Threats to an ICT System

Threats to an ICT System

1. Employee threat

   • Crime
     • Hacking into a system and looking at data
     • Hacking into a system and changing or destroying data
     • Theft of data
     • Theft of money being transferred electronically
     • Illegal use of software
     • Internet fraud
     • Introducing viruses intentionally
     • Phishing
   • Malpractice
     • Forgetting to log off
     • Leaving password details lying around
     • Introducing viruses accidentally
     • Bad backup prcedures
     • Poor system design
     • Inadvertently processing damaging data

2. Internal and External

   • Internal: these threats are coming from within the organisation. This could be due to malpractice or crime.
   • External: these threats are coming from outside the organisation and are generally due to crime rather than malpractice

3. Viruses

   • Trojan Horse
     • Programs that people add to their system intentionally but are actually doing something malicious in the background.
   • Worm
     • A type of virus that replicates itself very quickly throughout a system
   • Logic and Time Bombs
     • A virus designed to activate when a certain sequence of events occurs or when a particular time is reached
   • Spyware
     • Types
       • Data is sent from a computer to an external source without the users knowledge or permission
       • Keystrokes made by the user are recorded. For example, while logging into a bank account the passwords and account details are recorded