with a huge shift from the individual and independent focus to a coordinated, virtual and collaborative model of attacks that thrive on data sharing and innovation (Bissell, 2013).
Bissell further points to the malware ecosystem that now thrives on the wave of cybercrimes. Attackers are no longer targeting systems simply because they would want to bring to a crawl the operations of a company or a single system (Bissell, 2013). The attacks are much more coordinated and even where the attacks seem to be directed at making sure the systems are slowed down, there is another coordinated attack that, is being carried out and the element of the slow system is merely a distraction. This is the level of sophistication that cybersecurity professionals in any given organization or government institution have to deal with. Within the thriving ecosystem, there are hackers of different caliber and most of them have even specialized in certain areas. As Bissell indicates, there are even fraud tools in the form of a Trojan, which is sold online (Bissell, 2013). These are used to infiltrate systems and gain certain accesses to information and resources. There is a myriad of groups that are involved in cybercrime among them, foreign government agencies, corporate spies, individual hackers, organized crime, and even nation-states.
It is important to note that most of the efforts of these groups have been successful and they continue to evolve targeting even more people (Bissell, 2013). In 2011 in the United States alone, an estimated 71 million Americans were victims of cyber attacks which cost an estimated 21 billion do, dollars in damages, according to CNET.com (Bissell, 2013). Cybersecurity remains as the single most powerful threats against users online regardless of their use or level. Rootkits are some of the most common programs that attackers use on systems to gain access to resources on computers within networks. Given the heavy usage of networks at the individual level to the government institutions, attackers have a wide array of resources that they can exploit. Using rootkits, they can be in a position to siphon sensitive data and sell to the highest bidders on the black market. These are programs that easily distributed through the use of the downloaded media and files from the internet and the use of removable devices. The key for these attackers is to infiltrate as many systems as possible to affect the highest, level of impact. Using platforms such as emails, these can have a devastating impact relative to the widespread use at the personal and corporate level. By sharing an email that is bundled with a rootkit, users will easily download it onto their computers and then spread out the entire network. As Iqbal, Binsalleeh, Fung and Debbabi point in their research paper, emails from the most commonly exploited medium (Iqbal, Binsalleeh, Fung & Debbabi, 2010). It offers the attackers anonymity and is also quite complex relative to the special characteristic of the datasets used in emails. Banday, Mir, Qadri, and Shah also point out that most of the attackers tend to spoof the dates on their emails to make sure that the messages appear at the top of the list for better chances of being attended to (Banday, Mir, Qadri & Shah, 2011). For the cybersecurity, officers of any organization, this is a nightmare. This is relative to the fact that, they have to deal with much information to determine ways in which attackers have gotten into the system or stay ahead and reduce the chances of attacks by establishing ways in which they might attempt to gain access. According to Szde Yu, emails have been one the main focus of most of the attacker's use, and during investigations, they are some of the best places to look for clues (Yu, 2018).
Goal
This study aims at establishing the risks associated with rootkit malware and risk management strategies for the cybersecurity professionals. More importantly, the study sheds light on the ways that users can protect themselves online, whether they are using office equipment or their personal computers. There are ways that users can avoid malware attacks, especially concerning the rootkits.
Relevance and Significance
As Bissell indicates, the threat of cybersecurity is one that has even the most powerful governments establishing a measure to make sure they are safeguarded from any forms of attacks (Bissell, 2013). The US Congress has been trying to pass bipartisan legislation to safeguard the American government, businesses, and individuals from the exploitation of the cyber attackers. It is quite interesting to note that, while most of the countries are peaceful, there is a war going on online. With governments spying on others, corporations use spies to try and outmaneuver the competition by infiltrating their systems and siphoning data. At the individual level, there is a constant threat of individual data being accessed and used for profit. There have been several incidences where massive data breaches have been reported on the mobile platforms, such as Android and iOS. It is quite interesting as Bissell also points out that, there has been a bias on the mobile platforms, where hackers have been having a much easier time siphoning data from unsuspecting users (Bissell, 2013). Threats such as identity theft have been on the rise, with the public being sensitized to keen on the information that they share online and how they safeguard their online activities with VPNs and strong passwords. Mobile money, for example, is one of the areas that have been highly targeted with users losing billions of dollars. However, it is the PC ecosystem that has been highest targeted, and the impacts are best felt here. With the use of the malware rootkits, users are constantly being attacked. Attacks are no longer isolated and carried out by individuals that are out to stall systems. They are now carried out by organized communities and work virtually on the internet. There is a malware ecosystem that supports the advent and innovative ways of using rootkits on the internet. Some of the fraud rootkits are even sold online in the black...