Simon Jones
Staff Reporter

Ever since the conception of the first publicly accessible PC in 1974 by Intel Corp., the protection of data has always been a factor. On the other hand, countless data breaches have left those in the cybersecurity field at constant war with private information thieves.

At LCCC, a team of 47 full-time cyber security engineers strives to protect the college’s system from hackers. “They’re able to specialize in a variety of different departments and help run the place more smoothly,” Donald Huffman, LCCC’s chief information officer, explained.
“Think about cybersecurity like a robbery. You can always keep putting new locks on your doors and installing new security systems but these robbers are always going to look for a new way inside your house,” Hoffman said.

Sometimes the result of a cybersecurity breach may not even be triggered by someone from the outside.

“All it can take is for someone to have a bad day or they aren’t paying too close attention for them to click on a phishing email in order for a whole network to be infected,” warned Huffman, who is the chief information officer at LCCC. “If something looks untrustworthy, do some research on it and use common sense.”

To avoid the large amounts of fraudulent sites and emails that one might encounter, there are certain antiviruses and programs that can be installed.

Antiviruses like Norton, MacAfee, and Malwarebytes are safe options. However, they are not always 100% effective,” Huffman said. “If you aren’t willing to get those, then finding some with relatively high ratings should also suffice but do exercise caution.”

Even with cyber-attacks being preventable, breaches are not entirely uncommon.

According to dataprot.net, the total damage caused by cyber-attacks reached $6 trillion in 2022, and on average small businesses spend less than $500 on cybersecurity per year.

 

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