Project Combination Plus Summary

Running head: MILESTONE ONE

Milestone one: Introduction

Terri Y. Hudson

IT-659 Cyberlaw and Ethics

Southern New Hampshire University

April 15, 2017

In the modern world, the online platform plays a vital role in every activity, and this also applies to businesses who utilize the platform in their day-to-day operations. Although the use of an online platform such as the internet offers unmeasurable advantages to businesses, it also comes with risks associated with its use. This, therefore, creates the need for the establishment of cyber law security as a way to protect information systems of companies. Nearly every company is at cyber risks and hence the initiation of principles that act as guidelines towards preventing and reducing the cases of breaches that could be harmful to both the companies and the customers they serve. The subject of analysis, in this case, is the security breach at Yahoo.

Yahoo is a technology company and which mainly offers emailing services to the public. Despite being in the tech industry, Yahoo has had some incidents that have shown vulnerability in its cyber security system. In 2016, the firm suffered from not only one, but two cases of security breaches that resulted to the stealing of information from over 1 billion customers. The sensitive details stolen in this instance included names, phone numbers, email addresses and hashed passwords. Although the breach was highlighted on 14 t and 15 of December in 2016, it is believed that the company was aware of the breach since September and that the attacks are connected to the breaches in 2014 and all which originate from August 2013 (Perlroth, 2017).

Principles of cyber security revolve around the collaboration of people, processes, and technologies to achieve a desirable level of security. One on the main principle of cyber security is the need to protect every endpoint that is attached to the system of the company. In this case, the incident under analysis is the breach that happened to the servers of Yahoo that resulted to the stealing of over 1 billion customer’s information. Most of their activities are on the e-communication platform and therefore crucial that every point such as infrastructure providers and shared cloud computing providers. With every possible entry point covered against potential breach, this results in an increase in the level of security to the technology and e-communication industry (Moore, 2010).

Another principle of cybersecurity is the need to build a system for scale and flexibility, and this is due to not only the massive growth envisioned and the fact that hackers and breaches are becoming increasingly dynamic. In the technology industry, scale and flexibility would play a vital role in helping companies to monitor and control systems. Additionally, they would be able to keep up with the changes that would put their security systems at risks. Considering that Yahoo works in the technology industry and provide email services to their consumers, it is crucial that they prepare for the possibility of an increase in the number of users which in turn would be collated with increased security risks. With the application of this principle, the companies in the industry may be better prepared for the growth anticipated (Moore, 2010).

With an increase in the connection of devices, companies, especially in the technology industry, are faced with an increased possibility of security breach. It is then important that they adhere to the principles of cybersecurity so as to ensure that their systems offer better protection not only to them but also to the consumers. The cyber law and security principles cannot be an assurance against breach of information technology, but at least they offer a better and improved solution to the looming danger of cyber crime (Podhorec, 2012).

References

Moore, T. (2010). The economics of cybersecurity: Principles and policy options. International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, 3(3), 103-117.

Perlroth, V. (2017). Yahoo Says 1 Billion User Accounts Were Hacked. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 10 April 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/14/technology/yahoo-hack.html?_r=0

Podhorec, M. (2012).Cyber security within the globalization process. Journal of Defense Resources Management (JoDRM), 3(1), 19-26.