One of the single most defining aspects of the 21st century is the ever-increasing sophistication of technology and its contribution to the interconnectedness we see in the world today. As computers become faster, mobile phones become more prominent and the transfer rates of information over the digital highway become quicker, more and more of the world is able to connect with one another regardless of the distance between. Statistics show that the number of people that connect to the internet has jumped a whopping 528 percent since the turn of the century, going from a little over 360 million to over 2.2 billion!
Since the internet is a relatively new frontier, it has been likened to the Wild West, lots of potential with very few effective methods of keeping it completely safe. Unfortunately, the increase in popularity of both business and personal internet usage, as well as the newness of the internet itself, has given rise to a whole new category of criminal: the hacker. The term ?hacker? actually covers a wide variety of people that use computers and software for many different reasons, not all of them illegal. The most common usage for the term is for the criminals who use their skills to break into corporate, government or personal computers, and are normally referred to as black hats. These emerging predators are the people that this article will concentrate on.
There are a few different ways that a hacker can gain access to a computer, each of which has different safeguards that can be employed in order to protect yourself from these incursions. One of the most popular ways that a hacker can gain access to a person?s computer is through email. This is done by sending an email with a file attached, many times disguised as someone the recipient knows. Once the recipient opens the attachment, a virus or trojan horse will install itself onto the target computer. The goal of the installed virus is to allow the hacker to be able to access the information stored on the targeted computer, after which they can gather passwords and any financial data stored on the computer. A variation of this, which is equally popular, is for a person to download a file from a website that contains a virus. In this case, once the user attempts to open the file, be it an executable file, song or video, the virus will launch itself in the background and provide the hacker with a gateway to the stored information. As you can see, with both of these possibilities, the virus is the method that is used by the hacker to gain access to your computer.
Thankfully, the rise of the computer virus and the chaos that has resulted from their use, prompted software designers and companies to develop programs specifically designed to detect and neutralize these malicious threats. These programs are called anti-virus programs and come in many different types, and are made by many different companies. One of the best things about anti-virus software is that due to the fact that viruses are such an increasingly dangerous problem, many reputable companies have developed software that is absolutely free for a person to download and use. What?s even better, is that just because it is free does not mean that it is not effective. A prime example of this is AVG Anti-Virus, which can be found at www.avg.com. This program not only protects you from viruses that are known at the time you download and install it, but also provides you with free updates containing the means to protect from threats as they are discovered. If your protection needs are a little more advanced, and you want a? program that can turn your computer into a virtual fortress, there is a paid version of the software that includes a wide variety of powerful tools to help secure your computer. Other top rated anti-virus programs can be found at www.bitdefender.com, www.norton.com and www.mcafee.com. As is true with AVG?s program, many of these companies offer both a free and paid version of their software.
There are two other primary methods that a hacker can use to gain access to your computer, both of which use the same type of software called a firewall to protect yourself from. The first is visiting a site that has been infected with a program that will take advantage of different loopholes in your operating system. The way that this differs from the aforementioned methods is that you do not need to download any files or open any attachments in order for the hacker to breach your computer. Simply visiting the infected website is enough for access to your computer to take place, and to jeopardize your personal information. The second method, and one which is a little less common, is for a hacker to attempt to access your computer directly over the internet through the use of your IP address. An IP address, or internet protocol address, is the string of numbers that is used to identify your specific computer out on the virtual highway. Each computer?s IP address is unique, so if a hacker knows your IP address, or if they are trying different IP addresses at random, they can attempt to access the contents of your computer directly.
Both of these types of exploits can be guarded against by using a program called a firewall. Without getting too technical, a firewall is basically a program that identifies who can access your computer, while rejecting all other access attempts. As with anti-virus software there are a wide variety of companies that make extremely effective firewall programs. In fact, Windows 7 comes with an excellent firewall built directly into the operating system. Other popular firewall programs can be found at www.zonealarm.com, www.comodo.com and www.online-armor.com. As is true with anti-virus programs, these companies offer basic protection for free and a more advanced program for a nominal fee.
As you can see, there are several different ways for a hacker to gain access to your computer, as well as an equal number of ways to safeguard yourself and your information. With a little time and effort, it is possible to ensure that you do not fall prey to one of the many online predators prowling the Web today.
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