Cybersecurity For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Introduction

In the course of just a single generation, the world has undergone some of the greatest changes since the dawn of mankind. The availability of the Internet as a tool for consumers and businesses alike, coupled with the invention of mobile devices and wireless networking, have ushered in an Information Revolution that has impacted just about every aspect of human existence.

Humanity’s reliance on technology, however, has also created enormous risks. It seems that not a day goes by without some new story emerging of a data breach, cyberattack, or the like. Simultaneously, because society’s reliance on technology increases on a daily basis, the potential adverse consequences of cyberattacks have grown exponentially to the point that people can now lose their fortunes, their reputations, their health, or even their lives, as the result of cyberattacks.

In fact, since the publication of the first edition of this book, Americans have seen cyberattacks cause fuel shortages, spikes in meat prices, financial losses, and even death. And societal changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic — including the dramatic increase in the number of people who, at least sometimes, leverage computers and computer networks in order to work remotely — have upped the stakes even more. While people all around the developed world outsource a large portion of their national security to their countries’ respective armed forces, their fire safety to trained fire departments, and their protection ...