Introduction
CYBERSECURITY( WHO IS WATCHING YOU?)
Computer security, also known as cyber security or IT security is the protection of information systems from theft or damage to the hardware, the software, and to the information on them, as well as from disruption or misdirection of the services they provide. It includes controlling physical access to the hardware, as well as protecting against harm that may come via network access, data and code injection, and due to malpractice by operators, whether intentional, accidental, or due to them being tricked into deviating from secure procedures.
CONCERNS OF COMPUTER SECURITY
Computer Security is concerned with four main areas:
1. Confidentiality: - Only authorized users can access the data resources and information.
2. Integrity: - Only authorized users should be able to modify the data when needed.
3. Availability: - Data should be available to users when needed.
4. Authentication: - are you really communicating with whom you think you are communicating with
HOW COMPUTERS ARE MISUSED BY INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS OR ORGANIZATIONS?
Computers are misused by people in following ways
- Cyber bullying
- Copyright infringement
- data theft
- denial of service attacks
- transmission of viruses and malware
- identity theft online publication of obscene materials
- phishing attacks
- Software and music piracy
- financial abuses
- violation of privacy
- propaganda
- electronic eavesdropping
- industrial espionage
SUITABLE COUNTER MEASURES TO LESSEN EFFECTS OF IDENTIFIED THREATS
To lessen the effects of computer crimes and breaching of computer security, two measures can be put in place, such as:
- Physical measures: backup and recovery procedures; hardware firewall, intrusion detection systems, biometrics.
- Software measures: effective passwords and authentication systems, encryption of data, firewall, biometrics, antivirus and malware detection.
What are physical access restrictions?
This involves physically making the building with the computers, the computer rooms or the computer itself difficult to access. This can be achieved by blocking unauthorized access to the building and computer room thus keeping those computers in secure areas.
Some ways to protect computer equipment from intentional theft or vandalism are:
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- Keeping important computers such as servers or mainframes in locked rooms
- Posting security guards
- Security locks, smart cards
- Keeping sensitive data on stand-alone machines instead of networks
- Using alarm systems and video cameras
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Software Restrictions
Users and businesses can use software to help protect their systems. Some of these software restrictions are:
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- User Identification and Passwords
- Data encryption
- Virus Protection
- Firewalls
- Access rights
- User Identification and Passwords: User identification (user ID) along with a password can control access to a computer's operating system, or the network that the computer is connected to or especially the computer itself.
Each user must enter a unique username and a password to log on. Since the username is unique, each user can be identified and their user's access to the system can be logged.
A password is a combination of letters, numbers or symbols that is private to each user. The password is given to each user so that only the genuine user is logging on.
- Encryption: Encryption is a way of protecting data by scrambling it so that it unreadable without a special decryption code. Only an authorized user would be given this code and the software to decode and get the original information. It is useful to encrypt data that is transferred over wireless networks since it is easy to intercept.
This is an example of the contents of a document:
This page has been created by Notes Master for Information Technology
After using an encrypted code, the document may look like:
jkd2f*hlj86ik7$171kjfh7d1h4djkd2f*86ik7$171k
An authorized user would have the correct key code to translate the document and produce the original document.
- Virus Protection: Virus is a program that can attach copies of itself to system files or
programs, it can cause damage by altering or destroying programs, files and even operating systems of computers.Anti-virus software can detect and destroy viruses by scanning computer files for any viruses which it then removes and alerts the user. Since there are so many viruses, the anti-virus software needs to be updated regularly. - Firewall: A firewall is a security-conscious piece of hardware or soft-ware that sits between the Internet and your network with a single-minded task: preventing them from getting to us. The firewall acts as a security guard between the Internet and your local area network (LAN). All network traffic into and out of the LAN must pass through the firewall, which prevents unauthorized access to the network.