A roundup of the various types of threats that could affect unprotected computers and what you can do
The Internet and email are useful and amazing technology tools that help you and your staff in the daily work. But they are also the source of many dangerous threats which can affect your computer and the information stored on it. Here’s a list of some of the threats that you have to be careful about.
The first threat is viruses. Viruses are software programs created by people to disrupt the regular way a computer functions. Some of them can be quite harmless, some can be merely annoying. But most cause some harm to the computer or the other. You could lose data, your hard disk could crash, your programs could get corrupted…anything is possible. A virus is installed on your PC without your notice. You may think, that is not possible, as you are the only user of your PC. However, a virus gets installed without your realising it. You could have clicked on a fun email forward sent by a colleague or friend, which could put the virus on your PC. Or you could have visited a site, and clicked something that triggers a virus install on your computer. A virus attaches itself to a file on your computer. When you click on that file, it gets activated.
Next up are Trojans or Trojan horses. They could look like some harmless bit of software or file. But once you click on it, it will replicate itself and try to send the copies to all the people on your email ID. A Trojan can slow your computer down. They can also let your computer be accessible to someone who could get into your PC remotely. The person might use your computer to send out spam or unsolicited mail, or steal your personal information like bank account or credit card numbers.
Worm is another threat you need to be aware of. A worm does not need you to click it to spread itself to other computers. It can make copies of itself to your family, friends and team people.
Sometimes when you visit a website you would come across some interesting offer, or a congratulatory message which tells you that you have won something. Clicking on this could trigger some code to be run on your computer, which could compromise the security and/or health of your PC.
Threats like these can come on their own, but these days, they come as blended threats. What this means is that the malware authors, pr the people who create these threats, pack all or some of these threats into one little programs and unleash it on unsecured PCs. So these threats are far more dangerous. If such a threat finds its way into your computer network, computers could stop working properly. This could affect your business.
Another form of threat is called phishing. This comes on mail and pretends to be from your bank or credit card company. It asks you to come and login at the link given for some administration issues, or freebies. Once you use your online banking and password here, or enter your credit card details, they get saved in the database of people with malicious intent. They then use it to commit fraud.
How do these threats come?
Spam mail, or mail that you have not asked for are the usual suspects. They usually contain links which you are encouraged to go and click on, or download software from. Even if the mail seems to have come from a known person, do not give in to this, without checking with the person first.
Email forwards are another source of viruses. Any file that comes with an executable extension (.exe) should be looked at with suspicion. Scan the file for viruses using an updated antivirus program. Run the file only if it is certified free of viruses.
You can also get your security compromised while playing online games, or using virtual worlds, running online videos for suspect sites, chatting on instant messengers.
Threats can also come from inside your company. Your employee, or ex-employee who has details about your email IDs can easily send in viruses and worms. Or if he has enough information, he can carry confidential data out of your company to your disadvantage.
Dealing with threats
You need to install good security solutions to protect your computers and network. Depending on the scale of your operation, you should explore the kind of solutions that would work very well for you. You need antivirus software and a firewall (which acts as a wall between your computer network and the outside digital world), at the very least. For more advanced features, you would need intrusion prevention systems, web content filtering, secure virtual private networks to enable secure remote working, and so on.
You also need to train your employees to spot these threats well in time, so that your network is not brought to its knees. You would need to have a policy in place which every employee must follow.