Collaborative Post¦ The online world is something which most of us are familiar with in this day and age. When it comes to our daily lives many of us rely on technology and being online to make money for our families. Most is if have a good idea how to navigate the web these days and how to be safe online, but it is important for us to be aware of common security issues that can arise. Today we are going to look at the biggest security issues you might face on the web.
- Computer virus
The most obvious choice for an issue online has to be a computer virus. A computer virus is something which affects our computer, our data and our online safety. A virus is usually something encrypted which contains a pathway for hackers to enter your device; or it could be a program which locks all of your files down and corrupts them. There are a lot of ways a virus can enter your system such as emails and documents and this is why it is so important never to click links in spam emails. You can also help protect yourself with antivirus or Jumio’s Netverify product to protect your identity.
- Rogue security software
Perhaps one of the more sadistic ways in which a hacker will enter your machine is by tricking you into installing a fake security software. Rogue security software can be downloaded and will fool you into thinking you have a virus on your machine. The issue here of course is that once you follow the instructions to clear your machine, they will gain access to your data and you won’t be able to use your computer.
- Trojan horse
A Trojan horse is of course based on the battle of Troy and the fact that a giant horse was used to disguise the presence of an entire army on the battlefield. In terms of your computer, a Trojan horse will describe when someone unknowingly invites a hacker to a secure part of their system: it is a horrible piece of software which people will download willingly as they believe it is something else.
- Adware
Adware is known to be any software which is used to track your browsing habits and therefore tailor adverts to you and your own system. It is something which most of us don’t really notice until we speak about something once with a friend and it suddenly pops up on our browser. It is a strange tool but one used y many sites online, and you can turn it off usually in your settings. However sometimes ads will still appear and this can actually be something which has an even bigger implication, as sometimes a duplicate web page will appear above the real one with higher prices on items you have looked at in the past. It is a popular technique used to get people to be tricked into paying more for their items.
- Computer worm
A computer worm is a malware program which replicates quickly and will spread from one device to another. If a computer is infected by this is can send itself to every one of the contacts a computer has and this can be a huge issue for many of us. It is important for a computer worm to be stopped quickly so that it doesn’t spread too far.
- DOS attack
One of the most annoying things you can deal with online can be something known as a denial of service attack. This will happen commonly with limited edition products or events and it is when you wait for a product to be released, and suddenly you are unable to access the website. This happens because bots access and flood the website with traffic so that the server cannot cope with real users. It is something which is pretty stressful and can make your life a lot more difficult.
- Phishing
Phishing is something you might have heard of before but do you know what it really is? Phishing is a term used to describe a method of social engineering which tries to gain personal information such as passwords and personal data Often this will come in the form of a message from someone you know or someone who sounds legitimate, who will ask you for some information about yourself. The issue here is that a lot of people will be mislead into giving information because they don’t think it’s a problem.
- Rootkit
Rootkit is a type of software which will find a way to get to your computer and then it will remotely perform malicious actions to obtain data that they do not need. It can be a real problem to deal with this online and it is important that you are on the lookout for anything similar.
- SQL Injection attack
SQL is something many servers will use to store data for websites to use. There are a lot of threats to this program and an injection attack is the most common. An injection attack will affect a data driven application on the computer by obtaining private data, changing or destroying it; and even voiding transactions on websites. It is something which is never a good thing and it can have a great effect on the user.
- Man-in-the-middle attacks
Man-in-the-middle attacks are a type of attack which will allow the attacker to listen in to correspondence between two parties. This is a huge issue of course because often private information is shared between two people which should not be released. The way these attacks work can be quite complex and involves the attacker posing as either party and sending messages pretending to be that person. It allows them to access data and this can be a huge issue for both people involved.
It is important to always stay safe online and be aware of these things which can happen to you.
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.