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Computer and Internet Security
 

Computer security

(Also known as cybersecurity or IT Security) is information security as applied to computers and networks.

The field covers all the processes and mechanisms by which computer-based equipment, information and services are protected from unintended or unauthorized access, change or destruction. Computer security also includes protection from unplanned events and natural disasters.

One way to think of computer security is to reflect security as one of the main features

Some of the techniques in this approach include:

  • The principle of least privilege, where each part of the system has only the privileges that are needed for its function. That way even if an attacker gains access to that part, they have only limited access to the whole system or network.
  • Automated theorem proving to prove the correctness of crucial software subsystems.
  • Code reviews and unit testing are approaches to make modules more secure where formal correctness proofs are not possible.
  • Defense in depth, where the design is such that more than one subsystem needs to be violated to compromise the integrity of the system and the information it holds.
  • Default secure settings, and design to "fail secure" rather than "fail insecure". Ideally, a secure system should require a deliberate, conscious, knowledgeable and free decision on the part of legitimate authorities in order to make it insecure.
  • Audit trails tracking system activity, so that when a security breach occurs, the mechanism and extent of the breach can be determined. Storing audit trails remotely, where they can only be appended to, can keep intruders from covering their tracks.
  • Full disclosure to ensure that when bugs are found the "window of vulnerability" is kept as short as possible.

Ok now that we have the above out of the way least put this is some laymen term so we can understand it, when a computer is operated without any protection or security it allows for unwanted programs and scripts or even hackers to make changes to your computer affecting the performance of your computer also allowing data to be accessed by outside sources (hackers).

Once an outside source has access to your computer they also have access to your personal information like photos, documents, emails, and even financial information you may have stored on your computer.
There is no 100% full proof security protection for any computer, any security company or IT that tells you this is wrong.

CSR Computers can provide you with the most comprehensive computer security software on the market, we only use security software that pertains to your computer and/or network use and habits thus customizing your security to fit you or your company’s needs.

There are many type of security software and many deferent lines of defense the number one defense to keep a computer or network secure is vigilance, what we mean by that is updating your security software on a weekly or even a daily basis to insure that you are protected from known security risk.

For more information on security for your home or bussiness computers and network please contact us and we will be more than happy to recommend and setup the security for you making sure that you are secure and up-to-date.

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Internet security

Internet security is a branch of computer security specifically related to the Internet, often involving browser security but also network security on a more general level as it applies to other applications or operating systems on a whole. Its objective is to establish rules and measures to use against attacks over the Internet.


The Internet represents an insecure channel for exchanging information leading to a high risk of intrusion or fraud, such as phishing. Different methods have been used to protect the transfer of data, including encryption.
There are many types of thing that can attack your computer via the internet like Malware, Spyware, Viruses, Worms, Trojans, Ransomware and Scareware, Hijacker's, we have listed the above with a small description of what they are.

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Malware: short for malicious software, is software used or programmed by attackers to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems. It can appear in the form of code, scripts, active content, and other software. 'Malware' is a general term used to refer to a variety of forms of hostile or intrusive software. Malware includes computer viruses, ransomware, worms, trojan horses, rootkits, keyloggers, dialers, spyware, adware, malicious BHOs, rogue security software and other malicious programs; the majority of active malware threats are usually worms or trojans rather than viruses. In law, malware is sometimes known as a computer contaminant, as in the legal codes of several U.S. states.

Malware is different from defective software, which is a legitimate software but contains harmful bugs that were not corrected before release. However, some malware is disguised as genuine software, and may come from an official company website in the form of a useful or attractive program which has the harmful malware embedded in it along with additional tracking software that gathers marketing statistics.
Software such as anti-virus, anti-malware, and firewalls are relied upon by users at home, small and large organizations around the globe to safeguard against malware attacks which helps in identifying and preventing the further spread of malware in the network.

Viruses: A computer virus is a type of malware that, when executed, replicates by inserting copies of itself (possibly modified) into other files; when this replication succeeds, the affected files are then said to be "infected".Viruses often perform some type of harmful activity on infected hosts, such as stealing hard disk space or CPU time, accessing private information, corrupting data, displaying political or humorous messages on the user's screen, spamming their contacts, or logging their keystrokes. However, not all viruses carry a destructive payload or attempt to hide themselves -- the defining characteristic of viruses is that they are self-replicating computer programs which install themselves without the user's consent.

Virus writers use social engineering and exploit detailed knowledge of security vulnerabilities to gain access to their hosts' computing resources. The vast majority of viruses (over 99%) target systems running Microsoft Windows. employing a variety of mechanisms to infect new hosts, and often using complex anti-detection/stealth strategies to evade antivirus software.Motives for creating viruses can include seeking profit, desire to send a political message, personal amusement, to demonstrate that a vulnerability exists in software, for sabotage and denial of service, or simply because they wish to explore artificial life and evolutionary algorithms.

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Computer viruses currently cause billions of dollars worth of economic damage each year, due to causing systems failure, wasting computer resources, corrupting data, increasing maintenance costs, etc. In response, free, open-source anti-virus tools have been developed, and a multi-billion dollar industry of anti-virus software vendors has cropped up, selling virus protection to Windows users. Unfortunately, no currently existing anti-virus software is able to catch all computer viruses (especially new ones); computer security researchers are actively searching for new ways to enable antivirus solutions to more effectively detect emerging viruses, before they have already become widely distributed.

Worms: A computer worm is a standalone malware computer program that replicates itself in order to spread to other computers. Often, it uses a computer network to spread itself, relying on security failures on the target computer to access it. Unlike a computer virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program. Worms almost always cause at least some harm to the network, even if only by consuming bandwidth, whereas viruses almost always corrupt or modify files on a targeted computer.


Many worms that have been created are designed only to spread, and do not attempt to change the systems they pass through. However, as the Morris worm and Mydoom showed, even these "payload free" worms can cause major disruption by increasing network traffic and other unintended effects. A "payload" is code in the worm designed to do more than spread the worm–it might delete files on a host system (e.g., the ExploreZip worm), encrypt files in a cryptoviral extortion attack, or send documents via e-mail. A very common payload for worms is to install a backdoor in the infected computer to allow the creation of a "zombie" computer under control of the worm author. Networks of such machines are often referred to as botnets and are very commonly used by spam senders for sending junk email or to cloak their website's address.

Spammers are therefore thought to be a source of funding for the creation of such worms,and the worm writers have been caught selling lists of IP addresses of infected machines.Others try to blackmail companies with threatened DoS attacks.

Backdoors can be exploited by other malware, including worms. Examples include Doomjuice, which can spread using the backdoor opened by Mydoom, and at least one instance of malware taking advantage of the rootkit and backdoor installed by the Sony/BMG DRM software utilized by millions of music CDs prior to late 2005.

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Trojan horse: A Trojan horse, or Trojan, is a non-self-replicating type of malware which gains privileged access to the operating system while appearing to perform a desirable function but instead drops a malicious payload, often including a backdoor allowing unauthorized access to the target's computer. These backdoors tend to be invisible to average users, but may cause the computer to run slow. Trojans do not attempt to inject themselves into other files like a computer virus. Trojan horses may steal information, or harm their host computer systems.

Trojans may use drive-by downloads or install via online games or internet-driven applications in order to reach target computers. The term is derived from the Trojan Horse story in Greek mythology because Trojan horses employ a form of “social engineering,” presenting themselves as harmless, useful gifts, in order to persuade victims to install them on their computers.

Ransomware and Scareware: Ransomware (which when carried out correctly is called cryptoviral extortion, but is sometimes also called scareware) comprises a class of malware which restricts access to the computer system that it infects, and demands a ransom paid to the creator of the malware in order for the restriction to be removed. Some forms of ransomware encrypt files on the system's hard drive, while some may simply lock the system and display messages intended to coax the user into paying. Modern ransomware attacks were initially popular within Russia, but in recent years there have been an increasing number of ransomware attacks targeted towards other countries, such as Australia, Germany, and the United States among others.

Ransomware typically propagates like a conventional computer worm, entering a system through, for example, a downloaded file or a vulnerability in a network service. The program will then run a payload: such as one that will begin to encrypt personal files on the hard drive. More sophisticated ransomware may hybrid-encrypt the victim's plaintext with a random symmetric key and a fixed public key as shown by Young and Yung.

The malware author is the only party that knows the needed private decryption key. Some ransomware payloads do not use encryption. In these cases, the payload is simply an application designed to effectively restrict interaction with the system, typically by overriding explorer.exe in the Windows registry as the default shell, or even modifying the master boot record and/or partition table, not allowing the operating system to start at all until it is repaired.

Ransomware payloads, especially ones which do not encrypt files, utilize elements of scareware to coax the user into paying for its removal. The payload may, for example, display notices purportedly issued by companies or law enforcement agencies which falsely claim that the user's system had been used for illegal activities, or contains illegal content such as pornography and unlawfully obtained software. Some ransomware payloads imitate Windows XP's product activation notices, falsely claiming that their computer's Windows installation is counterfeit or requires re-activation.

In any case, the ransomware will attempt to extort money from the system's user by forcing them to purchase either a program to decrypt the files it had encrypted, or an unlock code which will remove the locks it had applied. These payments are often delivered using either a wire transfer, premium-rate text messages, or through an online payment voucher service such as Ukash or Paysafecard.

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Hijacker: In computer science, session hijacking is the exploitation of a valid computer session—sometimes also called a session key—to gain unauthorized access to information or services in a computer system. In particular, it is used to refer to the theft of a magic cookie used to authenticate a user to a remote server. It has particular relevance to web developers, as the HTTP cookies used to maintain a session on many web sites can be easily stolen by an attacker using an intermediary computer or with access to the saved cookies on the victim's computer.

A popular method is using source-routed IP packets. This allows a hacker at point A on the network to participate in a conversation between B and C by encouraging the IP packets to pass through its machine.

If source-routing is turned off, the hacker can use "blind" hijacking, whereby it guesses the responses of the two machines. Thus, the hacker can send a command, but can never see the response. However, a common command would be to set a password allowing access from somewhere else on the net.

A hacker can also be "inline" between B and C using a sniffing program to watch the conversation. This is known as a "man-in-the-middle attack".

Session hijacking was not possible with early versions of HTTP. HTTP protocol versions 0.8 and 0.9 lacked cookies and other features necessary for session hijacking. Version 0.9beta of Mosaic Netscape, released on October 13, 1994, supported cookies.

Early versions of HTTP 1.0 did have some security weaknesses relating to session hijacking, but they were difficult to exploit due to the vagaries of most early HTTP 1.0 servers and browsers. As HTTP 1.0 has been designated as a fallback for HTTP 1.1 since the early 2000s -- and as HTTP 1.0 servers are all essentially HTTP 1.1 servers the session hijacking problem has evolved into a nearly permanent security risk.

The introduction of supercookies and other features with the modernized HTTP 1.1 has allowed for the hijacking problem to become an ongoing security problem. Webserver and browser state machine standardization has contributed to this ongoing security problem.

To insure that you are safe when accessing the internet we recommend that you get at good virus and malware protection program, give us a call and let us give you a quote on a complete protection program that will fit your needs. You can Contact us by calling 812-381-3826 or by using the contact us located in the main menu of our website.

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