Page 23 - DCAP309_INFORMATION_SECURITY_AND_PRIVACY

Unit 2: Threats

Other examples of information-based threats are setting up revenge websites and disseminating Notes
on biased information as in the case of the false acquisition. Such attacks can cause considerable
damage to the goodwill of the organization against which they may be launched, and customer
loyalty is too good to lose.
Propagation of information that is expected to trigger particular counter-reactions as in the case
of say some threadbare job advertisement also considered as information-based threat.
Fundamentally a DoS attack that is dependent on flooding accounts with large quantities of
e-mail is a network-based attack as it is the size and the magnitude of the email that is significant
and not the content of the e-mail.

Task Discuss information-level and network level threats with examples.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
4. In case of ................... threat, latent attackers need network access to corporate computer
systems or to networks accessed by corporate computer systems.
5. Transferring false inquiries to service accounts to eat up resources would qualify as an
................... attack.

2.3 Threats and Attacks

Attacks can be represented by relation among threat, vulnerability, and damage. To avoid
attacks from viruses and worms, a latest version of anti virus software should be used. Security
threats related to computer crime or abuse include:

2.3.1 Computer Viruses

The term virus refers specifically to malware inserting malicious code into existing documents
or programs. It spreads itself by various means. Still viruses are considered the most common
type of network security threat. Almost 90 percent of viruses are spread through attachments on
e-mails. However, a cautious user action may prevent the spread of virus because virus requires
a user action to insert itself into a computer. It is therefore suggested that never open an email
attachment, which is not expected, even though the sender appears to be known. However, this
preventive measure will do little to stop worms from infecting the network because worms do
not need a host file and they propagate themselves.

Did u know? When worms infect a computer, they often make quick copies of it and infect
an entire network within a few hours.

2.3.2 Trojan Horses

This malware attack disguises itself as something innocent like a computer game or a search
results page. Once installed on a computer, the Trojan horse may download and install a keylogger
onto the infected computer to record every keystroke by a computer’s user, thus stealing vital
details of the users. They usually hide themselves in a downloadable free software on a website.

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