Cyberattacks

Brandi Claxton

Composition and Critical Thinking (ENGL101 -1502B -13)

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Phase 5 Individual Project - Cyberattack

American companies are lacking in their efforts to prevent cyberattacks. They seem to simply ignore the forewarning signs. Companies have given off the persona that they are indispensable. They are more interested in creating new incoming revenue than concern themselves with the existing revenue that may leave in the event of an attack.

Cyberattacks affect our daily livelihoods, our reputations, and make us face the threat of our safety. According to O’Callaghan (2014), more than 200,000 jobs have been lost as a result of cybercrimes mainly through reputation damage or loss of assets. Computer Science of the past is no longer just about computers. Technology has afforded us the luxury to carry it around with us everywhere we go with any electronic gadget. And that leaves us vulnerable to any attack. Our immediate convenience will leave us with either a temporary or long term inconvenience.

“Cyberattacks are a looming challenge for businesses and individuals. Certain sectors, such as finance and power systems, are the most vulnerable. There are noteworthy divides between the prepared and the unprepared. There is steady progress in security fixes”. (Rainie, Anderson, & Connolly, 2014). Yet only in certain arenas. “Despite the Internet’s vulnerabilities, a distributed network structure will help thwart the worst attacks. Security standards will be upgraded. The good guys will still be winning the cyber security arms race by 2025.” (Rainie, Anderson, & Connolly, 2014).

In 2012, American companies spent over $5 million for each breach. The companies appear to favor paying more out as a result than as a preventative measure. As businesses are hit with cyberattacks, it costs to stop the damage that has been done, to clean up, and to rebuild. It could cost one company that has been hit in the upwards of millions every day in...