How to kick-start your journey in Cybersecurity in 2024.
Published: 2024-01-07 18:13:12



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**Cybersecurity** is an essential aspect of today's digital world. It is a set of techniques and practices that are designed to protect computer systems, networks, and data from unauthorized access, theft, or damage. Cybersecurity is crucial for individuals, businesses, and governments, as the internet and other digital technologies have become an integral part of our daily lives.

The threats that cyber security aims to prevent are diverse and constantly evolving. They include malware, phishing attacks, hacking, data theft, cyber espionage, and cyber terrorism, among others. Cybersecurity experts use sophisticated tools and techniques to identify, assess, and mitigate these risks, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of computer systems and data.

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**Authentication** is a critical aspect of cybersecurity. It refers to the process of verifying the identity of a user or system that is attempting to access a computer or network. There are three primary types of authentication: what you know, what you have, and what you are. Examples of what you know include passwords and PINs, while what you have includes smart cards, tokens, or other physical objects. Finally, you include biometric authentication, which uses unique physical or behavioural traits such as fingerprints, facial recognition, or voice recognition.

In summary, cybersecurity plays a vital role in protecting our digital world from various cyber threats. Authentication is an essential aspect of cybersecurity, as it helps verify the identity of users and systems, ensuring that only authorized persons can access protected data and systems.

Cybersecurity helps minimize crime and harm in the virtual world. Think of it as a set of techniques to protect the secrecy, integrity, and availability of computer systems and data against threats.

## Authentication

**Authentication** refers to the process by which a computer understands who it is interacting with. There are three types of authentication: what you know, what you have, and what you are.

**Who are Hackers?**

Hackers use their technical knowledge to break into computer systems.
 **Black Hat hackers** have malicious intentions to steal, exploit, and sell computer vulnerabilities and data.
**White Hat hackers** are hired by companies and governments to perform security evaluations, hunt for bugs, and try to close security holes in software to make systems safer and more resilient.
Some hack for amusement and curiosity, while cybercriminals hack most often for monetary gain. Hacktivist community members use their skills to promote a social or political goal.
Attackers find and take advantage of a bug in a system to gain access to computer systems to overwrite data, steal user data, crash systems, or even use that exploitable bug to hijack the whole system.

## **Cryptography**

**Cryptography** is a technique of securing information and communications through the use of codes so that only those persons for whom the information is intended can understand it and process it. Thus preventing unauthorized access to information. The prefix “crypt” means “hidden” and the suffix “graphy” means “writing”. 

## **Features Of Cryptography are as follows**
:

**Confidentiality**: Information can only be accessed by the person for whom it is intended and no other person except him can access it.
**Integrity**: Information cannot be modified in storage or transition between sender and intended receiver without any addition to information being detected.
**Non-repudiation**: The creator/sender of information cannot deny his intention to send information at a later stage.
Authentication: The identities of the sender and receiver are confirmed. As well destination/origin of information is confirmed.

**Symmetric Key Cryptography**: It is an encryption system where the sender and receiver of a message use a single common key to encrypt and decrypt messages. Symmetric Key Systems are faster and simpler but the problem is that the sender and receiver have to exchange keys securely somehow. The most popular symmetric key cryptography systems are Data Encryption Systems (DES) and Advanced Encryption Systems (AES).
Hash Functions: There is no usage of any key in this algorithm. A hash value with a fixed length is calculated as per the plain text, making it impossible for plain text contents to be recovered. Many operating systems use hash functions to encrypt passwords.
**Asymmetric Key Cryptography**: Under this system, a pair of keys is used to encrypt and decrypt information. A receiver’s public key is used for encryption and a receiver’s private key is used for decryption. Public keys and Private keys are different. Even if the public key is known by everyone the intended receiver can only decode it because he alone knows his private key. The most popular asymmetric key cryptography algorithm is the RSA algorithm.  

## **Cipher**

A **cipher** is an algorithm that converts plain text into ciphertext, which is nonsense unless you have a key that lets you undo the cipher. The process of making text secret is called encryption, and the reverse process is called decryption.

## **Careers in Cyber-security**
:

IT security consultant: US$80,000
• Security engineer: US$89,000
• Security architect: US$114,000
• Security director: US$125,000
• Chief information security officer: US$143,000

##   **Conclusion**

"Cybersecurity" refers to the methods and practices employed to safeguard computer systems, networks, and data against theft, unauthorized access, or damage. As the internet and other digital technologies have become a crucial part of our daily lives, cybersecurity has become vital for individuals, businesses, and governments alike.

Authentication is very important in keeping our computers safe from malicious attacks. 

I discuss Hackers to be people who break into computer systems, Cryptography and its features and Ciphers and different careers in cyber-security.


Author: Abdulakeem Yusuf Ademola

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