Network security

Email privacy

Security on the Web

SECURITY AND PRIVACY ON THE INTERNET

III Read the text more carefully and answer these questions.

II Read the text about internet security quickly and see how many of your ideas from question task I are mentioned.

I In pairs, discuss these questions.

1 What is a hacker?

2 How easy do you think to infiltrate the Internet and steal sensitive information?

3 How can you protect your computer from viruses and spyware?

1 Why is security so important on the Internet?

2 What security features are offered by Mozilla Firefox?

3 What security protocol is used by banks to make online transactions secure?

4 How can we protect our email and keep it private?

5 What methods are used by companies to make internal networks secure?

6 In what ways can a virus enter a computer system?

7 How does a worm spread itself?

There are many benefits from an open system like the Internet, but one of the risks is that we are often exposed to hackers, who break into computer systems just for fun, to steal information, or to spread viruses. So how do we go about making our online transactions secure?

Security is a crucial when you send confidential information online. Consider, for example, the process of buying a book on the Web. You have to type your credit card number into an order form which passes from computer to computer on its way to the online bookstore. If one of the intermediary computers is infiltrated by hackers, your data can be copied.

To avoid risks, you should set all security alerts to high on your Web browser. Mozilla Firefox displays a lock when the website is secure and allows you to disable or delete cookies – small files placed on your hard drive by web servers so that they can recognize your PC when you return to their site.

If you use online banking services, make sure they use digital certificates – files that are like digital identification cards and that identify users and web servers. Also be sure to use a browser that is compliant with SSL (S ecure S ockets L ayer), a protocol which provides secure transactions.

Similarly, as your email travels across the Net, it is copied temporarily onto many computers in between. This means that it can be read by people who illegally enter computer systems.

The only way to protect a message is to put it in a sort of virtual envelope – that is, to encode it with some form of encryption. A system designed to send email privately is Pretty Good Privacy, a freeware program written by Phil Zimmerman.

Private networks can be attacked by intruders who attempt to obtain information such as Social Security numbers, bank accounts or research and business reports. To protect crucial data, companies hire security consultants who analyze the risks and provide solutions. The most common methods of protection are passwords for access control, firewalls, and encryption and decryption systems. Encryption changes data into a secret code so that only someone with a key can read it. Decryption converts encrypted data back into its original form.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-07