Refers to the range of measures that
can be taken to protect computer
systems, networks and data from
unauthorised access or cyber attack.
Threat
A threat is an incident or
an action which is
deliberate or unintended
that results in disruption,
down time or data loss.
Internal
Caused by an
incident inside an
organisation
External
Caused outside
the organisation
Attack
An attack is a
deliberate action,
targeting an
organisation's digital
system or data.
Unauthorised Access
This refers to someone
gaining entry without
permission to an
organisation's system,
software or data
Hacker
Black Hat
They try to inflict damage by
compromising security
systems
Grey Hat
Do it for fun and not with
malicious intent
White
Working with
organisations to
strength the security
of a system
Why are systems attacked?
Fun/Challenge
- Hacking systems can be fun or a
challenge
There is a sense of achievement
Friends may give respect of hacking
achievements
Financial gain
Ransoms can be made to
prevent attacks form
happening
Ransomware can be used to
encrypt a computer until you
pay
A payment is given to
carry out an attack on
an organisation
Dispution
Attacks such as
Denial-of-Service stop
websites working
Viruses can slow
down computers and
delete files
Industrial Espionage - Spying in companies
The aim is find intellectual
property such as designs or
blueprints for products, business
strategies or software sort code
Personal attack
Employees that are unhappy may
attack the company
Friends / family may attack each
other if upset over something
Information/ Data Theft
Credit card and financial details are stolen to gain money
Company information may also be stolen
Malware
Malicious Software
This an umbrella term given to
software that is designed to harm a
digital system, damage data or
harvest sensitive information
Virus
A piece of malicious code that
attaches to a legitimate program. it is
capable of reproducing itself and
usually capable of causing great
harm to files or other programs on
the same computer
Worm
Similar to virus but unlike a virus but unlike a virus
it is a self contained program. It is capable of
spreading on it own, without help from humans.
Worms get around by exploiting vulnerabilities in
operating systems and attaching themselves to
emails. They self replicate at a tremendous rate,
using up hard drive space and bandwidth,
overloading servers.