Threats and countermeasures
Article Abstract:
Computer networks installed by many organizations in the 1980s are now afflicted with the problem of information security and electronic data vulnerability. Interception and corruption is a large problem for corporate data, medical records, military plans, phone conversations, financial transactions and personal data, and threatens integrity and privacy. Traditional problems with electronic data involve picking up electronic emissions from individual computers or from transmissions between physical locations. Computer viruses and network attacks add the dimension of data destruction and corruption. Hundreds of new computer viruses appear annually in Europe and target IBM PCs and compatible microcomputers globally. To date there are approximately 1350 viruses that affect IBM PCs and compatibles, 200 viruses that affect Amiga microcomputers, and 35 Apple Macintosh viruses. There are test versions of UNIX and mainframe viruses that were theoretically eradicated by computer wizards. There are approximately 300 basic virus families, from which other viruses are adapted.
Publication Name: IEEE Spectrum
Subject: Engineering and manufacturing industries
ISSN: 0018-9235
Year: 1992
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Data security
Article Abstract:
Microcomputers and corporate networks mix to create complex data security problems that did not exist when mainframes were the basic corporate computing method. Advances in speed, connectivity and accessibility add to the problem of how to secure network data. The leading risk to data security at present is the loss of information to accidental errors. There is growing concern about the intentional abuse of sensitive information, as in the case of industrial espionage. Criminals can steal more money with computers than they can with a gun. In the US in a single day approximately $1 trillion is electronically transferred by banks; Bank of America processes 10,000 new accounts daily. Crimes committed from remote sites are difficult to trace and often escape notice. In addition to banks, companies that deal with research and development projects that consist of valuable proprietary information are targets for criminals.
Publication Name: IEEE Spectrum
Subject: Engineering and manufacturing industries
ISSN: 0018-9235
Year: 1992
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
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