Practice Safe Cyber
- Details
- Category: Security
- Published on Sunday, 07 August 2011 16:05
- Written by Kinda Strange
- Hits: 263
Home Internet users are in increased danger from cyber attacks. Research indicates that the majority of internet-based attacks are now aimed at home users due to their poor security measures. Data theft and fraud can generate large amounts of wealth for online attackers.
It is important for the home user to educate themselves about the different methods of protection to ensure their information remains safe. Installing a firewall is an important step to prevent additional attacks against a home system. Using both systems prevents there from being a single point of failure in an attack, creating a better defense for the home system.
A firewall cannot protect against problems that already exist on the system or problems that do not originate from outside the system. For this reason, it is important to also have anti-virus and anti-mal-ware systems installed on the computer and kept up to date. These systems should be set to update and run automatically and often to keep abreast of new threats.
Simple detection is not sufficient when dealing with fast attacks; prevention is also a necessity. A network intrusion prevention system inspects network traffic to identify malicious, harmful, and/or illegitimate activity and then blocks that activity from accessing or using the system. This system works in conjunction with a firewall to prevent attacks.
Theft is not the only threat. The system could be used to remotely attack other systems, store illegal content, generate spam, or otherwise function as a bot while the user sits, wondering why their internet connection seems so slow lately. Like the zombies of movies, zombie computers infect other systems they come in contact with, spreading worms and viruses to other systems.
It is vital to keep systems up to date to protect against the latest threats. The operating system and individual programs must be updated when new patches are available to prevent them from being attacked through known security flaws. Many programs will automatically check for updates and simply require a user to give permission to install the update, but other applications must be checked and updated manually. It’s best to patch a known hole in a boat before setting out to brave the dangerous and wondrous waters of the Internet.
Attackers are constantly updating and upgrading their systems to attack in new ways. For this reason, even home security must never be allowed to slack off. Users must take responsibility for understanding security issues and implementing solutions.
