Discover some of the biggest cybersecurity breaches that have occurred, the history and stories behind them, and a path to recovery. This book covers the reasons why people should enter the cybersecurity field and what they can do to help prevent breaches from happening in the future.

For those both entering and currently in the field, the first step is to know the biggest breaches of the past, and the next step is to always remember them and avoid them. The Capital One breach, the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica Hacks, the Marriott Breach, the Office of Personnel Management breaches, the Yahoo breaches, the Equifax breach, and other breaches covered in this book are some of the worst, most infamous breaches to date. You will learn the key causes of each of these breaches in addition to the 9,000 other reported breaches to date as well as the impact to the political, financial, and social landscapes in the US.

An investment of over $45 billion dollars has been made in cybersecurity over the past 15 years, yet breaches continue. As of 2020, there are more than 500,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in the US alone with less than one million professionals employed in the field, yielding a negative employment rate of over 50%. We desperately need more people to enter the cybersecurity field, and we also need to aggressively automate some of the most basic, entry-level positions in the field by leveraging the power of artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

You do not have to be a deep technologist to get involved in cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is a field in which you need to be multi-disciplinary to be successful. This book will provide you with a solid understanding of how phishing, malware, software vulnerabilities, third-party compromise and abuse, unencrypted data, and inadvertent employee mistakes have resulted in a significant negative business and political impact.

Lessons learned are provided along with a blueprint for how people can enter the field and help, starting at the board level and moving down to entry-level information security analysts. Whether entering the field as a beginner, or as an existing technology or business professional, you can help defend against organized cybercriminal attacks that will target your organization.

What You Will Learn

• Discover how key data breaches have occurred and their impact
• Know the three key meta-level causes: failure to prioritize, invest, and execute on security initiatives, and the six key technical causes seen in breaches: phishing, malware, third-party compromise or abuse, software vulnerabilities, unencrypted data, and inadvertent employee mistakes
• Understand how the key causes resulted in mega-breaches at Target, JPMorganChase, the US Office of Personnel Management, Yahoo, Facebook, Equifax, Marriott, and Capital One
• Instill the seven habits of highly effective security in your organization
  
• Prepare for board- and management-level discussions on cybersecurity
• Know the most effective prevention and detection countermeasures for the six key technical causes of breach, both for organizations and consumers
• Be familiar with the areas of cybersecurity that are most ripe for further investment based on the investments that have been made to date and the key causes of breaches
• Be aware of how professionals in various roles can get into the field as well as apply their skills to make contributions to cybersecurity

Who This Book Is For

Those interested in understanding what cybersecurity is all about, the failures have taken place in the field to date, and how they could have been avoided. For existing leadership and management in enterprises and government organizations, existing professionals in the field, and for those who are considering entering the field, this book covers everything from how to create a culture of security to the technologies and processes you can employ to achieve security based on lessons that can be learned from past breaches.