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Staying Safe in Cyberspace

A computer security specialist offers instruction and guidance on how to prevent intruders and infected software from getting into your home computer system.

The Internet is a great communications and research tool as well as a source of entertainment for millions of people around the world. It is also a security risk. Malicious computer programs have been used to attack computer systems hooked up to the worldwide Internet, damaging computer programs and gaining access to confidential information. News reports of these attacks have brought to the world new meanings for old words such as "virus," "worm," "infection," and "crash"-part of a frightening vocabulary that can intimidate those just beginning to use this new technology. What does it all mean and how can those less experienced Internet travelers navigate the hazards more safely?

Computer security has its similarities to the precautions most people take to secure their home, family, property, and person in an uncertain and sometimes dangerous world. Locking the doors at night, avoiding dangerous neighborhoods, and keeping an eye on one's wallet have their corollaries in sensible computer use.

Your home computer is a popular target for intruders, because they want what you may have stored there: credit card numbers, bank account information, personal background information, and anything else they can find. With such information, intruders can take your money, even steal your identity. But it is not just money-related information they may be after. Intruders also want your computer's resources, meaning your hard disk space, your fast processor, and your Internet connection. They use these resources to attack other computers on the Internet. In fact, intruders go after home computers because typically they are easy targets. When connected to high-speed Internet connections that are always turned on, these computers are all the easier for intruders to find and attack.

How do intruders break into your computer? In some cases, they send you e-mail with a virus. Reading that e-mail activates the virus, creating an opening that lets intruders see what is inside your computer. In other cases, they take advantage of a flaw or weakness in one of your computer's programs-a vulnerability-to gain access. Once inside, they often install new programs that let them continue to use your computer-even after you have plugged the holes they used to get into your computer in the first place. These so-called backdoors are usually cleverly disguised to blend in with the other programs running on your computer.

So, think of your computer as you would of your house or your apartment. For example, you know that if you have a loud conversation, someone next door can probably hear you. You probably routinely lock the doors and close the windows when you leave, and you don't give the keys to just anyone. If a stranger shows up at the door, you don't invite him inside until you have made some discriminating judgments about his intentions. If you're approached by a salesperson, you don't start handing him money until you've decided whether he's legitimate and his product or service is reliable and desirable. These are the same kinds of judgments that you must make when browsing the World Wide Web on the Internet and deciding whether the information you encounter and the messages you receive are helpful or harmful.

Today's Internet evolved from a 1960s project that was designed to allow scientists and researchers to share ideas and resources via computer technology. The element of trust was key to the endeavor, shaping many of the practices, procedures, and technologies that are still in place today. As the Internet has become a global forum for communications and commerce, relying principally on trust has proven to be inadequate. Today's users must treat the Internet with the same wariness and caution they would carry into any unknown environment. While the Internet superhighway still has many sharp bends, and occasional accidents, today's users can safely journey through those hazards when they apply the types of cautions they already know and use in everyday life.

Source: Global Issues. An Electronic Journal of

the US Department of State, 2003.

Size: 4,404 characters with spaces.



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