Security on the Internet

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Security on the Internet
Today's information is highly interconnected by the internet. With this interconnection of computer systems through the internet comes computer crime. Breaking into computer systems, damaging information, and stealing information, more commonly known as hacking, has become extremely common on the internet. As hacking becomes more frequent, and as some would say, more of a problem, should we consider hacking a criminal activity?
Information from across the world is stored on computer systems-most of which are connected, networked, to other computer systems through the internet. “In the ideal situation, this interconnection of information enables others from outside a specific computer network to access that specific computer network and its information.” (Amoroso, 2003) This has created a world in which information is extremely important and extremely easy to access, which in turn has created a government, business, and personal society that is dependant on and successful from the networked information.
But this network also has its drawbacks. Besides enabling people who need to use the information for legitimate business or personal use to gain access, the network also-often unknowingly-enables unauthorized people to gain access to the information; in one way or another, no matter what kind of network security they have implemented. Gaining access to a computer system that does not intentionally allow you access is called hacking.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer has it’s flaws, and criminal hackers cracker know it. In recent weeks, these evildoers have staged several well-orchestrated Internet Explorer attacks designed to steal your banking and credit card information. The result has been that you can't trust the internet. How will you know if a secure site is truly safe? Here's a look at what's wrong with internet security and what you can do to keep your data under lock and key.
That issue is not the only one, but several flaws are contained within internet. Some well known and some not so well known so-called zero day attacks. All of the serious attacks also use tiny apps called keystroke-logging Trojan horses, which capture IDs, passwords, and credit card information as you type them. And all of the attacks so far happen without users even suspecting there's anything wrong.
Elements of the Russian mafia coordinated a brilliant...

... middle of paper ...

...more regulation comes more policing, and with more policing less freedom and privacy.
Other non-hackers believe that hackers need to be caught and punished, but without taking away the freedom and privacy that the Internet offers now. They do not want the government or law enforcement to monitor the Internet. They only want better laws to prosecute the hackers after they are caught, and better ways of catching the hackers without infringing on the general public's security.

References
Amoroso, Edward. 2003 “Fundamentals of Internet Security Technology” Publisher: P T R Prentice Hall.
Cohen, Frederick B. 2004 “Protection and Security on the Information Superhighway” Publisher: New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Fream, Anne M. 2001 “A Social Learning Theory Analysis of Computer Crime Among College Students” Publisher: Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency
Schwartau, Winn. 2002 “Information Warfare: Chaos on the Electronic Superhighway” Publisher: New York: Thunder's Mouth Press.
Sullivan, A. 2005. Hackers aren’t just picking on Microsoft: study. Retrieved May 2,
2005, from http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=8359040

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