Page 4 - Cybersecurity Career Guide, 4th Edition

what is cybersecurity?
4 START-ENGINEERING.COM
Are you into computers and video games? Solving puzzles and mysteries? Writing code and programming computers? Tracking criminals? Defending our country? Then cybersecurity could be for you! Because CYBERSECURITY IS...
Defending Our Nation
America faces constant cyber threats from nefarious “black hat” hackers who tirelessly attempt to breach government and industry computer systems for malicious purposes or to steal valuable data
and trade secrets. These hackers can be part of criminal gangs or agents of hostile nations like Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. In recent years, there have been notable cyberattacks perpetrated by Russian and Chinese hackers.
In 2019, a cyberattack orchestrated by Russian agents was discovered within a software update from SolarWinds, a Texas company. This mali- cious code affected around 100 companies and government agencies, including tech giants like Microsoft and Intel, as well as the depart- ments of Justice, Energy, and Defense. Similarly, in 2021, Chinese hackers breached Microsoft’s Exchange servers, impacting over 30,000 organiza- tions. Then, in 2023, they gained access to classified information from U.S. government agencies through a hack on Microsoft’s email system.
Ransomware attacks have also been on the rise, where hackers lock up systems and demand a ransom for their release. See page 14 to read about a Russian gang’s ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline.
Dealing with these cyber threats and holding hackers accountable is a 24/7 undertaking. The U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM), leads the effort with specialists from various government agencies. See page 44.
Securing Our Phones
Because the telecommunications industry builds, controls, and operates the nation’s critical information infra- structure, these businesses are inviting targets for both cyber criminals and foreign adversaries. In January 2023, T- Mobile announced that a cyberattack on its systems affected more than 37 million customers. Some of the exposed data included names, Social Security num- bers, and birthdays. The massive breach comes on the heels of five, yes five, other T-Mobile leaks in recent years and a SIM- swapping attack earlier in 2021. In these incidents, hackers may have leveraged some of that breached information to access phones and all the precious data we keep in them, such as photos, emails, passwords, and even that handy banking app. (Time to borrow someone else’s phone and call your bank, asap.)