A cyber attack is an attempt to gain unauthorised access to a network with the intention of accessing, changing or destroying information.
Some reasons for cyber attacks are:
- For fun – it might be a hobby
- For financial gain – stealing & selling data
- For a challenge – to see if they can succeed
- Revenge – a disgruntled employee or ex friend
- To take out a competitor – by bringing down their website
- Political motives – to raise awareness of a political issue
- Idealism – trying to expose an injustice
Security reasons – trying to find flaws in a system, before someone else finds them.
Cyber security is the set of measures taken to protect networks and computer systems from cyber attacks.
The need for network security
- To reduce the risk of data loss
- To stop someone making unauthorised changes.
- To stop data theft
- To keep confidential data safe
- To abide with common law (Legal Obligations)