Q.7.1 Digital Security

The Top 5 cybersecurity risks in 2015 are:

1. Ransomware,
2. The Internet of Things
3. Cyber-espionage
4. Increase in cyber theft and
5. Insecure passwords

Ransomware - a type of malware which restricts access to the computer system that it infects –will become increasingly sophisticated in its methods and targets, experts at McAfee Labs warned.   infects a computer and restricts the users access to it, a ransom is paid in order for user to be able to use their computer.

The Internet of Things -is when devices are connected to the internet which increase the risk of personal details being obtained. Jamison Nesbitt, founder of Cyber Senate, a community of global cybersecurity business leaders, echoed experts' beliefs who said that the IoT is "the main cybersecurity risk for 2015." "The IoT presents unique security challenges in terms of the number of connected devices present."

Cyber-espionage -is when information is obtained through the internet for use by the government. As Nesbitt said, "the next world war will be fought on a keyboard," and we should expect cyber espionage attacks to increase in frequency in 2015, McAfee's "2015 Threat Predictions" report warned.

Cyber theft-is the stealing of financial information through the internet, such as credit card details."Although this would require cyber criminals to target individual cards and wouldn't result in large scale breaches or theft like we have seen in the U.S.,the payment technology used won't protect against retailers who aren't storing payment card data securely, and they will still need to be vigilant in protecting stored data," Candid Wüest, threat researcher at Symantec Security Response, said.

Insecure passwords- Easy-to-crack passwords will continue to be a big risk in 2015, analysts said. "Weaknesses of passwords are known, but still lead to many of the high-profile attacks such as the recent iCloud attack," Symantec's Sian John said, that they are passwords which are easily obtainable based on the users tastes or preferences and whether the same password is used several times/.

Methods to  prevent hackers to hack your account 

A way to prevent this from happening is to always check that the email received has a valid email address. This will allow the user to determine whether the email is legitimate or not.

Another method used by hackers is creating a website that looks almost identical to the real one. User may believe that this website is legitimate and therefore enter personal details. Users can check the URL of the website to ensupre that the website is indeed legitimate.

Having a strong password is important as it protects most of our confidential information. Users often use unsuitable passwords that can be easily determined based on the consumers tastes and preferences. Users often reuse passwords for several accounts which puts them at risk.

Reference

Photography, Z., Images, G. and Ellyatt, H. (2015) Top 5 cybersecurity risks for 2015. Available at: http://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/19/top-5-cyber-security-risks-for-2015.html (Accessed: 06 November 2016).

Sieber, T. (2011) 9 ways to prevent identity theft by computer hackers. Available at: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/9-ways-prevent-identity-theft-computer-hackers-2/ (Accessed: 06 November 2016)