Computer Security [Hardware and Software Security] - SEE Computer Science - Chapter 3

Chapter -3

Computer Security

1.      Computer security
The security given to the computer for the protection of hardware, software and data from being lost or damaged due to accidental or intentional harm is known as computer security. The types of computer security are hardware security and software security.

2.      Objectives of computer security

a)      Confidentiality refers to protecting information from being accessed by unauthorized parties. In other words, only the people who are authorized to do so can gain access to sensitive data.

b)     Integrity refers to ensuring the authenticity of information—that information is not altered, and that the source of the information is genuine.

c)      Availability means that information is accessible by authorized users.

3.      Possible threats to computer security

a)      Human error

b)     Computer crime

c)      Natural disasters

d)     War and terrorist activity

e)      Hardware failure

4.      Hardware security
The security given to the various hardware tools or equipment from being lost or damaged due to accidental or intentional harm is known as hardware security.

5.      Some of the hardware security measures

a)      Regular maintenance

b)     Insurance Policy

c)      Power Regulator Device

d)     Fire detectors

e)      Protection from theft

6.      Software security
The security given to the software and data from being lost or damaged due to accidental or intentional harm is called software security. Software prevents the data loss by

a)      Antivirus software can detect and remove virus from the computer.

b)     Scan disk checks folders, bad sector and other error of the disk and fix them.

c)      Software for backup helps in securing the information by keeping backup.

7.      Some of the software security measures

a)      Backup

b)     Scandisk

c)      Defragmentation

d)     Password

8.      Voltage regulator device
A voltage regulator device is an electronic regulator device designed to automatically maintain a constant voltage level.
E.g.: UPS, Spike guard, Volt guard, etc.

9.      Power protection device

The device that provides clean AC power to sensitive electrical equipment are called power protection devices. Examples are: UPS, Volt Guard, Spike guard, etc.

Power protection device is needed in a computer system to protect the computer system from damage and expensive data loss.

10.   UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)
A UPS is a device that allows computer to keep running for at least a short time when the primary power source is lost. It provides continuous power supply to the computer system and protects them from power surge and voltage fluctuation.

The importance of UPS in computer security system is that it controls fluctuation of electric voltage and provides enough backup electric power to the computer system when there is power failure.

11.   Surge Protector

Surge protector is a device that shields computer and other electronic devices from surges in electric power or transient voltage, that flow from the power supply.

12.   Regular Maintenance

Computer system need regular maintenance to keep the computer hardware in good working condition and it also helps to find out problems in hardware and correct the problems before they cause several damages.

13.   Fire detectors

Fireguards and fire extinguisher should be installed to protect computer system from fire. Alarms, security lighting and closed circuit television cameras should be used to protect computer system from theft.

14.   Air Condition

Computer system needs air conditioned room because the factor of climate such as temperature and humidity can pose a threat to computer security. Extremely heat can cause failure of electronic components. Excessive or very low humidity can also have an adverse effect on the computer equipment. This leads to a reduction in the life span of equipment. So, a good air conditioning system is required to eradicate heat-related failures.

15.   Password

A password is a secret word or phrase that gives a user access to a particular program or system. To protect a system from unauthorized access, password should be kept in a system which provides security to the system. A password should be difficult to guess and determine and should be changed regularly and memorized.
Any four criteria for strong password are:

a)      Do not keep a password which can be easily guessed such as date of birth, nickname, etc.

b)     Do not keep word as password that is currently popular.

c)      Keep a password with mixture of alphabet and numbers which is difficult to guess.

d)     Keep changing your password regularly.

16.   Password policy

A set of rules designed to enhance computer security by encouraging user to employee strong passwords and use them properly is called password policy.

17.   Backup

Backup is a copy of a file which is used in the event of the original file being corrupted. Backup is essential to computer security system to recover the important data and programs from accidental and intentional harm. They are stored in different storage devices like hard disk, CDs and pen drives. When the data and software gets lost or damaged the backup system helps to recover the lost or damaged data or software from the backup copy of data and software.

18.   Scan disk

Scan disk is a process which involves in maintaining the disk files and folders, bad sectors, lost clusters, lost chains and other errors of the specific disk and it can fix them if it is possible.

19.   Defragmentation

The process of re-writing parts of a file to continuous sector on a hard disk to increase the speed of access and retrieval is called defragmentation.

20.   Fragmentation

The scattering of the parts of the same disk file over different location is called fragmentation.

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