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Internet security

Branch of computer security

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  • 3 chapters

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Many countermeasures are used to combat Internet security threats and web threats, including encryption and ground-up engineering.

Threats

Malicious software

Malicious software comes in many forms, such as viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, and worms.

  • Malware, a portmanteau of malicious software, is any software used to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems. Malware is defined by its malicious intent, acting against the requirements of the computer user, and does not include software that unintentionally causes harm due to some deficiency. The term badware applies to both malware and unintentionally harmful software.
  • A botnet is a network of computers that have been taken over by a robot or bot that performs large-scale malicious acts for its creator.
  • Computer viruses are programs that can replicate their structures or effects by infecting other files or structures on a computer. The typical purpose of a virus is to take over a computer to steal data.
  • Computer worms are programs that can replicate themselves throughout a computer network.
  • Ransomware is a type of malware that restricts access to the computer system that it infects, and demands a ransom in order for the restriction to be removed.
  • Scareware is a program of usually limited or no benefit, containing malicious payloads, that is sold via unethical marketing practices. The selling approach uses social engineering to cause shock, anxiety, or the perception of a threat, generally directed at an unsuspecting user.
  • Spyware refers to programs that surreptitiously monitor activity on a computer system and report that information to others without the user's consent.
  • One particular kind of spyware is key logging malware. Often referred to as keylogging or keyboard capturing, is the action of recording (logging) the keys struck on a keyboard.
  • A Trojan horse, commonly known as a Trojan, is a general term for malware that pretends to be harmless, so that a user will be convinced to download it onto the computer.

Denial-of-service attacks

A denial-of-service attack (DoS) or distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS) is an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users. It works by making so many service requests at once that the system is overwhelmed and becomes unable to process any of them. DoS may target cloud computing systems. According to business participants in an international security survey, 25% of respondents experienced a DoS attack in 2007 and another 16.8% in 2010. DoS attacks often use bots (or a botnet) to carry out the attack.

Phishing

Phishing targets online users in an attempt to extract sensitive information such as passwords and financial information. Phishing occurs when the attacker pretends to be a trustworthy entity, either via email or a web page. Victims are directed to web pages that appear to be legitimate, but instead route information to the attackers. Tactics such as email spoofing attempt to make emails appear to be from legitimate senders, or long complex URLs hide the actual website. Insurance group RSA claimed that phishing accounted for worldwide losses of $10.8 billion in 2016. Attackers may use AI to create more convincing phishing attacks, such as deepfakes with audio or video that seem to be real messages from a trusted person but are actually fake.

Man in the middle

A man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack is a type of cyber attack. Cybercriminals can intercept data sent between people to steal, eavesdrop or modify data for certain malicious purposes, such as extorting money and identity theft. Public WiFi is often insecure because monitoring or intercepting Web traffic is unknown.

Application vulnerabilities

Applications used to access Internet resources may contain security vulnerabilities such as memory safety bugs or flawed authentication checks. Such bugs can give network attackers full control over the computer.

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