With the enormous amount of sensitive information stored digitally, companies need to take the proper measure to ensure this data is never compromised. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of business owners to protect their clients data.
Failing to do so can result in a data breach, which cost companies billions of dollars every year. Understanding the risks involved with data security can help you prevent a privacy breach. The first step in protecting your business is to recognize basic types of risk: * Hackers, attackers, and intruders. These terms are applied to people who seek to exploit weaknesses in software and computer systems for their personal gain. Although their intentions are sometimes benign, their actions are typically in violation of the intended use of the systems that they are exploiting. The results of this cyber risk can range from minimal mischief to malicious activity.* Malicious Code. This is the term used to describe any code in any part of a software system or script that is intended to cause undesired effects, security breaches or damage to a system. -- Viruses: This type of code requires that you actually do something before it infects your system, such as open an email attachment or go to a particular Web page. Worms: This code propagates systems without user interventions. They typically start by exploiting a software flaw. Then once the victims computer is infected, the worm will attempt to find and infect other computers. Trojan Horses: Trojans hide in otherwise harmless programs on a computer, and much like the Greek story, release themselves when you're not expecting it and cause a lot of damage. For example, a program that claims to speed up your computer system but actually sends confidential information to a remote intruder is a popular type of Trojan.