Computer Security Since 2001

1662 Words4 Pages

INTRODUCTION Computer security is now an important area for any network administrator, systems analyst, information technology technician, databases administrator to the computer scientist. Although this list shows the professionals dabbling in Information Technology, it should not be misconstrued that the average computer user at home should not be concerned about computer security. A computer, be it a personal computer, a laptop or a simple netbook, is one of the features that adorn any home. Mobile phones too should not be excluded whenever the issue of computer security crops up since they are the latest targets for cyber criminals (SANS Institute). Inevitably, this has the led to the development and growth of a complex industry centered on Computer security. The actual threats to computer security are many. These threats emanate from the state of technology of today’s computer, computer users who are ignorant of the ways to secure their computer machines, the current trend of data distribution without any restraints, and the advent of the mobile office (Vacca, J., 2009, 3-4). Firstly, the modern PC today has evolved from the Abacus, an implement that was used for simple mathematical calculations (Sadiku and Obiozor) to a powerful machine that can store and manipulate data (Vacca. J., 2009, 3). Sadiku and Obiothor’s work shows the evolution of the computer starting from the Abacus, to the machines made by such inventors as Blaise Pascal, Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, Charles Babbage and Thomas of Colmar, to the electromechanical computer using punched cards, right through to the first digital computer using Integrated Circuits. It is the latter development, more so in the manufacturing of the Integrated Circuits, which has... ... middle of paper ... ...rity Trends of the Coming Year”. Retrieved from http://www.sans.org/security-resources/10_security_trends.pdf This is an electronic book prepared by a leading professionsl body for computer security professionals. The main reason for choosing this source is that it is the product of a survey carried out by the organization on computer security trends. The participants in this survey were the professionals in the computer security industry. Vacca, J. R. (2009). “Computer and information security handbook”. Burlington: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers. This book contains information on how to identify loopholes in any network and contains insightful tips on how to patch these loopholes. The main interest for choosing this book is that it has a good introduction that shows the main causes of computer insecurity and the general misconceptions that surround computer security.

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