Under the hood of cybersecurity

Every digital interaction – whether it is sending an email, accessing cloud services, or processing a financial transaction relies on one invisible factor – cybersecurity. Without it, business continuity, trust, and even national security collapse. Cybersecurity today is not an optional layer of IT. It is a foundation of digital safety.

This article provides you with an overview of what cybersecurity really is, its definitions, frameworks, real-world cases, and data-driven insights that highlight both risks and responses.

According to the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), cybersecurity is the ability to protect or defend the use of cyberspace from cyberattacks.¹

Other institutions expand the definition. IBM describes it as the practice of protecting critical systems and sensitive information from digital attacks.²

Key principles often follow the ‘CIA triad’.

Together, these principles define the backbone of modern digital safety.

Cybersecurity spans multiple interdependent domains. By addressing each layer, organizations create a defense-in-depth strategy.

Domain	Objective	Example controls
Network security	Protect networks against unauthorized access and malware	Firewalls, IDS/IPS
Application security	Secure applications throughout their lifecycle	Code scanning, patching
Information security	Protect confidentiality and integrity of stored and transmitted data	Encryption, DLP
Operational security	Manage access, permissions, and policies for secure operations	IAM, zero-trust models
Cloud security	Secure workloads and data in cloud environments	CASB, cloud-native firewalls
Endpoint security	Safeguard user devices from intrusion	EDR, anti-malware
Resilience	Ensure systems can recover after incidents	Backup, disaster recovery

In 2024, The Salt Typhoon operation exploited telecom providers across the U.S. and Europe, infiltrating metadata systems for over a year before discovery. The attack leveraged unpatched systems and missing MFA, underlining the need for strict patching and zero-trust practices.⁹

Threat actors gained unauthorized access to multiple customer environments hosted by Snowflake, exposing sensitive data from multiple industries. The incident highlighted risks of cloud service provider and the shared responsibility model.¹⁰

More than 2,000 laptops and phones went missing across government departments in a single year. Even with encryption, the physical loss of assets poses national-level risk.¹¹

Strong cybersecurity relies on structured frameworks that guide strategy, operations, and compliance. Three essential pillars are Zero Trust, Cyber Resilience, and Regulatory Alignment.

Zero Trust assumes no user, device, or connection is trusted by default. Access is granted only after continuous verification. Key principles include:

• Least-privilege access – users and systems receive only necessary permissions,
• Continuous verification – authentication and authorization happen at every step,
• Micro-segmentation – networks and applications are divided to limit lateral movement.

Even with strong defenses, breaches happen. Cyber resilience focuses on detecting, responding, and recovering. Key principles include:

• Backup and recovery – regular, tested backups reduce downtime and data loss,
• Business continuity – critical operations continue during incidents,
• Incident response exercises – simulations prepare teams for fast, effective response.

Frameworks like the EU NIS2 Directive and DORA define security baselines, incident reporting, and penalties for non-compliance. Key principles include:

• Security baselines – minimum technical and organizational measures,
• Incident reporting – timely communication with authorities,
• Financial penalties – fines for non-compliance incentivize strong security.

• Zero Trust – prevents unauthorized access,
• Cyber Resilience – ensures operations continue after breaches,
• Regulatory Alignment – formalizes processes and accountability.

Together, these frameworks provide a proactive, comprehensive, and auditable cybersecurity profile.

Nowadays, cybersecurity is defined by scale, sophistication, and speed. Threat actors leverage automation, insiders, and credential theft at extreme levels. Yet the solutions like Zero Trust, AI-assisted detection, incident response readiness are available and proven to reduce costs and risks.

For you as a professional, cybersecurity is not an abstract IT concern. It is your organization’s operational backbone and its most strategic investment in digital safety.

Sources

1. NIST, “cybersecurity glossary” ↩︎
2. IBM, “What is cybersecurity” ↩︎
3. Cybersecurityventures, “Cybercrime To Cost The World $12.2 Trillion Annually By 2031” ↩︎
4. Globalsecuritymag, “Global Cybercrime Cost is Growing 12x Faster than Total Cybersecurity Spending” ↩︎
5. Morganlewis, “Study Finds Average Cost of Data Breaches Significantly Increased Globally in 2024” ↩︎
6. Sentinelone, “Key Cyber Security Statistics for 2025” ↩︎
7. Asisonline, “1.8 Billion Credentials Stolen in the First Half of 2025—an 800% Increase” ↩︎
8. Techradar, “AI powering a “dramatic surge” in cyberthreats as automated scans hit 36,000 per second” ↩︎
9. Wikipedia, “2024 global telecommunications hack” ↩︎
10. Wikipedia, “Snowflake data breach” ↩︎
11. Theguardian, “Thousands of UK government laptops, phones and tablets have been lost or stolen” ↩︎