It’s just a matter of time that we thought our lockers and doors are the only elements that need security. Organizations executives didn’t even know about the word cybersecurity and the importance of digital data protection. But with the gradual digitalization of the world, cybersecurity has become a major concerning security element everywhere. In order to understand the root causes of cybersecurity evolution and why cybersecurity specialists are getting high paid jobs, it is essential to have a background check of the series of events that led to its evolution.
Cybersecurity has not just evolved within the past couple of years, rather it progressed through time back from the 70s, an era in which only a few people had the opportunity to use a computer. In the 1970s, Bob Thomas (engineer at BBN Technologies) designed a code that was able to travel between computers linked with ARPANET. The code had no bad intention and just showed a text on the target computer. His colleague Ray Tomlinson generated a similar program that was also able to travel between computers along with copying itself as it travels.
The first large DoS attack occurred in 1988 (known as Morris Worm), and the reports projected that it impacted around 6,000 computers. What the virus did was that it slowed down the infected computers and could attack the same computer many times until it crashed. Afterward, the 1990s era was when viruses started to evolve rapidly. Although most of them were not causing much damage, still they showcased the potential of viruses. In response to these, antivirus software came into the market that could detect the viruses and remove them from the system. So, the next 20 years were the glory period of antivirus software companies. But since 2014, more sophisticated and brutal attacks doubted the overall effectiveness of the current security measures. Some of the highlighting cyber-attacks in 2014 included eBay cyber-attacked, Sony Pictures hacked, 20 million credit card details stolen, Forbes hacked, and similarly many other events.
With every passing year, the potential of cyber-attacks became more and more challenging for businesses, urging them to focus more on advanced security measures. This was the time when cybersecurity truly gained attention. Organizations started deploying creative strategies using the latest technologies, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other new tactics, into their cybersecurity measures. But the cyber environment is not coming to any stoppage. Attackers are deploying different advanced ways to find loopholes in networks, servers, and computers. Similarly, cybersecurity experts are continuously struggling to implement more sophisticated methodologies to address ever-growing challenges.