Cyber Security Assignment- Business Research Methodology

Running head: BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Business Research Methodology: Cyber Security
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Project Scope...................................................................................................................................3
Project Objective.............................................................................................................................3
Literature review..............................................................................................................................3
Research Question...........................................................................................................................7
Primary Question.........................................................................................................................7
Secondary Question.....................................................................................................................7
Research Design and Methodology.................................................................................................8
Research Choice..........................................................................................................................8
Approaches to reliability and validity..........................................................................................8
Sampling......................................................................................................................................9
Data Collection Method...............................................................................................................9
Variables specification.................................................................................................................9
Research Limitations.....................................................................................................................10
Time Schedule...............................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
Reference List................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
In this era of globalization, cyber attack has become an international concern because
there has been many profile breaches and other security attacks which are posing threat to the
economy. The cyber attackers are using malicious software and codes to alter the data, logic or
the computer code and this result in disruptive consequences. From internet banking to
government infrastructure, network protection has become an important concern. This report will
analyze the various challenges which are faced by modern corporations against protecting their
data from cyber security crimes. Cyber security refers to the protection of important business
information and intellectual property against misuse and theft (Best et al. 2014). This has
become an important and critical issue in management services in an organization. The
companies invest a huge amount of money to protect their data against security breaches. There
are two types of cyber security crimes i.e. sabotage and breaches. This breach may also lead to
theft of personal data, trade secrets or intellectual property rights. On the other hand, sabotage
culminates service attacks. The sophisticated companies have endured the use of public breaches
in their technological environment and there are many incidents are not reported. The cyber
attacks may impose the companies to take various types of regulatory actions. This cyber crime
will slow down if the government and the specialists adopt serious measures. The organizations
or the companies are facing cyber security threats regardless of the business size. This paper will
also highlight the various measures which are adopted by different organizations to reduce cyber
security crimes. The companies are trying to increase and strengthen the cyber security
capabilities since the past few years. They are adopting various formal processes to prioritize and
identify the IT security risks and thus develop the mitigation strategies (Arabo and Pranggono
2013).

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Project Scope
This paper will highlight the threats which are faced by cyber security personnel’s in
managing the database of the company. The various theories which are provided by different
experts are also analyzed in the paper. The remedies which are taken by various organizations to
prevent these breaches are also discussed in the paper. This study will also help to get a better
idea of the business operation of different cyber security companies. It will help the researcher to
get an in-depth knowledge of how the cyber security crimes are conducted and also to find out
the relevant solution for it. Moreover, it will also help the researcher to develop certain softwares
which will help in reducing the cyber security crimes (Kuypers et al. 2016).
Project Objective
The main objective of the report is to analyze the various problems which are faced by
the organizations in protecting their data against cyber crimes. This is done to understand the
perspectives of the various companies and to understand the requirement of cyber security. The
secondary objective is to provide suitable recommendations for the cyber security crimes. The
challenges which are faced by different organizations will also be highlighted in the paper. This
paper will also help in examining the level of awareness of the companies associated with cyber
security crimes. It will also investigate how the companies identify the major crimes and protect
their documents from threats and malwares. Moreover, it will also find out alternative and new
ways in reducing the crimes.
Literature review
According to Silva et al. (2014), the need for cyber security is growing rapidly in the
present days due to the importance of digital infrastructure. The hackers are attacking the bank

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accounts of the customers and it has led to huge amount of losses to the banks. The effect was
that money suddenly disappeared from the bank account of the customers and it has led to chaos
among the customers. The hackers are taking advantages of customer information and utilizing
them unfairly and unethically. The cyber criminals are using different ways and are running their
business. They are using phising, malware, ransom ware, DDoS, botnets and bad hosting. The
countries which are going ahead in terms of ongoing digitization and increasing connection to
different critical infrastructure are facing the need of cyber security. Kenney (2015) highlighted
the cyber security sabotage may also result in disruption of critical infrastructure in various
sectors of the economy. The cyber attacks are also used by the government for cyber warfare in
various conflicts. It is also posing significant threat to the national security policies of different
countries. The most problematic element which is involved in cyber security is the constantly
and quickly evolving nature of the cyber security risks. The government is trying to carry out
various adaptive and proactive approaches. It has been found that the market for cyber security
has reached $75 billion in 2015 and it is expected to grow at $170 billion in 2020 (Boyanov and
Minchev 2014).
Hink et al. (2014) there may also be possibility of different types of extortions and
disruption in the operation process apart from commercial losses and other problems which are
associated with public relations. The cyber attacks may also lead the organization to take various
types of regulatory actions and inability to fulfill contractual obligations. This results in loss of
trust among the suppliers and the contractors. It is also seen that many cyber crimes are not
reported and there are only a few companies which complain or come forward with the losses.
Cherdantseva et al. (2016) stated that there are only a few significant crimes which are caught
and thus they are identified. There are also certain criminals which operate across the borders

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and it is important and vital for the companies to assist them. It has also been seen that the cyber
crime is increasing despite certain efforts which are taken by the cyber security experts and the
government agencies. This is mainly due to expansion of online services and the engagement of
cyber criminals in cat and mouse games with the cyber security experts. For example, transfer of
data to the third party cloud providers has also created centralization of the data. According to
Konkel (2013), there are certain opportunities for the criminals and thus the critical information
is misinterpreted for the single targeted attack. Greater emphasis is also provided on mobile
services which are being used by the corporate officials and other personnel’s and thus it has
multiplied and increased the opportunities to penetrate various kinds of security measures. There
are also certain applications that are involved in analysis and collection of the data in larger
quantities and they put more pressure on the security managers. This is due to the increasing use
of big data and thus it was given more priority by the security personnel’s (Haber 2017).
Sadeghi et al. (2015) highlighted the important step which is associated in the
establishment of information risk management is the identification of security risks and the
policies which are associated in dealing with it effectively. The organizations must protect the
information and the various communication technologies by adopting standard measures and
managing the configuration of the systems and their usage. It is also necessary to disable the
unnecessary functions and thus keep the security patches up to date. The malware protection is
also regarded as important security considerations. There are businesses which must have the
policies and they are considered vital and important in running the business successfully. This
should cover web browsing and surfing and the use of personal devices by installing the antivirus
software and scanning the malwares. There are certain networks which are considered weak in
cyber defenses and thus it is crucial for the business organizations to follow the network design

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principles. It is also important to ensure that all the devices are configuring properly according to
the standard security measures. The organizations must also scan the outbound and the inbound
traffic to detect the suspicious activities and the malwares. A careful monitoring of the ICT
systems using specialized intrusion detection and prevention system plays an important role
(Wells et al. 2014).
According to Baylon (2014), the government is taking strict actions to ensure that the
organizations are taking more responsibility in reporting cyber security breaches. This reporting
is important because it enables the government agencies to adopt strict actions and thus
strengthen the security system. It also allows the individuals to mitigate the harmful effect and
thus encourage the organization to take effective security actions. Cloud computing has opened
up a new data set for various data security concerns and thus the company must try to relinquish
the security control to the outside parties. Reddy and Reddy (2014) opined that the cloud
computing providers are also doing their business properly but they need to build more data
security centers and improve the process of data storage. Moreover, the corporate employees are
using various social networking sites and are leaking the data of the companies. The smart
phones are also playing an ubiquitous role in the workplace. The companies are trying to protect
the data by using various devices through configuration. The employees also use their smart
phones in accessing the information of the company and thus it is posing threat to the company.
Jabee and Alam (2016) stated that the business organizations not only face the external threat but
there are certain chances of security issues which occur internally. It has been found that 60% of
the data breaches occur due to insider threats. Moreover, machine learning algorithms also helps
the business organizations in carrying out complicated data analysis on a huge scale on a very
short span of time. There are many business organizations which are using drones in different

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ways and thus it is also helping the consumers to take advantage of these technologies. The
business organizations which are involved in various cyber security businesses must try to co-
operate withy the supply chain network globally. The cyber security personnel’s must also get
the exposure that they are performing the cyber security activities carefully. As it is seen that the
cyber security technologies and various preventive measures are becoming more complicated,
the criminals are turning to various other processes and are trying to utilize them. Thus, it is
important for the companies to mitigate the challenges and find out means to protect their data
(Gunes et al. 2014).
Research Question
Primary Question
What are the challenges which are faced by the organizations in cyber security?
Secondary Question
 How to assess the fields where cyber security programs are used by different
companies?
 How to identify the critical data and provide backup to the4 different5 fields
which are affected by malwares and other viruses?
 Why cyber security has become a growing issue in this present day?
 Why it is important to address the cyber security issues at the higher level of an
organization?
 Why it is necessary to refresh the cyber security strategies for addressing the
rapidly evolving business threats and needs?

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Research Design and Methodology
The methodology of a research discusses the underlying methods and the processes
which are necessary to fulfill the research objectives. The proposed research methodology is
stated below:
Research Choice
The research choice helps in depicting the nature of data that will be used in conducting
the study and meeting the research objectives. In this research quantitative data will be used to
find out the degree how cyber security is necessary for the organizations and the challenges
which are faced by them in protection of data. The choice of quantitative data will also help to
find out the correlation between the variables like cyber security challenges, protection of data
and business organizations. Moreover, the quantitative data will also help in determining the
degree of the interdependence between the variables. Thus, it can be said that choice of using
quantitative over the qualitative approach is necessary in meeting the research objectives
(Bryman and Bell 2015).
Approaches to reliability and validity
It is necessary to follow an ethical approach to ensure the validity and reliability. The
research work will be based on an ethical approach. It will be ensured that the participants of the
company are not coerced to give up information. The purpose of data gathering will be fully
disclosed to them and they will also be given to quit the survey process whenever they want. It
will also be ensured that the work done is not plagiarized and the data gathered has not been
manipulated. Therefore, this will help to meet the desired research objectives (Ibrahim, et al.
2016).

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Sampling
The process of sampling helps in selecting the companies or the participants from a huge
population. In this case, the targeted companies are the IT companies and therefore the sample
group will consist of the CEO of different companies. The data is gathered by interviewing the
CEO’s of the companies by using random sampling method. The choice of random sampling will
also help to keep the sample group as homogenized as possible, which as a result will help to
reduce the biasness of the research output. Moreover, data will also be collected from the
secondary reports of the various companies (Wang and Lu 2013).
Data Collection Method
The research strategy of a study involves the various sources from where the data is
gathered in order to meet the research objectives and to answer the research questions. Based on
the nature of source, the research can be either primary or secondary in nature. For this study,
primary data has been used so that it can provide direct response from the companies regarding
the cyber security challenges faced by them and how it contributes to business losses. Thus, this
methodology is suitable to meet the research objectives.
Variables specification
There are many irrelevant as well as relevant variables which need to be added while
carrying out the research work. These variables must be valid in all senses. The dependent
variable must be analyzed carefully so that the research can be carried out successfully without
any biasness. It is also necessary to choose the independent variable properly and carry out the
research. The independent variable in this research work is the companies and the dependent
variable is the cyber security crime. The effect of dependent variable plays a greater role and
emphasis on the dependent variable (Elmaghraby and Losavio 2014).

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Research Limitations
This research cannot give a proper idea of the various challenges which are faced
by different companies because some important information cannot be disclosed to the
researcher. This research work is also expensive and time consuming. This type of research also
requires careful planning and knowledge about conducting the research. The researcher also
needs to find out the effect of dependent variable on the independent variable. For this, it is
necessary to choose and have an in-depth knowledge of the dependent and the independent
variable carefully. Moreover, there may also be certain problems in collection and understanding
of the secondary data and it will be difficult for the researchers who are from non-statistical
background. The researcher will also face difficulty in collecting the secondary data report from
the journals of various companies and identifying the losses of the company due to major threats
and malwares (Van den Berg et al. 2014).
Time Schedule
Activities 1st
Week
2nd-5th
Week
6th-10th
Week
11th -16th
Week
17th-19th
Week
20th-24th
Week
24th-28th
Week
Selection of
the topic
Literature
review and
study of
existing

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theories
Data
collection-
primary
Data
Collection-
secondary
and sampling
Preparing
Draft report
Final
Submission
Conclusion
Thus, the various challenges and problems which are faced by the cyber security
company is highlighted in the paper. It has been found that majority of the larger companies are
trying to strengthen their cyber security capabilities since the past few years. There are various
formal processes which are implemented and used in identifying and prioritizing the risks and
thus developing the strategies accordingly. The interviews conducted with the global leaders and
the CEO’s also revealed the widespread and growing concern of cyber security business. The
primary data collection method also revealed the changes made by various enterprises and the
technologies which are used in incorporating and protecting the data. It has also been found that

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the companies also prefer to choose data mining for transaction and various kinds of information
related to customer information and launching of product to valuable intellectual property
creation. It becomes difficult for the organizations to identify the cyber security problems and
bear the high level expenditure. The hackers are also using different types of modern
technologies and it becomes difficult to identify them. Thus, it is necessary and vital to use
proper safety measures to avoid the threat of cyber crime in businesses. Cyber security must not
be considered a necessary means rather than optional.

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Reference List
Arabo, A. and Pranggono, B., 2013, May. Mobile malware and smart device security: Trends,
challenges and solutions. In Control Systems and Computer Science (CSCS), 2013 19th
International Conference on (pp. 526-531). IEEE
Baylon, C., 2014. Challenges at the Intersection of Cyber Security and Space
Security. International Security.
Best, D.M., Endert, A. and Kidwell, D., 2014, November. 7 key challenges for visualization in
cyber network defense. In Proceedings of the Eleventh Workshop on Visualization for Cyber
Security (pp. 33-40). ACM.
Boyanov, L. and Minchev, Z., 2014. Cyber Security Challenges in Smart Homes.
Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015. Business research methods. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cherdantseva, Y., Burnap, P., Blyth, A., Eden, P., Jones, K., Soulsby, H. and Stoddart, K., 2016.
A review of cyber security risk assessment methods for SCADA systems. computers &
security, 56, pp.1-27.
Elmaghraby, A.S. and Losavio, M.M., 2014. Cyber security challenges in Smart Cities: Safety,
security and privacy. Journal of advanced research, 5(4), pp.491-497.
Gunes, V., Peter, S., Givargis, T. and Vahid, F., 2014. A survey on concepts, applications, and
challenges in cyber-physical systems. TIIS, 8(12), pp.4242-4268.

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Haber, M., 2017. Cyber Security Challenges for Small to Medium Size Businesses. Beyond
Trust. Retrieved from < https://www.beyondtrust.com/blog/cyber-security-challenges-small-
medium-size-businesses/ >
Hink, R.C.B., Beaver, J.M., Buckner, M.A., Morris, T., Adhikari, U. and Pan, S., 2014, August.
Machine learning for power system disturbance and cyber-attack discrimination. In Resilient
Control Systems (ISRCS), 2014 7th International Symposium on (pp. 1-8). IEEE.
Ibrahim, A.S., Hamlyn-Harris, J. and Grundy, J., 2016. Emerging security challenges of cloud
virtual infrastructure. arXiv preprint arXiv:1612.09059.
Jabee, R. and Alam, M.A., 2016. Issues and Challenges of Cyber Security for Social Networking
Sites (Facebook). International Journal of Computer Applications, 144(3).
Kenney, M., 2015. Cyber-terrorism in a post-stuxnet world. Orbis, 59(1), pp.111-128.
Konkel, F., 2013. Why cybersecurity remains a risky endeavour. FCW. Retrieved from <
https://fcw.com/articles/2013/02/15/high-risk-cyber.aspx >
Kuypers, M.A., Maillart, T. and Paté-Cornell, E., 2016. An Empirical Analysis of Cyber Security
Incidents at a Large Organization. Department of Management Science and Engineering,
Stanford University, School of Information, UC Berkeley, http://fsi. stanford.
edu/sites/default/files/kuypersweis_v7. pdf, accessed July, 30.
Reddy, G.N. and Reddy, G.J., 2014. A Study of Cyber Security Challenges and its emerging
trends on latest technologies. arXiv preprint arXiv:1402.1842.