INTRODUCTION

Computer, information, and physical security are becoming more important at an exponential rate. Over the last few years, the necessity for computer and information security has grown rapidly as cyberattacks have increased, financial information is being stolen at a rapid pace, cyber warfare is affecting countries around the world, and today’s malware is growing exponentially in its sophistication and dominating our threat landscape. The world’s continuous dependency upon technology and the rapid increase in the complexities of these technologies make securing them a challenging and important task. Companies have had to spend millions of dollars to clean up the effects of these issues and millions of dollars more to secure their perimeter and internal networks with equipment, software, consultants, and education. Our networked environments no longer have true boundaries; the integration of mobile devices has introduced more attack surfaces; and the attackers are commonly well funded, organized, and focused on their intended victims. The necessity and urgency for security have led to a new paradigm emerging. It is slowly becoming apparent that governments, nations, and societies are vulnerable to many different types of attacks that can happen over the network wire and airwaves. Societies depend heavily on all types of computing power and functionality, mostly provided by the public and private sectors. This means that although governments are responsible for protecting their citizens, it is becoming apparent that the citizens and their businesses must become more secure to protect the nation as a whole.

This type of protection can really only begin through proper education and understanding, and must continue with the dedicated execution of this knowledge. This book is written to provide a foundation in the many different areas that make up effective security. We need to understand all of the threats and dangers we are vulnerable to and the steps that must be taken to mitigate these vulnerabilities.