Why Security Privacy Of Home Computer User Installations Is Vulnerable
Consider these statistics from independent surveys on how well home users guard privacy and online security... Studies Show We're At High Risk I. 80% Of Home Users Are Infected With Spyware Around 80 percent of all Internet-connected computers are infected with spyware... the average computer being infected with 28 pieces. What's more, over one-third of PCs contain the serious system monitors, an example being a key logger -- this records each keystroke, conveying confidential information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card numbers. Security companies have shown that the majority of spam now emanates from these zombie PC networks, or 'BotNets'... and much of it comes from IP ranges allocated to the high-speed cable or ADSL accounts of home users. The attacker can take full control of the security privacy of home computer user installations, as long as they are connected to the Internet. They can steal information, read files, write files and send emails from that user's name -- it's as though the attacker has broken into the office or home and is sitting in front of that computer. Crackers favorite targets are the home and home office computers connected by broadband to the Internet. Because the connection is always open, there is more opportunity to locate these computers with their scanners. Eighty per cent of small businesses never recover from a serious Internet risk breach, such as by a cracker, and are forced to close within the following 12 months... a sobering thought for those of us running our own business. Studies, such as that from the AOL/National Cyber Security Alliance, show that the confidence of the perpetrators is justified. Their scans of home and home office computers showed that they typically lack effective protection to guard privacy and online security... so they are easy to compromise. Users are unaware of their vulnerability to these risks. They are equally unaware of the potentially catastrophic impact these attacks may have on them and so they don't see the necessity of installing effective Internet security and privacy protection. However, when our PCs are connected to the Internet, it is a two way connection. Not only can we access the Net, but the line is open for the security privacy of home computer user installations to be accessed. As soon as we are connected, we are open to the Internet Security risks that are present at all times... from cracker and Trojan attacks to infection with viruses, worms and spyware. For a summary of these risks, see The Internet Threats That means we have the choice of ensuring that our personal, family or business data is protected from Internet risks... or, we run the risk of anything from an inconvenience to a major catastrophe. The effect could be an unworkable computer, identity theft, destruction or theft of client or other business information and external control of our computer by an intruder. But, by acquiring a little knowledge of...
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