Threats to Data

Threats to Data

1. Opportunist Threats

   • People who fi nd an unattended computer which has been left logged in to a system may view, steal or damage information, programs or even hardware.

2. Computer Viruses

   • These are small programs which can replicate themselves and spread from computer to computer. They are never benefi cial; usually they will make some changes to the system they infect and, even if they do no real damage, they are undesirable. They arrive by attaching themselves to fi les or email messages.

3. Other Malware

   • Examples of malware include: computer worms (essentially a computer virus which does not need to attach itself to a fi le or message); Trojan horses, which appear as some benign program allowing a hacker full access to a system; spyware; adware; and various other nasties. Malware is never benefi cial.

4. Phishing

   • This is a type of threat which attempts to gain access to passwords, fi nancial details and other such privileged information. Often this is done by email messages pretending to come from trusted websites, instant messaging or social networks. Normally they try to divert you to a website which looks original and which asks for information about you.

5. Accidental Damage

   • This may be caused by a natural disaster (e.g. fl ooding), mischief or accidental mishap, and can result in losing all of a computer’s data.