Ecommerce Diary

When a computer connects to a network and begins communicating with others, it is taking a risk. Internet security involves the protection of a computer's internet account and files from intrusion of an unknown user. Basic security measures involve protection by well selected passwords, change of file permissions and back up of computer's data.

Nowadays, threats are becoming more and more sophisticated as recipients of threats are better educated on what to look for. Users are more cautious and this has lead to a rise in more cunning ways to harvest personal information without users’ apparent involvement. Therefore, our data has become unsafe on the internet so it makes the internet users full of fear when surfing the net.

These are the threats that affect the online security:

Computer Virus
A virus is a self-replicating/self-reproducing program that spreads by inserting copies of itself into other executable code or documents. Viruses are one of several types of malicious software or malware. When a virus infects your computer it can wipe out data, significantly affect computer operation, and use your Internet connection to spread. For example, Computer worm Conficker infects anywhere from 9 to 15 million Microsoft server systems running everything from Windows 2000 to the Windows 7 Beta in November 2008. The French Navy, UK Ministry of Defence (including Royal Navy warships and submarines), Sheffield Hospital network, German Bundeswehr and Norwegian Police were all affected.

Hacking
Computer hacking involves some degree of violation of the privacy of others, or damage to computer-based property such as files, web pages or software. The impact of computer hacking varies from being invasive and annoying to illegal. In January 2008, Project Chanology Anon attacks Scientology website servers around the world and private documents are stolen from Scientology computers and distributed over the Internet.

Hijacking
Online, hijacking refers to the act of obtaining an individual’s personal account information and using it for malicious purposes. An example would be a fraudster getting a hold on someone’s personal credit card information and going on a spending spree. There are many types of hijacking in internet like DNS hijacking, domain hijacking, IP hijacking and page hijacking.

Identify theft
Identity theft occurs when a criminal uses another person's personal information to take on that person's identity. Identity theft is much more than misuse of a Social Security number – it can also include credit card and mail fraud. In the online world, electronic commerce information can be intercepted as a result of vulnerabilities in computer security. Besides that, identity theft can also be undertaken on a large scale, as in the case of a company or even a city.

Spyware
Spyware is a form of malicious software designed to interrupt or take partial control of a computer's operation without the consent of that computer’s user. Spyware has come to refer more generally to software that threatens the computer's operation and information for the benefit of a third party.
There are many examples of spyware, which are CoolWeb search, Zango, Zlob Trojan and Movieland. Zlub Trojan downloads itself to a computer via an ActiveX codec and reports information back to Control Server.

Phishing
Phishing is a form of identity theft whereby scammers send an e-mail that appears to come from a legitimate company with whom the recipient conducts business (such as a bank or payment processing service). Recipients of such e-mails who click through may then unwittingly submit their personal information to the fraudulent site.

At year 2009, there are some top online security threats that everyone can have a look.
Top Online Security Threats for 2009