IMPORTANCE OF COMPUTER SECURITY

  Computer is a delicate thing, and this is due to the things that are stored in it, such as data is very sensitive case when comes to security issues because in data so many important information are found, financial documents, company’s technologies, people’s privacies  and so much more. Therefore there must be a better of running computer security so that one may be able;
   Industrial and Business competitions;  people steal other company’s secrets so that they may copy and offer similar services or something more than what they copied.
  To compact frauding; stealing money from financial institutions like bank
  To prevent data destruction and stealing; Unprotected computer is exposed to attackers where sometimes they destroy data stored in it, this may lead loss to the company or an individual if the data were so sensitive.
To prevent corruption of operating systems; some OS corruptions are due to malware condacts.
  To prevent Poor network signal and speed; Some malwares which are specifically for consuming network bandwidth such as worm which eventually slow down the network speed and signal, hence unrealiable network services may be encountered.

COMPUTER VULNERABILITIES

   It refers to inability of a computer to withstand hostile environment such as cyber attacks, vulnerability occurs when conducive environment for attackers are created that is proper security measures are not considered. Such environments are;
 Working with operating systems(OS) with  little security technology; There some OS’s they have little security technology which makes easy for attackers to have access to the computers running that particular OS.

The usage of free ant-malware;
Free ant-malwares are just giving user limited access in removing and detection of malwares, and they don’t offer other better services such as online security, thus why most of paid ant-malware are named to be among the best malware in the world, such are Kaspersky and mcafee.
Browsing in un-encrypted sites; An encrypted sites which are always start with http in URL, is more safe to browse and running online transactions than in un-encrypted ones, because the provide information in a way that is difficult for attackers to understand. Such site is www.escrow.com.

Employee Sabotage

   Employees are most familiar with theiremployer's computers and applications,including knowing what actions might causethe most damage, mischief, or sabotage. Thedownsizing of organizations in both the publicand private sectors has created a group of individuals with organizational knowledge, who may retain potential system access (e.g., if system accounts are not deleted in a timely manner).
The number of incidents of employee sabotage is believed to be much smaller than the instances of theft, but the cost of such incidents can be quite high.
The motivation for sabotage can range from altruism to revenge:
As long as people feel cheated, bored, harassed, endangered, or betrayed at work, sabotage
will be used as a direct method of achieving job satisfaction the kind that never has to get
the bosses' approval.

 Industrial Espionage

   Industrial espionage is the act of gathering proprietary data from private companies or the government for the purpose of aiding another company(ies). Industrial espionage can be perpetrated either by companies seeking to improve their competitive advantage or by governments seeking to aid their domestic industries. Foreign industrial espionage carried out by a government is often referred to as economic espionage. Since information is processed and stored on computer systems, computer security can help protect against such threats; it can do little, however, to reduce the threat of authorized employees selling that information.

Malicious Hackers

   Malicious hackers who also known as crackers refer to those who break into computers without authorization. They include both insiders and outsiders. There are couple of ways which hackers use to break into computers, such are;
Adware - software program that displays advertising on your computer, often displayed in a pop-up window.
Spyware - distributed without user intervention or knowledge, monitors activity on the computer.
Phishing -  attacker pretends to represent a legitimate organization  and asks for verification of victims information such as password or username.
Virus is a software code that is deliberately created by an attacker. Viruses may collect sensitive information or may alter or destroy information.
A worm is a self-replicating program that uses the network to duplicate its code to the hosts on the network. At a minimum, worms consume bandwidth in a network.
A Trojan is malicious software that is disguised as a legitimate program. It is named for its method of getting past computer defenses by pretending to be something useful.
A Rootkit is a malicious program that gains full access to a computer system. Often, a direct attack on a system using a known vulnerability or password.
Spam is unsolicited email that can be used to send harmful links or deceptive content.
Popups are windows that automatically open           and are designed to capture your attention and  lead you to advertising sites
Spoofing - uses a forged IP or MAC address to impersonate a trusted computer.
Man-in-the-Middle - intercepting communications between computers to steal information transiting through the network.
Replay - data transmissions are intercepted and recorded by an attacker, then replayed to gain access.
 

COMPUTER SECURITY MANAGEMENT

   Proper security measures must be adhered to give about good security on computer systems and data, otherwise computer  vulnerabilities is inevitable. Therefore the following are some of the ways which can be useful in providing good security management hence reducing the risk of being attacked, such ways are;

• The usage of paid antivirus, there are so many antivirus out there which are given for free, free antivirus do provide limited capacity and performance in detecting and removing malwares so it’s better to have the paid one for the better security services.
• Submit your informations in encrypted sites, it’s better and safer to browse and handle down your documents like financial ones to the encrypted sites because they build their sites in a way that is difficult for attackers to break in, encrypted sites start with https.

  Lock your files by using security features offered by Operating System you are using such as bit locker in Windows OS or one may download software for folders and hard drive security.

• Never run a program, open sites, pop ups, any kind of email, which you are not familiar with, by doing this you may give hackers the access to your computer, it’s better search in google about the stuff.
• Back up your data regularly, This will help when your data are stolen, corrupted or changed to be able to repair them.
• The usage of complicated passwords, complicated passwords of mixed letters and numeral values with longer size are difficult to crack.
• Never leave your computer on whenever you leave your desk, because other people in the room or office may take advantage in getting access and do crimes into your computer.
• Hire a qualified expert on security field, an expert can play great role in providing better security measures to the organization and it should not be for the companies only but also common users.
• The use of surveillance programs and CCTV camera, these two technology will the manager to be able to know who is misbehave in the company so that proper actions may be taken upon.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

   The above ways which hackers use to break into computer systems, environments which favour them, computer vulnerabilities and ways mentioned which can be used to compact computer security crimes.
Generally, they may be helpfully in reducing risks of being attacked by malicious hackers and other computer attacks, but it may happen that they are not helpfully to you due to the fact that computer crimes(attacks) are dynamic, almost every day there are new ways inverted to break into computer systems, but the most important thing for computer users is to know vulnerabilities that they may experience this may help in implementation of proper security measures.