Computer security, Types of Threats and its Solution

Meaning - Computer security, also known as cyber security or IT security, is the protection of computer systems from the theft or damage to their hardware, software or information, as well as from disruption or misdirection of the services they provide.

The computer system is vulnerable to many threats that can result in significant loss of data so to save the computer from these threats we need cyber security. Computer security is the branch of information technology which intends to protect computers.

Types of Threats

Malware

Malware stands for malicious software. It refers to a variety of malicious programs that are used to damage computer system, gather sensitive information or gain access to private computer system. It includes Virus, worms, Ransomware, Trojan horse, spyware, adware.

VIRUS

It stands for vital information resource under siege. They are software or small program that can negatively affect the computer. It obtains control of the PC and directs it to perform unusual actions. They can attack OS, system areas, files, and application program
Eg: creeper, Sasser, blaster, Trojan, rootkit

Effects of virus

slow down your computer performance
download illegal files
steal confidential information like password, account number, credit card information
increase or decrease memory size
damage data files

WORMS

A computer worm is a malware that replicates itself, in order to spread to another computer. Often it uses a computer network to spread itself, relying on security failure on the target computer to access it. They are hard to detect as they are invisible files

TROJAN

A Trojan is a non-self replicating type of malware which appears to perform a desirable function but instead facilitates unauthorized access to users computer system. They may steal information or harm their host computer. They can enter through online games or installation from harmful websites. They do not replicate themselves.

SPYWARE

It is program install on a computer system to spy on the system owners activity and collect all the important information. It tracks the user's behavior and reports back to a central source. They can transmit personal information to another person's computer over the internet. They can steal our password, observe our browsing history, redirect our webpages to phishing pages, affect the performance of your computer.

SPOOFING

Spoofing is the technique to access unauthorised data without concerning to the authorized user.

HACKING

It is the act of intruding into someone else computer or network. It prevents the authorized users to access the resource of the computer. A hacker is someone who does hacking.

PHISHING

It is characterized by attempting to fraudulently acquire sensitive information such as password, credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy person.

SPAM

It is the act of sending unsolicited bulk messages in the form of emails, it is the identical message sent to numerous recipients by emails.

ADWARE

It is a software that automatically renders advertisement in order to generate revenue for its author.

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Solution to Computer Threats

ANTIVIRUS

These are the application software that is designed to prevent, detect, and remove virus and other malicious software like worms, Trojan, adware and more
Some popular antivirus are Avast, Kaspersky, Norton, AVG

FIREWALL

A firewall can either be a software based or hardware based and is used to keep network secure. Its objective is to control the incoming and outgoing network traffic by analyzing the data packets and determining whether it should be allowed through or not, based on predetermined rule set.

Digital security and Digital signature

These are the electronic messages and attachment that can be used to authenticate the identity of the sender of a message or the signer of a document and also to ensure that the content of the message that has been sent is unchanged.

Security socket layer

It is an algorithm that provides application independent security and privacy over the internet. It allows both server authentication and client authentication.