The Cybercrime Quandary Annotated Bibliography: Threats and Control Measures

The Cybercrime Quandary Annotated Bibliography: Threats and Control Measures

Research Question:

What are the different threats that cybercrimes pose to businesses, and which prevention and control measures can businesses use to curb the risks?

Non-Scholarly Article 1

Reference:

Prepare for success: Top five cyber risks. (2016). ICAEW Business Advice Services. Retrieved on 25/3/2020 from https://www.icaew.com/-/media/corporate/files/technical/business-and-financial-management/smes/bas-files/top-five-cyber-risks.ashx?la=en

Annotation:

Prepare for success: Top five cyber risks is a non-academic source on cybercrimes. However, it is one with expert knowledge because ICAEW Business Advices Services is a consultancy agency on matters technology and specifically information systems.

The article is of the view that all businesses irrespective of their sizes are vulnerable to cyber-attacks, which, as a result, they should master and understand thoroughly if they want to prosper and succeed in their occupational endeavors. According to the author, when setting up any business, entrepreneurs are likely to rely on diverse IT solutions such as PCs and smart devices as well as cloud-based systems. In these capacities, in one way or the other, they hold employee data, customer information, and even sensitive and confidential business data such as product designs and tastes’ formulas. All these info are targets or assets of interests of cybercriminals, which makes businesses vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Accordingly, given the inevitability of cybercrimes, the article pursues a perspective that basic understanding and proper awareness of these threats and the dangers they pose in a cyber-world is critical in protecting businesses and their digital assets and intellectual property; hence, it is the first line of preparation for success. On this ground, the author enlightens their audience on the current top five cyber risks, namely ransomware, phishing, hacking, insider threat, and data leakage. The article hardly uses examples or illustrations to articulate its points. No borrowed knowledge is also applied as it relies entirely on expert knowledge as it primary and only source of evidence.

This article is more informative as opposed to being analytical. It is basic and addresses its topics and subtopics only briefly. However, in relation to its thesis and purpose, the work is appropriate. It appropriately and correctly identifies some of the common and dominant cyber threats jeopardizing the cyber world today and also describes and discusses them fittingly. Phishing, for example, is “attempt to gain sensitive information while posing as a trustworthy contact,” according to CITATION. This paper’s only concern is that its content is four years old; with the evolution pace of technology, it may not be a surprise that some content may already be obsolete. However, its content is already relevant to the proposed study, and whereas such is so, the high accuracy and correctness level of this article make it more suitable for this research. Categorically, it will be crucial in discussing the different threats that cybercrimes pose to businesses.

 

 

 

 

Scholarly Article 2

Reference:

Attard, J. (18 March 2020). How to Prevent Cybercrime – A Guide for Small Businesses. Business Know-How: Small Business Strategies & Ideas That Work! Retrieved on 25/3/2020 from

Annotation:

Similar to “Prepare for success: Top five cyber risks,” “How to Prevent Cybercrime – A Guide for Small Businesses” is an expert knowledge article on cybercrimes. The main argument of the article is that cybercrime poses small and medium businesses a real danger, and because it can cost organizations losses in hundreds of thousands of dollars or even collapses if it transpires, Attard discusses some of the major of cyber threats and ways of identifying and mitigating them. The article draws its evidence from various real-life examples. In one such illustration, when discussion email personification as one type of cyber threat, Attard demonstrates that Business Know-how.com had been recently (by the time of publication), been receiving emails that spoofed a voicemail system, a case of which he provided a screenshot as proof. On the other hand, though non-academic, the article also draws its substantiations from scholarly works such as researches. A good case is when Attard is discussing how “Reusing Passwords and Usernames” is dangerous as far as cyber threats are concerned, but common, unfortunately. The author cites “one study of more than 28 million users,” which exhibited that about 52% of people recycle or use identical passwords for different services. Thus, the article has a sound basis of evidence.

 

With a sound basis of evidence, Attard correctly and satisfactorily supports his thesis. The fact that its author is a specialist in small and medium business essentials only adds to its credibility. As suggested by its tagline “Small Business Strategies & Ideas That Work,” Business Know-How is a website for small-scale organizations for advice and guidance in small businesses. However, Attard, its founder, is an established author in matters business having authored works including “An Operational Guide For Home-Based and Micro-Sized Businesses with Limited Budgets” and “The Home Office and Small Business Answer Book.” The only concern is that it is unclear if Attard is a technology expert. Fortunately, even if he is not, the fact that he draws his evidence from real-life examples and scholarly works would bridge the gap. Published on 18 March 2020, the article is not even a month old; hence, it carries the most current content. Attard’s work will help to discuss the different threats that cybercrimes pose to businesses, and the effective prevention and control measures, which companies can use to curb them.

 

 

Thesis Statement

The inevitable globalization era and cyber-world have revolutionized the business realm but have also exposed businesses to cyber threats such as hacking, phishing, insider threat, ransomware, and data leakage, which are fatal to organizations when they occur. As such, for businesses to thrive in this era, they should pay a unique focus and investment in cybersecurity measures such robust cybercrime education and training programs and the use of Firewalls and Antivirus Software.