The Professionals Who Fight Cyber Crime

The Internet and computers are a wonderful addition to modern life, but the dangers lurking even behind a simple browsing operation are growing by the day. Criminals constantly develop new ways to use people’s personal and financial information maliciously, attacking everything from social media profiles to Internet banking operations or classified government information.

If cybercrime has expanded dangerously in recent times, a new class of professionals have taken the role of protecting companies and individuals from the cyberattacks that cost them substantial time and money. They are the professionals who fight cybercrime by changing the legislation, implementing security systems, or even decrypting corrupted files. Who are the people who keep cyber crime at bay?

Cyber Law Legislators 

The highest level of protection against cyber crime comes from legal experts who develop and implement related legislation. They are the people who establish and expand on the definition of cyber law in each country by setting legal boundaries to the use of technology. Through their work, they ensure that any cyber criminal activity is properly investigated and the perpetrators punished.

Cyber law legislators create policies for crimes committed on the Internet such as identity theft or fraud, but also crimes committed in the physical world with the help of the Internet such as illegal sales via apps or websites. Due to the increase in cyberattacks and their forms, cyber laws are constantly in development across the globe.

Cybersecurity Engineers

Cybersecurity is about preventing cyberattacks in companies and keeping vigilance to act immediately in case of an intrusion. A cybersecurity engineer working for a company will work on developing a secure network design and manage all network activities to avoid both internal and external interference.

Due to the massive amount of damage that a cyberattack can do even to a small company, from stealing data to corrupting important financial documents, cyber protection should be treated with the utmost rigour to avoid even the most minimal security breach. This makes the role of the cybersecurity engineer highly valuable.

Cybersecurity Forensics Analysts

Also known as information security crime investigators, cybersecurity forensics analysts are the main experts responsible for tracking cyber attackers. They investigate successful and unsuccessful cyberattacks by examining all computer systems and digital or electronic devices in the network.

Forensics analysts also interpret the evidence and use any found clues to track down the attackers. With their ability to retrieve information from a corrupted device or network, they work in collaboration with law enforcement officers to ensure perpetrators of cybercrimes are brought to justice.

Penetration Testers

A big issue with cyberattacks is that it can take an individual or company weeks or months to detect the breach, time in which the attackers can cause significant harm by copying or deleting files, stealing passwords and infiltrating all systems and devices. To avoid this, both individuals and companies can hire penetration testers.

Also known as ethical hackers, penetration testers attempt to crack into a computer, network or system to test its security. By performing the same kinds of operations as cyber-attackers, they are able to identify weaknesses and vulnerabilities of the cybersecurity protection systems and suggest improvements.

The rise of cybercrime has created a huge demand for experts able to fight the malicious forces that compromise our safety in the digital world. Cyber law and cybersecurity experts have never been more necessary. If you consider a career in this field, opportunities for growth abound.