Security Threats to Personal Computers
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Security threats to personal computers
Thesis statement
“Every person who owns a computer needs to protect oneself from potential security threats that encounter every computer user.”
Introduction
Security threats are a great headache to all computer users. Every computer user needs to rest assured that whatever information he/she may have is not accessible to unauthorized people and that it is not interfered with. One also needs to be confident that his/her convenience in personal computer use is not slowed down or made impossible. He/she needs assurance of effectiveness, efficiency and speed, which are necessary for any meaningful work to be accomplished. In this paper, I am going to point various potential threats that users of personal computers are likely to encounter. I am also going to look into techniques employed by attackers to access information on the system.
Potential threats
Computer threats can be categorized in terms of confidentiality, integrity and availability (Baker, 2001). Every computer user needs the assurance that whatever information he/she has on his/her personal computer is only available to those people who are authorized to view it, that authorized persons only modify it and it will be available to him or her when there is need. However, this is not usually the case because users find themselves threatened in these areas and thus the need for protection of information on personal computers.
Several threats are identified. First, there are those threats related to broadband connections (Baker, 2001). This threat occurs when users choose the ‘always on’ and no connection modes in their network connections. This puts the user in attacks they are not aware. This is because broadband connections leave the system accessible to outsiders (Baker, 2001).
Second, viruses pose a major threat to PC users. Viruses are malicious codes or programs that replicate by attaching themselves to other programs (Baker, 2001). They also include worms that reproduce by copying themselves from one system to another, and Trojans that are independent programs and appear to perform an important task but hide other unauthorized programs inside them (ibid).
Third, there is denial of services (ibid). This threat works through flooding networks or disrupting connections between computers. Therefore, the user cannot access services hence availability of information becomes impossible or difficult.
Forth, email spoofing where an email is sent by someone who makes it appear as if it is being sent by a legal sender while in reality it is from an illegal one (Baker, 2001). This is mainly used for impersonation or making the user reveals confidential information. Other threats include unsecured windows file sharing, cross-site scripting, packet sniffing, hidden file extensions among others. These threats pose potential threats to PC users by infringing on confidentiality, integrity or accessibility to information.
Techniques used by attackers to access information
Tactics used by attackers are many and vary from time to time as more ways of guarding computer users against them are devised. Some of their tactics include malicious payload (Zeltser, 1995). In this tactic, the attacker compromises the system and continues spreading. They also focus on weaknesses of the application, rather than system or network levels to obtain data that provide most value.
Attackers may for instance try to click users into clicking into malicious links in social networks. By so doing, they are able to bypass defense mechanisms applied. They may also penetrate the system through web browsers. They take advantage of bugs in the browser or software that web browser can invoke (Zeltser, 1995).
Attackers have developed a strategy of compromising web applications in order to reach their victims (ibid). These tactics keep the PC users vulnerable and any wise PC user should be on the lookout. The reasons for these attacks are many and the techniques used quite a number, as they are dynamic.
Conclusion
Every PC user must therefore be on the guard. Attackers are always on the move, looking for the next victim to attack. Though their interests are varied, they will undoubtedly put into jeopardy any information a PC user may have, slow down his/her use of the PC and even access confidential information that will put at risk the user’s enterprise.
References
Baker, T. (2001). Potential threats to your PC’s security. Retrieved May 28th, 2014 http://www.smartcomputing .com/editorial/article.asp?
Zeltser, L. (1995). Understanding modern computer attack and defense techniques. Retrieved May 28th, 2014 http://www.zeltser.com/computer-attacks-defenses/