Businesses and individuals around the world who are connected to the Internet are always under threat of cyber-attacks. Thus, understanding the importance of cyber security is now a top priority. There have been several cyber-attacks in recent years. They caused major concerns and for a while, became prominent news headlines, like the information breaches at Target, TalkTalk, The U.S. Federal Office of Personnel Management and Ashley Madison. These are just some of the organizations and companies that were targeted. But did you know that there is a close tie between the efficacy of cyber security and translation?
Cyber-attacks cause corporations to lose around $300 billion to about $1 trillion annually.
What is cyber security? It’s also called information technology security. It involves the methods of protecting data, programs, networks and computers from attacks or unauthorized access to exploit information.
Cyber security covers several key areas, such as application security, information security, network security and data recovery.
Relationship Between Cyber Security and Translation
You might think that there is no clear line between cyber security and translation. If you think like this, you are quite wrong. Translation is about bridging communication gaps. In cyber security it means making things more apparent to the persons who are going to read the translation, whether it is a warning, guideline or procedure.
Technology is a field that has its own jargon and terminology that only IT professionals and those in the business understand. Lay people would just be concerned about using a computer and other communication devices, but would not know how they operate precisely or know the processes involved in making them run effortlessly.
In order for threats to personal or company information to be truly understood, the IT department of a company or organization should have their warnings, procedures and guidelines translated into a more straightforward and easy to understand language. This also means educating senior company leaders.
It cannot be denied that even if the senior leaders can use the latest models of computers, laptops, tablets and cell phones, most of them only know their basic operation. In case their computers break down, they will ask their IT department to fix them.
Cyber threats are very real, thus everyone connected to the Internet should be aware of what cyber security involves.
Types of Cyber Threats
In recent years, these are the more prevalent threats to IT security:
- Ransomware that attacks servers, computers and laptops and even smartphones
- Malware in the cloud and Big Data Breaches
- Botnets
- Social engineering, phishing and spam
Languages Requested
Translation companies felt the increase in demand for cyber security translations in 2017. Cyber security practitioners required translations in several target languages. According to projections, the increase was around 280% for 14 popular languages from January to June 2017 compared to the same period in the past year.
From the language pairs requested, it is possible to gauge the extent of cyber threats in many corners of the globe. It is surprising that English to Danish translation came first. In no particular order, the translation requests from English are in these languages: Latin American Spanish, Korean, Traditional Mandarin, Brazilian Portuguese, Turkish, European Spanish, Japanese, Dutch, Russian, Italian, German, Simplified Mandarin, and German.
These languages all showed big growths in translation projects.
Vulnerability of Denmark
At the beginning of 2017, Denmark saw the growth of threats to cyber security in the country, which is the main reason why it was on top of the list of languages most requested for cyber security translation projects last year. But the attacks did not only happen in 2017. There were already cyber-attacks in Denmark since 2015. That time, the servers and email accounts of staff members of the Danish Foreign and Defense Ministries were attacked several times. Maersk, Denmark’s logistics and transport giant was paralyzed in late 2017 by the “Petya” ransomware. Danish energy infrastructure and hospitals were also vulnerable to cybercrimes, according to Danish Defense Minister.
Denmark was also vulnerable to phishing attacks. The country likewise suffered Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks from several Turkish hacking groups in March 2017.
Cyber-Attacks in Japan
In 2016, cyber-attacks on companies in Japan caused the leak of 12.6 million corporate information. WannaCry, another ransomware that came out in 2017, hit more than 500 computers in Japan. The country, which is a leader in high technology, was also vulnerable to cybercrimes. For example, the Honda Motors’ plant in Sayama had to shut down its operations temporarily due to the damage caused by the WannaCry ransomware to the computer network of the local plant.
Cybercrimes in Turkey
Many believe that some of the cyber-attacks in Turkey were linked to the political climate in the country in 2016. During that year, a coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan failed. The president exerted efforts to improve the physical as well as the digital infrastructures in Turkey alongside his efforts to strengthen his regime. The Turkish government invested heavily in cyber security that prompted the increase in demands for English to Turkish cyber security translations in the latter part of 2016.
Turkey also made great effort to fight cybercrimes. The National Intervention Center Against Cyber Attacks recruited thousands of highly skilled IT personnel including a number of former computer hackers to improve their cyber defense. It’s significant to note that in 2016, Turkey was included in the top 10 list of countries prone to cybercrimes.
Why Cybercrimes Occur
Cyber-attacks include data security and sabotage. Hackers love the idea of stealing personal data and intellectual property data. When a business is cyber-attacked it endangers the company to regulatory action and claims on negligence that can render the company unable to meet its financial obligations. When this happens, the translation agencies and customers become fragile as the injured parties.
Cybercrimes such as identity theft occur anywhere, and many of the attacks remain undetected. This usually happens in industries where the access to documents and confidential data are hard to discern.
Cybercriminals no longer operate locally. With a stronger and faster Internet connection, they can operate across the globe. This means that experts must remain vigilant. Responding to the attacks demands in-depth knowledge of global vision and local regulations. Thus it is critical that IT personnel are up to date in the latest developments and are willing to share what they know in a language that lay people can easily understand through professional translation.
Role of Translation in Cyber Security
The lingua franca of the information technology industry is English. As cyber-attacks continue, companies and governments around the world are ensuring that their protocols are easy to understand. They want to protect themselves against threats to cyber security.
The responsibility for cyber security shifted from the IT department alone to senior management together with the IT department. It became important for the IT department to provide high-level management guidance and background on the intricate world of IT and the features related to the actions of the IT environment and the reality of cyber threats.
Translating tech talk into a language that would be easy to comprehend eliminates the possibility of making bad management decisions. Ensuring that the content is clear and precise instead of presenting non-technical analogies can help management leaders to have a deeper appreciation of the cyber world’s many intricacies.
Wrapping Up
Cybercrime is no joke and here at Day Translations, Inc., we consider cyber security a serious aspect of our business. We have secure servers and Internet security protocols in place to ensure the privacy of your information and your projects. Likewise, we have subject matter experts who can work with you to accurately translate your cyber security information, warnings, guidelines and procedures. We can help you translate updates on cyber security and the emergence of new threats so it’s easy for everyone to understand, from IT personnel to staff who do not have any background on information technology.
Trust the professional human translators of Day Translations to keep your cyber security translation projects secure. We also understand the immediacy of your translation needs. You can rely on us to deliver your projects on time. Contact us by phone at 1-800-969-6853 or send us an email at Contact us any time.