Cyber Security Information Technology Research Paper

Cyber Security Information Technology - Research Paper Example Their motives are divergent, with some being political while others are just for malicious purposes. This has prompted various government and security agencies to intervene in order to rescue the situation. This paper will analyze cyber security, those likely to be involved in network hacking and the role of the government in protecting infrastructures vulnerable to cyber attacks. Difference between information assurance and cyber security There is a distinct difference between information assurance and cyber security. On one hand, information assurance entails putting in place measures that protect information and information systems, which ensures their availability, reliability, non-repudiation and discretion (Westfall, 2011). The information may either be electronic or general information within an organization. While dealing with electronic information, the system must be able to address the confidentiality concerns, by either introducing passwords or physically protecting the h ardware. Likewise, the information system must be in a position to monitor all the information and direct it to the legitimate users (The national Technical Authority for Information Assurance, 2011). Broadly, information assurance aims at ensuring that information moves to the right person at the right time and place. On the other hand, cyber security involves the effort of the organization or individuals to protect valuable information through preventing, detecting and even responding to prevailing threats. In cyber security, most of the attacks are online, since the process involves the use of the internet, although physical safety is necessary due to the protection of hardware involved in the transmission of information. Some of the threats involved are more serious, although this is subject to the ability of the organization to deal with them (McDowell & Householder, 2009). There are two broad categories of cyber attacks. One is when an attacker studies the security of the syst em and develops malicious programs to destroy the servers. The other attack is the zero-day attack, in which case the attacker bombards the system even before implementing the security measures (Fujiwara, 2006). Potential hackers and their motives Hackers have varied reasons for hacking into a cyber network. It is important to note that anyone can qualify to be a hacker, as long as there is an intention to access private information without permission. The leading cyber threat involves the financial sector, in which case the hackers engage in a number of ways. The first case is account takeover whereby criminals exploit financial and online systems, taking over the functions of the account holders. The aim of this crime is to pose as the legitimate owner, as this gives the criminals access to the accounts. Eventually, the criminals transfer all the cash to their accounts or withdraw the cash for their personal use. Another group of hackers consists of those criminals who engage in t he third party payment processor breaches. In this case, hackers target large multinational companies, which have a large network of payment processors. By compromising the personal identifiable information of the employees of such companies, the hackers go ahead to seek payment or other financial benefits from the employer. Their aim is to siphon as much cash as possible before the organization realizes it is not dealing with the real employees (Snow,