How Safe is Your Data?

Worried about hacking, phishing and other threats to your online security? We are here to update you on How Safe is Your Data?

Online security is a rapidly-spreading parasite that characterises the present decade. It is an issue not only for financial institutions and e-commerce, but also for e-government,educational institutions and individuals at all levels.

Nowadays, web-based services, including social networks MySpace and Facebook, are becoming prime targets for hackers seeking your personal information. As Internet users display more of their personal information on social networking Web sites, computer hackers are employing increasingly sophisticated methods to pry that information loose.

Cyber attacks fall under 2 general categories :

(1) nontechnical attack - an attack that tricks people into revealing sensitive information or performing actions that compromise the security of a network.

i) social engineering : attack that uses social pressures to trick users into compromising computer networks to which they have access.

ii) phishing : a popular method to collect information through fake websites ( that look identical to the real websites).

(2) technical attack - an attack perpetrated using software and systems knowledge or expertise.

i) Denial of Service Attacks : An attack on a Web sit in which an attacker uses speacialized software to send a flood of data packets to the target computer with the aim of overloading its resources.

ii) Malicious Software : Malicious code takes a variety of forms: -

a. Virus - software that inserts itself into a host, including the OS.

b.Worm - software that runs and clones itself independently, consuming the resources of its host to maintain itself.

c. Trojan Horse - program that appears to have useful function but contains hidden function that presents a security risk.

By SueHui