Security

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Microsoft Basline Secuirty Analyzer 1.2

Internet Security

Internet security is a major concern when connecting to the internet especially if your connecting a network to the Internet with lots of goodies for hackers to try and get hold of.  There are 5 main catagies which people fall into on this subject, these are.

Which one do you think you fall into?

There are a few misconceptions when it comes to Internet security so I would like to straighten them out.

1.) There is no such thing as being 100% secure unless you don't connect to the Internet at all.

2.) Hacker only go after big companies.

There is no such thing as being 100% secure all you can do is reduce the risk of an a hacker gaining access to your PC or network.  Hackers don't only go after large corporate business, most hackers are what I would refer to as kiddy hackers.  This doesn't mean they are all kids but what it means is that they are simply using programs written by other people.  The other type of hacker is the professional who actually writes the program in the first place. Most of these people are doing it for some fun so their not going to risk being arrested for trying to hack into the bank of England or NASA.  Instead they will try and hack Mr Smith who wouldn't know how to find out who they are.  When you think about the odds,  there are probably far more home users connected to the Internet than businesses.  Epically when you consider most businesses probably connect several machines to the Internet using a single IP address.  So chances are a hacker scanning random IP addresses will pick a home user to attack instead of a business.

In order to implement  security on you PC or network there are a number of questions you have to ask yourself, these are.

What am I protecting?

How secure am I at present?

How secure does it have to be?

How much do you have to spend?

I think the most important question is the first "What am I protecting?".

If you are a home user and only use your PC for trivial things like email, Internet and typing then do you really need to be concerned about the security of your PC?  Personally I think the answer is no.  If you are going to store all your bank & credit card details on your PC then maybe you should be more concerned.  I suppose what I am trying to say is what can a hacker get from you if they had complete access to your PC?  For peace of mind it might be worth installing some sort of personal firewall software.  There are free programs which  can detect and stop most attacks such as Zone Alarm. Alternatively you can purchase a product like Zone Alarm Pro, Norton Internet Security or Black Ice.

If you are a network administrator then security should be a big concern.  Most networks contain sensitive data such as accounting information, customer details, supplier details etc.  Also if it becomes public knowledge that a hacker managed to get his hands on your data customers may stop dealing with you.  With all of this in mind it is essential that you make adequate arrangements to protect yourself.