| In the last years, network security managers started to have problems with the protection of their systems. Hackers are becoming increasingly effective and they have more than one way to attack a system. The network security tools are also advancing, but there is a way to break any type of new protection systems. Some threats are hard to detect and many network security administrators are not well prepared to face a new virus attack.
A virus can be any computer threat, but the term actually refers to malware that can insert codes into existing programs without the permission of the user and with malicious intentions. Viruses can spread through different means and most of them are detect by a simple anti-virus program. The large majority of the viruses are send to Internet users, in an attachment from their e-mail box. They can only be a threat to your network security system if you download it and execute the file. Most e-mail providers have an anti-virus scanner that takes care of all attachments, so most of the viruses don't reach their target. If you get a virus or a worm, it will start making copy of itself in different part of the computer or even attack the network computers if there are any. Advanced worms can open holes in your network security and they can open the path for stronger threads. Most viruses destroy the programs and data that they infect. Trojan horses are those attackers that seam innocent. They can be incorporated almost anywhere, from computer games to web links. If you enter an infected link or try to play what seams a small computer game, you can encounter a Trojan horse. Unlike viruses, Trojan horses can install a key logger. It can record your key strokes and retain any personal information like accounts, passwords or other data that you don't want people to know. They are a serious threat to a network security manager and they are hard to recognize at first sight. The best way to prevent this threat is by blocking access to links from emails and by not visiting unfamiliar web pages. Spam also affects network security. There were some cases of coordinated spam attacks against networks that ultimately crashed. Spam messages are usually received in the bulk folder of your email address because most email providers have spam filters. Phishing is a term used for those emails that request information related to person's bank accounts by tricking them. They can seam like a reconfirmation for a password, but the links from the e-mail record everything you type and steal your accounts. They are used by hackers for stealing eBay, pay pal or e-gold accounts. They are a very big problem for network security managers and ecommerce sites. Ecommerce users need to know that their passwords will never be requested by email and they need to report anyone that sends this kind of emails. Another problem for network security administrators are packet sniffers. They capture any kind of data that travels through a network system including passwords, usernames or credit card numbers. The levels of network security should be accessed with different passwords, so if someone finds out a password, they can't control the entire system.
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