While
information technology can be utilized for many different noble purposes,
network security has been a concern for quite some time. There are many
different ways that networks can be used for nefarious purposes, from
denial-of-service attacks to email spam. In this paper, I will be covering
several different areas of security incidents that continue to be a problem for
computers, the internet, and users alike.
Earlier
in this class, we learned about using the “ping” command to begin to understand
networking. While there is nothing dangerous outright about a ping command,
using it can become an attack. A “ping flood” is a form of a DDOS attack that
uses the ping command to bombard a device with ICMP requests, causing the
server to become overwhelmed and slow or nearly stop completely, thus causing a
problem for users to reach the server (Klusaitė, 2023). So, much like a DOS
attack, the ping command can be used to exhaust a server’s resources. One
suggestion to help prevent these types of attacks would be to have a network
administrator completely block ICMP requests, which would stop an attack before
it can happen (Klusaitė, 2023). Or, at the minimum, a network administrator
could limit the amount of ICMP requests and help prevent an attack.
Computer
viruses are another security problem and have been for a long time. Opening or
downloading an unknown attachment to an email, among various other ways of
tactics of infecting a computer, can install a virus without a user even
recognizing that it has happened. Viruses can take over a computer completely
or use it as a “bot”, spreading the virus to other computers. This can be used
to steal information from the computer, spy on a user, erase data on the
computer, spam email from your computer, or utilized for a denial-of-service
attack (Johansen, 2020). To avoid this, users should install antivirus software
for their computer. Another way to help avoid it is to keep their operating
system up to date.
One
final type of security incident to discuss is email spam. It is legal in many
countries for advertisement emails to be sent to email addresses, but many
require that an unsubscribe button to be included. Nonetheless, many that send
spam email hope to sell a product or have financial gain from doing so (Awati,
2021). Some spam email targets the user by asking them to download a file which
often contains a virus. One way to avoid receiving some of these emails is to
use your email provider’s spam filter, which some providers automatically
activate. Another suggestion to avoid spam email is to create a filter within
your email service to receive email from only certain email addresses or
domains.
In addition to the ways discussed, there are many other security incidents that can take place within a computer. Attacks become more and more sophisticated as technology advances, and it is not a problem that will go away any time soon. Although attacks are increasing, others are fighting for more ways to combat these problems. However, an aware user continues to be essential in keeping their own computers safe.
References
Awati, R. (2021, 9). email spam. Retrieved
from Tech Target: https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/spam
Johansen, A. G. (2020, July 23). What is a computer
virus? Retrieved from Norton:
https://us.norton.com/blog/malware/what-is-a-computer-virus
Klusaitė, L. (2023, 10 26). Ping flood attack: How it
works and how you can defend against it. Retrieved from NordVPN:
https://nordvpn.com/blog/ping-flood/
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