What Is Cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity deals with the protection of systems, networks, devices, and data from cyberattacks such as injection, data breaches, and ransomware. The goal of cybersecurity is to protect computer networks (both local and public) against external threats.
Cybersecurity vs. IT Security vs. Information Security
While the term cybersecurity is often used interchangeably with IT security (ITSec) and information security (InfoSec), the difference is in the scope of security.
- ITSec: Is an umbrella term that includes physical security, information security, and cybersecurity. It’s a broad concept that encompasses both the physical and digital aspects of protecting infrastructure and information within your organization.
- Cybersecurity: Seeks to provide protection from cyberattacks. Vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, firewalls, and multifactor-authentication schemes all fall under the domain of cybersecurity.
- InfoSec: Focuses on securing data and the information you derive from it—both physical (e.g., paper files) and digital. It includes fraud prevention, backups, and employee policies for protecting data and information.
- Physical security: Involves controlling access to physical infrastructure such as server rooms or offices. Physical security measures include things like access cards, security guards, and cameras.
ITSec encompasses all aspects of protecting your data and information. Depending on your focus, you might decide to look at ways to inherently secure data and information (InfoSec) or directly harden your systems against known vectors of cyberattacks (cybersecurity). And no IT security strategy is complete without physically protecting the IT infrastructure itself from outside tampering.
Because there is a lot of overlap between concepts, the terminology isn’t as important as developing a holistic plan for protecting your data and information throughout your organization.
