International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)
e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 12 Issue: 12 | Dec 2025
p-ISSN: 2395-0072
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A Review on Cyber security Threats and Their Prevention Mechanisms Trapti Agrawal1, Pawan Yadav2 1, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Eshan College of Engineering, Mathura, India, 2, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Eshan College of Engineering, Mathura, India,
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Abstract- Cyber security has become a pivotal concern in the modern digital landscape, as cyber threats continue to
escalate in frequency, complexity, and impact across various sectors. This review, titled “A Review on Cyber security Threats and Their Prevention Mechanisms,” provides a comprehensive synthesis of the latest developments in the domain of cyber threat analysis and mitigation strategies. Drawing upon 50 scholarly and technical references, the paper explores the classification of threat vectors such as malware, phishing, ran so ware, DDoS, insider threats, and IoT vulnerabilities. Sectorspecific impacts are also analysed, with a focus on finance, healthcare, government, and critical infrastructure. The review then evaluates existing prevention frameworks, covering technical controls (e.g., MFA, IDS, firewalls), administrative measures (e.g., security audits, awareness training), and legal-policy frameworks. Particular attention is given to the emerging role of AI, machine learning (ML), and blocks chain in enhancing real-time detection, predictive defence, and decentralized integrity verification. While the literature reflects significant progress, key gaps remain in proactive threat intelligence, multi-sectorial integration, and human-centric vulnerabilities. By critically analysing threat patterns and corresponding responses, this paper identifies major limitations of current approaches and proposes future directions for developing holistic, adaptive, and scalable cyber security solutions. The review contributes to both academic discourse and practical policy development by mapping actionable insights across technological, organizational, and behavioural dimensions. Keywords: Threat Taxonomy, Cyber Risk Prevention, Emerging Security Technologies, Sectoral Vulnerability Mapping, Adaptive Defence Strategies
1. Introduction As the age of ultra-dominant digitalization sets in, cyber security has become a stone of touchstone of international technology systems. With the proliferation of internet connected devices, cloud computing and digitized services, the amount of data that has been generated and sent back and forth has seen unprecedented level of growth. As a result, the threat areas of malicious users have grown tremendously, thus creating critical threats to citizens, organizations, and governments as well as those of operationally critical infrastructures [1], [3], [7]. Not only are these cyber threats evolving to be more complex but also longer lingering, and economically harmful. It has been seen that, according to recent research, there has been an increasing number of organizations around the world that are vulnerable to the advanced persistent threats (APTs), zero-day exploits, phishing attacks, ransom ware, and malware campaigns [2], [4], [10]. This multifaceted nature of such threats has forced the adoption of new and dynamic cyber security solutions, as opposed to older forms of defines. Static firewalls and active high-quality software which were earlier believed as adequate are not able to deal with dynamic and multi-layered attack strategies [5], [6], [13]. The rising number of attacks on supply chains like the one experienced with Solar Winds and IoT-Based weaknesses demonstrates the necessity to develop more comprehensive and resilient security systems [8], [9], [15]. Moreover, human factors like inside threat and the absence of training in cyber security are also important sources of system compromise, which shows the socio technical aspect of cyber security challenges [17], [21], [23]. There are sector-specific threats as well that require special prevention plans. As an example, healthcare organizations with their need of continuous access to data about their patients are vulnerable to ransom ware attacks that can be very destructive, and the financial industry is often targeted by phishing attacks and hacked passwords [4], [11], [24]. In comparison though, government agencies are susceptible to politically driven intrusions and state-sponsored spying through malware or DDoS attacks [14], [22], [31]. Equally, the critical infrastructure such as energy and water systems is highly combated via cyberspace-physical attacks which are becoming very advanced that can actually harm the national reshape capacity [5], [20], [41]. As a way of fighting this unfavourable increase in the threat landscape, the cyber security community has progressively inclined towards emerging technologies. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) make it feasible to detect threats in real-time, predict abnormal behaviour, and prevent malicious intrusion based on behaviour
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