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Glossary

A Reference Guide on Computer Security

Every user who deals with a computer and the Internet should know how to protect personal data against damage, deletion, and unauthorized access.

The number of known threats is enormous, and it is growing every day.

These threats include viruses, Trojan horses, network and e-mail worms, and hacker attacks. Software vulnerabilities also pose a serious threat because they can be used by intruders to scan your system and obtain access to your personal data. Furthermore, there is malicious software specifically designed to steal personal data such as credit card numbers, passwords, and other confidential information. Let us discuss each of these threats in more detail:

• Viruses
• Trojan horses
• Worms
• Hacker utilities
• Spyware
• Adware

The damage inflicted by any of the above-listed malicious programs can be disastrous: in some cases, lost data cannot be recovered.

However, the most dangerous threats are those yet unknown because it is hard to predict their specific operating mechanisms, methods of proliferation, and target.

Thus, there is an urgent need for an effective tool that can protect users’ information against unknown threats and other malicious activities.

What Protection Tools Are Available

At present, protection solutions available within the computer security market include such powerful tools as anti-virus applications and personal firewalls.

Anti-virus software effectively prevents known malicious programs (viruses, Trojans, and worms) from infecting your computer and spreading to other computers.

Personal firewalls are able to block known hacker attacks performed through software vulnerabilities and open network connections.

If you have both tools installed on your computer, they will generally keep it secure from known threats.

Both anti-virus tools and firewalls rely on the use of databases and rulesets that contain signatures of known viruses, malware, and software vulnerabilities, as well as the methods of how to fight them.

These databases are used to identify and disinfect detected viruses and other malware on computers. Most anti-virus software and firewall vendors provide regular updates to their rulesets/databases.

However, the protection provided by anti-virus solutions and firewalls is based on reactive technologies, which are mostly useless when you need to protect yourself from unknown threats. Reactive protection databases, being highly effective against known threats, need to be updated with new signatures to neutralize new type of threats. After the initial release of a new software threat, there is a window of vulnerability before software vendors are able to update their databases. During this period, users are unprotected against the new viruses and hacker attacks.

Safe'n'Sec is a new generation of security solutions for personal computers