Current Practice Analysis for IT Control and Security / Cybersecurity
Abstract
The paper aims to find out most important current issues of cybersecurity and evaluate possible solutions to them. The literature on this question provides general definitions to cybersecurity as a field of science and describes its two main threats: insider threat, which comes from individuals within a company, and outsider threat, which involves other problems, including the activity of cyber-militants and gangs of cyber-criminals. Current practice confirms the existence of this division and, moreover, its importance. Practice shows that principles outlined in the literature remain extremely relevant in practice and, despite few differences, mostly coincide with current practice. Thus, the overall research indicates that in order to resolve insider threats, companies must apply a complex approach which consists of both “social” and “technical” methods. Outsides threats should be faced by enhancing technical defense, as well as cooperation between the world’s governments and between the authorities and business.
Introduction
The problem of IT control and security is becoming increasingly significant with the rapid development of IT technologies, particularly the Internet. Thus, it is extremely important to analyse scientific literature on the issue, as well as evaluate current practice in the field. As the literature analysed is mostly relevant to practice and can be applied to creating real solutions, the research allows to accentuate insider and outsider cybersecurity threats. The authorities and companies must combat both problems using “social” and “technical” methods, as well as enhancing cooperation between nations and between the government and the public sector, in order to achieve the most efficient results.
Literature analysis
The relevant literature regarding the problem of cybersecurity has been dominated by several key issues. This paper will largely concentrate on the concepts of insider and outsider threats. One of the most important goals pursued in the literature is defining cybersecurity as such. Besides, the works analysed establish definitions for insider threats, i.e. danger of cyber attacks posed by individuals inside the organisations, and, as opposed to them, outsider threats. The literature provides in-depth analysis of the problems which currently exist with these issues, as well as of potential solutions which might be useful for combating insider and outsider threats.
Definitions of discussed concepts
As mentioned above, establishing definitions of cybersecurity and the set of other issues related to IT security has been among the most significant themes depicted in the scientific literature. Scientists who explore this issue mostly agree that cybersecurity is a separate field of science which studies questions that involve threats to IT security, particularly malicious software. For example, Kott defines cybersecurity as “the search for a coherent family of models of relations between attributes, structures, and dynamics” (2014, p.12) of certain issues. The scientist asserts that violations of policies on IT security, the network of devices under cyber attacks, as well as techniques and tools used for attacks, are the most important such issues (Kott, 2014).
Scientists often divide cybersecurity into insider threats and other threats. Probst et al. (2010) concentrate on marking insider threats …
