Ingots Coursework
On
average a person will spend over 3000 hours a year using an electronic device
and during this time they’ll be under constant threat from hackers and viruses.
There are many security issues that might threaten system performance: SPAM is
junk mail and it gets sent to you without you asking for it and it also results
in our email accounts being blocked; some of them may have virus’s that when
opened would slow down the computer as they take up a lot of memory. This
virus’s can corrupt files, stop some programs from working, and can stop
computers switching on and off. Adware is another security issue in which
pop-ups are constantly popping up this can slow computers down as they
interrupt other programs from working. Hackers can heavily threaten system
performance as they can sometimes install programs that you haven’t put on your
computer. Sometimes these programs can contain spyware, malware, and viruses
that can also slow your computer down.
Many
precautions can be taken to protect your data and computer systems. These
include: updating your anti-virus software and making regular virus checks. It
is vital to update anti-virus software and regularly check whether it is still
in date and hasn’t expired because if the software is out of date by literally
just hours this would mean that the computer isn’t protected and would mean
that it would be easy to get viruses into your computer system. Another
precaution would be backing up data and ensuring backups are in a physically
separate location. If data isn’t backed up and files on your computer get
deleted or damaged then a back up would be there as a second copy and by keeping
these in separate locations to the original copy it would mean that it would
have a better chance of not being touched. You’d also need to install and
adjust firewall settings to make sure that the computer system is protected
from any external threats. Finally, you should have a software patch to prevent
malware from getting on your computer system and ensuring that, in terms of
companies, that some people have more access to information or areas than
others. For example, important CEO’s or IT technicians would have greater
access to confidential information than lower level employees. This is vital in
ensuring that hackers can’t easily breach the computer systems of that company.
Personal
information and access to systems can be kept secure by firstly being alert to hackers
who try to impersonate you by making sure you know who is getting your financial
or personal information. By not giving out any personal information on the
phone, through the mail or over the internet unless you’ve started the contact
or know who exactly you’re dealing with. If a business that claims to have an
account with you sends an email asking for your personal information, don’t
click on any links in the email. Instead, type the company name into Google, go
to their site, and contact them through customer service and ask whether the
business really sent a request. Secondly by safely disposing of personal
information by removing all of the personal information by using a wipe utility
program to overwrite the entire hard drive. And before you dispose of a mobile
device, check your Smartphone’s manual and the service provider’s website for
information on how to delete information permanently, and how to move
information to a new device. Remove the memory and/or SIM card from a mobile
device. Remove the phone book, call logs, voicemails, messages sent and
received, organizer folders, web search history, and photos. Thirdly by
encrypting your data by keeping your browser secure. To guard your online
transactions, use encryption software that scrambles information you send over
the internet. A “lock” icon on the status bar of your internet
browser means your information will be safe when it’s transmitted. Look for the
lock before you send personal or financial information online. Another method
would be keeping your passwords private by using strong passwords with your
laptop, credit, bank, and other accounts. Finally by not oversharing on social
media sites because if you post too much information about yourself, an
identity thief can find information about your life, use it to answer
‘challenge’ questions on your accounts, and get access to your money and
personal information. Consider limiting access to your networking page to a
small group of people. Never post your full name, address, phone number, or
account numbers in publicly accessible sites.
There
are many risks to social media such as bullying, cyber-stalking, access to
age-inappropriate content, online grooming and child abuse, encountering
comments that are violent, sexual, extremist or racist in nature, people trying
to persuade or harass you into changing your basic beliefs or ideologies, or
adopt an extremist stance, prosecution or recrimination from posting offensive
or inappropriate comments and many more.
And
because of this long list of risks you have to be careful and avoid these risks
and enjoy using social networking sites by following a few sensible
guidelines: do not let peer pressure or
what other people are doing on these sites convince you to do something you are
not comfortable with, be wary of publishing any identifying information about
yourself – either in your profile or in your posts – such as phone numbers, pictures
of your home, workplace or school, your address or birthday, pick a user name
that does not include any personal information. For example,
“mo_mogadishu” or “mo_bolton” would be bad choices, set up
a separate email account to register and receive mail from the site. That way
if you want to close down your account/page, you can simply stop using that
mail account. Setting up a new email account is very simple and quick to do
using such providers as hotmail, yahoo, mail or gmail, use strong passwords,
keep your profile closed and allow only your friends to view your profile, what
goes online stays online do not say anything or publish pictures that might
later cause you or someone else embarrassment, never post comments that are
abusive or may cause offence to either individuals or groups of society, be
aware of what friends post about you, or reply to your posts, particularly
about your personal details and activities, remember that many companies
routinely view current or prospective employees’ social networking pages, so be
careful about what you say, what pictures you post and your profile, don’t post
your holiday dates – or family photos while you are away – as social networking
sites are a favourite research tool for the modern burglar, learn how to use
the site properly. Use the privacy features to restrict strangers’ access to
your profile. Be guarded about who you let join your network, be on your guard
against phishing scams, including fake friend requests and posts from
individuals or companies inviting you to visit other pages or sites, if you do
get caught up in a scam, make sure you remove any corresponding likes and app
permissions from your account, ensure you have effective and updated
antivirus/antispyware software and firewall running before you go online.
In
conclusion, one’s privacy on the internet is very important because of all the
applications, services, scams and viruses on the internet that are waiting for
any given chance to steal someone’s personal material. If all people could
protect themselves and use the right software, they would be much safer, and it
would be harder to have personal information stolen from them. Anyone using the
internet should take into consideration the importance of their safety on the
World Wide Web.
