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Week 5 VCS Alternative Assignment (VCSA)
Kashish Bharat
Westcliff University
Management Information Security – MIS 540
Professor Crow
th
6 April, 2025
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Week 5 VCSA Assignment
In this week’s session the class discussed the growing demand for cybersecurity in this digital world. The main resource of the class was the U.S.
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) website. Critical questions related to cybersecurity, risks related to business, and how these threats can
evolve, were discussed in the class. In this VCSA assignment the complete summary of week 5 class and all the aspects of cybersecurity in digital world are discussed
in detail.
Threats in the IT Realm
Malicious attempts to gain unauthorized access to a private network or a server to damage or disrupt the information system are called cybersecurity
threats. Phishing attacks, ransomware attacks, and insider attacks can cause serious damage to the digital infrastructure of an organization (CISA, 2024). These attacks
can be attempted by cybercriminals, hackers, and even employees who can misuse their access privileges. Phishing is the most common type of cyberattack because of
its simplicity and high success rates (Gupta et al. 2022). Ransomware attacks are usually done to sign out the actual user of the system and ask for money from them to
regain access to their own system. These types of attacks not only cause financial loss but also cause reputational loss.
Cybersecurity Threats to Current Businesses
The class highlighted the increase in digital cyberattacks on businesses. The small and medium scale businesses are the best prey for these cyberattacks
due to less security resources. The global average cost of these data breaches has crossed $4.45 million, and the sectors affected include healthcare, retail, and finance.
After the pandemic, the rise in the work from home culture has provided so many new opportunities to the cybercriminals (Nurse et al., 2021). Personal devices and
home networks have very low security, and these are the main reasons for exposing sensitive business data. To overcome this, third-party vendors can introduce supply
chain risk management systems, and this can make cybersecurity a shared responsibility across all networks.
Evolving Threats in a Technology-Driven World
With the advancement in technology the cyber threats are also evolving in scope as well as complexity. A lot of new vulnerabilities are created by
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud Computing, and Internet of Things. AI can be used by cybercriminals to automate malware and phishing attacks, and it can also
create deepfakes which can cause reputational loss to the business (Brundage et al., 2018). These types of attacks are increasing the need for modern defense systems
such as Zero Trust Architecture and Multi-factor Authentication (CISA, 2024). Zero Trust Architecture states that no device or user is trustable and asks for continuous
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verification at different levels. Multi-factor authentication is the process of double checking the identity of the user via various methods such as one time password sent
on different platforms, and this ensures that if one platform is hacked the other can provide safety to the system.
Conclusion
This assignment explored valuable insights about the dynamic nature of cybersecurity threats and how they can be handled. Innovation in technology is
also increasing troubles for individuals, businesses, and governments. It is very important for businesses to stay updated about latest threats with the help of sources
like CISA and adopt new technologies which can safeguard their digital assets.
References
Brundage, M., Avin, S., Clark, J., & Toner, H. (2018). The malicious use of artificial intelligence: Forecasting, prevention, and mitigation. Future of Humanity
Institute. [Link]
Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency. (2024). Cybersecurity. [Link]
Gupta, A., Singhal, A., & Kapoor, A. (2022). A comprehensive survey on phishing attacks. Journal of Cybersecurity, 8(1), tyac012. Available at:
[Link]
IBM Security. (2023). Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023. [Link]
Nurse, J. R. C., Williams, N., Collins, E., Panteli, N., Blythe, J., & Koppelman, B. (2021). Remote Working Pre- and Post-COVID-19: An Analysis of New Threats
and Risks to Security and Privacy. arXiv preprint. [Link]