FOSS Tools You can Use to Secure Your Devices

A wide range of free and open source tools are available for use in digital forensics and to enhance cybersecurity. Here's a quick look at some of them.

- @ By: Dr Gaurav Kumar

With the abundance of data stored online and an increase in hacking attempts, cybersecurity and information privacy are now of utmost importance. Cybersecurity integrates the techniques or practices that protect computer systems from stealing data through unauthorised access, while information privacy refers to the consent of individuals to allow personal and sensitive data to be used in compliant ways.

The wide range of security threats

Digital devices and gadgets are at the heart of modern life, but their prevalence makes them prime targets for an expanding range of cyber and physical threats. Malware remains one of the most common threats. This includes trojans, worms, ransomware, and adware. Ransomware has become notorious as a methodology for encrypting a victim's data and demanding a payment in return for decrypting it, and can lead to significant financial losses and high operational stress. Spyware and keyloggers monitor and collect sensitive information like passwords and financial data by running autonomously in the background, often without users even knowing about them.

The other attacks address human weaknesses by sending fake emails and text messages or setting up counterfeit websites to lure users into downloading malware applications. These attacks are more convincing, as Figure 1: Key segments of cyber security and digital forensics they target individuals or organisations. The techniques used facilitate account hijacking leading to unauthorised access to online accounts, financial accounts, or corporate networks.