Network Security

         

            Computer security is something that everyone that uses technology needs to think about. It isn’t just a user’s specific computer that needs to be thought about either. In fact, sometimes the most harm can happen from a breach of an email or a social media account. Computers can be compromised by someone hacking a system, malware and viruses. These are perhaps the most common things people think of when thinking of computer security. However, there are other ways of breaching security such as Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, phishing and the spam of emails.

            Denial of Service, or DoS attacks happens when there are huge numbers of requests simultaneously to one website which overloads the system and prevents actual people from being able to access a website or server (Vahid, f., & Lysecky, s., 2017). This type of attack can be carried out in a way similar to how we used pings and trace routes in our assignments last week. We were sending packets of information to communicate with a specific server. In a DoS attack, so many requests are made at the same time that it overloads the server and causes real people to not be able to access the website. Many times, these types of attacks are used as activism, sabotage, or cyberwarfare (Crelin, J., 2013). It can be used to cost companies money or to cause an inconvenience to corporations and users alike. 

            Two other types of security incidents are Email Spam and Phishing. These are similar because they both typically are related to email. Email Spam is typically unwanted mass-sent emails (Vahid & Lysecky, 2017). Anyone that has an email almost certainly has had to deal with spam emails. In fact, most email services have spam filters to attempt to catch spam before the user ever sees it. Spam is extremely popular because it costs the sender nothing but time. The problem is that many times spam is meant to look enticing to the receiver of the email. However, spam emails can contain malware, viruses, or scams that can really hurt the receiver of the email. Similarly, phishing is an internet scam that tries to get users to share information that could allow the sender to get access to things like bank accounts or website logins (Vahid & Lysecky, 2017). Emails will be sent to users that look like official correspondence from banks or websites, including logos. Sometimes they mimic actual sent emails. However, these emails will contain links to attempt to get users to input personal information like passwords, bank information, or other personal information like social security numbers (Hong, J., 2012). Then the sender has access to the user’s personal information and can use that info to steal money or even identities.

            There are many ways that security breaches can happen. Computer security is something that all users must be knowledgeable about. It’s just as important for corporations as regular users to be aware of the many types of ways their information can be breached. Security breaches cost billions of dollars every year. These attacks can happen to a simple email users all the way to DoS attacks on major corporations or even the government. Understanding the threats is essential to keeping your personal information safe and your computer running smoothly.

References:

Crelin, J. (2013). Denial-of-service attack. Salem Press Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=90558289&site=eds-live&scope=site

Hong, J. (2012). The State of Phishing Attacks. Communications of the ACM, 55(1), 74–81. https://doi-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1145/2063176.2063197

Vahid, F., & Lysecky, S. (2017). Computing technology for all. Retrieved from zybooks.zyante.com/