Top 10 List of Week 02
In this Top 10 list, I will give what materials I have learned during week 3 at my Operating System course. In each of the points I stated, there is a clickable link that will take you to the website I learned the material from, my thoughts and review of the page itself, and a short summary of the material.
One System Security in Operating System
This page gives a good overview about system security in OS. It gives the reader a clear understanding about need for protection and security in an OS, from Authentication, One Time passwords, Program Threats, System Threats, and Computer Security Classifications. It is a good introduction to week 3’s material.
Security refers to providing a protection system to computer system resources such as CPU, memory, disk, software programs and most importantly data/information stored in the computer system. If a computer program is run by an unauthorized user, then he/she may cause severe damage to computer or data stored in it. So a computer system must be protected against unauthorized access, malicious access to system memory, viruses, worms etc
Two Computer Security in General
The Wikipedia page for Computer Security gives us the complete and certifed information about Computer Security. It is a long read because it dipslays a variety of facts about computer security in general, starting from its history, implementation, threats, impact in the real world, and more.
Computer security, cybersecurity or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from the theft of or damage to their hardware, software, or electronic data, as well as from the disruption or misdirection of the services they provide.
The field is becoming more important due to increased reliance on computer systems, the Internet and wireless network standards such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and due to the growth of “smart” devices, including smartphones, televisions, and the various devices that constitute the “Internet of things”. Owing to its complexity, both in terms of politics and technology, cybersecurity is also one of the major challenges in the contemporary world.
Three Types of Computer Security Threats
This page contains a good list of types of computer security threats and also how can we avoid them. It is a simple and short read.
Examples of Online Cybersecurity Threats
1. Computer Viruses : Perhaps the most well-known computer security threat, a computer virus is a program written to alter the way a computer operates, without the permission or knowledge of the user. A virus replicates and executes itself, usually doing damage to your computer in the process.
2. Spyware Threats : A serious computer security threat, spyware is any program that monitors your online activities or installs programs without your consent for profit or to capture personal information. We’ve amassed a wealth of knowledge that will help you combat spyware threats and stay safe online.
3. Hackers and Predators : People, not computers, create computer security threats and malware. Hackers and predators are programmers who victimize others for their own gain by breaking into computer systems to steal, change, or destroy information as a form of cyber-terrorism.
4. Phishing :Masquerading as a trustworthy person or business, phishers attempt to steal sensitive financial or personal information through fraudulent email or instant messages. Phishing attacks are some of the most successful methods for cybercriminals looking to pull off a data breach.
Four Computer Virus
This page informs the definition of computer virus, what causes it, what does it do, and ways to protect your device. It is delivered simply with an easy language so amateur readers can gain the information. It is a good read for those who want to know what computer virus is in an instant.
Some computer viruses are programmed to harm your computer by damaging programs, deleting files, or reformatting the hard drive. Others simply replicate themselves or flood a network with traffic, making it impossible to perform any internet activity. Even less harmful computer viruses can significantly disrupt your system’s performance, sapping computer memory and causing frequent computer crashes.
Five A Brief History of Computer Viruses
I learned the history of computer virus through this site, it gave me a long read yet good understanding from the first virus to computer virus through the years and also the future of computer virus.
The Creeper Program As noted by Discovery, the Creeper program, often regarded as the first virus, was created in 1971 by Bob Thomas of BBN. Creeper was actually designed as a security test to see if a self-replicating program was possible. It was—sort of. With each new hard drive infected, Creeper would try to remove itself from the previous host. Creeper had no malicious intent and only displayed a simple message: “I’M THE CREEPER. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!”
Six Techniques for Securing the Operating System
Looking the mechanisms to able to secure your Operating System from threats? This page might be it. It contains a complete list to make your OS safe. From what you have to do with your user account, network service, system, and more.
Consider implementing the following security best practices.
User Accounts
- Limit the number of user accounts on the server computers. Unnecessary and legacy user accounts increase system complexity and may present system vulnerabilities.
Fewer user accounts reduces the amount of time administrators spend on account administration.
-Ensure that only a few trusted users have administrative access to the server computers. Fewer administrators make it easier to maintain accountability. The administrators must be competent.
-Assign the minimum required access permissions for the account that runs the application. If attackers obtain access to the application, they have the permissions of the user who runs the application.
Seven Cryptography
This page gives a good insight of what Cryptography is and its types. It is a page from Geeks for Geeks website, which I like because every page from the web provides good information in a short, simple, and easy to follow style. Now I know what Cryptography is and how secure it is to protect valuable information from threats.
Cryptography is technique of securing information and communications through use of codes so that only those person for whom the information is intended can understand it and process it. Thus preventing unauthorized access to information. The prefix “crypt” means “hidden” and suffix graphy means “writing”.
In today’s age of computers cryptography is often associated with the process where an ordinary plain text is converted to cipher text which is the text made such that intended receiver of the text can only decode it and hence this process is known as encryption. The process of conversion of cipher text to plain text this is known as decryption.
Eight How to Identify Network Security Threats
This page explains what Network Security is and its type of threats. It gives us information to be more careful on the internet because many viruses come from there.
A network security threat is an effort to obtain illegal admission to your organization’s network, to take your data without your knowledge, or execute other malicious pursuits. Your network security is at risk or vulnerable if or when there is a weakness or vulnerability within your computer network.
Some network security threats are intended to upset your organization’s processes and functionality instead of noiselessly collecting information for espionage or financial motives. With the extensive use and accessibility of the internet, comes the increase in all kinds of threats. The most prevalent technique is the Denial of Service (DoS) attack.
Nine Introduction to Linux Security Principles
This page provides a long read about everything-security in Linux. It will expand the reader’s knowledge related to Linux’s security requirements. A good read for those who are taking the OS course, including myself.
Why do we need security? Although Linux users are must less prone to viruses than some other major operating systems, there are still many security issues facing Linux users and administrators.
One of the most important steps in any task is to identify why you are doing it. Rather than just saying we need to make a system secure you need to consider what is meant by secure, what risks there are associated with any data that’s available, what impact your security measures will have on your users. Without first considering any of these factors how else will you know if you’ve met your goal of making a system secure.
Ten Why Linux is better than Windows or macOS for security
This article explains to the reader how safe Linux is compared to other operating systems with good examples. It is really a good article for me because I heavily use Windows and Mac but still lacking knowledge about other operating systems such as Linux.
The clear consensus among experts is that Linux is the most secure operating system. But while it’s the OS of choice for servers, enterprises deploying it on the desktop are few and far between.
And if you did decide that Linux was the way to go, you would still have to decide which distribution of the Linux system to choose, and things get a bit more complicated there. Users are going to want a UI that seems familiar, and you are going to want the most secure OS.