# What Is Cybersecurity?

[**Cybersecurity**](https://stellarcyber.ai/what-is-cybersecurity/) **is in the news a lot, and typically in a bad way.**

We learn about [**Cybersecurity**](https://stellarcyber.ai/platform/capabilities-ng-siem/) through well-publicized [**cyberattacks**](https://stellarcyber.ai/platform/automated-threat-hunting/) on major financial institutions, corporations, social media platforms, hospitals and cities. These attacks cost organizations and individuals billions of dollars a year, and hackers show no signs of slowing down. **If anything, attacks are growing more clever and complex by the day. They can involve:**

* Identity theft or theft of other sensitive data;
    
* Ransomware, where a hacker locks up a computer system and offers to reopen it for a price;
    
* Virus or Trojan Horse [**attacks**](https://stellarcyber.ai/platform/what-is-open-xdr/) that disable individual computers or export data from them;
    
* Denial-of-service attacks that disable computer servers; and
    
* Keylogging attacks that steal passwords or financial information.
    

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1707991797595/8a50c1f0-9d55-421e-95ab-082f9201afd8.jpeg align="center")

The industry has developed myriad [**Cybersecurity tools**](https://stellarcyber.ai/enterprise/why-stellar-cyber-enterprise-replace-siem/) to combat these threats. In the beginning, there were firewalls placed between private networks and the Internet to protect corporate servers, along with [**anti-virus software**](https://stellarcyber.ai/platform-xdr-kill-chain/) that detected and guarded against attacks on individual computers. These have evolved over time so that now there are dozens of [**Cybersecurity systems**](https://stellarcyber.ai/platform-ai-engine/) that aim to protect specific parts of the **cyberattack** surface, from network endpoints and individual computers to servers, applications and websites.

**Specific solutions include:**

* Endpoint [**Detection and Response**](https://stellarcyber.ai/platform/capabilities-ndr/) systems (EDRs)
    
* [**Security Information and Event Managers**](https://stellarcyber.ai/platform/capabilities-ng-siem/) (SIEMs)
    
* User Event Behavior and Analysis (UEBA)
    
* Intrusion Detection and Protection Systems (IDPS)
    
* [**Next-generation Firewalls**](https://stellarcyber.ai/platform-deployment/)
    
* Anti-Virus Software
    
* Identity Management Systems
    
* Data Loss Prevention Systems
    

The [**Cybersecurity**](https://stellarcyber.ai/what-is-cybersecurity/) market has seen an explosion of solutions for specific problems, so much so that a typical enterprise has a dozen or more [**Cybersecurity systems**](https://stellarcyber.ai/cybersecurity-challenges-and-solutions/) in place. Each system requires one or more [**security analysts**](https://stellarcyber.ai/mssps/soc-as-a-service/) to manage and monitor it, so security staffs have grown over time. And despite ramped-up efforts to train new security analysts, these professionals are relatively scarce and command high salaries.

But even with a dozen [**Cybersecurity**](https://stellarcyber.ai/platform/capabilities-automate-response/) systems in place, it can be difficult to spot complex attacks. After all, each analyst sees only a small part of the whole picture, and complex attacks can involve performing relatively innocent-looking operations in several different parts of the infrastructure. For example, an executive logs into the network at 2AM. Then, the executive establishes a connection to a server in Russia. Finally, the executive begins exporting data from the corporate server to the server in Russia. These events would be caught by different [**Cybersecurity systems**](https://stellarcyber.ai/mssps/mdr-as-a-service/), and it would be up to the separate analysts to compare notes and determine that an attack was underway – a process that could take hours, days or even weeks.

Today, the state of the art in [**Cybersecurity**](https://stellarcyber.ai/what-is-cybersecurity/) is to collect data from all of the disparate [**security tools**](https://stellarcyber.ai/platform-sensors/), correlate it to reveal complex attacks, and respond immediately when an attack occurs. So far, only [**Stellar Cyber**](https://stellarcyber.ai/) has such a comprehensive approach. [**Stellar Cyber’s platform**](https://stellarcyber.ai/platform/what-is-open-xdr/) can collect data from existing firewall, [**SIEM**](https://stellarcyber.ai/platform/capabilities-ng-siem/), EDR, IDPS and other systems as well as its own sensors to capture a complete picture of the [**Cybersecurity**](https://stellarcyber.ai/what-is-cybersecurity/) situation, and then correlate that data to discover [**cyberattacks**](https://stellarcyber.ai/cybersecurity-challenges-and-solutions/). This approach is not only faster and more accurate at detecting attacks, but it also increases analyst productivity and reduces operational costs.

Hackers will of course keep inventing new [**Cybersecurity**](https://stellarcyber.ai/what-is-cybersecurity/) exploits, but by collecting and analyzing data from throughout the cyber [**kill chain**](https://stellarcyber.ai/platform-xdr-kill-chain/), analysts will be much better prepared to discover them. [**Stellar Cyber**](https://stellarcyber.ai/) offers that power today.