In the article Protecting Yourself from IT Threats: Increasingly, It's Artificial Intelligence vs Cyber-Criminals, the author Charlie Christensen discusses the many ways hackers try to steal information from businesses of varying scales and state the importance of investing in the protection against these hackers. Christensen argued that it is wiser to pay for a working security system that defends against cyber-attacks as "[t]he cost of the systems to protect you is far less [than] the frequently irreparable harm caused by a breach or infection" (Christensen 37). As outlined in the article, often these cyber criminals who compromise data systems obtain personal information of customers and either use the information to siphon money from the customers' bank accounts, use the information as ransom so that the company pays them to not use the information that they have stolen, or in the worst cases both. Though more successful and larger companies might seem to be more appealing as potential targets for these cyber-criminals being that they have more customers and more money to pay out, Christensen mentions in the article that the less established businesses are easier to breach being that they are less likely to have invested capital into adequate protection against cyber attacks and thus making them "more lucrative to hit 50 or 100 small companies for $100,000 than a single large company for, say, $2 million" (Christensen 40). The author then goes on to discuss how a good cyber-security system is comparable to an onion such that they both consist of multiple layers. The layers of a cyber-security system are the different facets of technology being implemented to defend against cyber-attacks, which Christensen discusses a few including Next Generation Antivirus (NGAV) and Enhanced Detection and Response (EDR) or Extended Detection and Response (XDR). NGAV helps discover previously unidentified threats within a system through the process of predictive analysis powered by machine learning, which is based on the normative processes within the system itself. Christensen stated that EDR/XDR all "continue to use traditional signature-based antivirus and NGAV, but they also introduce the use of artificial intelligence (AI)" (Christensen 40). The author expands further into how companies can utilize preventative measures in tandem with cyber-security systems such as ensuring that devices operating on a company's network are updated to the current versions, are running operating systems that are still actively supported by their respective companies, and minimizing the number of users who have administrative capabilities on the network. As Christensen elaborates throughout the article, businesspeople who take these proper steps in protecting their companies from cyber-attacks may not be invulnerable to the seasoned hackers out there in the world, they are at far less risk than those who do not invest the necessary capital into cyber-security.

The article written by Charlie Christensen explained the potential risks companies are exposed to while stressing the importance of having adequate cyber-security systems and measures in place to minimize such risks of cyber-attacks. While the author does a good job of elaborating on the kinds of cyber-attacks companies are at risk of enduring, the elements of technology that exist to help them against such attacks, and generally why companies ought to invest in such technologies to reduce the potentiality of cyber-attacks, the author does not give any real-world examples of companies that have been victims of such cyber-crimes. The points that Christensen brought up in the article about how significant the cost differential of a sufficient cyber-security system and a system breach of thousands of customers' financial information could be were detailed enough to express why companies ought to have proper cyber-security systems on their networks. Christensen avoided interjecting opinions into the article and strictly discussed the risks companies are exposed to with and without cyber-security systems while discussing in detail how cyber-security systems help protect companies against the various types of cyber-attacks. The only notable issue that is present in the article is the lack of real-world examples used within the article to support the statements regarding the potential damages companies face when becoming victims of cyber-security breaches. Without the use of real-world examples, the statements regarding potential damages endured by cyber-threats made throughout the article are general but could be specified with references to businesses who previously had been victims of cyber crimes and endured financial damages. Christensen did not make any contradictions throughout the article, nor did the argument made throughout the article oversimplify the problems in discussion.

Works Cited

Christensen, Charlie. "Protecting Yourself from IT Threats: Increasingly, It's Artificial Intelligence vs Cyber-Criminals."BusinessWest, vol. 39, no. 2, May 2022, pp. 36-40.EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edo&AN=157169993&site=eds-live&scope=site. Accessed 18 January 2024.

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