Outline of computer security

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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to computer security:

Contents

Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is the protection of computer software, systems and networks from threats that can lead to unauthorized information disclosure, theft or damage to hardware, software, or data, as well as from the disruption or misdirection of the services they provide.

The significance of the field stems from the expanded reliance on computer systems, the Internet, and wireless network standards. Its importance is further amplified by the growth of smart devices, including smartphones, televisions, and the various devices that constitute the Internet of things (IoT). Cybersecurity has emerged as one of the most significant new challenges facing the contemporary world, due to both the complexity of information systems and the societies they support. Security is particularly crucial for systems that govern large-scale systems with far-reaching physical effects, such as power distribution, elections, and finance.

Essence of computer security

Computer security can be described as all of the following:

Areas of computer security

Authentication

Computer security threats

Methods of Computer Network Attack and Computer Network Exploitation

Social engineering is a frequent method of attack, and can take the form of phishing, or spear phishing in the corporate or government world, as well as counterfeit websites.

Computer defenses and security measures

Access control

Access control selective restriction of access to a place or other resource. The act of accessing may mean consuming, entering, or using. Permission to access a resource is called authorization.

Application security

Application security

Data security

Data security protecting data, such as a database, from destructive forces and the unwanted actions of unauthorized users. [1]

Information privacy

Mobile security

Network security

World Wide Web Security

History of computer security

Computer security industry

Computer security software

Testing labs

Computer security companies

Computer security publications

Journals and magazines

  • 2600: The Hacker Quarterly technical and political articles of interest to the internet security community
  • Virus Bulletin magazine about the prevention, detection and removal of malware and spam. It regularly features analyses of the latest virus threats, articles exploring new developments in the fight against viruses, interviews with anti-virus experts, and evaluations of current anti-malware products.

Books on computer security

Books on cryptography

Cyber security community

Cyber security communities

Computer security organizations

Academic

  • CERIAS a center for research and education of information security for computing and communication infrastructures located at Purdue University. [15]
  • CERT Coordination Center A program of Carnegie-Mellon University that develops advanced methods and technologies to counter large-scale, sophisticated cyber threats in partnership with other academic programs and with government and law enforcement agencies. The Cert Knowledgebase compiles information on information security incidents. [16]
  • Georgia Tech Information Security Center department of Georgia Tech that deals with information security issues such as cryptography, network security, trusted computing, software reliability, privacy, and internet governance. [17]
  • Oulu University Secure Programming Group studies, evaluates and develops methods of implementing and testing application and system software in order to prevent, discover and eliminate implementation level security vulnerabilities in a pro-active fashion. The focus is on implementation level security issues and software security testing.

Commercial

Government agencies

  • ARNES Academic and Research Network of Slovenia, which is responsible for development, operation and management of the communication and information network for education and research. It includes the SI-CERT, the Slovenian Computer Emergency Response Team.
  • Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre also known as CCIRC, a Canadian government program under the Ministry of Public Safety. The program monitors threats, coordinates national responses, and protects national critical infrastructure against cyber incidents. [20]
  • Norwegian Cyber Defence Force the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for military communications and offensive and defensive cyberwarfare in Norway. [21]
Law enforcement agencies

Internet police police and secret police departments and other law enforcement agencies in charge of policing the Internet. The major purposes of Internet police, depending on the state, are fighting cybercrime, as well as censorship, propaganda, and monitoring and manipulating the online public opinion.

  • Air Force Cyber Command (Provisional) a proposed U.S. Air Force command that existed in provisional status. On 6 October 2008, the Air Force's cyberspace mission was transferred to USCYBERCOM. [22]
  • Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center also known as DC3, is a United States Department of Defense agency that provides digital forensics support to the DoD and to other law enforcement agencies. DC3's main focus is in criminal, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, and fraud investigations. [23]
  • FBI Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch also known as CCRSB, is a service within the Federal Bureau of Investigation responsible for investigating certain crimes including all computer-based crime related to counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal threats against the United States. [24]
  • FBI Cyber Division Federal Bureau of Investigation division that heads the national effort to investigate and prosecute internet crimes, including "cyber based terrorism, espionage, computer intrusions, and major cyber fraud." This division of the FBI uses the information it gathers during investigation to inform the public of current trends in cyber crime. [25] It focuses around three main priorities: computer intrusion, identity theft, and cyber fraud. It was created in 2002. [26]
  • National Security Agency The United States Bureau responsible for national cybersecurity and military communications protection. [27]
  • US-CERT also known as the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team, organization within the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD); a branch of the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications' (CS&C) National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC). [28] US-CERT is responsible for analyzing and reducing cyber threats, vulnerabilities, disseminating cyber threat warning information, and coordinating incident response activities. [29]
  • USCYBERCOM is an armed forces sub-unified command subordinate to United States Strategic Command. The unit centralizes command of cyberspace operations, organizes existing cyber resources and synchronizes defense of U.S. military networks. [30]

Independent non-profits

Independent web-sites
  • Attrition information security-related website, updated at least weekly by an all-volunteer staff. The "Errata" section is devoted to pointing out inaccuracies, omissions, and other problems with mainstream media related to computer security and hacking. Additionally, staff members publish opinion pieces such as "Security Rants" pointing out problems with the computer security industry.


Persons influential in computer security

See also

Rubber-hose cryptanalysis

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computer security</span> Protection of computer systems from information disclosure, theft or damage

Computer security is the protection of computer software, systems and networks from threats that can lead to unauthorized information disclosure, theft or damage to hardware, software, or data, as well as from the disruption or misdirection of the services they provide.

Malware is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, deprive access to information, or which unknowingly interferes with the user's computer security and privacy. Researchers tend to classify malware into one or more sub-types.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McAfee</span> American global computer security software company

McAfee Corp., formerly known as McAfee Associates, Inc. from 1987 to 1997 and 2004 to 2014, Network Associates Inc. from 1997 to 2004, and Intel Security Group from 2014 to 2017, is an American global computer security software company headquartered in San Jose, California.

Network security consists of the policies, processes and practices adopted to prevent, detect and monitor unauthorized access, misuse, modification, or denial of a computer network and network-accessible resources. Network security involves the authorization of access to data in a network, which is controlled by the network administrator. Users choose or are assigned an ID and password or other authenticating information that allows them access to information and programs within their authority. Network security covers a variety of computer networks, both public and private, that are used in everyday jobs: conducting transactions and communications among businesses, government agencies and individuals. Networks can be private, such as within a company, and others which might be open to public access. Network security is involved in organizations, enterprises, and other types of institutions. It does as its title explains: it secures the network, as well as protecting and overseeing operations being done. The most common and simple way of protecting a network resource is by assigning it a unique name and a corresponding password.

Internet security is a branch of computer security. It encompasses the Internet, browser security, web site security, and network security as it applies to other applications or operating systems as a whole. Its objective is to establish rules and measures to use against attacks over the Internet. The Internet is an inherently insecure channel for information exchange, with high risk of intrusion or fraud, such as phishing, online viruses, trojans, ransomware and worms.

Norton Internet Security, developed by Symantec Corporation, is a discontinued computer program that provides malware protection and removal during a subscription period. It uses signatures and heuristics to identify viruses. Other features include a personal firewall, email spam filtering, and phishing protection. With the release of the 2015 line in summer 2014, Symantec officially retired Norton Internet Security after 14 years as the chief Norton product. It was superseded by Norton Security, a rechristened adaptation of the original Norton 360 security suite. The suite was once again rebranded to Norton 360 in 2019.

An information security audit is an audit of the level of information security in an organization. It is an independent review and examination of system records, activities, and related documents. These audits are intended to improve the level of information security, avoid improper information security designs, and optimize the efficiency of the security safeguards and security processes.

Defensive computing is a form of practice for computer users to help reduce the risk of computing problems, by avoiding dangerous computing practices. The primary goal of this method of computing is to be able to anticipate and prepare for potentially problematic situations prior to their occurrence, despite any adverse conditions of a computer system or any mistakes made by other users. This can be achieved through adherence to a variety of general guidelines, as well as the practice of specific computing techniques.

Computer security software or cybersecurity software is any computer program designed to influence information security. This is often taken in the context of defending computer systems or data, yet can incorporate programs designed specifically for subverting computer systems due to their significant overlap, and the adage that the best defense is a good offense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaspersky Lab</span> Russian multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider

Kaspersky Lab is a Russian multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider headquartered in Moscow, Russia, and operated by a holding company in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1997 by Eugene Kaspersky, Natalya Kaspersky and Alexey De-Monderik. Kaspersky Lab develops and sells antivirus, internet security, password management, endpoint security, and other cybersecurity products and services.

In computer security, a threat is a potential negative action or event enabled by a vulnerability that results in an unwanted impact to a computer system or application.

Mobile security, or mobile device security, is the protection of smartphones, tablets, and laptops from threats associated with wireless computing. It has become increasingly important in mobile computing. The security of personal and business information now stored on smartphones is of particular concern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trend Micro Internet Security</span> Antivirus and online security software

Trend Micro Internet Security is an antivirus and online security program developed by Trend Micro for the consumer market. According to NSS Lab comparative analysis of software products for this market in 2014, Trend Micro Internet Security was fastest in responding to new internet threats, but as of June 2024 based on the chat support there is no known mechanism as with Microsoft Defender Antivirus to submit false positives like "Incorrectly detected as malware/malicious" or "Incorrectly detected as PUA " which may point to cutting corners and be the cause of application mislabeling e.g. as ransomware, while the mechanism for detecting real threats is not specified.

Cyber crime, or computer crime, refers to any crime that involves a computer and a network. The computer may have been used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target. Netcrime refers, more precisely, to criminal exploitation of the Internet. Issues surrounding this type of crime have become high-profile, particularly those surrounding hacking, copyright infringement, identity theft, child pornography, and child grooming. There are also problems of privacy when confidential information is lost or intercepted, lawfully or otherwise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Email hacking</span> Unauthorized access to, or manipulation of, an email account or email correspondence

Email hacking is the unauthorized access to, or manipulation of, an account or email correspondence.

Endpoint security or endpoint protection is an approach to the protection of computer networks that are remotely bridged to client devices. The connection of endpoint devices such as laptops, tablets, mobile phones, and other wireless devices to corporate networks creates attack paths for security threats. Endpoint security attempts to ensure that such devices follow compliance to standards.

In cybersecurity, cyber self-defense refers to self-defense against cyberattack. While it generally emphasizes active cybersecurity measures by computer users themselves, cyber self-defense is sometimes used to refer to the self-defense of organizations as a whole, such as corporate entities or entire nations. Surveillance self-defense is a variant of cyber self-defense and largely overlaps with it. Active and passive cybersecurity measures provide defenders with higher levels of cybersecurity, intrusion detection, incident handling and remediation capabilities. Various sectors and organizations are legally obligated to adhere to cyber security standards.

Data center security is the set of policies, precautions and practices adopted at a data center to avoid unauthorized access and manipulation of its resources. The data center houses the enterprise applications and data, hence why providing a proper security system is critical. Denial of service (DoS), theft of confidential information, data alteration, and data loss are some of the common security problems afflicting data center environments.

This is a list of cybersecurity information technology. Cybersecurity is security as it is applied to information technology. This includes all technology that stores, manipulates, or moves data, such as computers, data networks, and all devices connected to or included in networks, such as routers and switches. All information technology devices and facilities need to be secured against intrusion, unauthorized use, and vandalism. Additionally, the users of information technology should be protected from theft of assets, extortion, identity theft, loss of privacy and confidentiality of personal information, malicious mischief, damage to equipment, business process compromise, and the general activity of cybercriminals. The public should be protected against acts of cyberterrorism, such as the compromise or loss of the electric power grid.

Internet security awareness or Cyber security awareness refers to how much end-users know about the cyber security threats their networks face, the risks they introduce and mitigating security best practices to guide their behavior. End users are considered the weakest link and the primary vulnerability within a network. Since end-users are a major vulnerability, technical means to improve security are not enough. Organizations could also seek to reduce the risk of the human element. This could be accomplished by providing security best practice guidance for end users' awareness of cyber security. Employees could be taught about common threats and how to avoid or mitigate them.

References

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