The threat of online security: How safe is our data

Nowadays, internet becomes really popular. Whole world for millions of users rely on internet services such as e-mail, chat programmers, searching engines etc. Beside that, internet users display more of their personal information on social networking Web sites, and office workers upload more sensitive data to online software programs, therefore it is important for us to learn about the online security threats. With identity theft on the rise, it is necessary to understand online security threats and know the ways to protect our confidential information.

The several online security threats include the following:

1) Spyware
It is software that monitors the actions of a computer user. This software falls
into a number of categories: Software that may be installed legitimately to
provide security or workplace monitoring, software with relatively benign
purposes that may be associated with marketing data collection and software
that is maliciously installed, either as a general violation of a user’s privacy
or to collect information to allow further attacks on their computer or online
transactions (e.g. “keylogging” to gain passwords).


2) Viruses
A computer virus is a rogue software program that attaches itself to other
software programs without user knowledge or permission. It may be highly
destructive such as destroying programs or data, clogging computer memory,
reformatting a computer’s hard drive, or causing programs to run improperly.


3) Identity Theft
Identity Theft is a crime in which an imposter obtains key pieces of personal
information like ID number to impersonate someone else. The information
may be used to obtain credit, merchandise, or services in the name of the
victim or to provide the thief with false credentials.


4) Hacker
A person who either breaks into systems for which they have no
authorization or intentionally overstep their bounds on systems for which
they do have legitimate access, i.e., an unauthorized individual who attempts
to penetrate information systems; to browse, steal, or modify data; deny
access or service to others; or cause damage or harm in some other way.