Are passwords really dying? Biometrics takes over!
All you need to know about- Cyber security| Biometrics| Dark web
-Sreemeenakshi V
Cybersecurity breaches continues while alternative methods for authentication still has its own drawbacks!
Using passwords like “123456”, “password”, the word itself are the root causes for cyber attacks. The main reason where people use such passwords is because it is easy to remember, but what they fail to understand is that it is also easy to hack such passwords. Using the same password for many accounts and providing with easily predictable passwords are the root of all hack attacks.
According to a report by the UK’s National Cyber Security Center, 81% of company data breaches is due to having poor password practices.
Despite the increasing sophistications in password, cyber hacks and ransomware attacks have increased.
Are passwords still the same?
The answer is no. Passwords have eventually evolved with the growing number of hacks and security crisis. Today, passwords follow a stricter guidelines where the password has to satisfy the given criteria like a specific length, caps, and use of special characters.
Ways of authenticating people digitally:
- 2-Factor Authentication
- Password manager
How does a 2-Factor Authentication work and Why do you need it?
It is an identification system which acts as a secondary protective layer. Firstly you’ve to enter your username and password, secondly you’d be asked to provide a second form of proof before you could access your account. These could be fingerprint, face detection or one time passwords.
If by accident your password gets unguarded, hackers would need to get access to the second form of identification before entering into your account. So it is always recommended to turn on the 2-Factor Authentication in all possible accounts. It just acts as a second layer of wall to protect your account from being hacked.
Now another question arises, Is this safe?
Any extra layer of protection is better than none. But if you ask if this completes protects your account, then it’s a matter of argument. This is because the website Hoxhunt.com has listed 5 ways by which this can be breached.
As we’ve been talking about security and cyber attacks, you’ll be curious to know more about it. So what exactly is cyber security? Let’s dive straight into it!
Cyber Security
Cyber security is the practice of protecting networks, programs, computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, and data from malicious attacks. It focuses on protecting a system from unauthorized access.
The importance of good cyber security can be evidently observed from the recent high-profile security breaches which led the companies to lose its sensitive users information that caused irreparable damage to many.
Major areas of cyber security includes:
- Application Security
- Information Security
- Network Security
- Disaster recovery
Cyber Attack
Cyber attacks are deliberate attempt by cyber criminals to compromise the confidentiality and steal data or maliciously disable computers. It occurs when information gets accessed without any proper authorization.
Major cyber attacks that are used to exploit software are:
- Ransomware
It is a type of a malicious software, designed to extort money by blocking access to files or the computer system itself until the ransom is paid.
- Phishing
It is an act of sending fraudulent emails resembling emails from a reputable source.
- Malware
It is a type of software that is designed to gain unauthorized access or to cause damage to a computer
- Social Engineering
It is a tactic used by the adversaries to trick you into revealing sensitive information. These tricks you into clicking suspicious links, download malware or trust a malicious source.
Cyber Attack vs Security Breach
A cyber Attack is an act to compromise the security of the system where the confidentiality and integrity of a network is exploited. Security breach, on the other hand is any incident that results in unauthorized access to computer data, applications, networks or devices.
A cyber attack is the stealing of data or confidential information by electronic means, whereas A security breach is effectively a break-in.
Dark Web
The dark web may be a part of the web that may not be indexed by search engines, that is it refers to encrypted online content that’s not indexed by conventional search engines. Sometimes, the dark web can additionally be called the dark net and the dark web could also be a a neighborhood of the deep web, which just refers to websites that do not appear on search engines.
Specific browsers, like Tor Browser, are required to achieve the dark web.
As with the primary Internet, the dark web has also gained a reputation as a haven for illegal activities.
The dark web helps people in taking care of their privacy and lets them to express their views freely.
The dark web, a bit like the online before it, is typically implicated in horrible crimes, like maltreatment and murder for hire. The dark web has happened to play a hand in both illegal and unethical transactions. It has also provided a social outlet for folks that may preferably be persecuted for a person’s identities or politics . It’s also provided legal authorities with additional tools to apprehend the perpetrators of unethical activities.
The dark web and thus the deep web are also often erroneously used interchangeably. The deep web includes all the pages that don’t happen once you run an online search. The dark web is simply one part of the deep web. The deep web also contains everything requiring a login, like online banking, pay sites, and file hosting services.
Biometrics
Biometrics is the statistical analysis and measurement of people’s unique characteristics, that includes both physical and behavioral. In computer science biometric authentication is used as a form of identification and access control.
Biometrics are convenient for users because all the information required are always with them and thus cannot be fabricated, lost or misused.
This method of authentication are generally called pure or real authentication since it relies on personal feature rather than a virtual password.
Two authentication methods used in biometrics:
- Verification
- Identification
2 Types of biometrics:
- Physiological biometrics
The physiological biometrics refer to physical measurements of the body which includes face recognition, fingerprint, hand geometry, Iris recognition, and DNA.
This type of recognition system has a relatively high accuracy.
Identification can be done fast and are carried out transparently for a user. Also it is quite difficult to fake an identifier.
- Behavioral biometrics
The behavioral biometrics refer to a person’s behavioral characteristics which includes signature, strokes and voice.
These are also called passive because the user need not take any additional actions but just behave as usual.
This does require storing large amounts of data. But these are not yet widely adopted
It requires lots of personal data to determine a person’s standard behavior as they may act differently in different circumstances.
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