CHAPTER 5 : DIGITAL SAFETY AND SECURITY RISKS

DIGITAL SECURITY RISK

• ·         A digital security risk is any event or action that could cause a loss of or damage to a computer or mobile device hardware, software, data, information, or processing capability
• ·         Any illegal act involving the use of a computer or related devices generally is referred to as a computer crime
• ·         A cybercrime is an online or Internet-based illegal act

HACKER VS CRACKER

HACKER

1.       Break the computer system with ethics to test the weakness of the system.

2.       Do not damage the system or destroy data.

CRACKER

1.       Deliberately breaks the system to bring damage and sabotage elements.

2.       Unethical progressive and dangerous

INTERNET AND NETWORK ATTACKS

• ·         Information transmitted over networks has a higher degree of security risk than information kept on an organization’s premises
• ·         Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programs that act without a user’s knowledge and deliberately alter the operations of computers and mobile devices
• ·         A firewall is hardware and/or software that protects a network’s resources from intrusion

UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS AND USE

• ·         Unauthorized access is the use of a computer or network without permission.
• ·         Unauthorized use is the use of a computer or its data for unapproved or possibly illegal activities.
• ·         Organizations take several measures to help prevent unauthorized access and use
• ·- Acceptable use policy
• ·- Disable file and printer sharing
• ·         Access controls define who can access a computer, device, or network; when they can access it; and what actions they can take while accessing it
• ·   The computer, device, or network should maintain an audit trail  that records in a file both successful and unsuccessful access attempts

·           - User name

·           - Password

·           - Passphrase

·           - CAPTCHA

• ·         A biometric device authenticates a person’s identity by translating a personal characteristic into a digital code that is compared with a digital code in a computer

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• ·         Example of unautorized access and use:

-          Fingerprint Reader

-          Face recognition system

-          Signature verification system

-          Hand geometry system

• ·         Digital forensics is the discovery, collection, and analysis of evidence found on computers and networks
• ·         Many areas use digital forensics

-          Law enforcement

-          Insurance agencies

-          Military intelligence

-          Criminal prosecutors

SOFTWARE THEFT

• ·         Many manufacturers incorporate an activation process into their programs to ensure the software is not installed on more computers than legally licensed
• ·         During the product activation, which is conducted either online or by phone, users provide the software product’s identification number to associate the software with the computer or mobile device on which the software is installed.
• ·         Software theft occurs when someone:

-          Steal software media

-          Illegally register/activates a program

-          Illegally copies a program

-          Intentionally erases programs

INFORMATION THEFT

• ·         Information theft occurs when someone steals personal or confidential information.
• ·         Encryption is a process of converting data that is readable by humans into encoded characters to prevent unauthorized access
• ·         A digital signature is an encrypted code that a person, website, or organization attaches to an electronic message to verify the identity of the sender

-          Often used to ensure that an impostor is not participating in an Internet transaction

• ·         A digital certificate is a notice that guarantees a user or a website is legitimate
• ·         A website that uses encryption techniques to secure its data is known as a secure site

HARDWARE THEFT,VANDALISM AND FAILURE

• ·         Hardware theft is the act of stealing digital equipment
• ·         Hardware vandalism is the act of defacing or destroying digital equipment
• ·         To help reduce the of chances of theft, companies and schools use a variety of security measures

BACKING UP – THE ULTIMATE SAFEGUARD

·         A backup is a duplicate of a file, program, or media that can be used if the original is lost, damaged, or destroyed

-          To back up a file means to make a copy of it

·         Off-site backups are stored in a location separate from the computer or mobile device site

-          Cloud storage

ETHICS AND SOCIETY

• ·         Computer ethics are the moral guidelines that govern the use of computers, mobile devices, and information systems
• ·         Information accuracy is a concern
• ·         Not all information on the web is correct
• ·         A copyright protects any tangible form of expression
• ·         Digital rights management (DRM) is a strategy designed to prevent illegal distribution of movies, music, and other digital content
• ·         A code of conduct is a written guideline that helps determine whether a specification is ethical/unethical or allowed/not allowed
• ·         Content filtering is the process of restricting access to certain material on the Web-           -    Many businesses use content filtering
• ·         Web filtering software restricts access to specified websites

INFORMATION PRIVACY

•  Information privacy refers to the right of individuals and companies to deny or restrict the collection and use of information about them
• ·         Huge databases store data online
• ·         It is important to safeguard your information
• ·         Information about you can be stored in a database when you:

-          Fill out a printed or online form

-          Create a social networking profile

-          Register a product warranty

• Phishing is a scam in which a perpetrator sends an official looking email message that attempts to obtain your personal and/or financial information
•  Spyware is a program placed on a computer or mobile device without the user’s knowledge that secretly collects information about the user and then communicates the information it collects to some outside source while the user is online
• Adware is a program that displays an online advertisement in a banner or pop-up window on webpages, email messages, or other Internet services

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