Did you know there are differences between Cybersecurity and IT professionals?
>IT is responsible for your infrastructure.
>Cybersecurity is accountable for your data transit security.
Including finding vulnerabilities on websites, email systems & your work or home network.
There is a lack of understanding of cybersecurity and Information Technology(IT) roles. As a result, most organizations have a false sense of security about their overall protection. In this post, I will try to explain the differences between the two.
What is the role of IT?
Think of your home or business as your IT infrastructure. There are internal and external sides to your IT infrastructure. The internal side is the side of your router that protects your devices from unwanted and malicious traffic from the internet. Devices on your internal network are phones, printers, and computers. Your IT team typically manages the inner side.
What is the role of Cybersecurity?
In this scenario, We will focus on the outer side of your IT infrastructure. The internet-facing side of your router is usually owned by your Internet Service Provider(ISP). You must walk or drive to your bank to perform a transaction. The envelope you are carrying is called a package. Hackers want to steal what’s in your package before you get it to the bank. Cybersecurity professionals will help protect your package in transit (Package = Packets).
There is much more to Cybersecurity and IT, but this is a 10,000 ft. view. I hope you understand the roles of the two to help your organization pursue a robust security posture.
It is responsible for your infrastructure; Cybersecurity is accountable for your data transit security.
There has been much confusion around three names in the computer field. Cyber Security (Cybersecurity), Information Technology (IT), and Information Security (InFoSec). Knowing the differences between these names will save business owners billions over the long term. In addition, it will equip them to ask the right questions when saving their businesses from breaches. Today, most business owners believe they are protected or think they won’t get breached because it will always happen to someone else, but not our business.
What is Information Technology?
“Information Technology (IT) is using computer technology to manage information. The field of IT encompasses all computer software, hardware, and related devices employed in processing, transferring, storing, and disseminating data, whether it’s on a computer, smartphone, TV, or another medium. So everyone accessing IT services whenever they download a song, stream a movie, check their email, or perform a web search. Areas of study within IT include database development, computer networking, software engineering, data analysis, and more”.
Information Security:
“Information security means protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. Information security, computer security, and information assurance are frequently used interchangeably. These fields are interrelated and share the common goals of protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information; however, there are some subtle differences between them. These differences lie primarily in the approach to the subject, the methodologies used, and the areas of concentration. Information security concerns data confidentiality, integrity, and availability regardless of the form the data may take: electronic, print, or other forms.”
Cyber Security:
Cybersecurity personnel understand how hackers can change, intercept, or steal transmitted company data within your local network or over the internet. They deploy software or hardware to block or prevent unauthorized access to shared data. They are also known as “ethical hackers” or penetration testers. They find holes in your network before hackers do and repair them.
Per Cisco:
“Cybersecurity is protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks. These attacks usually aim to access, change, or destroy sensitive information, extort money from users, or interrupt normal business processes.
Implementing effective cybersecurity measures is particularly challenging today because there are more devices than people, and attackers are becoming more innovative”.
Per FireEye:
“Cybersecurity has never been simple. And because attacks evolve daily as attackers become more inventive, defining Cybersecurity and identifying what constitutes good Cybersecurity properly is critical.
Why is this so important? Year after year, worldwide spending on Cybersecurity continues to grow: 71.1 billion in 2014 (7.9% over 2013) and 75 billion in 2015 (4.7% from 2014), and it is expected to reach 101 billion by 2018. Organizations are starting to understand that malware is a publicly available commodity, making it easy for anyone to become a cyberattacker. Even more, companies offer security solutions that do little to defend against attacks. Cybersecurity demands focus and dedication.
Cybersecurity protects the data and integrity of computing assets belonging to or connecting to an organization’s network. Its purpose is to defend those assets against all threat actors throughout the entire life cycle of a cyber attack.
Kill chains, zero-day attacks, ransomware, alert fatigue, and budgetary constraints are just a few of the challenges cybersecurity professionals face. Cybersecurity experts need a more robust understanding of these topics and many others to confront those challenges more effectively.
The following articles cover a specific cybersecurity topic to provide insights into the modern security environment, the cyber threat landscape, and attacker mentality, including how attackers work, what tools they use, what vulnerabilities they target, and what they’re after“.
So there you have it!
Business owners might still get confused when they hear these terms. Still, an excellent way to think this through is to remember years ago how you never heard of companies losing billions of dollars from people who had never been to the USA or stepped into your local bank and were able to withdraw from your account that at times seems very difficult when you go thru a drive-thru.
The bad guys can bypass those tellers that you think should know you by now. So, cybersecurity personnel is here to fight those bad guys on their level to protect your assets and critical data.
