All of us widely use web and internet for business, communication, entertainment, online transactions, social networking and likewise. But the web and internet are prone to many threats like viruses, content hijacking (mimics of well known sites), spam, revealing private information on server…the list is endless. The purpose of this article is to make you aware of the web vulnerabilities and to make web security understandable to some extent.
Web Security involves protecting information by preventing, detecting, and responding to attacks. Ineffective web security may lead to many web threats.
Common web threats:
1. Viruses – Viruses require your intervention before they infect your system. This intervention could be downloading a file or opening an attachment which has come through email
2. Worms – Transmission of worms takes place without user activity. After infecting the victim computer the worms try to transmit to other computers too
3. Trojan horses – It is a software program which seems to be a genuine one however in the background it leads to malfunctioning of the system. Similar to viruses it can propagate to a system through internet or mail attachments.
System infected by virus or Trojan horse has symptoms as under:
– Automatic changing of desktop settings like background and wallpapers.
– Unusual windows warnings and error messages.
– Hanging of programs being used and auto rebooting of machine.
– Usage of internet bandwidth to a greater extent than usual and without user intervention.
– High CPU usage (slowing down of computer as a result)
– Ctrl + Alt + Del keys don’t respond
4. KeyLoggers – They are software or hardware and they keep a watch on user activities such as keys being typed using keyboard and mouse movements. They record keys hit on keyboard, mouse clicks and movements and the data such monitored and recorded can be used by Hackers to penetrate computer systems to gain knowledge about the system and personal data.
Even snapshots of the desktop screen can be taken within specified duration to be reproduced later for any malicious use
5. Phishing – This is a way of tempting a trusted user into giving out crucial information like their username and password for a trusted website, for instance a bank account. This is mostly done by creating a replica website identical to the original secured authorized site. Thereafter user is sent an email requesting them to log in, and providing a link to the replica (non genuine) site. When user logs in, password is stored and used to access the account by the attacker.
For example:
An email is sent by a bank server to verify the customer’s E-mail address. They state in the mail that this is done for customer protection – email verification is being done by the bank for security purposes since some data loss has occurred and re-verification being done. In the mail they also provide a link and request the customer to enter their bank Credit Card/Debit Card number and the password or the PIN no. being used for accessing the Credit or Debit account on the page that opens through that link.
Unaware users submit those details, and the data is captured by frauds and the money in their account gets transferred or stolen away
6. Spam – It is an unsolicited e-mail on the Internet. It leads to loss of productivity, loss of legitimate email messages, cost of bandwidth taken by spam etc.
Preventive and Corrective actions:
– Use Anti-virus and update it on regular basis.
– Avoid downloading any files from the Internet unless you are sure that the source is not sending out a virus to you.
– Do not plug in any external device (like pendrives) that has been used in another computer.
– Report spam to your SPAM filter.
– Avoid using insecure connections (like shared computers in cyber café) to perform crucial transactions.
Some Common Web Threats and Ways to Prevent them,
Melissa
Apr 22. 2012
Certainly the most terrible threats are Trojan horses, they can damage everything completely,, and I have already noticed that not ever anti-virus software can find them and delete
Sahl
Apr 24. 2012
In my opinion most terrible = key loggers.
if your affected, every account is under risk of getting hacked :/
Rashmi
Apr 24. 2012
You should always be careful with your website. Internet is a dangerous place and you should protect your privacy and work as much as possible. Read this article and make sure you follow these tips!
Brain
Apr 24. 2012
Some viruses and other threats are really harmless for computer system. It is good to remove them from any effective anti-virus or any other way. Mostly, threats comes from internet so must use high internet security software.
AsmaKhan
Apr 24. 2012
Thanks for helpful tips.how could we know before downloading that source is not sending out a virus?
TechCrates
Apr 24. 2012
antivirus softwares do the job of detecting the virus in the download files
Jobr
Apr 24. 2012
Ya the most dangerous virus is Trojan horses and this virus clean each and everything from the PC. Well thanks for sharing the tips that how to prevent from these threats.
Thanks
George
Apr 24. 2012
Malware and other many threats are aimed at networks and computers and need to be addressed through the protection of these environments. Ensure that computers have updated and running security products.
puneet
Apr 24. 2012
Keyloggers are dangerous and Once my Facebook profile was hacked by friend. He used keyloggers to hack that ID.
Peter
Apr 24. 2012
When it comes to online threats, prevention is always better than cure! Practise safe browsing could greatly reduce the risk of these threats!
shubham
Apr 25. 2012
is there any way to find out whether any key logger is installed on your system?
Because as per my information such softwares doesn’t appear in Add/Remove Program list.
Dennis
Apr 29. 2012
Great advice, while there is no way to be totally safe, there are many precautions you can take to remain as secure as possible. I’ve learned my lessons the hard way, having to reformat my computer many times because I clicked on the wrong thing.
Craig
May 02. 2012
Some good advice there. By far the most common problem I come across is trojans and malware. The best program I have found is malwarebytes in combination with something like TDSS killer. Not a lot gets past a combination of those 2 and your antivirus.
Christopher
May 04. 2012
Those are really useful and practical tips..Thanks for sharing 🙂