What is Cybersecurity and Why is it Important?

We always hear the word cybersecurity, but what does it mean? And why should you
care? Ultimately, cybersecurity is the act of protecting data, devices, networks, and
systems from threats. You should care because technology touches nearly every part of
your life, and cybersecurity helps safeguard your personal information, privacy, and
safety. This protection is accomplished by a collection of actions performed by three
core pillars: people, processes, and technology. Let’s break down how each
component contributes to security.

People
People play the most critical role in cybersecurity. They are the ones to configure and
implement technology solutions, write policies, and stay on top of the ever-evolving
threat landscape. People can not only have the most substantial positive impact on the
strength of security, but they can also have the most negative impact. Unlike telling a
video game character to go right, people are unpredictable. They can knowingly or
unknowingly compromise security, allowing threat actors to succeed in their attacks.

Processes
Processes are the policies, procedures, and standards that are implemented to aid in
securing network environments. Processes cover various areas, including acceptable
use policies, incident response plans, and compliance requirements. Processes define
how we implement and maintain security.

Technology
Technology is the tools we leverage to enforce security. Guided by processes and
configured by people, these tools are what attackers are looking to compromise or
bypass. These technologies include firewalls, antivirus software, email filtering, and
encryption. This list can go on forever due to the significant number of technologies
available to us, and new ones emerge every day.

Summary
Cybersecurity is a broad term for protecting data, devices, networks, and systems from
threats. Cybersecurity is built on three core pillars: people, processes, and technology.
Each pillar works together to create secure environments and protect against threat
actors.