Vast Security Threats to Personal Computers Essay

Computers have become much more important and popular to our society in recent decades. The computer’s ability to perform so many tasks speedily and reliably makes it useful for a wide variety of purposes. Therefore much important information is stored on computers. Because people and organisations depend on computers every day for a variety of significant tasks, it is imperative that the systems which are used are protected from loss, damage and misuse. This essay identifies some potential risks to computer systems and software and the safeguards that can be taken to minimise these risks. A computer security risk is defined as any event or action that could cause a loss or damage to computer equipment, software, data and information, or

Linton (2011, p.44) stated that hacking of network of common users and attacking their personal computers is one of the most threatening problems at present. It is happening in every second that results in a loss in several ways like loss of credentials, personal information etcetera. Although the use of personal computers and the internet has been increased rapidly, numbers of users who are the expert and have good knowledge to tackle the matters are very rare. In addition, time, as well as required equipment to protect hacking, is also very.

To start off with I chose to go with our banking or financial industry. The banking industry is constantly getting attacked by various methods on a daily basis. I chose this industry because I happen to know someone who works in the security sector at Wells Fargo Bank, he was a good person to get information on what he sees on a daily or weekly basis. This paper is the opinion of myself and with gathered information from various resources.

Homeland Security is one of the most important departments in the United States. The United States Department of Homeland Security job is to reduce our vulnerability to terrorism and lead a national effort to help prevent terrorist attacks on our nation (Computer Concept, pg. 50). As technology evolves over the course of time, computers end up playing a crucial role in homeland security.

Social engineering has a history of being used to collect and analyze information, however the information is commonly used for blackmailing reasons. There exist various definitions of social engineering depending on the type of attack that has occurred. Social engineering is described as the ability to deceive someone with the intention of breaching security levels (Shetty, p.1). It involves deceiving through the use of phones, computer or in-person. All that is needed is the information required for one to access the systems. Important evidence such as; computer systems is mostly disposed to to social engineering (Shetty, p.1). Often, social engineering occurs as a consequence of carelessness or gaps in security systems. It mainly

Social engineering refers to the techniques that are used by the criminals to manipulate people to give out their confidential information such as user names, passwords and bank accountants without being aware (Hadnagy, 2011). This technique is used by the criminals over the internet to trick people to disclose their confidential information rather than hacking the software installed on their PC. Social engineering takes different forms and it is perpetrated by the individuals who wants to take advantage of others after getting confidential information that allows them to access their accounts such as email or databases that contain protected information. For instance, a criminal who want to access another person’s email account may send

Some of the risks of internet security are virus, worms, spyware, adware, spam and phishing. Virus is a program designed to copy itself and spread, it usually attaching itself to applications. It can be spread by downloading files, exchanging CD/DVDs and USB sticks, copying files from servers, or by opening infected email attachments. It could destroy your computer. Worm can be injected into a network by any types of means, like a USB stick or an email attachment. Email worm tends to send itself to all email addresses it finds on the infected

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 security became a major concern for citizens and of course lawmakers. Unsure of what could happen next we were all afraid. Homeland Security encompasses policies, laws, organizations, and procedures designed to protect the rights and freedoms inherent in the US Constitution. Homeland defense which is sometime interchanged with Homeland Security deals with extra-territorial threats and preemptive operations (Parons & Oja, 51). Governments in many countries are devoting significant resources to combat this growing threat. In the United Stats, the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS is responsible for reducing America?s vulnerability to

A worm is another way how a network can be attacked, worms are very easy to spread between computers. Worms are transferred from one computer to another without human interaction. The worms can be transferred by emails, USB drives or downloading files. This means that worms have the capability to transfer from one computer to another and to replicate so they can infect vast amounts of computers.

Social engineering is one of the most overlooked aspects of information security and yet it is the easiest way for someone – usually an employee - to gain access to restricted information on a computer network. Attacks can be either physical or psychological; each can be equally effective in acquiring confidential information. Methods used to get information can be either human- or computer-based, with different psychological reasons why each method works. Protecting against social engineers boils down to policies that guard against their attacks, but these policies must also be complemented with an effective security awareness program in order to be successful.

The purpose of this paper is to explain what I use to protect my personal privacy. There are many different things that can be use to protect someone’s information and keep hackers from accessing their computer. Some people use anti-virus, firewalls and anti-spam software to help protect their personal privacy. As we all know with today’s technology having just anti-virus or firewalls are not good enough, but having something is better than nothing. They do not protect you from new or custom-made viruses and evil-scripts. There is no one solution to protect you from Identity Theft, it’s just too many threats to keep up with, and having one software will not do the job for you. One key to protecting your information would be

Attacks on critical infrastructures do not always target the vulnerabilities in the systems themselves. One of the weakest links in security is the human factor. Social engineering targets this, and it has worked very effectively for them. According to Raj Samani and Charles McFarland, social engineering is “the deliberate application of deceitful techniques designed to manipulate someone into divulging information or performing actions that may result in the release of that information” (Samani and McFarland 6). Social engineering attacks are divided into two categories: hunting and farming. In hunting, the attacker wants to extract information from the target with little interaction. An example would be a phishing

In today's world there is an abundance of information. When you think of hackers you normally think of individuals who use technology to gain access to information that is not otherwise available. In a lot of cases this can be true but there are other ways to gain access to information that requires little technical knowledge. A lot of this information is available freely without restrictions. Social engineering takes advantage of this fact to acquire additional information by manipulating perceptions of those disclosing the needed information.

In order to feel safer about using a computer, there are some precautions that may be taken to prevent any potential hacking or privacy invasion. Firewalls may be set up to “prevent any unauthorized access to or from a network.” For a wireless network, Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) would be used to avoid hackers. An implement that hackers use to infiltrate a network is called SATAN. It is a “Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks.”  It was initially created to allow administrators to find any vulnerability in a system. Hackers have used this to look at important files and documents that are confidential (webopedia).

Safety of information is the most valuable asset in any organization particular those who provide financial service to others. Threats can come from a variety of sources such as human threats, natural disasters and technical threats. By identifying the potential threats to the network, security measure can be taken to combat these threats, eliminate them or reduce the likelihood and impact if they should occur.