Introduction

• What is Computer Security?

    Computer Security is the process of preventing and detecting unauthorized use of your computer. Prevention measures help you to stop unauthorized users also known as "intruders" from accessing any part of your computer system. Detection helps you to determine whether or not someone attempted to break into your system, if they were successful, and what they may have done. We use computers for everything from banking and investing to shopping and communicating with others through email or chat programs. Although you may not consider your communications "top secret," you probably do not want strangers reading your email, using your computer to attack other systems, sending forged email from your computer, or examining personal information stored on your computer such as financial statements.
 

• What is Computer Privacy?

    Computer privacy refers to the right of individuals and companies to deny or restrict the collection and use of information about them. Privacy is all about maintaining the integrity of the data. Huge amount of data is stored in the databases which may be online. Much of the data is personal, confidential and should be accessible to only the authorized.

 

Viruses

A computer virus is a potentially damaging computer program that affects, or infects, your computer negatively by altering the way the computer works without your knowledge or permission. The programmer of a virus is known as virus author. Viruses are activated on your computer in three basic ways: 

• Opening an infected file
• Running an infected file
• Booting the computer with an infected floppy disk in the disk drive

Today, the most common way that computers become infected with viruses is through e-mail attachments.

 

Some viruses are harmless pranks that simply freeze a computer temporarily or display sounds or messages. The Music Bug virus, for example, instruct 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 a computer acts differently from usual, it may be infected with a virus. Viruses have become a serious problem in recent years. Currently, more than 53,000 known virus programs exist with an estimated 6 new virus programs discovered each day.

 There are numerous types of viruses, three main types are given below:

• Boot Sector
• File
• Macro
• Script

Interesting Facts about Viruses

• A logic bomb is a virus that activates when it detects a certain condition. One disgruntled worker, for example, planted a logic bomb that began destroying files when his name appeared on a list of terminated employees.
   

• A time bomb is a type of logic bomb that activates on a particular date. A well known time bomb is the Michelangelo Virus, which destroys data on a hard disk on 6th March, that is Michelangelo's birthday.

Malware

A malware or malicious-logic program is a program that acts without a user's knowledge and deliberately alters the computer's operations. Some of them are :

• Worm
• Trojan Horse

 

 

 

 

Computer Security

Virus Detection & Removal

No complete effective methods exist to ensure a computer or network is safe from computer viruses and other malware. The following ways will help you in taking precautions against such things:  

• To reduce the chance of infecting your computer with a boot sector virus, never start your computer with a floppy disk in drive unless you are certain the disk is an uninfected boot disk.
   
• To protect your computer from a macro virus, you can set a macro's security level in all applications that allow you to write macros. With a medium security level, for example Microsoft Word will warn you that a document you are attempting to open contains a macro. From this warning, you can choose to disable or enable the macro. If the document is from a trusted source, you can enable the macro, other wise you should disable it.

 

 

• To safeguard your computer from virus attacks, install abn antivirus program and update it frequently. An antivirus program protects a computer against viruses by identifying and removing any computer viruses found in memory, on storage media or incoming files. Most antivirus programs also protect against worms and Trojan horses.

 

 

 

Some famous antivirus soft wares are given below:

• AVG Antivirus
• Command Antivirus
• eSafe Desktop
• F-Secure Anti-Virus
• InoculateIT
• Mcafee VirusScan
• Norton AntiVirus
• PC-cillin
• RAV AntiVirus Desktop

 

Computer Privacy

How to safe guard Personal Information?

• Fill in only necessary information on rebate, warranty, and registration forms.
   

• Do not preprint your telephone number or Social Security on personal cheques.
   

• Purchase goods with cash, rather than credits or cheques.
   

• Limit the amount of information you provide to Web sites. Just fill in required information.
   

• Install a cookie manager to filter cookies.
   

• Clear your history file when you are finished browsing.
   

• Turn off file and print sharing information on your internet connection.
   

• Install a personal firewall.
   

• Sign up for e-mail filtering through your internet service provider or use an anti- spam program.
   

• Do not reply to spam for any reason.
  

What are cookies? 

A cookie is a small file that a Web server stores on your computer. Cookie files typically contain data about you, such as user name or viewing preferences. Many commercial Websites send a cookie to your browser, and then your computer's hard disk stores the cookie. The next time you visit the Website, your browser retrieves the cookie from your hard disk and sends the data in the cookie to the Web site. Web sites use cookies for a variety of purposes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is spyware?

Spy ware is a program placed on a computer without the user's knowledge that secretly collects information about the user. Spy ware can enter your computer as a virus or as a result of installing a new program. The spy ware program communicates information it collects to some outside source while you are online.

Some internet advertising firms use spy ware, which in case is called ad ware, to collect information about user's Web browsing habits. (Cookies are not considered spy ware because you know they exist; otherwise they operate in a manner similar to spy ware).

If you download software from the Web, pay careful attention to the license agreement and registration information requested during installation. To remove spy ware, you need to purchase a special program that can detect and delete it.