Online Security Threat. How Safe is Your Data?

Computer is an electronic device which is used to create, store and manage critical information. The increasingly developed technologies have increase the risk of every computer user faced. Internet users may faces risk when they display sensitive data information at online software programs and their personal information on web-based services, including social networks MySpace and Facebook, which are becoming prime targets for hackers seeking for their personal information.


Computer security plays an important role in protecting data from loss, damage and misuse. Nowadays, the threats that the computer users facing are cybercrime, phishing, internet and network attacks such as computer viruses, worms and Trojan horses and back doors.

Cybercrime refers to a criminal activity where a computer or network is a source of crime such as fraud, theft and etc. Cybercrime is motivated by fraud, typified by the bogus emails sent by “phishers” that aim to destroy data and steal personal data and information.

Phishing is the term coined by hackers who imitate legitimate companies in e-mails to entice people to share usernames, passwords or credit-card details. The email leads the user to visit a web site to update their personal information that the legitimate companies already has. However, the web site is set up only to steal user’s information. For example, the recent victims include Charlotte's Bank of America, Best Buy and eBay, where people were directed to Web pages that looked nearly identical to the companies' sites.

Virus is a piece of code that is loaded onto user’s computer without their knowledge and viruses can replicate themselves. Virus is dangerous as it can destroy data and damage the operating systems. Worm can infect computer and spread itself to another computers across network automatically, without human interaction. It can slow down the operating speed of a computer and the repeatedly copied files may use up the available space. Unlike virus and worm, Trojan horses require interaction with a hacker to fulfill their purpose. Some Trojans can cause serious damage by deleting files and destroying information on user’s system.

Today backdoors are the most dangerous type of Trojans and the most widespread. These Trojans are remote administration utilities that open infected machines to external control via a LAN or the Internet. They function in the same way as legal remote administration programs used by system administrators. This makes them difficult to detect. Once the backdoor is launched, it monitors the local system without the user's knowledge; often the backdoor will not be visible in the log of active programs.

There are ways to stay safe online which are discussed as below:

1. Activate protection. If there is firewall, spam blocker, or other built-in security application in user’s operating system or software, internet users have to make sure that it’s turned on. For example, ZoneAlam 7.0 is a free firewall for Windows XP. Users are also required to activate spam filtering and other online protection provided by ISP or e-mail services, such as Yahoo, Google or MSN.


2. Update and renew. Operating system and security software are required to update automatically. In order to catch the latest threats, users are required to update the spam, spyware and virus-detection programs regularly. When the software warns you to renew your service, make sure that you do so to ensure that the protection does not lapse.


3. Run antivirus software. It protects a computer from getting malicious viruses from the internet, through websites, email, and instant messenger. Antivirus software can be used to prevent an infection or by find and removing an infection. For example, Norton Anti-virus and Kaspersky Anti-Virus.

4. Watch what you download. Most of the free utilities, games, and other software on the Internet can be useful, but many are laden with viruses and spyware. Users can try to download only from well-known manufacturers or trusted sites such as those at www.download.com, www.snapfiles.com, and http://www.tucows.com

In conclusion, risk increase due to the increasingly developed technology, so there is a need to always keep the computer security up to date. Meanwhile, internet users also have to equip themselves with the ‘hacking’ knowledge to prevent any damages and loss caused by the online security threats.