Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
7
Computer and
Network Security
A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are for.
—- JOHN SHEDD
7.1 Introduction
THE CONFICKER WORM HAS INFECTED MILLIONS OF WINDOWS COMPUTERS. Is your PC
one of them? You can click on a link from the home page of the Conficker Working
Group ( www.confickerworkinggroup.org) to find out.
Do you ever go to a coffee shop and use its open wireless network to surf the Web?
Did you know freely available software gives any nearby computer user the ability to
break into the accounts of people accessing Web sites through password-free wireless
networks?
In the movie Live Free or Die Hard , a terrorist organization hacks into a variety
of computer and communication systems to seize control of traffic lights, natural gas
pipelines, and electrical power grids. Are such episodes purely the stuff of Hollywood
fiction, or could they really happen?
Millions of people use computers and the Internet to send and receive email, ac-
cess bank accounts, purchase goods and services, and keep track of personal informa-
tion, making the security of these systems an important issue. Malicious software can
enter computers in a variety of ways. Once active, these programs can steal personal
information, destroy files, disrupt industrial processes, and launch attacks on financial
 
 
 
 
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