¶ … security threat is a potential happening that may have an undesirable effect on the system, its resources, or the organization as a whole. Vulnerability is the weakness that makes it possible for the threat to occur. There are a number of threats that can occur on a system, and are usually grouped together since some overlap.
Errors and Omissions -- Data entry, data verification, programming bugs.
Fraud and Theft -- Skimming and/or controlling access to the system for profit.
Employee (or Outside) sabotage -- Destroying information or planting viruses, stealing proprietary data or customer information, etc. (NIST, 2012).
Similarly, there are a number of losses that can occur based on threat and vulnerability; some more serious than others, and all somewhat dependent on the type of organization under analysis. For instance, a bank's security loss might be different than an academic institution's, but both are a data loss. Losses may result in: 1) data or information loss (customer information, financial information, personal information, etc.); 2) time (down time, rebuilding data type, human resource time); 3) reputation (loss of business due to security issues or fraud); 4) legal vulnerabilities (HIPPA for medical, privacy regulations, etc.); 5) equipment (technical or hard goods). An acronym to help us understand these losses may be based on a Risk Assessment model called...
Malware may appear in a number of forms: code, scripts, content, or even software. It is a general term used for hostile or intrusive software that includes viruses, ransom ware, worms, Trojans, dialers, spyware, adware, and other hostile programs. Malware can be protected against, detected, or removed depending on the approach. Most experts believe, in fact, that even on the simplest of systems, a layered approach is necessary (Kassner, 2009).
Because malware attacks are now so frequent, there are several ways to help protect against intrusion: 1) Anti-virus and/or anti-malware software; 2) Backup and recovery strategies (regular and robust); 3) Website security scans; 4) Elimination of over-privileged code (streamline software coding for security); 5) Password security (change regularly and ensure security measures followed); 6) Update system when it is needed (e.g. critical updates for your system often include anti-malware properties); 7) Create a system of firewalls (protect against threats before they happen). Additionally, many computer security experts believe that Active X Security Settings should be regularly adjusted from default…
