Search Engine Optimization Company in India

Introduction

Some one has rightly said that every good thing has its own blue side and internet also is not an exception. The freedom of time and space granted by internet has appeared as Frankenstein monster to the present generation. It is not required to mention here that the advent of internet has changed the face of trade and commerce. Everything is going online be it ordering a pizza or booking a flight or railway ticket or else doing a banking transaction. Life has been made simpler by internet at one hand but at the other hand it has also posed some of serious security thefts like virus, Trojan, malware, identity theft, hacking, cyber stalking, cyber squatting, spamming, email-bombing, email-spoofing, cyber defamation, web defacement, Data Diddling, Web jacking, Denial of Service attack, Key Logging and Internet Time Theft. These are mere some of the examples, list is too long to produce here. Furthermore, the problem does not end here; it is aggravated due to its complex and intricate nature of transaction. Henceforth, the task of avoiding and rectifying the threat has become a Herculean task. 

Now before moving to identify security thefts one by one, one may ask what is cyberspace. So let me put it this way for a vanilla understanding. "Cyberspace is basically a world of computers and the society gathered around it." First of all the term "Cyberspace" was used by Mr. William Gibson in a science fiction called "Neromancer" to refer a three dimensional virtual world created by computers and internet. Therefore, we may call it as a virtual society created by human intervention so as to form a Global Network of interconnected computers and communications system. Having a brief idea of cyberspace now let us understand some of the security threats which has been encountered by us.

Threat of Cyber crime

"Cybercrime" in layman's understanding is a use of a computer to facilitate or carry out criminal offenses which can be done through catena of ways. First and simple way of cyber crime is using a computer to attack another computer electronically by unauthorized access to computer files and programs, or there might be unauthorized disruption of those files and programs, or else it might be theft of an electronic identity. A common example may be of ILoveYou Worm which caused more than $11 billion of loss.

However another way of attack may be in the form of using a computer to facilitate or carry out a traditional offense. For example, a computer might be used to distribute child pornography over the internet or it might be used to create a massive number of copies of a popular and copyrighted song. Complicated insurance fraud, large check-kiting operations, and other sophisticated forms of white collar crime rely on computers to run the criminal operation. In these cases, computers make it easier to carry out a crime in real space. In these circumstances, computers are tools that expedite traditional offenses. Having a brief idea of how cyber crimes are committed it would be pertinent at this juncture to identify some of the cyber threats.

Unauthorized access

The crime of unauthorized access is simply invading another's electronic workspace and causing harm to the files or programs or using the data improperly. Such unauthorized access by the perpetrator maybe achieved either by stealing password, Personal Identification Number (PIN) or using a "Trap Door" to enter a secure area. Trap door is basically a method of bypassing the security protocol inbuilt in any programme. Programmers use certain malicious code to alter the security system and making it possible to enter into secure area without having any password or PIN.

Passwords may be stolen deploying the use of "sniffer" programs. These programs monitor a user's keystrokes, and transmit the information back to the host computer that initiated the sniffer program. The electronic thief then has a full transcript of the passwords necessary to achieve entry into a system. In 1994 as many as 100,000 sites were affected by sniffer attacks. Another famous example is intrusion by German agent in the University of California at Berkeley's computers.

Such unauthorized access are generally motivated by the object of obtaining financial benefits, theft of copyrighted materials, trade secret, benefiting a foreign enemy, exacting ransom etc. Imagine a situation when the trade secrets of Pepsi is leaked and passed over to business rivals or else information pertaining to patent is revealed before the procurement of actual patent protection. Similarly you can take the example of certain sensitive military information regarding positioning of enemy's troop or armory. No wonder the unauthorized access of such information will have devastating results.