The internet has proved itself to be a necessary aspect of the modern world. Businesses and livelihoods depend on it. It has also connected the world like never before. However, just like there is a dark side to everything, the internet also has a dark side, and that is cybercrime.
Cybercrime has become a formidable force in recent years. What started with the generally considered harmless Creeper Virus is now a full-fledged army of hackers and cyber threats with the collective aim of data theft, financial gain, or disrupting services.
You must be familiar with the Colonial Pipeline cyber-attack in 2021, which caused fuel shortages along the East Coast. It was a ransomware attack that caused major financial loss to the company because its pipeline shut down. On top of that, they had to pay roughly $4.4 million to the ransomware group.
As much as I hate to say it, cybercrime is here to stay. This is why it is high time that we learn about the importance of cybersecurity.
Jump To:
Understanding Cybersecurity
Importance and Benefits of Cybersecurity
Protects our Data
Saves Business Reputation
Deters Compliance and Regulatory Fines
Ensures Trust
Tips to be Cybersafe
Passwords
Upgrades
Internet Security
Multifactor Authentication
VPN
Understanding Cybersecurity
Just like Creeper, the first virus, gave birth to Reaper, the first antivirus, Cybersecurity is the antivirus to cybercrime.
It is the domain that aims to protect us from various viruses and cyber threats that are lurking on the internet. It acts as a layer of defense against all hackers and cybercriminals that can steal and misuse our personal information or cause us financial harm. Cybersecurity includes all technologies, software, policies, and processes that deter cybercrime and promote online security.
Cybersecurity helps businesses, organizations, and individuals with a proper cybersecurity posture to protect their networks, computers, and data from harm.
Unfortunately, we are living in a time when cyberthreats are stealthy and impossible to trace. This is why cybersecurity is more than having an antivirus installed on your computer. In 2025, it means multiple layers of protection against all your devices and networks. Moreover, everyone should have basic cybersecurity awareness to safeguard their digital privacy.
Network security, cloud security, application security, and Internet of Things (IoT) security are just a few of the branches of cybersecurity. All of these aims to protect specific systems from cyber threats. You can gauge how sophisticated cybersecurity is from the fact that every system has its own rules and cybersecurity protocols.
Importance and Benefits of Cybersecurity
Cyber-attacks can have serious consequences. It can impact the victim mentally or financially, leaving them with lifelong trauma and trust issues. In cases where business organizations are targeted by cybercriminals, reputational damage and compliance issues are severe consequences apart from the financial loss as well. This is why having resources and energy allocated to cybersecurity can make a huge difference and save individuals and organizations from great distress.
The following are the reasons why cybersecurity is so important and should be a priority for everyone:
Protects our Data
Most cybercriminals aim for data breaches through various cyberattacks like phishing scams, ransomware, and malware attacks. This is because data is the most valuable thing in this world.
However, cybersecurity ensures that our sensitive and personal data, like our name, address, banking information, etc., is protected from hackers who can use it in malicious ways like identity theft and financial fraud.
Saves Business Reputation
A business’s reputation is everything they have. They can recover from financial damage, but recovering from reputational damage is nearly impossible. Cyberattacks that cause reputational damage to businesses impact customer loyalty.
However, cybersecurity can protect businesses from reputational damage by safeguarding their operations and sensitive customer data. Plus, if customers know that a business has a strong cybersecurity posture, they can also rest assured that their data is in safe hands.
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Deters Compliance and Regulatory Fines
Another reason why cybersecurity is so important in this day and age is that governments now make it mandatory for businesses to adopt best cybersecurity practices. This is to ultimately protect consumers from being impacted.
Otherwise, in case of a cyberattack that compromises customer information, businesses are fined heavily, which is another dent in their finances. In some cases, businesses might also lose certifications that make them credible.
Ensures Trust
Trust is a major aspect of our everyday life and online activities. We visit websites that we trust, and we only buy from businesses that we trust. However, if anyone is made a victim of a cyberattack, it can severely damage their ability to trust. However, having tight cybersecurity policies in place can protect this trust and allow individuals to be informed.
Tips to be Cybersafe
Cybersecurity might sound like something that only large organizations should deal with because only they can hire cybersecurity personnel like network, cloud, and application security engineers. But this could not be further from the truth.
The truth is, even if you are an individual or a small business owner, you need to be mindful about cybersecurity. It does not matter if you can afford to get someone professional to build your cybersecurity posture. You can always start small.
I am sharing some tips on how you can become aware of cybersecurity and make it a priority while using the internet:
Strengthen Your Passwords
Are you someone who has Password1234567 set as your password? This is a super common password, and the chances that it will get hacked are higher than our Lady Liberty.
To secure yourself against hackers, you need to get creative with passwords and come up with unique ones. The more unique a password is, the less chance of it getting hacked. Unique passwords are a combination of letters (both upper and lowercase), numbers, and symbols. If you think remembering such passwords is hard, then you can use a password manager. It remembers all your passwords for you, no matter how strong or complicated they are.
Moreover, it stores them in an encrypted form that cannot be read by anyone. I use the BitWarden password manager, and it is pretty effective in managing all my passwords.
Allow Upgrades
We all find application and software upgrades so annoying. I used to press the ‘Snooze Update’ button at least a couple of times before finally letting the update download. But we shouldn’t do that because every software update usually carries patched security loopholes. This means every update is more secure than the previous ones. Getting your upgrades on time ensures that no hacker or virus will attack you through that particular software.
Get Internet Security
Another way you can remain safe from cyber attacks, through cybersecurity, is by making your home WiFi network secure. Improperly secured WiFi networks are a major reason for data breaches and other cyber threats. This is why most internet providers have an internet security option in their internet plans. I use Xfinity Internet, and their Advanced Security feature monitors my home WiFi network while identifying potential threats.
Use Multifactor Authentication
There were days when passwords were considered effective security. But with growing cybersecurity concerns, they alone are not enough. This is why you must have heard of multi-factor authentication or two-factor authentication. Setting this up on all your accounts requires you to verify in two or more ways that you are the account owner. This can be your fingerprints, sending a notification to your other device, or another password/pin.
Download a VPN
Your VPN (Virtual Private Network) encrypts all incoming and outgoing internet traffic to make it illegible to hackers. If they cannot make sense of your internet traffic, they can hardly attack your device. Moreover, it hides your real IP address and makes you appear to be somewhere else than you actually are. This is great protection for attacks like Man-in-the-Middle attacks.
This is how you can adopt cybersecurity as a way to ensure protection. However, the sad reality is that cyberattacks are constantly evolving, especially with Artificial Intelligence being used. This is why nothing can ever guarantee 100% protection against these. But having multiple cybersecurity measures in place can help you deter these.
