Cybersecurity Protection Research Articles

Pathways to Cybersecurity Awareness and Protection Behaviors in South Korea

ABSTRACT Cybersecurity awareness plays an important role in the human arena of cybersecurity. Using a nationally representative South Korean sample, this current study examines two pathways leading to enhanced cybersecurity protection behaviors in relation to cybersecurity awareness and cybersecurity risks. In addition, this study aims to identify generational differences between pathways. Data were derived from Information Security Survey, which is the latest public access survey on this topic. The study found that cybersecurity awareness and cybersecurity risk have a positive association with cybersecurity behaviors. In a multigroup analysis, the influence of cybersecurity risk on cybersecurity behaviors was statistically significant for all generational groups. Across the younger generation, acceptance of cybersecurity risk was more influenced by cybersecurity protection behaviors, while cybersecurity awareness became more important for the older generation. Practical, policy, and research implications for increasing cybersecurity awareness and risk to promote safe cybersecurity protection behaviors are also discussed.

The Development and Issues of Energy-ICT: A Review of Literature with Economic and Managerial Viewpoints

This paper reviews the economic and managerial literature on the relationship between energy-ICT and the development of the green energy economy. It is summarized that there are four lines of existing literature on energy-ICT: cost and benefit analysis, fair competition issues, cybersecurity issues, and promotion policy issues. Even though ICT is energy-consuming, most of the existing empirical studies support the idea that energy-ICT has net positive effects on energy savings, energy efficiency improvement, emission reduction, and economic growth at both enterprise and economy-wide levels. Energy-ICT equips the platform operator with higher bargaining power, such that a governance mechanism to assure the fair access right of each entitled participant is required. A smarter energy-ICT network also becomes riskier, and hence the cybersecurity protection is more important than before. Future research and development opportunities remain on these issues of the fair competition, cybersecurity, and promotion policy of energy-ICT.

MODEL OF INDICATORS FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THE NATIONAL LEVEL OF DIGITALIZATION AND CYBER SECURITY OF THE COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD

Digitalization is one of the main trends in the development of modern society and the growth factors of the global economy in the coming years. But the progress of technology and the new opportunities of digitalization lead to a rapid growth of cyber threats and cyber incidents. Achieving an appropriate level of digitization of the success of the economy and society is interdependent on the levels of development of information and communication technologies and their protection against possible cyber attacks. The purpose of this work is to develop, from the standpoint of system analysis, formal mathematical models for describing the determination of the national level of digital development of countries, taking into account the national level of cyber security and cyber protection. In order to realize the purpose of the study, data was collected and systematized according to four groups of indicators: the general level of development, the level of digital development of the country, the level of technical infrastructure, and the level of the ability to counter cyber threats. The conducted information analysis made it possible to determine the nomenclature of indicators of digitalization progress and the level of cyber security and cyber protection. Based on it, a structure of component models was formed that describe the necessary elements of the subject area of the task of determining the indicators of the national level of digitalization with the coordination of the indicators of the level of cyber security and cyber protection. The results of the study allow us to assert that the development of the digital economy is impossible without strengthening cyber security both at the state level and at the level of individual entities. Further research will focus on the development of mathematical models for an integral assessment of the state of the country's digital transformation, taking into account the country's ability to counter modern cyber threats.

A Survey on Cyber Security Meets Artificial Intelligence: AI– Driven Cyber Security

The computerized version of human intelligence is Artificial Intelligence(AI). Artificial Intelligence systems combine large sets of data with intelligent and iterative processing algorithms in order to make predictions, based on patterns and features in the data that they analyse. With the booming technologies such as IOT and Cloud Computing, huge amounts of data are generated and collected that require cyber security protection today. There is a growing need for cyber security methods which are both robust and intelligent due to the ever-increasing complexity of cyber crimes. While data can be used to benefit business interests, it poses a number of challenges in terms of security and privacy protection. Artificial Intelligence (AI) based technologies, such as machine learning statistics, big data analysis, deep learning and so on, have been used to deal with cyber security threats. These technologies are used for intrusion detection systems, malicious software detection, and encrypted communications. In the rapidly growing field of AI driven security, scientists from multiple disciplines work together to combat cyber threats. AI models require unique cyber security defence and protection technologies. This survey provides various method, different datasets and methodologies that may be used for the proposed IA enabled cyber security technologies. This study aims to classify the AI-based cyber security solutions gathered and describe how they can help solve problems in the field of cyber security.

Research on the Application of AI in the Cyberspace Security: A Case Study of Smart Campus Network Security

AI has a variety of educational applications such as smart campuses, personalized learning platforms, teachers and students in assessment, and facial recognition systems. In this paper, we focus on the common threats in cyber space of education. An AI system inherits security threats of traditional computer system, therefore, cybersecurity protection mainly helps computer’s software and hardware, data store and transfer, as well as human activity. Therefore, we focus on the application of artificial intelligence technology to improve security protection and management capabilities in cyberspace security can further reduce the incidence of network failures and network attack accidents, and improve network system operation efficiency. We focus on the role of artificial intelligence and its applications through machine-learning systems. The general ways with the advancements of IT colleges and universities have adopted smart campus systems and they have become the mainstream. This paper introduces the design and implementation experience of a smart campus network, information security protection system, and points out that the implementation effects on providing teachers and students with a fast, safe, and reliable network. This environment makes teaching easier and students' learning more efficient. To this end, the article studies the role of artificial intelligence in cyber security, and hopes that this research can provide a scientific and reasonable reference for future related research.

Knowing the unknown: The hunting loop

There are several ways to improve an organization’s cybersecurity protection against intruders. One of the ways is to proactively hunt for threats, i.e., threat hunting. Threat Hunting empowers organizations to detect the presence of intruders in their environment. It identifies and searches the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) of the attackers to find them in the environment. To know what to look for in the collected data and environment, it is required to know and understand the attacker's TTPs. An attacker's TTPs information usually comes from signatures, indicators, and behavior observed in threat intelligence sources. Traditionally, threat hunting involves the analysis of collected logs for Indicator of Compromise (IOCs) through different tools. However, network and security infrastructure devices generate large volumes of logs and can be challenging to analyze thus leaving gaps in the detection process. Similarly, it is very difficult to identify the required IOCs and thus sometimes makes it difficult to hunt the threat which is one of the major drawbacks of the traditional threat hunting processes and frameworks. To address this issue, intelligent automated processes using machine learning can improve the threat hunting process, that will plug those gaps before an attacker can exploit them. This paper aims to propose a machine learning-based threat-hunting model that will be able to fill the gaps in the threat detection process and effectively detect the unknown adversaries by training the machine learning algorithms via extensive datasets of TTPs and normal behavior of the system and target environment. The model is comprised of five main stages. These are Hypotheses Development, Equip, Hunt, Respond and Feedback stages. This threat hunting model is a bit ahead of the traditional models and frameworks by employing machine learning algorithms.

European Union ∙ Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/30 Supplementing Directive 2014/53/EU on Radio Equipment: Strengthening Cybersecurity, Privacy and Personal Data Protection of Wireless Devices

European Union ∙ Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/30 Supplementing Directive 2014/53/EU on Radio Equipment: Strengthening Cybersecurity, Privacy and Personal Data Protection of Wireless Devices

Cybersecurity Risk Assessment of Industrial Control Systems Based on Order-α Divergence Measures Under an Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy Environment

With the increasing deployment of network technologies in industrial control systems (ICSs), cybersecurity has become a challenge in ICSs. Cybersecurity risk assessment (CRA) plays an important role in cybersecurity protection of ICSs. However, the weights of risk indices are constants in traditional CRA methods, and they do not fully consider the requirements of risk identification. In this paper, we define a novel order- <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha $ </tex-math></inline-formula> divergence measure for interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy numbers (IVIFNs) and further develop a novel CRA approach for ICSs based on the proposed divergence measure under an interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy environment to contribute to the research gap. First, an order- <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha $ </tex-math></inline-formula> divergence measure for IVIFNs is defined considering flexibility and robustness of divergence measures with the parameter. Next, a variable weight-based CRA approach for ICSs is developed. In this approach, IVIFNs are adopted to describe evaluation values of risk indices. The weights of risk indices are variable weight vectors and they are determined by the relative divergence closeness. Integration approaches of each node and each attack path in attack-defense trees (ADTs) are proposed based on the operations of IVIFNs, and risk scores of each attack path are calculated by using the score function. Finally, we apply the proposed method to the CRA of a civil aviation fuel supply automatic control system and verify its effectiveness and advantages by comparing it with other methods. This method can dynamically adjust the weights of risk indices considering the relationship between each risk index and the highest risk, and therefore, it can more effectively recognize the highest risk of ICSs than the traditional CRA method. In addition, it can also match the risk attitude of decision-makers by adjusting the parameter <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha $ </tex-math></inline-formula> .

The effects of antecedents and mediating factors on cybersecurity protection behavior

This paper identifies opportunities for potential theoretical and practical improvements in employees' awareness of cybersecurity and their motivational behavior to protect themselves and their organizations from cyberattacks using the protection motivation theory. In addition, it contributes to the literature by examining additional variables and mediators besides the core constructs of the Protection Motivation Model (PMT). This article uses empirical data and structural equation modeling to test the antecedents and mediators of employees' cybersecurity motivational behavior. The study offers theoretical and pragmatic guidance for cybersecurity programs. First, the model developed in this study can partially explain how people may change their cybersecurity protection behavior about security threats and coping actions. Secondly, the result of the study indicates that security coping factors are reliable predictors in projecting individual intention to take protective measures. Third, organizational effort in combatting cyber threats and increasing employee awareness is significantly associated with the use of cyber threat coping processes. Additionally, several practical prescriptions are suggested based on gender, generations, and types of organizations. For example, government organizations have taken well-designed cybersecurity measures and developed detailed protocols to enhance employees’ motivational behavior. Finally, future cybersecurity training materials should adapt to the unique traits of different generations, especially the Gen Edge group and digital natives for all cybersecurity subjects.

Cyber Security : Techniques and Perspectives on Transforming - A Review

Cyber Security is the protection of computer systems and networks from information disclosure, theft of or damage to their hardware, software, or electronic data, as well as from the disruption or misdirection of the services they provide. So basically it is the application of technologies, processes and controls to protect systems, networks, programs, devices and data from cyber attacks. It aims to reduce the risks of cyber attacks and protect against the unauthorized exploitation of systems, networks and technologies. Whenever we think about the cyber security the first thing that comes to our mind is ‘cyber crimes’ which are increasing immensely day by day. Various Governments and companies are taking many measures in order to prevent these cyber crimes. Besides various measures cyber security is still a very big concern to many. This paper mainly focuses on some of the techniques and perspectives on transforming the cyber security. Here we have discussed a new posture for cyber security in a networked world which explains how companies can use organizational structure and governance to enhance cyber security protections.

Investigating the Impact of Cybersecurity Culture on Employees’ Cybersecurity Protection Behaviours: A Conceptual Paper

As technology and digital applications increase in volume and complexity, organization is facing greater security risks in cyberspace more than ever before. However, organizational cybersecurity requires more than just the latest technology. All the technology available to secure systems will not keep an organization secure if the people in the organization make bad or unexpected decisions that open up the system to attackers. To secure an organization, all employees of the organization must act positively to reduce company risks from cyberattacks. All leaders have a main responsibility to understand and align with the entire organization with cybersecurity objectives. Leaders need to keep continue to invest in security technologies and also need practical solutions for dealing with the human error of cybersecurity. The conceptual paper presented in this paper describes cybersecurity culture, external influencing factors, and organizational mechanisms, the elements that contribute to each employee of the organization that having protection behaviour from cyberattacks.

Cyber security and data protection: Learning from your own mistakes is good, learning from somebody else’s mistakes is better — the reasons underpinning fines and what regulators expect of cyber security

Cyber security legislation goes far beyond data protection rules. Data protection, however, offers a very useful point of reference for both information security professionals and lawyers, with important lessons for non-personal data. This paper describes recent decisions that give an indication of how authorities assess potential risks, and thus indirectly help to highlight best practices.

Principles of legal regulation of the institute of information security

The article in the context of methodologies of systematic analysis of legal phenomena reveals the content of the principles of legal regulation of the institute of information security. It is noted that information security is defined as the impossibility of causing harm by means of a security object, due to information and information structure. Principles play an important role in the legal provision of information security. The basic principles of legal regulation of the information sphere are enshrined in the Laws "On Information", "On the Basic Principles of Cyber Security of Ukraine", most of which are key to the development of legal regulation of information security processes. In order to improve the information security system from various challenges and threats, it is proposed to enshrine in information legislation the principle of presumption of security of critical information infrastructure, which establishes that critical information infrastructure is considered protected as long as the organizational and legal security of these facilities requirements set forth in regulations in the field of information security. It is stated that a wide range of problems of information security of the individual, society and state, development of cybersecurity culture, ensuring privacy and protection of access rights, protection of information systems, resources and networks, expanding the use of information technology in public administration, other information problems security needs careful study. The principles of legal regulation in the field of information security are revealed through normative detail. It is emphasized that with the development of scientific and technological progress and the latest forms of processing and use of information, the principles of regulation in the field of information security need to be correlated at the level of regulatory support.

Key competencies for critical infrastructure cyber-security: a systematic literature review

Purpose The purpose of this paper can be encapsulated in the following points: identify the research papers published on the topic: competencies and skills necessary for critical infrastructure (CI) cyber-security (CS) protection; determine main focus areas within the identified literature and evaluate the dependency or lack thereof between them: make recommendations for future research. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on a systematic literature review conducted to identify scientific papers discussing and evaluating competencies, skills and essential attributes needed by the CI workforce for CS and preparedness to attacks and incidents. Findings After a comparative analysis of the articles reviewed in this study, a variety of skills and competencies was found to be necessary for CS assurance in CIs. These skills have been grouped into four categories, namely, technical, managerial, implementation and soft skills. Nonetheless, there is still a lack of agreement on which skills are the most critical and further research should be conducted on the relation between specific soft skills and CS assurance. Research limitations/implications Investigation of which skills are required by industry for specific CS roles, by conducting interviews and sending questionnaire\surveys, would allow consolidating whether literature and industry requirements are equivalent. Practical implications Findings from this literature review suggest that more effort should be taken to conciliate current CS curricula in academia with the skills and competencies required for CS roles in the industry. Originality/value This study provides a previously lacking current mapping and review of literature discussing skills and competencies evidenced as critical for CS assurance for CI. The findings of this research are useful for the development of comprehensive solutions for CS awareness and training.

Qualitative Assessment of Cyber Risk Exposures in India

Abstract Increased dependency on technology and data usage has simultaneously enhanced the risk exposures and vulnerabilities of organizations globally. This paper investigates this issue in India by analyzing the survey-based data we collect and provides a framework for qualitative assessment of cyber risks. The paper uses the Structural Equation Model (SEM) to validate the conceptual cyber-risk model that we have developed using the key-risk factors, such as the level of awareness, perceived risk likelihood, level of cyber-security, and cyber-risk exposures. The study results show that the risk vulnerability and the perceived risk likelihood have a positive impact on risk exposure, while risk awareness, cybersecurity, and control measures have a negative relationship. This study also identifies the causal factors among the exposures and the findings can help organizations prioritize their cybersecurity protection investments and caution insurers to take necessary mitigation measures for effective cyber-risk management and financing for their clients.

Role of Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Improvement

In recent years, the importance of cyber security and personal privacy protection has increased significantly. To protect computer systems from attacks several solutions have been proposed by researchers and many cybersecurity tools have been developed. However, with the increase in the complexity of hacking attempts, the old traditional ways to counter malware cannot be relied upon. This paper introduces the need for the development of innovative cybersecurity skills and how many security systems like Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) can be improved using Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is used by nearly every company around the world to optimize and enhance their system's safety. In this paper, advanced cybersecurity solutions for intrusion detection systems enhanced with the use of artificial intelligence are discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of existing methods are explained and some promising future directions are also discussed.

Cyber Security for Multi-Station Integrated Smart Energy Stations: Architecture and Solutions

Multi-station integration is motivated by the requirements of distributed energies interconnection and improvements in the efficiency of energy systems. Due to the diversity of communication services and the complexity of data exchanges between in-of-station and out-of-station, multi-station integrated systems have high security requirements. However, issues related to cyber security for multi-station integrated systems are seldom explored. Hence, this paper designs the secondary system architecture and proposes cyber security protection solutions for smart energy stations (SESt) that integrate the substation, photovoltaic station, energy storage station, electric vehicle charging station, and data center station. Firstly, the composition of SESt and functions of each substation are presented, a layered architecture of SESt is designed, and data exchanges of SESt are analyzed. Then, the cyber security threats and requirements of SESt are illustrated. Moreover, the cyber security protection principle and a cyber security protection system for SESt are proposed. On this basis, a security zoning and isolation scheme for SESt is designed. Finally, a traffic isolation scheme based on virtual local area networks (VLANs), a real-time guarantee scheme for communications based on service priority, and an enhancing cyber security scheme based on improved IEC 62351 are proposed for SESt.

Moving Beyond Criminal Law Responses to Cybersecurity Governance in Africa

Measures to address the security challenges of the information society have given rise to the concept of cybersecurity governance. One major aspect of cybersecurity governance is the establishment of legal measures to criminalize and deter malicious acts that affect the integrity, confidentiality, availability and security of digital data and computer systems. Accordingly, several States and intergovernmental organizations across the world have established legal frameworks to promote cybersecurity governance. This is also the case in Africa. The African Union has adopted a Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection, while other African regional intergovernmental organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the Southern African Development Community have established legal and policy frameworks for cybersecurity governance. In addition, many African States have developed legal and policy frameworks to promote cybersecurity, while some others in the process of developing such frameworks. However, most of Africa’s responses to cybersecurity governance have been focused on the establishment of criminal law measures. Yet while the establishment of criminal law measures is regarded as a critical component of cybersecurity governance, the isolated existence of such measures may not produce desirable outcomes in terms of minimizing cybersecurity vulnerabilities in Africa’s information society. This paper seeks to make a case for the development of other critical components of cybersecurity governance, including technical and organizational measures and user education. It suggests that ‘stand-alone’ criminal law measures will not be able to reduce the rising trends of cyber-criminality in Africa, and that the timely development of other critical components of cybersecurity governance is imperative especially due to the peculiar challenge of weak law enforcement capacities and justice delivery systems in many African States.

Moving Beyond Criminal Law Responses to Cybersecurity Governance in Africa

Measures to address the security challenges of the information society have given rise to the concept of cybersecurity governance. One major aspect of cybersecurity governance is the establishment of legal measures to criminalize and deter malicious acts that affect the integrity, confidentiality, availability and security of digital data and computer systems. Accordingly, several States and intergovernmental organizations across the world have established legal frameworks to promote cybersecurity governance. This is also the case in Africa. The African Union has adopted a Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection, while other African regional intergovernmental organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the Southern African Development Community have established legal and policy frameworks for cybersecurity governance. In addition, many African States have developed legal and policy frameworks to promote cybersecurity, while some others in the process of developing such frameworks. However, most of Africa’s responses to cybersecurity governance have been focused on the establishment of criminal law measures. Yet while the establishment of criminal law measures is regarded as a critical component of cybersecurity governance, the isolated existence of such measures may not produce desirable outcomes in terms of minimizing cybersecurity vulnerabilities in Africa’s information society. This paper seeks to make a case for the development of other critical components of cybersecurity governance, including technical and organizational measures and user education. It suggests that ‘stand-alone’ criminal law measures will not be able to reduce the rising trends of cyber-criminality in Africa, and that the timely development of other critical components of cybersecurity governance is imperative especially due to the peculiar challenge of weak law enforcement capacities and justice delivery systems in many African States.

Cybersecurity protection on in‐vehicle networks for distributed automotive cyber‐physical systems: State‐of‐the‐art and future challenges

AbstractThe ever‐evolving trip mode of human being leads the automobiles moving toward connected, autonomous, sharing, and electrified vehicles rapidly. But the connection introduces new cybersecurity problems on in‐vehicle networks, which poses great challenges for safety guarantee of distributed automotive cyber‐physical systems. This article first analyzes the cybersecurity vulnerabilities and defines the security requirements for in‐vehicle networks, and then introduces the architecture evolution of in‐vehicle network. Based on the definition on architecture of in‐vehicle networks, this article defines a security protection framework for it. And then, it surveys the state‐of‐the‐art works for availability protection, integrity protection, and confidentiality protection of in‐vehicle networks, respectively, and detailed analysis and comparisons are given about the proposed cybersecurity protection mechanisms. Finally, it summarizes the future challenges for cybersecurity protection of in‐vehicle networks, and proposes possible solutions for these challenges.