Is Your Information Safe Essay Research Paper

Is Your Information Safe. Essay, Research Paper

Is Your Information Safe.

He doesn’t wear a stocking mask over his face, and he doesn’t break a

window to get into your house. He doesn’t hold a gun to your head, nor does he

ransack your personal possessions. Just the same he’s a thief. Although this

thief is one you’ll not only never see, but you may not even realize right away

that he’s robbed you. The thief is a computer hacker and he “enters” your home

via your computer, accessing personal information — such as credit card numbers

– which he could then use without your knowledge — at least until you get that

next credit card statement. Richard Bernes, supervisor of the FBI’s Hi-Tech

squad in San Jose, California, calls the Internet “the unlocked window in

cyberspace through which thieves crawl” (Erickson 1). There seems to be an

unlimited potential for theft of credit card numbers, bank statements and other

financial and personal information transmitted over the Internet.

It’s hard to imagine that anyone in today’s technologically oriented

world could function without computers. Personal computers are linked to

business computers and financial networks, and all are linked together via the

Internet or other networks. More than a hundred million electronic messages

travel through cyberspace every day, and every piece of information stored in a

computer is vulnerable to attack (Icove-Seger-VonStorch 1). Yesterday’s bank

robbers have become today’s computer hackers. They can walk away from a computer

crime with millions of virtual dollars (in the form of information they can use

or sell for an enormous profit). Walking away is precisely what they do. The

National Computer Crimes Squad estimates that 85-97 % of the time, theft of

information from computers is not even detected (Icove-Seger-VonStorch 1).

Home computer users are vulnerable, not only for credit card information

and login IDs, but also their files, disks, and other computer equipment and

data, which are subject to attack. Even if this information is not confidential,

having to reconstruct what has been destroyed by a hacker can take days (Icove-

Seger-VonStorch 1). William Cheswick, a network-security specialist at AT&T Bell

Labs, says the home computers that use the Internet are singularly vulnerable to

attack. “The Internet is like a vault with a screen door on the back,” says

Cheswick. “I don’t need jackhammers and atom bombs to get in when I can walk in

through the door” (Quittner 44).

The use of the Internet has become one of the most popular ways to

communicate. It’s easy, fun, and you don’t have to leave your home to do it. For

example, the advantage of not having to take the time to drive to the bank is so

great that they never consider the fact that the information they store or

transmit might not be safe. Many computer security professionals continue to

speak out on how the lack of Internet security will result in a significant

increase in computer fraud, and easier access to information previously

considered private and confidential (Regan 26).

Gregory Regan, writing for Credit World, says that only certain types of

tasks and features can be performed securely. Electronic banking is not one of

them. “I would not recommend performing commercial business transactions,” he

advises “or sending confidential information across networks attached to the

Internet” (26).

In the business world, computer security can be just as easily

compromised. More than a third of major U.S. corporations reported doing

business over the Internet — up from 26 percent a year ago — but a quarter of

them say they’ve suffered attempted break-ins and losses, either in stolen data

or cash (Denning 08A).

Dr. Gregory E. Shannon, president of InfoStructure Services and

Technologies Inc., says the need to improve computer security is essential.

There are newly released computer tools intended to help keep the security of

your PC information, but which can just as easily be accessed by computer

hackers, as this information will be released as freeware (available, and free,

to anyone) on the Internet (Cambridge 1). These freely distributed tools could

make it far easier for hackers to break into systems. Presently, if a hacker is

trying to break into a system, he has to keep probing a network for weaknesses.

Before long, hackers will be able to point one of these freeware tools at a

network and let it automatically probe for security holes, without any

interaction from themselves (Cambridge 1). Hackers, it seems, have no trouble

staying ahead of the computer security experts.

Online service providers, such as America Online, CompuServe and Prodigy,

are effective in providing additional protection for computer information. First

of all, you need to use a “secret password” — a customer ID that is typed in

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать