Identifying Threats
We often hear of cyberattacks and confidential data being leaked, so a knowledge of identifying threats is essential in information technology. This course will consider identifying threats. For example - When system vulnerability is exploited or has the possibility of being exploited, the system is known to be “at risk of a threat”, therefore, a threat is defined as the potential for a factor or third-party system to successfully exercise vulnerability in a particular system. Recall from previous lessons that system vulnerability is a weakness in the system which can be triggered or exploited either accidentally or for malicious intent.
When performing risk assessment for a particular information system, it is very important to identify all the potential threats to that system, along with the likelihood of each threat, therefore, things like threat sources, existing vulnerabilities, potential vulnerabilities and existing controls should be carefully considered and examined.
Identifying the source of threats
The first step in identifying threats consists of identifying any potential sources of threats and write down a list of those threat-sources which are of relevance to the information system being evaluated. A threat source refers to any event or circumstance that has the potential of causing some sort of damage and harm to an existing information system. The most common sources of threat are environmental, human, or natural.
Potential sources of threats should be carefully considered, and this can prove to be quite a lengthy exercise and might require a few meetings and sessions because some sources may not be very obvious but can still potentially cause great harm to the information systems in particular, and to the organisation as a whole. Events like “flooding” for example might have a very low likelihood of occurring because an organisation might not be located near the beach or the river, however it is still possible for the facility to flood in the event of a bursting pipe within the company, and this will still classify as a “flood” event. Such an event can cause extensive damage to the IT assets and resources of an organisation.
Human beings can also cause a great deal of damage to information systems, and are therefore considered as serious threat sources for any business. Humans can hurt information systems either intentionally or unintentionally. Intentional harm results from attacks by malicious people and disgruntled employees, whereas unintentional harm can result from negligence and human errors.
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What Next?
This course is an advanced qualification in information technology. It provides you with broad training in information technology from programming to operations to servicing to security. The elective modules also enable you to choose specific training to suit you and YOUR career needs.
Having long term career prospects in information technology careers requires more than the ability to program and service computers. You also need to be able to adapt and change as new technologies and information becomes available. This is why training on courses such as this are essential for long term IT career development.
This course is broad based in order to give you broad skills. It will foster your ability to grow your awareness of opportunities, building contacts with industry professionals. You will learn to think and act in an innovative way, and in doing all these things to optimize your career sustainability.
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