# Introduction to cybersecurity

Imagine that you're preparing for a storm.

You've received notification that a storm is coming.

You prepare by gathering

the tools and materials you'll need to stay safe.

You make sure your windows and doors are secure.

You assemble a first aid kit,

tools, food and water. You're prepared.

The storm hits and there are

powerful winds and heavy rain.

The storm is using its force to try and breach your home.

You notice some water leaks

and begin patching them quickly

in order to minimize any risk or potential damage.

Handling a security incident is no different.

Organizations must prepare for the storm by ensuring they

have the tools to mitigate and

quickly respond to outside threats.

The objective is to minimize risk and potential damage.

As a security analyst,

you'll work to protect

your organization and the people it serves from

a variety of risks and outside

threats. And if a threat does get through,

you and your team will provide

a solution to remedy the situation.

To help you better understand what this means, we'll define security and discuss

the roles of security professionals in organizations.

Let's start with some definitions:

Cybersecurity, or security, is the practice

of ensuring confidentiality, integrity,

and availability of information

by protecting networks, devices,

people, and data from

unauthorized access or criminal exploitation.

For example, requiring

complex passwords to access sites and

services improves confidentiality by

making it much more difficult for

a threat actor to compromise them.

A threat actor is any person

or group who presents a security risk.

Now that you know the definition of security,

let's discuss what security teams do for an organization.

Security protects against external and internal threats.

An external threat is someone outside of the organization

trying to gain access to

private information, networks or devices.

An internal threat comes

from current or former employees,

external vendors, or trusted partners.

Often these internal threats are accidental,

such as an employee clicking on

a compromised link in an email.

Other times, the internal actor intentionally engages in

activities such as unauthorized data access

or abusing systems for personal use.

Experienced security professionals

will help organizations

mitigate or reduce the impact of threats like these.

Security teams also ensure

an organization meets regulatory compliance, or

laws and guidelines, that require

the implementation of specific security standards.

Ensuring that organizations are in

compliance may allow them to avoid fines

and audits, while also upholding

their ethical obligation to protect users.

Security teams also maintain

and improve business productivity.

By establishing a plan for business continuity,

security teams allow people to do their jobs,

even in the case of something like a data breach.

Being security conscious can also

reduce expenses associated with risks,

such as recovering from data loss or

operational downtime, and potentially avoiding fines.

The last benefit of security that we'll

discuss is maintaining brand trust.

If services or customer data are compromised,

this can lower trust in the organization,

damage the brand, and hurt the business in the long term.

Loss of customer trust may

also lead to less revenue for the business.

Now, let's go over some common security-based roles.

After completing this certificate program,

here are some job titles you may want to search for:

Security analyst or specialist,

Cybersecurity analyst or specialist,

Security operation center or SOC

analyst, Information security analyst.

You'll also learn more about the responsibilities

associated with some of

these job titles later in the program.

As you may now realize,

the field of security includes

many topics and concepts and

every activity you complete in

this program moves you one step closer to a new job.

Let's keep learning together.