A Quick Perspective on the Current State in Cybersecurity

Nowadays, cybersecurity makes headlines across the media and in companies, blogs, social networks, among other places. The Internet is a wild cyberspace, an arena for commercialization, consumerism, business, and leisure, to name a few activities. Networks, populations, and nations around the world, now interconnected through the Internet, rely on it for their daily lives. But some Internet users have learned to take advantage of vulnerable systems and of Internet technologies for their own good, sending out spam, phishing, data breaches, botnets, and other threats. An underground criminal network has emerged, creating complex malware kits for several purposes. “Hacktivism” has become a popular term with many supporters worldwide, but cyberwarfare is now on the rise, gaining more and more attention from nation-states. This chapter provides a quick overview of these topics, discussing them in a timely manner, referencing key events from the past while focusing on the present day.