Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Know Computer Security

Computer Security

Now-a-days computers are becoming a reliable source to create,store and manage critical information.It is also crucial that users take measures to protect their computers and data from loss,damage,and misuse.For example,a company must ensure that information,such as credit records,employee and customer data and purchase information are secure and confidential.
Computer security risk is a term known for any event or action that could be harmful for a computer hardware,software,data information or processing capability.Some breaches to computer security are accidental while others are planned.Any illegal act involving a computer is generally referred to as a computer crime.The term cybercrime refers to online or internet-based illegal acts.
The following sections describes some of the more common computer security risks and safeguards,you can take to minimize or prevent their consequences.
Computer Viruses
Virus is a potentially damaging program in a computer,which negatively effects or infects your computer without your knowledge and alters the working of the computer.More specifically,a computer virus is a segment of program code from some outside source that implants itself in a computer.Once a virus is in your computer,your files and operating system may be damaged.
The increased use of networks,the internet and email has accelerated the spread of computer viruses.With these technologies,computer users easily can share files and any related viruses.Viruses are activated on your computer in three basic ways:
(1)Opening an infected file
(2)Running an infected program
(3)Booting the computer with an infected floppy disk in the disk drive.
The most common way of virus in a computer is through the attachment in an email.Before you open or execute any email attachment,you should ensure that the email message is from a trusted source.A trusted source is a company or person you believe will not send you a virus infected file knowingly.You should immediately delete any email received from an unknown source without opening or executing the attachment.Thus you can protect your computer against viruses if you follow the precautionary measures.
Viruses in computer are not generated accidentally but are programmed intentionally by a programmer known as a virus author.Some virus authors find writing viruses a challenge.Others write them to cause destruction.Writing a virus program usually requires significant programming skills.Some viruses are harmless ranksthat simply freeze a computer temporarily or display sounds or messages.The music bug virus,example,instructs the computer to play a few chords of music.Other viruses destroy or corrupt data stored on the hard disk of the infected computer.If your computer acts differently from usual,it may be infected with a virus.
Today,viruses pose as serious threat to the safety of a computer.Currently,more than million known virus programs exist with an estimated 6 new virus programs discovered each day.
Though there are numerous variations,3 main virus types known to exist are,boot sector,file and macro.
A boot sector virus also known as a system virus,executes when a computer boots up because it resides in the boot sector of a floppy disk or the master boot record of a hard disk.When you leave a floppy disk in the floppy disk drive and boot up the computer,the computer attempts to execute the boot sector on the disk in drive A.The hard disk of a computer can be infected by any virus on the floppy disk’s boot sector even if the disk is not the boot disk.

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