1.6 System Security

1.6 System Security

1. Penetration Testing-Penetration Testing is when the owner(s) of a network hire a set of people to attempt to bypass and access the network and see if there are any loopholes for cyber criminals to use

2. Malware-(Malicious Software) Malware is a piece of software that poses a threat to your computer. Some of the ways to prevent malware include: Installing firewalls (Pieces of software or hardware that monitor network traffic and reject possibly harmful files) or installing anti-malware software (software that repetitively scans a computer to check for viruses)

3. Network Policies- Network Policies are sets of defined rules for a network such as what type of files may be allowed to be added to the network or who/what can access the network. Network policies also govern how a network is managed

4. Types of threats to home/business networks

   • Brute force attacks-Brute Force attacks are when someone attempts to access a network by bypassing login details using "trial and error" automated software
   • DDOS-(Distributed Denial Of Services) DDOS attacks involve the network being flooded with unnecessary network traffic. This can slow a network drastically or stop it alltogether
   • Data Interception and Theft-These type of attacks involve people using "packet sniffers" to analyse data in packets and stealing information such as passwords from them
   • SQL Injection- (Structured Query Language) These attacks can be used by scanning a user's login details and can be used to delete the entire database
   • Poor network policies- Untested and poorly designed network policies can lead to cyber criminals/vandals finding loopholes within a network and exploiting them

5. Types of malware

   • Viruses-The most common type of malware, viruses infiltrate a computer system and replicate repetitively and then either corrupt files or cause the system to crash
   • Trojan Horses- These forms of malware disguise themselves as harmless files or downloads. Once a user downloads the Trojan, it begins to execute a form of attack
   • Worms- Worms are malicious computer programs that find loopholes within the network of a computer and use them to replicate. This then clogs up bandwidth and drastically slows down a network
   • Spyware- Spyware is software that infiltrates a system, usually without being detected, and either downloads personal data or logs key strokes and sends the data to another computer where a cyber-criminal will use the data to either access the persons personal files such as bank accounts or use it as blackmail against them