Computer Security Risks
 Today, people rely on computers to create, store,
and manage critical information. Thus, it is crucial
that users take measures to protect their computers
and data from loss, damage, and misuse. A
computer security risk is any event or action that
could cause a loss of or damage to computer
hardware, software, data, information, or
processing capability. While some breaches to
computer security are accidental, many are
intentional. Some intruders do no damage; they
merely access data, information, or programs on

Hacker
 The term hacker, although originally a
complimentary word for a computer enthusiast, now
has a derogatory meaning and refers to someone
who accesses a computer or network illegally.

Unethical Access
 Unethical employees break into their employers’
computers for a variety of reasons. Some simply
want to exploit a security weakness. Others seek
financial gains from selling confidential information.

Computer Security , Risks
and SafeGuards
 Computer Security: The protection of computer systems
and information from harm, theft, and unauthorized use
 Risks: The thefts, harms and data loss are involved in Risks
of Computer
 SafeGuards: The software's and the ways for securing and
protecting the Computer from harms

Computer Security
 Computer security, also known as cyber security or
IT security, is the protection of:
 information systems from theft or damage to the
hardware, the software, and to the information on
them,
 as well as from disruption or misdirection of the
services they provide
 from unauthorized use and damage and from
sabotage and natural disasters

Concerns of Computer Security
 Confidentiality: Only authorized users can
access the data resources and information.
 Integrity: Only authorized users should be
able to modify the data when needed.
 Availability: Data should be available to users
when needed.
 Authentication: are you really communicating
with whom you think you are communicating
with

Computer Risks
 It is any event or action that could cause a loss of or
damage to computer hardware, software, data
information or processing capability.
Risks involved are:
 Hardware Thefts
 Software Thefts
 Theft of online Movie and Music
 THEFT OF TIME & SERVICES
 Internet and Networks Attack
 System Failure

Hardware Theft
 Hardware theft is the unauthorized taking of
computer hardware. In some cases, corporate
or government hardware is stolen to be sold,
but in other cases, personal items are
targeted. The popularity of smartphones and
tablets has made hardware theft a common
crime in major cities

Software Theft
 Software theft means the unauthorized or
illegal copying, sharing or usage of copyright-
protected software programs. Software theft
may be carried out by individuals, groups or, in
some cases, organizations who then distribute
the unauthorized software copies to users.

THEFT OF ONLINE MUSIC &
MOVIES
 Many students may feel that illegally
downloading music and movies is a victimless
crime, but to the entertainment industry it is
just plain piracy or theft.

THEFT OF TIME & SERVICES
 The theft of computer time is more common
than you might think. Probably the biggest
instance is people using their employer’s
computer time to play games, do online
shopping . Some people even operate
sideline businesses.

Internet and Networks Attack
 A security breaching attempt and network attack
is defined as a threat. Most of the attacks
including intrusion, denial of service or other on
a network infrastructure analyze the entire
network in order to gain the information.
 After gaining the required information, such
attacks eventually cause your network to corrupt
or crash. Different attackers may different types
of network attacks as they might not be
interested only in ‘exploiting software
applications, but also get unauthorized access of

virus
 A computer virus is a potentially damaging
computer program that affects, or infects, a
computer negatively by altering the way the
computer works without the user’s knowledge or
permission. Once the virus infects the computer, it
can spread throughout and may damage files and
system software, including the operating system.

Virus

worm
 A worm is a program that copies itself repeatedly,
for example in memory or on a network, using up
resources and possibly shutting down the
computer or network.

Trojan horse
 A Trojan horse is a program that hides within or
looks like a legitimate program. A certain condition or
action usually triggers the Trojan horse. Unlike a
virus or worm, a Trojan horse does not replicate itself
to other computers.

Rootkit
 A rootkit is a program that hides in a computer and
allows someone from a remote location to take full
control of the computer. Once the rootkit is installed,
the rootkit author can execute programs, change
settings, monitor activity, and access files on the
remote computer.

System Failure
 A system failure can occur because of a
hardware failure or a several software issue,
causing the system to freeze, reboot, or stop
functioning altogether. A system failure may or
may not result in an error being displayed on
the screen. The computer may shut off without
warning and without any error message.
 If an error message is displayed, it often is
displayed as a Blue Screen of Death error.

 In computer security a threat is a possible
danger that might exploit a vulnerability to
breach security and thus cause possible harm.
 A threat can be either “intentional” (i.e.
intelligent) or “ accidently”(the possibility of a
computer malfunctioning).

Computer Safeguards

 The software's and other programs which are used
to safe the computer from risks are included in
Safeguards and protection of Computer
Safe Guards include:
 Fire Walls Proxy Server
 Encryption
 Anti Viruses
 BIOMETRIC AUTHENTICATION
 Secure Passwords
Computer Safeguards

Fire Walls
 Firewall is a network device that isolates
organization’s internal network from larger
outside network/Internet. It can be a hardware,
software, or combined system that prevents
unauthorized access to or from internal
network.
 All data packets entering or leaving the
internal network pass through the firewall,
which examines each packet and blocks those
that do not meet the specified security criteria.

Fire Walls

Anti Viruses
 All antivirus engines have three components to
function accordingly. It is important to have a
look at these functions because it will help us
for better manual cleaning of viruses in case
we need.
 Scanning − When a new virus is detected in
the cyberspace, antivirus producers start
writing programs (updates) that scans for
similar signature strings.

Anti Viruses
 Integrity Checking − This method generally
checks for manipulated files in OS from the
viruses.
 Interception − This method is used basically
to detect Trojans and it checks the request
made by the operating system for network
access.

Anti Viruses

Online Virus Testing
 If the system administrator does not have an
antivirus installed or suspects a file that is
infected. They would recommend to use the
online testing antivirus engine which
(according to me) is one of the best
 https://www.virustotal.com

Free Antivirus Software
 Avast Antivirus
 AVG Antivirus
 Panda Antivirus 2019
 Microsoft Security Essentials

Free Antivirus Software

Encryption
 Encryption is a security method in which
information is encoded in such a way that only
authorized user can read it. It uses encryption
algorithm to generate cipher text that can only
be read if decrypted.
 List of Encryption Method
 Advanced Encryption Standard, AES
 Triple Data Encryption Standard and etc

Password

Rules in Creating Passwords
 Rule 1: Don’t tell anyone your user name and
password: Of course you shouldn’t tell strangers.
You also shouldn’t even tell friends or relatives.
 • Rule 2: Don’t use passwords that can be easily
guessed: Don’t use “12345,” the word “password,”
variations on your name, your nickname, your
street address, mother’s maiden name, pet’s
name, college name, or name of your favorite
sports team.

Rules in Creating Passwords
 Rule 3: Avoid any word that appears in a
dictionary: Instead, use weird combinations of
letters, numbers, and punctuation. Mix
uppercase and lowercase, along with special
characters such as !, #, and %.
 Rule 4: Create long passwords, especially for
sensitive sites: For financial accounts, for
instance, 15-character passwords are
recommended (which are 33,000 times harder
to crack than an 8-character one).55

Rules in Creating Passwords
 Rule 5: Don’t use the same password for multiple
sites: Avoid reusing the same password at different
sites, since if hackers or scammers obtain one
account, they potentially have your entire online
life. If you do use the same password for multiple
purposes, use it only for low-risk sites, such as
newspaper registrations.
 Rule 6: Change passwords often: Change
passwords often, such as every 4 or 6 weeks or on
a set schedule such as the first day of spring,
summer, and so on. Change passwords when you

BIOMETRIC
AUTHENTICATION
 A hacker can easily breach a computer
system with a guessed or stolen password.
But some forms of identification can’t be easily
faked—such as your physical traits.
Biometrics, the science of measuring
individual body characteristics, tries to use
these in security devices. Biometric
authentication devices authenticate a person’s
identity by comparing his or her physical or
behavioral characteristics with digital code
stored in a computer system.

BIOMETRIC
AUTHENTICATION
 There are several kinds of devices for verifying
physical or behavioral characteristics that can
be used to authenticate a person’s identity
 Hand-geometry systems: Also known as full-
hand palm scanners, these are devices to
verify a person’s identity by scanning the entire
hand, which, for each person, is as unique as
a fingerprint and changes little over time.

BIOMETRIC
AUTHENTICATION
 Fingerprint scanners: These range from optical
readers, in which you place a finger over a window,
to swipe readers, such as those built into laptops
and some handhelds, which allow you to run your
finger across a bar like sensor. Microsoft offers
optical fingerprint readers to go with Windows
XP/Vista.
 • Iris-recognition systems: Because no two
people’s eyes are alike, iris scans are very reliable
identifiers. In Europe, some airports are using iris-
scanning systems as a way of speeding up

BIOMETRIC
AUTHENTICATION
 Face-recognition systems: Facial-recognition
systems may come to play an important role in
biometric photos embedded in U.S. passports and
those of other industrialized nations during the next
few years. The technology, which compares a live
face image with a digitized image stored in a
computer, is even used now as a security system for
some notebook computers. 53
 • Voice-recognition systems: These systems
compare a person’s voice with digitized voice prints
stored in a computer, which the individual has

Conclusion
 For the betterment of the computer usage we
have to secure our data and information.
 For this purpose we should take care of the risks
involved while using computer programs and
installed computer security and safeguards to
overcome risks.