Past cybersecurity attacks

 

Understanding Past Attacks

The security industry is constantly evolving, but many present-day attacks are not entirely new. Attackers often alter or enhance previous methods. Understanding past attacks can provide direction for how to handle or investigate incidents in your job as a security analyst.

Key Terms

First, let's go over a couple of key terms that will support your understanding of the attacks we'll discuss. A computer virus is malicious code written to interfere with computer operations and cause damage to data and software. The virus attaches itself to programs or documents on a computer, then spreads and infects one or more computers in a network. Today, viruses are more commonly referred to as malware, which is software designed to harm devices or networks. Two examples of early malware attacks that we'll cover are the Brain virus and the Morris worm.

The Brain Virus

In 1986, the Alvi brothers created the Brain virus with the intention of tracking illegal copies of medical software and preventing pirated licenses. However, the virus had unexpected consequences. Once a person used a pirated copy of the software, the virus infected that computer. Then, any disk inserted into the computer was also infected, spreading the virus to new computers with each use. Undetected, the virus spread globally within a couple of months, impacting business operations significantly.

The Morris Worm

The Morris worm, developed by Robert Morris in 1988, was designed to assess the size of the internet by crawling the web and tallying the number of connected computers. However, the program failed to keep track of the computers it had already compromised, causing them to crash due to memory overload. About 6,000 computers were affected, representing 10% of the internet at the time. This attack resulted in millions of dollars in damages and led to the establishment of Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs®) to respond to such incidents.

Impact on the Security Industry

These early attacks fundamentally altered the computing industry, emphasizing the need for security measures to maintain productivity and protect data. As a security analyst, you will follow and maintain strategies to ensure your organization has a plan to keep their data and people safe. Later in this program, you'll learn more about the core functions of security teams and gain hands-on practice with detection and response tools.

This content summarizes the key points discussed in the provided transcript. Let me know if you need further assistance or adjustments!

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Cybersecurity program: Year 1: Foundation Courses Semester 1: Introduction to Cybersecurity Fundamentals of Information Technology Programming Basics (Python, C++) Discrete Mathematics Digital Logic Design Lab Work (Programming, IT Fundamentals) Semester 2: Data Structures and Algorithms Computer Networks Operating Systems Cyber Law and Ethics Probability and Statistics Lab Work (Data Structures, Networks) Year 2: Core Cybersecurity Courses Semester 3: Network Security Cryptography Database Management Systems Web Technologies Software Engineering Lab Work (Network Security, Cryptography) Semester 4: Ethical Hacking Secure Coding Practices Wireless and Mobile Security Cyber Forensics Human-Computer Interaction Lab Work (Ethical Hacking, Forensics) Year 3: Advanced Cybersecurity Topics Semester 5: Advanced Cryptography Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems Cloud Security Risk Management and Compliance Elective I (e.g., Blockchain Security, IoT Security) Lab Work (Intrusion Detection...
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