Computer security

Arba Minch University, Engineering Faculty

Computer Science and IT Department
Chapter Five- Computer Security

4.1 What is computer security?

Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to

computers and networks. Etc. It is the concept of attaining a secure computing environment (i.e., an
ideal state free from risk or danger) by detecting the vulnerabilities associated with computer use. It is
a general term relating to measures designed to protect computer assets in all configurations. The
protection of information assets can be handled using technology, processes and training.

Computer System Security

The security of computer hardware and its components is necessary for the overall protection of data.
Even if the computer is not plugged into a network, a person can open its cabinet and gain access to
the hard disk, which can later be used on some other computer for data theft. If a standalone system
(System that is not part of a network) contains some important or classified information, it should be
kept under constant protection.

Computer Information and Data Security

It is important to avoid data and information loss in case of hard disk crashes. The only solution is to
regularly keep backups of all the data on other media such as magnetic tapes, CD-ROM, etc. It is a
good practice to store the media off-site and in case of a disk crash, restore the information from the
backup media onto the new disk. In case a backup media is not affordable, one should try and store the
files on at least two different media devices. These media devices should be systematically kept at a
place which is safe and secured, as the information contained may be confidential. People usually
backup database files, spreadsheet files and large documents. As the technical constraints are always
there, it is better to take regular backups, in order to avoid any loss of information.

Computer system security threats

A computer system can be exposed to risk of security threats. These security threats can be of different
types. The following are the major threats which can disrupt security in a computer system.

 Trojan Horse

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 Viruses
 Worms
Trojan horse:

Trojan horse is common and one of the most potential threats to computer security. They are malicious
and security-breaking programs, disguised as something which is considered as non-malicious by the
security softwares. They are a useful tool for hackers who try to break into private networks. Hackers
generally attach Trojan horse to a file, which triggers a virus or remotely controlled software, giving
the hacker complete control over the computer.

Trojan horses are impostor (fake)—files that claim to be something desirable but, in fact, are
malicious. A very important distinction between Trojan horse programs and true viruses is that they do
not replicate themselves. Trojan horses contain malicious code that when triggered cause loss, or even
theft, of data. For a Trojan horse to spread, you must invite these programs onto your computers; for
example, by opening an email attachment or downloading and running a file from the Internet.
Example, Trojan.Vundo is a Trojan horse.

Viruses

Computer viruses are pieces of computer code, designed to implant itself in programs or files with the
idea of destroying, or changing the data transmitted. Viruses can be spread through interchange of files
and programs, loaded onto a computer and executed. They slow down computers, crash a system, or
simply reroute data to other units. Virus numbers have risen since the 90s, and the U.S government has
passed laws making virus introduction into computers of unknowing victims, a serious crime.
Software companies have also sought to stem the tide by creating programs specifically for tracking
down viruses and stopping them. Below are articles which provide information on latest computer
viruses, virus statistics, computer virus protection and removal.

Computer viruses are small software programs that are designed to spread from one computer to
another and to interfere with computer operation.

A virus might corrupt or delete data on your computer, use your e-mail program to spread itself to
other computers, or even erase everything on your hard disk.

Computer viruses are often spread by attachments in e-mail messages or instant messaging messages.
That is why it is essential that you never open e-mail attachments unless you know who it's from and
you are expecting it.

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Viruses can be disguised as attachments of funny images, greeting cards, or audio and video files.

Computer viruses also spread through downloads on the Internet. They can be hidden in illicit (illegal)
software or other files or programs you might download.

To help avoid computer viruses, it's essential that you keep your computer current with the latest
updates and antivirus tools, stay informed about recent threats, run your computer as a standard user
(not as administrator), and that you follow a few basic rules when you surf the Internet, download
files, and open attachments.

Worms

A computer worm is a self-replicating Malware computer program. It uses a computer network to

send copies of itself to other nodes (computers on the network) and it may do so without any user
intervention. This is due to security shortcomings on the target computer. Unlike a virus, it does not
need to attach itself to an existing program or files. Worms almost always cause at least some harm to
the network, if only by consuming bandwidth, whereas viruses almost always corrupt or modify files
on a targeted computer.

Many worms that have been created are only designed to spread, and don't attempt to alter the systems
they pass through. However, as the Morris worm and Mydoom showed, the network traffic and other
unintended effects can often cause major disruption. A "payload" is code designed to do more than
spread the worm - it might delete files on a host system (e.g., the ExploreZip worm), encrypt files in a
crypto viral extortion attack, or send documents via e-mail

How do we make our system safe?

There are different measures that we can take to ensure a safe computing environment. Some are
precaution and other can be after the threats affect our system.

The following can be some of the precautions that we need to follow to safeguard our system.

 Be suspicious of email attachments from unknown sources.

 Verify that attachments have been sent by the author of the email. Newer viruses can
send email messages that appear to be from people you know.

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 Do not set your email program to "auto-run" attachments.

 Back up your data frequently. Keep the write-protected media in a safe place—preferably in
different location than your computer.

After our system becomes the victim of the threats, we need to have curing tools. This can be achieved.
One of these tools is employing anti- virus software. The following section deals with anti viruses.

What is antivirus software?

Antivirus software is a computer program that detects, prevents, and takes action to disarm or remove
malicious software programs, such as viruses and worms. You can help protect your computer against
viruses by using antivirus software, such as Microsoft Security Essentials.

Computer viruses are software programs that are deliberately designed to interfere with computer
operation, record, corrupt, or delete data, or spread themselves to other computers and throughout the
Internet.
To help prevent the most current viruses, you must update your antivirus software regularly. You can
set up most types of antivirus software to update automatically.

4.2 Backup

In information technology, a backup or the process of backing up refers to making copies of data so
that these additional copies may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. These additional
copies are typically called "backups." The verb is back up in two words, whereas the noun is backup
(often used like an adjective in compound nouns).

Backups are useful primarily for two purposes. The first is to restore a state following a disaster (called
disaster recovery). The second is to restore small numbers of files after they have been accidentally
deleted or corrupted. Data loss is also very common. 66% of internet users have suffered from serious
data loss.

Since a backup system contains at least one copy of all data worth saving, the data storage
requirements are considerable. Organizing this storage space and managing the backup process is a
complicated undertaking. A data repository model can be used to provide structure to the storage. In
the modern era of computing there are many different types of data storage devices that are useful for

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making backups. There are also many different ways in which these devices can be arranged to
provide geographic redundancy, data security, and portability.

4.3 Data encryption and decryption

Data encryption is a process in which plaintext data is converted into cipher (SECRET) text so that it
cannot be read. More generally known as “encryption,” this process can be accomplished in a wide
variety of ways, and with varying degrees of success. Some of the best data encryption can last for
centuries, while other types of decryption can be broken in minutes or even seconds by people who are
skilled at such tasks. In the digital age, people rely heavily on data encryption on a daily basis.
Chances are high that you have received or sent encrypted data at some point today, even if you did
not directly perform the encryption or decryption of the data.

In this process, a perfectly ordinary piece of plaintext which can be read by anyone is converted so that
it can only be read by someone with a key. One of the simplest forms of data encryption is a simple
alphabetic substitution, in which the letters of the alphabet are scrambled to create a key. One could
decide, for example, to shift the letters of the alphabet by five places so that “E” stands for “A,” “F”
for “B” and so forth for a simple key, or the letters could be assigned at random to make a piece of text
more difficult to decipher without the key.

An alphabetic substitution is usually fairly easy to break; in fact, many major newspapers have a
simple substitution on their puzzles page for people to solve. More complex methods of data
encryption can be used to make a code more challenging to break. With complex codes, people can try

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to use brute force to crack the encryption, and they may eventually succeed, but it will take a long
time. Many methods of encryption focus on keeping the key secure, and allowing the encrypted data to
be freely seen, under the argument that once encrypted, the data is harmless, as long as people cannot
obtain the key.

There are a number of reasons to need to encrypt data, most of which rely on shielding data from the
eyes of other people. Banks, for example, send encrypted data about their clients back and forth, while
governments rely on encryption to get secure messages to overseas embassies. Most email programs
offer data encryption while sending and receiving so that emails cannot be read by third parties, as do
sites which handle personal information like addresses and credit card numbers.

Some encryption protocols are standardized so that people can easily communicate with each other,
while in other cases, a key may be developed specifically for use by particular people, and the key is
not standardized to make it harder to crack. Personalized keys were once the only way to encrypt data,
until shared key encryption allowed people to exchange information about a key across an open
network without disclosing the contents of the key itself.

Decryption is the process of extracting the original information from the encrypted data.

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