Is Your Information Safe?
He doesn't wear a stocking mask over his face, and he doesn't break a
window to get into your house. He doesn't hold a gun to your head, nor does he
ransack your personal possessions. Just the same he's a thief. Although this
thief is one you'll not only never see, but you may not even realize right away
that he's robbed you. The thief is a computer hacker and he "enters" your home
via your computer, accessing personal information -- such as credit card numbers
-- which he could then use without your knowledge -- at least until you get that
next credit card statement. Richard Bernes, supervisor of the FBI's Hi-Tech
squad in San Jose, California, calls the Internet "the unlocked window ...
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travel through cyberspace every day, and every piece of information stored in a
computer is vulnerable to attack (Icove-Seger-VonStorch 1). Yesterday's bank
robbers have become today's computer hackers. They can walk away from a computer
crime with millions of virtual dollars (in the form of information they can use
or sell for an enormous profit). Walking away is precisely what they do. The
National Computer Crimes Squad estimates that 85-97 % of the time, theft of
information from computers is not even detected (Icove-Seger-VonStorch 1).
Home computer users are vulnerable, not only for credit card information
and login IDs, but also their files, disks, and other computer equipment and
data, which are subject to attack. Even if this information is not confidential,
having to reconstruct what has been destroyed by a hacker can take days (Icove-
Seger-VonStorch 1). William Cheswick, a network-security specialist at AT&T Bell
Labs, says the home computers that use ...
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from 26 percent a year ago -- but a quarter of
them say they've suffered attempted break-ins and losses, either in stolen data
or cash (Denning 08A).
Dr. Gregory E. Shannon, president of InfoStructure Services and
Technologies Inc., says the need to improve computer security is essential.
There are newly released computer tools intended to help keep the security of
your PC information, but which can just as easily be accessed by computer
hackers, as this information will be released as freeware (available, and free,
to anyone) on the Internet (Cambridge 1). These freely distributed tools could
make it far easier for hackers to break into systems. Presently, if a hacker is
trying to break ...
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CITE THIS PAGE:
Is Your Information Safe?. (2006, December 9). Retrieved November 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Is-Your-Information-Safe/56829
"Is Your Information Safe?." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 9 Dec. 2006. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Is-Your-Information-Safe/56829>
"Is Your Information Safe?." Essayworld.com. December 9, 2006. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Is-Your-Information-Safe/56829.
"Is Your Information Safe?." Essayworld.com. December 9, 2006. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Is-Your-Information-Safe/56829.
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