Computer Safety Essay, Research Paper

About two hundred years before, the word “computer” started

to appear in the dictionary. Some people even didn’t know what is

a computer. However, most of the people today not just knowing

what is a computer, but understand how to use a computer.

Therefore, computer become more and more popular and

important to our society. We can use computer everywhere and

they are very useful and helpful to our life. The speed and

accuracy of computer made people felt confident and reliable.

Therefore, many important information or data are saved in the

computer. Such as your diary, the financial situation of a oil

company or some secret intelligence of the military department. A

lot of important information can be found in the memory of

computer. So, people may ask a question: Can we make sure that

the information in the computer is safe and nobody can steal it

from the memory of the computer?

Physical hazard is one of the causes of destroying the data

in the computer. For example, send a flood of coffee toward a

personal computer. The hard disk of the computer could be

endangered by the flood of coffee. Besides, human caretaker of

computer system can cause as much as harm as any physical hazard.

For example, a cashier in a bank can transfer some money from one

of his customer’s account to his own account. Nonetheless, the

most dangerous thief are not those who work with computer every

day, but youthful amateurs who experiment at night — the

hackers.

The term “hacker “may have originated at M.I.T. as students’

jargon for classmates who labored nights in the computer lab. In

the beginning, hackers are not so dangerous at all. They just

stole computer time from the university. However, in the early

1980s, hackers became a group of criminals who steal information

from other peoples’ computer.

For preventing the hackers and other criminals, people need

to set up a good security system to protect the data in the

computer. The most important thing is that we cannot allow those

hackers and criminals entering our computers. It means that we

need to design a lock to lock up all our data or using

identification to verify the identity of someone seeking access

to our computers.

The most common method to lock up the data is using a

password system. Passwords are a multi-user computer system’s

usual first line of defense against hackers. We can use a

combination of alphabetic and number characters to form our own

password. The longer the password, the more possibilities a

hacker’s password-guessing program must work through. However it

is difficult to remember a very long passwords. So people will

try to write the password down and it may immediately make it a

security risk. Furthermore, a high speed password-guessing

program can find out a password easily. Therefore, it is not

enough for a computer that just have a password system to protect

its data and memory.

Besides password system, a computer company may consider

about the security of its information centre. In the past, people

used locks and keys to limit access to secure areas. However,

keys can be stolen or copied easily. Therefore, card-key are

designed to prevent the situation above. Three types of card-keys

are commonly used by banks, computer centers and government

departments. Each of this card-keys can employ an identifying

number or password that is encoded in the card itself, and all

are produced by techniques beyond the reach of the average

computer criminals. One of the three card-key is called watermark

magnetic. It was inspired by the watermarks on paper currency.

The card’s magnetic strip have a 12-digit number code and it

cannot be copied. It can store about two thousand bits in the

magnetic strip. The other two cards have the capability of

storing thousands of times of data in the magnetic strip. They

are optical memory cards (OMCs) and Smart cards. Both of them are

always used in the security system of computers.

However, it is not enough for just using password system and

card-keys to protect the memory in the computer. A computer

system also need to have a restricting program to verify the

identity of the users. Generally, identity can be established by

something a person knows, such as a password or something a

person has, such as a card-key. However, people are often forget

their passwords or lose their keys. A third method must be used.

It is using something a person has — physical trait of a human

being.

We can use a new technology called biometric device to

identify the person who wants to use your computer. Biometric

devices are instrument that perform mathematical analyses of

biological characteristics. For example, voices, fingerprint and

geometry of the hand can be used for identification. Nowadays,

many computer centers, bank vaults, military installations and

other sensitive areas have considered to use biometric security

system. It is because the rate of mistaken acceptance of

outsiders and the rejection of authorized insiders is extremely

low.

Individuality of vocal signature is one kind of biometric

security system. The main point of this system is voice

verification. The voice verifier described here is a

developmental system at American Telephone and Telegraph. Only

one thing that people need to do is repeating a particular phrase

several times. The computer would sample, digitize and store what

you said. After that, it will built up a voice signature and make

allowances for an individual’s characteristic variations. The

theory of voice verification is very simple. It is using the

characteristics of a voice: its acoustic strength. To isolate

personal characteristics within these fluctuations, the computer

breaks the sound into its component frequencies and analyzes how

they are distributed. If someone wants to steal some information

from your computer, the person needs to have a same voice as you

and it is impossible.

Besides using voices for identification, we can use

fingerprint to verify a person’s identity because no two

fingerprints are exactly alike. In a fingerprint verification

system, the user places one finger on a glass plate; light

flashes inside the machine, reflects off the fingerprint and is

picked up by an optical scanner. The scanner transmits the

information to the computer for analysis. After that, security

experts can verify the identity of that person by those

information.

Finally, the last biometric security system is the geometry

of the hand. In that system, the computer system uses a

sophisticated scanning device to record the measurements of each

person’s hand. With an overhead light shining down on the hand, a

sensor underneath the plate scans the fingers through the glass

slots, recording light intensity from the fingertips to the

webbing where the fingers join the palm. After passing the

investigation of the computer, people can use the computer or

retrieve data from the computer.

Although a lot of security system have invented in our

world, they are useless if people always think that stealing

information is not a serious crime. Therefore, people need to pay

more attention on computer crime and fight against those hackers,

instead of using a lot of computer security systems to protect

the computer.

Why do we need to protect our computers ?

It is a question which people always ask in 18th century. However,

every person knows the importance and useful of a computer security

system.

In 19th century, computer become more and more important and

helpful. You can input a large amount of information or data in a small

memory chip of a personal computer. The hard disk of a computer system is

liked a bank. It contained a lot of costly material. Such as your diary,

the financial situation of a trading company or some secret military

information. Therefore, it just like hire some security guards to protect

the bank. A computer security system can use to prevent the outflow of

the information in the national defense industry or the personal diary in

your computer.

Nevertheless, there is the price that one might expect to pay for

the tool of security: equipment ranging from locks on doors to

computerized gate-keepers that stand watch against hackers, special

software that prevents employees to steal the data from the company’s

computer. The bill can range from hundreds of dollars to many millions,

depending on the degree of assurance sought.

Although it needs to spend a lot of money to create a computer

security system, it worth to make it. It is because the data in a

computer can be easily erased or destroyed by a lot of kind of hazards.

For example, a power supply problem or a fire accident can destroy all

the data in a computer company. In 1987, a computer centre inside the

Pentagon, the US military’s sprawling head quarters near Washington, DC.,

a 300-Watt light bulb once was left burning inside a vault where computer

tapes were stored. After a time, the bulb had generated so much heat that

the ceiling began to smelt. When the door was opened, air rushing into

the room brought the fire to life. Before the flames could be

extinguished, they had spread consume three computer systems worth a

total of $6.3 million.

Besides those accidental hazards, human is a great cause of the

outflows of data from the computer. There have two kind of people can go

in the security system and steal the data from it. One is those trusted

employee who is designed to let in the computer system, such as

programmers, operators or managers. Another kind is those youth amateurs

who experiment at night —-the hackers.

Let’s talk about those trusted workers. They are the groups who can

easily become a criminal directly or indirectly. They may steal the

information in the system and sell it to someone else for a great profit.

In another hand, they may be bribed by someone who want to steal the

data. It is because it may cost a criminal far less in time and money to

bride a disloyal employee to crack the security system.

Beside those disloyal workers, hacker is also very dangerous. The

term “hacker” is originated at M.I.T. as students’ jargon for classmates

who doing computer lab in the night. In the beginning, hackers are not so

dangerous at all. They just stole some hints for the test in the

university. However, in early 1980s, hacker became a group of criminal

who steal information from other commercial companies or government

departments.

What can we use to protect the computer ?

We have talked about the reasons of the use of computer security

system. But what kind of tools can we use to protect the computer. The

most common one is a password system. Password are a multi-user computer

system’s which usual used for the first line of defense against

intrusion. A password may be any combination of alphabetic and numeric

characters, to maximum lengths set by the e particular system. Most

system can accommodate passwords up to 40 characters. However, a long

passwords can be easily forget. So, people may write it down and it

immediately make a security risk. Some people may use their first name or

a significant word. With a dictionary of 2000 common names, for instance,

a experienced hacker can crack it within ten minutes.

Besides the password system, card-keys are also commonly used.

Each kind of card-keys can employ an identifying number or password that

is encoded in the card itself, and all are produced by techniques beyond

the reach of the average computer criminal. Three types of card usually

used. They are magnetic watermark, Optical memory card and Smart card.

However, both of the tools can be easily knew or stole by other

people. Password are often forgotten by the users and card-key can be

copied or stolen. Therefore, we need to have a higher level of computer

security system. Biometric device is the one which have a safer

protection for the computer. It can reduce the probability of the

mistaken acceptance of outsider to extremely low. Biometric devices are

instrument that perform mathematical analyses of biological

characteristics. However, the time required to pass the system should not

be too long. Also, it should not give inconvenience to the user. For

example, the system require people to remove their shoes and socks for

footprint verification.

Individuality of vocal signature is one kind of biometry security

system. They are still in the experimental stage, reliable computer

systems for voice verification would be useful for both on-site and

remote user identification. The voice verifier described here is invented

by the developmental system at American Telephone and Telegraph.

Enrollment would require the user to repeat a particular phrase several

times. The computer would sample, digitize and store each reading of the

phrase and then, from the data, build a voice signature that would make

allowances for an individual’s characteristic variations.

Another biometric device is a device which can measuring the act of

writing. The device included a biometric pen and a sensor pad. The pen

can converts a signature into a set of three electrical signals by one

pressure sensor and two acceleration sensors. The pressure sensor can

change in the writer’s downward pressure on the pen point. The two

acceleration sensor can measure the vertical and horizontal movement.

The third device which we want to talk about is a device which can

scan the pattern in the eyes. This device is using an infrared beam which

can scan the retina in a circular path. The detector in the eyepiece of

the device can measure the intensity of the light as it is reflected from

different points. Because blood vessels do not absorb and reflect the

same quantities of infrared as the surrounding tissue, the eyepiece

sensor records the vessels as an intricate dark pattern against a lighter

background. The device samples light intensity at 320 points around the

path of the scan , producing a digital profile of the vessel pattern. The

enrollment can take as little as 30 seconds and verification can be even

faster. Therefore, user can pass the system quickly and the system can

reject those hackers accurately.

The last device that we want to discuss is a device which can map

the intricacies of a fingerprint. In the verification system, the user

places one finger on a glass plate; light flashes inside the machine

,reflect off the fingerprint and is picked up by an optical scanner. The

scanner transmits the information to the computer for analysis.

Although scientist have invented many kind of computer security

systems, no combination of technologies promises unbreakable security.

Experts in the field agree that someone with sufficient resources can

crack almost any computer defense. Therefore, the most important thing is

the conduct of the people. If everyone in this world have a good conduct

and behavior, there is no need to use any complicated security system to

protect the computer.

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