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Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting IT (information technology) networks, systems, data, applications, and devices from attacks. Cyberattacks are typically designed to disrupt business operations, gain unauthorized access to systems, take data or intellectual property, or steal or extort money from organizations. Strong cybersecurity requires a multilayered defense involving technologies, processes, policy, and security expertise to protect organizations from attacks that can result in loss of business and reputation.
Why customers choose Akamai
Akamai is the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business online. Our market-leading security solutions, superior threat intelligence, and global operations team provide defense in depth to safeguard enterprise data and applications everywhere.
What is a cybersecurity threat?
While the threat landscape is constantly evolving, there are categories of common cyberattack methods that continue to present a challenge for cybersecurity programs.
- Malware is malicious software — such as viruses, worms, or spyware — that is designed to steal data or damage networks and systems.
- Ransomware attacks use a form of malware that encrypts files within a target network, allowing cybercriminals to extract a ransom before providing an encryption key that restores access to important data.
- Denial-of-service (DoS) or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks cause networks, websites, or servers to crash. A denial-of-service attack floods a target with an overwhelming number of requests until the target can no longer perform as usual or continue to serve legitimate requests.
What is a cybersecurity program designed to do?
Effective cybersecurity programs are designed to identify threats and remediate them as quickly as possible. Cybersecurity technologies may be designed to stop threats before entering a network or to recognize and stop attacks in progress. Because of the sheer volume and increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, many cybersecurity programs are focused both on stopping attacks as well as ensuring business continuity during attacks that successfully breach initial defenses.
