Chapter 9 Securing Your System: Protecting Your Digital Data Amber Hanks By: Amber Hanks

Cybercrime Is any criminal action perpetrated primarily through the use of a computer Cybercriminals are individuals who use computers, networks, and the Internet to perpetrate crime. Identity theft occurs when a thief steals personal information such as your name , address, Social Security number, birth date, bank account number, and credit card information. Even thought the theft of computer equipment is not classified as cybercrime, the theft of tablets, smartphones, notebook computers, and other portable computing devices is on the rise. When opening up things such as spam, people did it simply out of curiosity to see what was in there, which in many cases tricked you into giving away very personal and sensitive information that may be important to you. Amber Hanks

Computer viruses Virus: is a computer program that attaches itself to another computer program and attempts to spread to other computers when files are exchanged. Viruses are threatening because they are engineered to evade detection. Your computer can catch a virus by: downloading infected audio and video files Shared flash drives Downloading and running a file that’s attached to the e-mail Amber Hanks

#1. What do computer viruses do? Main purpose is to replicate itself and copy its code into as many other host files as possible. This gives the virus a greater chance of being copied to another computer system so that it can spread infection. Amber Hanks

#2. Name and describe a minimum of 6 different viruses. 1. boot- sector viruses: execute when a computer boots up 2. Logic bombs/time bombs: execute when certain conditions or dates are reached 3. worms: spread on their own with no common human interaction needed 4. Script & macro viruses: series of commands with malicious intent 5. Email viruses: spread as attachments to e-mail, often using address books 6. encryption viruses: hold files “hostage” by encrypting them; ask for ransom to unlock them 1. boot- sector viruses: whenever a computer boots up it ensures that the virus will be loaded into memory immediately, and possibly even before some virus protection programs can load. 2. Logic bombs/time bombs: the effects of logic bombs and time bombs range from the display of annoying messages on the screen to the reformatting of the hard drive, which causes complete data loss. 3. worms: worms take advantage of file transport methods, such as e-mail or network connections, to spread on their own 4. Script & macro viruses: a script it a series of commands or miniprogram that is executed without your knowledge 5. Email viruses: uses the address book in the victim’s e-mail to distribute the virus 6. encryption viruses: they run a program that searches for common types of date files, such as Microsoft Word files and compresses them using a complex encryption key that renders your files unusable Amber Hanks

Preventing virus Infections Antivirus software: designed to detect viruses and protect your computer and files from harm. Detection  Stopping virus execution prevention of future infection Antivirus software catches the known viruses, but new ones are being written all the time. New computers come with preinstalled software for this and also most programs update every time you go online. If you think your computer has a virus, boot the computer up with the antivirus installation disc. Antiviruses: you should run a scan on your entire at least once a week Above is the process of how antivirus software works Detection: antivirus software looks for a virus signature in files and detects what type of virus is infecting them Stopping virus execution: it stops the execution of the files and virus and notifies you that it has detected a virus. It then notifies you about the virus and places it in a secure area on your hard drive so that it won’t spread to other files. prevention of future infection You can protect your phone by downloading an anti virus app for your specific phone. Amber Hanks

Understanding Hackers White-hate hackers: break into systems for nonmalicious reasons, such as to test system security. Black-hat hackers: breaks into systems to destroy information or for illegal gain. Grey-hat hackers: break into systems merely to flaunt their expertise Pact analyzer: is a program developed that looks at each packet that travels on the internet. Once they have your card information, they use it to but illegal good or the sell the information to other people. A hacker is someone who unlawfully breaks into a computer system (this can be an individual system or a network) Hackers could break into computers or websites that contain credit card information and could access your credit card or bank information This can happen if you shop online a lot Pact analyzer: for example this person may sit in coffee shop and run a packet sniffer to capture sensitive data from the people using the coffee shop wifi Amber Hanks

3. What are distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks? Legitimate users are denied access to a computer system because a hacker is repeatedly making requests of that computer system through a computer he or she has taken over as a zombie. These attacks are easy to trace Hackers can gain access to computers directly or indirectly Direct involves sitting down at a computer and installing hacking software. Indirectly is hacking through the internet connection Botnet: is a large group of software programs that runs on autonomously on zombie computers Logical ports: virtual– that is, not physical– communications gateway or paths that allow a computer to organize requests for information, such as e-mail routing. Amber Hanks

4.What is a firewall? Which is better, software firewall or a hardware firewall? Firewall is a software program or hardware device designed to protect computers from hackers. Both hardware and software firewalls will protect you from hackers. One type isn’t better than the other. Amber Hanks

Digital Assets Firewalls protect you by blocking access to logical ports and by keeping your computer’s network address secure To block access to logical ports, firewalls examine data packets that your computer sends and receives. Every computer connected to the internet has a unique address called an Internet Protocol address Firewalls use a process called network address translation(NAT) to assign internal IP addresses on a network. You can visit websites that offer free services that test your computers vulnerability. Amber Hanks

Passwords: If the testing program detects potential vulnerabilities and you don’t have firewall, you should install one as soon as possible. Password protection: Creating difficult passwords, is an essential piece of security that people sometimes overlook. You can use online password strength testers, such as the Password Meter The easiest way to remember passwords to click the tab in the corner of your screen that says “remember password” Be selective when doing this because things such as a bank password are things you may not want your computer to remember Tips for strong passwords: Don’t use things that are related to your life. Like pet names, street address, etc. Use a password that is at least 14 characters long. The longer the password the more difficult it is to guess it Don’t use words found in the dictionary Use a mix of upper and lowercase letters and symbols Never tell anyone your passwords Change your password on a regular basis Don’t use the same password for every account Amber Hanks

Prying eyes: If you use public computers, you never know what is being placed on that computer. Also pieces of your are left behind when you are done surfing the web. Google Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer include privacy tools that help you surf the web anonymously. Flash drives also provide a higher level of surfing privacy Another way to avoid prying eyes to avoid using using the public computers. - Tablets and iPads run their own proprietary operating systems that differ from the operating systems deployed on laptop and desktop computers Amber Hanks

Managing online annoyances: Malware: is software that has a malicious intent adware: is software that displays sponsored advertisements in a section of your browser window or  as a pop-up box spyware: is an unwanted piggyback program that usually downloads with other software you install from the Internet and that runs in the background of your system. anti-spyware software detects unwanted programs and allows you to delete the offending software easily. Avoiding spam- spam filter is an option you can select n your e-mail account that places known or suspected spam messages into a speacial folder. Amber Hanks

keeping data safe a good rule of thumb is to reveal as little information as possible, especially if the information would be a available to everyone. social networking sites like Facebook make privacy settings available in your profile settings. the data on your computer faces 3 major threats: 1. unauthorized access 2. tampering 3. destruction 2 types of files you should back up are program files and data files. The types of backups you can perform are incremental backup which involves backing up only files that have changed or have been created since the last backup was performed. Also an image backup which means that all system, application, and data files are backed up, not just the files that changed. You should back files up every time you make changes to them. Files on your school network are normally backed up regularly. Amber Hanks

Social Engineering Social engineering is any technique that uses social skills to generate human interaction that entices individuals to reveal sensitive information Most social engineering schemes is a pretext to lure their victims Phishing: lures internet users to reveal personal information such as credit card numbers. Pharming: occurs when malicious code is planted on your computer, either by viruses or by your browser’s ability to find web addresses Scareware: is a type of malware that downloads onto your computer and tries to convince you that your computer is infected with a virus or other type of malware Pretexting involves creating a scenario that sounds legitimate enough that someone will trust you. Most internet security suites, antivirus, and anti-malware software packages now detect and prevent the installation of scareware Amber Hanks

Protecting your physical computing assets: Computers delicate devices and can be damaged by the adverse effects of abuse or a poor environment. A fall can damage your computing devices internal components Power surges occur when electrical current is supplied in excess of normal voltage. A surge protector is a device that protects your computer against power surges. Should replace your surge protectors every 2-3 years Amber Hanks

All electronic devices at home that have solid-state components, should be connected to a surge protector A more practical method is to install a whole- house surge protector, which could cost $300- $500 Lightening strikes can generate such high voltages that they can overwhelm a surge protector. Amber Hanks

What should you worry about computing device is stolen? 1. keeping them from being stolen 2. Keeping data secure in case they are stolen 3. finding a device if it is stolen 4. remotely recovering and wiping data shown of stolen device Motion alarm software is a good, inexpensive theft deterrent. These detect motion, like your tablet being picked up or sounds near your device and then sets off an ear-piercing alarm until you enter the disable code Amber Hanks

Keeping mobile device data secure Encrypting the data on your mobile device can make it extremely difficult, if not possible, for thieves to obtain sensitive data from your stolen equipment. Software alerts and data wipes Tracking software enables your computer to alert authorities to the computer’s location if it is stolen To enable your mobile device to help with its own recovery, you install the tracking software on your device. Amber Hanks

#5 Describe a concern of employers about the new type of productivity drain referred to as cyberloafing or cyberslacking. Amber Hanks

End!!!! Amber Hanks