Cybersecurity Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Preventive Measures

This report identifies and analyzes various cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities, offering preventive measures and mitigation strategies. The report begins by outlining threats like profile cloning, brand impersonation, manipulation, bots, phishing, employee errors, and system failures. It then discusses the impact of viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, spam, adware, and rootkits. Additionally, the report addresses the importance of user authentication, authorization, and encryption. For each threat, the report suggests specific preventive measures, such as hiding friend lists, enabling firewalls, using CAPTCHA, implementing anti-phishing tools, and conducting periodic system checkups. The report also emphasizes the use of host-based anomaly detection tools, Windows registry tweaks, and commercial antivirus software to enhance system security. Finally, the report underlines the importance of implementing user name and password policies, file authorization policies, and the use of servers providing encryption to safeguard sensitive information.

Identified Vulnerabilities:
Profile Cloning: This type of threat is associated with social threats where social media account
of an individual is hacked by creating fake accounts and making users' to click on fake malicious
links
Brand Impersonation: This type of social threat impersonates brands such as companies by
presenting false links of customer support to the users.
Manipulation: Hackers create fake accounts in order to inflate clicks, likes and shares on social
media so as to manipulate the user to believe on a perception.
Bots: Attackers usually use software to create a function to automatically spread malicious links.
Phishing: A fraudulent act to acquire sensitive information relevant to the account. This
information includes usernames, passwords, credit card details, etc.
Employees Errors: A kind of Operational threat that occurs when errors are done by employees
while operating the system and applications.
System failure: A kind of Operational threat that occurs when entire system or a part of system
fails.
Virus: A virus is a computer program that can infect all the computers on which it is executed. It
affects the data as well as applications on the computer
Worm: A worm is a type of virus that does not alter any data on computer but duplicates files so
many times that it runs out of hard disk storage.
Trojan: Trojan horses are computer programs that pretend to be the safe applications but offers
remote access of your computer to hackers.
Spyware: Spyware as name suggests spies on user and collects account details such as
username, passwords and sends it to the hackers.
Spam: Spam consumes unnecessary bandwidth being presented as an advertisement at user's
end.
Adware: Similar to spyware, adware collects user information but in purpose to target
advertisements.
Rootkits: Rootkits are one of the most dangerous threats to system since they start when the
system boots up that is before the antivirus starts. Its intent is to collect user specific sensitive
information.

User Authentication: Open access to the system without permission
User Authorization: Access to all the system resources without noticing the user role
Encryption: The encryption of data at server
Preventive Measures for Identified Vulnerabilities
Profile Cloning: One should not accept interest, friend request or follow request from an
account that has less information disclosure. Some preventive measures: hiding friend list, run a
privacy checkup periodically, filter that can see your posts.
Brand Impersonation: The users should be aware of original brands and firewalls must be
enabled to filter such links.
Manipulation: Skip the contents on social media that targets sensitive issues such as politics.
Bots: Use of CAPTCHA, hidden fields and log files.
Phishing: Use of Anti-Phishing tool can help a lot in mitigating this type of attack. Use of
firewalls, keeping information masque is some other preventive measures
Employees Errors: Errors must be clearly mitigated by personal alertness
System failure: Periodic system checkups must be performed so as to avoid system failures
Virus: Use of Host based anomaly detection tools
Worm: Use of Host based anomaly detection tools
Trojan: Use of Host based anomaly detection tools
Spyware: Use of Host based anomaly detection tools
Spam: Use of Host based anomaly detection tools
Adware: Use of Host based anomaly detection tools
Rootkits: Preventive Measures: Use of windows registry tweaks, use of best commercial anti-
virus software.
User Authentication: Implementation of User Name and Password Policies
User Authorization: Implementation of File authorization Policies
Encryption: Use of servers providing encryption