In my previous article, I have talked about some of the facts that you need to know about computer securityawareness. In this article, I want to look at seven major threats to system security. Follow me as we are going to look at that together in this article.
Facts about System security…
There are some facts that you need to know about system security before I even start talking about some of these threats…
First and foremost, you need to understand that every system and operating systems are subject to security flaws.
There will always be a loophole that hackers can capitalise on in order to attack systems and devices.
At times, software developers do not complete their work before they rush to market and this is what create lapses in their systems.
That is why they always release patches in order to cover loopholes in their systems.
If you want to stay secure, there is a need for you to install the patches and stay secured. Although in my own part of the world, we are always conscious of data and bandwidth bit, all the same, patches need to be updated in o
rder to stay secure.
You also need to make sure that security patches are applied in a timely manner.
It takes just a second for hackers to wreak havoc and destroy sensitive data that you have stored on your devices.
The threats…
#1 Virus
This is a form of program that replicates itself by copying itself to other programs, system boot sectors or documents and alters or damages the computer files and applications.
#2 Worm
A worm is a self-replicating program that does not alter files but resides in the computer memory and replicate itself.
This makes the disk to be filled more than the files and folders that are available on that memory.
#3 Backdoor
This is an unauthorized access point that is being created to access system files that are not known to other system users. One of the means of creating this unauthorised access is through a Guest account and other access that does not require passwords.
#4 Rootkit
A rootkit is a kind of program that gives toot level access to unauthorized users.
When a system is attacked with a rootkit, an ordinary user will have administrative access and he will be able to do what an admin will be able to do.
#5 Trojan
A Trojan is a malicious program that looks legitimate but has bad intentions. Take for example you download free antivirus online but at the end of the data the anti-virus ended up stealing sensitive information from your device.
#6 Logic bomb
This is a program that is meant to launch a particular program that is meant to launch an attack at a particular time.
For example, a program might be launched to release programs to steal 1BTC on Christmas day.
#7 Spyware
Spyware includes Trojans and other malicious software that steal personal information from the system without the user’s knowledge. A good example is Keylogger that can record keystrokes on user’s keyboard.
#8 Keylogger
A Keylogger is a hardware device or small software device that can record all keystrokes that are pressed on a user’s keyboard.
#9 Password cracking
Password cracking is the process of identifying or recovering forgotten or unknown passwords. I will talk more about password recovery in my subsequent articles.
