Types of Computer Security Risk and Security Measure

Types of Computer Security Risk 

Definition of computer security risk:

• Any event or action that could cause a loss of or damage to computer hardware, software, data, information or processing capability.
• Other intruders indicate some evidence of their presence either by leaving a message or by deliberately altering or damaging data.
• Any illegal act involving a computer generally is referred to as a computer crime.
• Cyber crime refers to online or Internet-based illegal acts.
• Software used by cyber criminals sometimes is called crime ware.

Perpetrators of cyber crime and other intrusions fall into seven basic categories:

• Hacker, refers to someone who accesses a computer or network illegally. Some hackers claim the intent of their security breaches is to improve security.

• Cracker also is someone who accesses a computer or network illegally but has the intent of. destroying data, stealing information, or other malicious action

• Script kiddie has the same intent as a cracker but does not have the technical skills and knowledge. Often use prewritten hacking and cracking programs to break into computers.

• Corporate spies have excellent computer and networking skills. 

            -  hired to break into a specific computer and steal its proprietary data  and information.

            -  to help identify security risks in their own organization.

• Unethical employees may break into their employers’ computers for a variety of reasons:

           -want to exploit a security weakness,
           -seek financial gains from selling confidential information
           -disgruntled employees may want revenge.

• Cyber extortionist is someone who uses e-mail as a medium for extortion. 

           -They will send an organization a threatening e-mail message indicating they will expose   confidential information if they are not paid a sum of money.

• Cyber terrorist is someone who uses the Internet or network to destroy or damage computers for political reasons. They might targets:

          - the nation’s air traffic control system,
          - electricity-generating companies,
          - a telecommunications infrastructure.

Type of Computer Security Risk

1. Malicious Code
2. Unauthorized Access & Use
3. Hardware Theft
4. Software Theft
5. Information Theft
6. System Failure     

1. Malicious Code

Malicious code is code causing damage to a computer or system. It is code not easily or solely controlled through the use of anti-virus tools.

Malicious code can either activate itself or be like a virus requiring user to perform an action, such as clicking on something or opening an email attachment.

Computer Virus

Definition : A computer virus is a potentially damaging computer program that affects or infects, a computer negatively by altering the way the computer works without the user’s knowledge or permission.

• A computer virus attaches itself to a program or file enabling it to spread from one computer to another, leaving infections as it travels. It may damage files and system software, including the operating system.

• Almost all viruses are attached to an executable file.

• The virus may exist on your computer but it actually cannot infect your computer unless you run or open the malicious program.

• A computer virus by sharing infecting files or sending emails with viruses as attachments in the email.

• Even such a simple virus is dangerous because it will quickly use all available memory and bring the system to a halt.

• Examples: Melissa, Tequila, Cascade, Invader  

Worm

• Definition : A worm is a program that copies itself repeatedly.

• For example in memory or on a network, using up resources and possibly shutting down the computer or network.

• Worms spread from computer to computer, but unlike a virus, it has the capability to travel without any human action.

• A worm takes advantage of file or information transport features on your system, which is what allows it to travel unaided.

• The biggest danger with a worm is its capability to replicate itself on your system.

• It will causing Web servers, network servers and individual computers to stop responding.

• Examples: Jerusalem, Sobig,  Nimda, Morris Worm

Trojan Horse

• A program that hides within or looks like a legitimate program. It does not replicate itself to other computers.

• At first glance will appear to be useful software but will actually do damage once installed or run on your computer.

• It can change your desktop, adding silly active desktop icons or they can cause serious damage by deleting files and destroying information on your system.

• Examples: Netbus, Back Orifice, Subseven, Beast 

2. Unauthorized Access & Use

• To help prevent unauthorized access and use, they should have a written acceptable use policy (AUP) that outlines the computer activities for which the computer and network may and may not be used.

• An access control is a security measure that defines who can access a computer, when they can access it, and what actions they can take while accessing the computer.

• Many systems implement access controls using a two-phase process called identification and authentication.

• Identification verifies that an individual is a valid user.

• Authentication verifies that the individual is the person he or she claims to be.

• Three methods of identification and authentication include user names and passwords, possessed objects, and bio metric devices.

• A user name or user ID (identification), is a unique combination of characters, such as letters of the alphabet or numbers, that identifies one specific user. 

• A password is a private combination of characters associated with the user name that allows access to certain computer resources.

3. Hardware Theft

• Hardware theft is the act of stealing computer equipment.

• Hardware vandalism is the act of defacing or destroying computer equipment.

• Companies, schools, and other organizations that house many computers, however, are at risk of hardware theft.

• Safeguards against Hardware Theft and Vandalism:

            -  physical access controls, such as locked doors and windows

            -  install alarm systems in their buildings

            -  physical security devices such as cables that lock the equipment to a desk.

4. Software Theft

• Software theft occurs when someone: 

          -   Steals software media

          -  Intentionally erases programs

          -   Illegally copies a program

          -  Illegally registers and/or activates a program.

• Steals software media involves a perpetrator physically stealing the media that contain the software or the hardware that contains the media.

• Intentionally erases programs can occur when a programmer is terminated from, or stops working for a company. 

• Although the programs are company property, some dishonest programmers intentionally remove or disable the  programs they have written from company computers.

• Illegally copies a program occurs when software is stolen from software manufacturers. 

• This type of theft, called piracy, is by far the most common form of software theft. 

• Illegally registers and/or activates a program involves users illegally obtaining registration numbers and/or activation codes. 

• A program called a keygen, short for key generator, creates software registration numbers and sometimes activation codes. 

• Some individuals create and post keygens so that users can install software without legally purchasing it.

5. Information Theft

• Information theft occurs when someone steals personal or confidential information.

• If stolen, the loss of information can cause as much damage as (if not more than) hardware or software theft.

• An unethical company executive may steal or buy stolen information to learn about a competitor.

• A corrupt individual may steal credit card numbers to make fraudulent purchases.

• Safeguards against Information Theft

1. Protecting information on computers located on an organization’s premises.
2. To protect information on the internet and networks, organizations and individuals use a variety of encryption techniques.
3. Encryption is a process of converting readable data into unreadable characters to prevent unauthorized access.

6. System Failure     

• A system failure is the prolonged malfunction of a computer

• Can cause loss of hardware, software, data, or information.

• These include aging hardware; natural disasters such as fires, floods, or hurricanes; random events such as electrical power  problems; and even errors in computer programs.

• Electrical power variations can cause loss of data and loss of equipment. 

• If the computer equipment is networked, a single power disturbance can damage multiple systems. 

• Electrical disturbances include noise (any unwanted signal), under voltages (electrical supply drops), and over voltages (incoming electrical power increases).

• Safeguards against System failure:

1. To protect against electrical power variations, use a surge protector. 
2. A surge protector, also called a surge suppressor, uses special electrical components to smooth out minor noise, provide a stable current flow, and keep an over voltage from reaching the computer and other electronic equipment.

Security Measures

1. Physical access control
2. Human aspects: awareness
3. Data Backup
4. Cryptography
5. Anti-virus
6. Anti-Spyware
7. Firewall

1. Physical access control

• Lock your laptop whether you're at home, in a dorm, in an office, or sitting in a coffee shop, use a security device, such as a laptop security cable.

• Lock doors and windows, usually adequate to protect the equipment.

• Put the access code at the door to enter the computer room or your office.

• Put the CCTV (closed-circuit television) in your office or computer room.

• Make a policies who can access the computer room or your data center.

2. Human Aspects: awareness

•          Phishing Emails

q  Never respond to requests for personal information via email. Businesses will never ask for personal information in an email.

q  Do not enter personal information in a pop-up screen.

•          Dispose of Information Properly

q  Destroy/shred hard copy confidential documents that contain personal information such as social security numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, health records.

q  Ensure you are using the right tools when destroying and disposing of personal information or media storage from your computer and mobile devices

•          Protect data on mobile devices

q  Choose a strong password. A good password should always include upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and at least one special character. Never use the same password for multiple devices or accounts.

q  Store your portable devices securely. When not in use, store devices out of sight and when possible in a locked drawer or cabinet.

•       Expose employees or staff to computer security.

•       Make a routine check to update from new virus, worm or other malicious threat.

3. Data Backup

Definition

• A data backup is the result of copying or archiving files and folders for the purpose of being able to restore them in case of data loss.

• Data loss can be caused by many things ranging from computer viruses to hardware failures to file corruption to fire, flood, or theft (etc). If you are responsible for business data, a loss may involve critical financial, customer, and company data. If the data is on a personal computer, you could lose financial data and other key files, pictures, music, etc that would be hard to replace.

Benefit 

• In the case of system failure, you can restore the files by copying the backed up files to their original location.

Importance

• prevent against data lost

4. Cryptography

Definition

• Technology of encoding information so it can only be read by authorized individuals.

• To read the data, you must decry pt it into readable form. The unencrypted data is called plain text. The encrypted data is called cipher text. To encrypt, plain text converted into cipher text using an encryption key.

Importance

• The process of proving one's identity.
• Ensuring that no one can read the message except the intended receiver.
• Assuring the receiver that the received message has not been altered in anyway from the original.
• A mechanism to prove that the sender really sent this message

5. Anti-virus

Antivirus software is a type of utility used for scanning and removing viruses from your computer. While many types of antivirus (or "anti-virus") programs exist, their primary purpose is to protect computers from viruses and remove any viruses that are found.

Most antivirus programs include both automatic and manual scanning capabilities. The automatic scan may check files that are downloaded from the Internet, discs that are inserted into the computer, and files that are created by software installers. The automatic scan may also scan the entire hard drive on a regular basis. The manual scan option allows you to scan individual files or your entire system whenever you feel it is necessary.

Importance

• Scan specific files or directories for any malware or known malicious patterns
• Allow you to schedule scans to automatically run for you
• Allow you to initiate a scan of a specific file or of your computer, or of a CD or flash drive at any time.
• Remove any malicious code detected –sometimes you will be notified of an infection and asked if you want to clean the file, other programs will automatically do this behind the scenes.

6. Anti-Spyware

Anti-spyware is a type of software that is designed to detect and remove unwanted spyware programs. Spyware is a type of malware that is installed on a computer without the user's knowledge in order to collect information about them. This can pose a security risk to the user, but more frequently spyware degrades system performance by taking up processing power, installing additional software, or redirecting users' browser activity.

Importance

• It  can monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else.
• Spyware can also gather information about email addresses and even passwords and credit card numbers.
• Anti-spyware is a type of software that is designed to detect and remove unwanted spyware programs.
• Anti-spyware software can be used to find and remove spyware that has already been installed on the user's computer.
• Examples :

                     Spyware Blaster

                     Spy Sweeper

7. Firewall

• A firewall is a system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network.
• A firewall can be implement either through hardware or software form, or a combination of both.
• Firewalls prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet, especially intranets.
• All messages entering or leaving the intranet (i.e., the local network to which you are connected) must pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified rules/security criteria.
• Rules will decide who can connect to the internet, what kind of connections can be made, which or what kind of files can be transmitted in out.

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