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Yes…They
Are Out to Get You!
By Steve Beard
21biz.com
Electronic hackers are sniffing your
internet connections looking for open connections, viruses are
arriving by email to corrupt your files, thieves are ready to
steal your credit card numbers or worst yet – those of your
customers. Give a hacker enough time - by leaving your
computer open to the Internet and he’ll steal your identity or
use your computer to commit electronic fraud or mount attacks on
other computers.
Oh… and by
the way, there’s a very good chance that you’re legally liable
for damages if you’ve failed to take the reasonable precaution
of protecting your computers from hacking.
Who’s
After You? A survey
of 4500 Security Professionals conducted by InformationWeek,
shows actual attacks by order of frequency – hackers,
employees, former employees, customers, competitors, service
providers, and suppliers.
How did
we get to this point?
A brief history of the personal computer shows why. The
original PC was designed in the late 70s, as was its operating
system, DOS (now Windows). Security was simply not a design
parameter in those days. Since the computers and software used
today are basically enhancements of those early designs, we have
no security built in. Worldwide we now have a few hundred
million PC’s and thousands of software programs based on those
original designs. In 1995, we started connecting large numbers
of those PC’s
to each other using the Internet. While the Internet does
have some security features, you will need to add additional
software or hardware to a computer or network to utilize them
When
will it get better?
Not soon! We know that our computers contain thousands of
security holes that can be exploited by hackers or viruses.
Hackers have launched electronic sniffers that roam the Internet
looking for computers to exploit. Virus designers have created
user-friendly programs that will auto-create viruses – no
programming experience required. These can be freely downloaded
from the Internet. Nimda, the current virus de jour, can even
attach itself to your browser if you happen to surf an infected
web site.
Bottom
line: Cyber-Terrorism
is expected to cost the world over $25 Billion this year. With
no quick cure in site - security experts are basically fighting
a holding action – patching security breaches as they occur.
How Can
You Protect Yourself?
Adopt a Risk Management approach. Identify what you have to
lose – software, accounting data, customer lists, email lists,
etc. Where is it? Who has access to it? And Why? Also,
identify key computers, networks, systems, or employees that are
vital to your business. Put a dollar value on of all of this.
Then add in the potential cost of clean up plus the cost of lost
productivity for yourself and employees. This number will give
you some guidance on how much to spend on protecting your
enterprise. Worldwide clean-up costs for the Code Red virus
are estimated at over $1.1 billion with another $1.5 billion in
lost productivity.
Here are
My Top Tips. Our
security surveys at businesses of all sizes show that many fail
to take even the simplest and most cost effective steps to
protect their digital assets. Many more have the basics in
place, but then fail to use them. Here are those basics:
- Get
Current. Windows
users should log on to
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com. This service will
look at any Microsoft products on your computer and recommend
security and product updates. You can download them on the
spot for free.
- Back
it up! A current
copy of your computer data is absolutely your best guarantee
of getting your computers, servers, or network up and running
after virtually any type of disaster – virus or hacker attack,
fire, hardware failure, even equipment theft. You can choose
from a wide variety of backup technology. First, Windows has
a very basic backup/restore routine built in. You’ll find
more advanced software packaged with zip drives, tape backup
units, and recordable CD drives. A good rule of thumb is to
buy a unit with more capacity and speed that you currently
need. You’ll quickly grow into it.
- Get
the Latest Anti-Virus Software.
Viruses and worms account for 2/3 of all Internet attacks.
The
problem is that the anti-virus software that came on your
computer is worthless against the newest virus. Your software
has to be updated before it can remove this weeks newest virus from your
computer. You can keep anti-virus software up to date by
subscribing to the auto-update feature ($20-$30 per year) from
your vendor. Also subscribe to their free security alert
service that will email you a warning about major new virus
threats and how to handle them.
- Limit
Your Exposure.
Don’t leave your Internet connection open. The always-on
feature of many cable modem and DSL hookups are just what
hackers are looking for. Power off these units when not in
use. If you require an always-on Internet connection,
install a hardware or software firewall to protect your
system. Costs can range from free for a single user system
to many thousands of dollars for a corporate network.
Internet security is a process,
not a one shot fix. Hacker and virus attacks are becoming more
sophicated and damaging each day. The steps outlined above are
basic defensive steps that every Internet user should take.
Computer networks and Internet e-commerce sites require much
stronger measures to protect corporate assets and customer
information.
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