Cyber Security: The Dangers Of Computer Security

This paper informs about what is computer security also known as cybersecurity, the targets, the types of threats against the information systems, why they are caused, and the security measures used to prevent them. The public should be informed about the importance of cyber security in their everyday electronic use. Also, what would happen if they are without it such as the fact that they are putting their family at risk of being exploited, losing personal/sensitive data and their credibility, basically either destroying their lives (or the lives of others) or their business. They should also know the defences used to prevent these problems.

INTRODUCTION

Computer security, also known as cyber security is the protection against theft or damages

They can hack local and regional government infrastructure such as traffic light controls, police and intelligence agency communications, personnel records and financial systems are likely targets as they are now all largely computerized. Security breaches in the government and military systems could lead to many dangers against the country such as confidential information getting into an enemy country’s hand.

Technology, as stated before, is growing every day and so it is only natural that the threats are evolving as well. There are different types of threats that falls under the categories of either physical threats or software threats.

Physical threats are mainly threats to the computer system hardware. Physical threats such as material instability, improper storage environment, human error, theft, sabotage, natural disasters such as fires, floods, earthquakes, hardware malfunction. An example of a physical threat situation would be someone who broke into a secure facility and stole the hard drives of the main computer. Another example would be an accidental fire caused by a circuit overload.

The threats that fall under the software category are threats that attack the software and data of information systems such as Trojans, Worms, Denial of Service (DOS) attacks, Payloads, Rootkits, and Key loggers. The most common software threat are viruses and

Most viruses target computers with the Microsoft operating system. Virus writers use social engineering and exploit detailed knowledge of security vulnerabilities to gain access to their hosts' computing resources. New viruses are made using complex anti-detection/stealth strategies to evade antivirus software such as Bitdefender. There are many reasons/motives that one may have for creating viruses such as seeking profits, desire to send a political message, personal amusement, to demonstrate that a vulnerability exists in software, for sabotage and denial of service, or simply because they wish to explore, challenge and have fun.

In 2003, an internet worm called Slammer also known as Sapphire caused a denial of service attack on some internet hosts and dramatically slowed down general Internet traffic. It caused $1,200,000,000 in damages and infected 200,000 Pc’s. It is one of the top five viruses of all time.