I n t o d a y s environment, lots of people rely on computers to do business, homework, and to dispatch information to others.

. Therefore, its very important to secure the If you are

information that we possess on our computers.

using a computer exclusively, its duty to do all you can to reduce computer challenges, prevent data loss, also to reduce computer abuse. In the flooring business world, data protection is paramount because a companys data is fast becoming probably the most value asset that any business owns. Keeping your electric data secure from hackers is therefore most important. A pc security risk is any action, deliberate or otherwise which could cause lost of information, destruction of critical software, or facts corruption. Computer security risks also extend to plan incompatibilities, or computer hardware obsolescence. Many instances of pc loss or computer harm are planned and are for that reason not accidental. Any intentional breach in computer safety measures is said to be a pc crime which is a bit different from a cyber crime. A cyber crime is really a great illegal act perpetrated with the Internet, whereas a computer offense will be any against the law behavior which involves using a computer. There are several different groups of people involved with computer crimes and knowing who they are is very important. The most popular type of criminal computer acts is broadly known as hacking. In this case, anyone uses a network or Internet to gain unlawful access to a

computer. Hackers too, have gained much notoriety over the last ten years because they are seen as representing people who are in rebellion against the devices of society. Some

of the new names assigned to people showing all computer security risks usually are cracker, cyber-enemy, cyberextortionist, unethical employee, script kiddie and also corporate spies. The term cyberpunk was actually used in reference to ordinary people with the ability to break into computer systems legally. However, with the vast-spread use of the Net, a hacker has now grow to be known for illegal actions. A hacker is defined as someone that accesses a computer or perhaps computer network unlawfully. They frequently claim that they do this to locate leaks in the stability of a network. Current developments in computer programming get spawned the term Honorable Hacking. This is the IT-related phrase for posing as any thief to catch loopholes in your own personal computers. The term cracker has not been associated with something positive this refers to someone how intentionally access some type of computer or computer network regarding unlawful or unethical functions. A cyber-enemy is someone who runs on the computer network or the web to destroy computers, internet sites, or systems for political reasons. The intention the following is to cause harm for you to important systems such as a financial system or an armed forces computer network in order to report political points. Unlike a typical terrorist attack, cyberterrorism requires highly skilled

folks, thousands of dollars to implement, and many months of planning. The term online extortionist is used to touch on to someone who uses emails or other electric communication media as a questionable weapon. As an example of that, a cyber-terrorist can access a web*based database, confiscate the idea, and erase other offered copies. They can next demand a ransom for your release of this information. They are able to carry out their illegal act by doing other items such as sending a corporation a very threatening mail. The information they may have got could be trade

techniques, company data, or even private information about one of the elderly officers of the organization. By demanding a ransom for not releasing like information through the Web, they are participating in cyber-terrorism against the firm or persons. Many computer security risks are related directly to disgruntled staff members. It is for this reason exactly why many of the top companies in the USA now utilize sections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding 2002. Executives of each general public company must take particular responsibility for the safety measures of a companys information in addition to accuracy in accounting practice. Many stake-holders ought to be assured that the

info which a company offers about a person such as credit cards must be protected at all times. As the web grows, only time will inform what other measures can be necessary to reduce personal computer risk, thwart cyberterrorism,

and mitigate up against the impact of hackers and crackers all over the globe. http://ghostparticle.com/?p=1211

Computer Virus: Unlike most computer crime / misuse areas which are clear cut in terms of actions and legalities (e.g. software piracy), computer hacking is more difficult to define. Computer hacking always involves some degree of infringement on the privacy of others or damage to computer-based property such as files, web pages or software. The impact of computer hacking varies from simply being simply invasive and annoying to illegal. There is an aura of mystery that surrounds hacking, and a prestige that accompanies being part of a relatively "elite" group of individuals who possess technological savvy and are willing to take the risks required to become a true "hacker". An interesting alternative view of how hackers positively impact areas such as software development and hacker ideology is presented in Technology and Pleasure: Considering Hacking Constructive. Even attempting to define the term "hacker" is difficult. Perhaps the premiere WWW resource in introducing individuals to hacking is the The New Hacker's Dictionary(http://www.logophilia.com/jargon/jargon_toc.html ), a resource which encompasses everything from hacker slang, jargon, hacker folklore, writing style and speech to

general appearance, dress, and education and personality characteristics. According to The New Hacker's Dictionary, a hacker can be defined as: 1. A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary. 2. One who programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who enjoys programming rather than just theorizing about programming. 3. A person capable of appreciating hack value. 4. A person who is good at programming quickly. 5. An expert at a particular program, or one who frequently does work using it or on it. 6. An expert or enthusiast of any kind. One might be an astronomy hacker, for example. 7. One who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations. 8. [deprecated] A malicious meddler who tries to discover sensitive information by poking around. Hence 'password hacker', 'network hacker'. The correct term for this sense is cracker. Even within hacker society, the definitions range from societally very positive (dare I say characteristic of gifted and talented individuals) to criminal. In his book, "Fighting Computer Crime: A New Framework for Protecting Information" (1998), Donn B. Parker lists two basic principles hacker live by:

1. The belief that information sharing is a powerful good and that it is the ethical duty of hackers to share their expertise by writing free software and facilitating access to information and to computing resources whenever possible. 2. The belief that system cracking for fun and exploitation is ethically OK as long as the cracker commits no theft, vandalism or breach of confidentiality. Parker differentiates between benign and malicious hackers based on whether damage is performed, though in reality all hacking involves intrusion and a disregard for the efforts, works and property of others. Issues A number of issues arise in considering hacking from the educator perspective. First, we need to consider the fact that the public perception of hackers is mixed, and that "hacking" and "being considered a hacker" can be quite appealing to students who are going through developmental periods in which they are defining themselves, as well as challenging authority and rules. There is often a Robin Hood mentality to early actions, though it is unclear exactly who "the poor" are, and how they are "beingcompensated". Second, the anonymity of actions which hackers perform against others often enhances the severity of actions. For example, an adolescent who would never consider picking someone's pocket or physically damaging someone else's property or home, might be quite willing to

steal people's credit card numbers or destroy poorly protected business or government files, since files and credit card numbers are not tangible entities, and the damage is done anonymously. The media often presents these individuals in a glamorous light. Adolescents may fantasize about their degree of technological skills and, lacking the social skills required to be accepted well by others, move online in search of those who profess to have technological skills the students desire. A simple search using the term "hacker" with any search engine results in hundreds of links to illegal serial numbers, ways to downloadand pirate commercial software, etc. Showing this information off to others may result in the students being considered a "hacker" by their less technologically savvy friends, further reinforcing antisocial behavior. In some cases, individuals move on to programming and destruction of other individuals programs through the writing of computer viruses and Trojan horses, programs which include computer instructions to execute a hacker's attack. If individuals can successfully enter computers via a network, they may be able to impersonate an individual with high level security clearance access to files, modifying or deleting them or introducing computer viruses or Trojan horses. As hackers become more sophisticated,they may begin using sniffers to steal large amounts of confidential information, become involved in burglary of technical manuals, larceny or espionage.

Ways to Minimize Potential for Hacking There are a number of ways for schools to minimize potential for hacking. 1. Schools need to clearly establish acceptable use policies and delineate appropriate and inappropriate actions to both students and staff. 2. Students and staff need to instructed regarding hacking, the mentality associated with it, the consequences of various hacking actions and possible consequences of interacting and forming online relationships with anonymous individuals who claim to be proficient in invading others' privacy. 3. The use of filters may be considered in reducing access to unauthorized software serial numbers and hacking-related materials, newsgroups, chatrooms and hacking organizations. 4. Teachers need to be aware of student activities in the computer labs and pay special attention to things they hear in terms of hacking behavior. Many schools have taken intiative in having teachers work with technology-oriented students who exhibit many of the characteristics which may eventually lead to hacking-type behaviors. Recent web-based activities and competitions, including ThinkQuest, Web to the Edge and ExploraVision, are outstanding opportunities for these and other technologically oriented students to utilize their interests, energies and abilities in a postive way. Article Source:

http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/wp/crime/hacking.htm

Computer Terrorism Introduction Until now, I have tried to give a rather broad outline of our vulnerability with regards t ocomputers, and I hope that I have have convinced you that we are sitting on a bomb. It is time, now, to determine if a terrorist organization could to use computer either as arms, or as targets, with an aim of continuing its fight, usually carried out by bombings or removals. In January 1995, a conferecne was held in Montreal
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on

information warfare, that brought together Canadian, American and European soldiers, as well as representatives of the FBI and Canadian Service of Information and Security. One of the topics of discussion was the attack of New York's World Trade Center, in February 1993. This attack, which at first seems to have nothing to do with the conference's subject, can be regarded as one of the first acts of computer terrorism. There were less material damages than "virtual" ones. Thousands of firms were unable to connect their computers to the rest of the world for many days. According to studies, this situation generated losses evaluated at more than 700 million dollars, during the first week! Definition

Let's define, the concept of "computer terrorism". Since this subject is not treated as such in literature, I propose two definitions: Computer terrorism is the act of destroying or of corrupting computer systems with an aim of destabilizing a country or of applying pressure on a government. Computer terrorism is the act of doing something intended to destabilize a country or to aply pressure on a government by using methods classified in the category of computer crimes. It is possible to carry out three types of actions against an information system, a physical, syntactic or semantic attack [GARIG1]

The physical attack consists of damaging equipment in a " traditional " way, bomb, fire, etc.

The syntactic attack consists of modifying the logic of the system in order to introduce delays or to makethe system unpredictable. An attack by means of a virus or of a Trojan horse is included in this category.

The semantic attack is more perfidious. It exploits the confidence that the users have in their system.It consist of modifying information that is entering or exiting the system, without the users' knowledge, in order to induce errors.

Reflections After having listed a large number of weaknesses in information processing systems, and to having shown how

easily it is possible to introduce chaos even from remote location, it is interesting to wonder why have terrorist computer attack not yet occured ?
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If we look at the last wave of terrorist attacks in France (1995), carried out by Islamistes Algerian of the GIA (Armed Islamic Group) an answer may be that these groups rejecting the westernization of their country, reject consequently associated technology, and are thus not able to effectuate computer terrorism. Moreover, and I believe that it is the principal reason, disproportion of the means to implement computer terrorism results in the fact that terrorist groups remain confined to traditional method. Means to implementation According to the theory of the class 3 information warfare, this type of conflict requires much less human and financial resources than a conflict with "traditional" weapons. this is the case because the cost of modern conflicts are very expensive, but, if we look at the absolute value of the investment for terrorism, the result/cost ratio is strongly against computer terrorism, compared to "traditional" terrorism. If we take the case of a tiny terrorist group, it is able,with a small account of financial and logistical support, to carry out some home-made bombs and to create panic accross a country
16

. In the case of the attack to the

administrative building of Oklahoma City, in April 1995, the home-made bomb made of fertilizers, causied the death of nearly 100 persons, was aparently the act of a single

terrorist! In these two cases, with the same investment, it would have been impossible to them to produce the same psychological effect with computer attacks. Computer terrorism must be seen as an act similar to an act of war.It needs to be effective to establish a long-term strategy and to have control of very large number of factors. Hacking of computer systems (many different) in a perfectly synchronized way, as well as the infiltration of agents in various companies with an aim of inserting Trojan horses or back doors, is a long-term job. Field of application This kind of terrorism does not lend itself to reprisals following a precise event such as arrests or the assassination of a movement leader, except if the possibility had been envisaged a long time in advance. The ideal framework for the use of such weapons is the prelude to a war, a kind of "electronic Pearl Harbor"
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. It is currently one of main

fears of the people in charge of American defense. As the United States has a strong interventionist policy (cops of the world ), a country deciding to attack its neighbor (ally of the USA) would have an interest to initially conduct a computer attack against the USA, before dealing with its genuine target
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. As a plan of

invasion is not hastily established, it is conceivable to include a plan in order to first neutralize any response coming from

interventionists country such as the USA or France. Conclusion As we are now at the end of this document, it is time to answer the question that I asked at the beginning: "Computer Terrorism: What are the risks? ". After having made this broad study, my opinion is that from the point of view of terrorist threats that Western countries have already encountered, there will not be a change to computer terrorism in the near future. On the other hand, movements such as the American militia, or the drug cartels who have embraced new technologies and who are thus completely immersed in the information society, are lmore ikely to carry out an offensive in Cyberspace. From the military point of view, I am of the opinion that a scenario of the type of those used in simulation by the American army is very plausible. It would be suicidal for any dictator such as Saddam Hussein at the present time to conceive a major offensive without benefiting of the advantages from the principal Achilles' heel of the Western civilization: information systems. At present, information warfare worries the Western governments and they are taking measures in order to avoid being an easy target. However, the task to be achieved is colossal. to just secure military systems one will already need

years and millions of dollars, without even touching civilian infrastructures. It is impossible to know at the moment when you read these lines, if a computer attack is preparing or if it already started. Who knows if universally widespread software like Microsoft Windows or Netscape Navigator are not Trojan horses?

Article Source: http://www.iwar.org.uk/cyberterror/resources/risk s/terrinfo.html