Privacy and Security on the Internet, Essay Example

Introduction

Information Technology has become the life-blood of virtually every organization. Most large business operations contain Data Centre’s of expensive computer and communication systems (hardware) and important client information and programs (software). Together they provide the central backbone of the organization and as such, any threat to these systems can be extremely disruptive and costly to the business.  The need to retain security and privacy over your information and data has become of paramount concern. With e-commerce, you run a potential risk from hackers and others who may target your organization to acquire intellectual property rights or important data sets. These are often used to exploit items such as identity theft, to acquire e-mail mailing lists and to sell-on other useful information. One Japanese firm had its entire web site cloned by a Chinese firm and because of difficult legal ramifications, it proved impossible, to proceed with legal action for what otherwise is deemed a criminal offense. (Michael E. Whitman)

An insecure open environment

Essentially conducting business over the internet in an unsecure environment is to place your business at severe risk.  Penetration may come from hackers, viruses, spam, communication breaches and various other media. As such, you need to screen from these intrusions by putting in place suitable firewalls, ant-virus/anti-spam software, data encryption and other security measures to prevent unauthorised illegal entry to your system.

There is a considerable threat imposed upon the interception of communications particularly that associated with electronic media.  One of the more common threats relates to that of e-mail. The threat here is two-fold: (i) the interception of messages and communication by hackers and others who are intent on theft of intellectual copyright or business confidential information (ii) incoming messages from the outside that may have attachments and carry harmful viruses that can penetrate the Banks firewall and impose serious damage to the computer network.  The first of these represents a criminal offence and is punishable under the law.  The second may be harmless or careless use of communications that have not been checked with anti-virus software.  The policies here become a little more complex but certain precautions can be taken.  The first is for the system not to accept any external e-mails that contain attachments. In addition those that contain any graphics or graphic files which are often used to harbour Trojans.

Only allow access to the network to those that have security clearance and are deemed to be authorised users of the system. Restrict external file attachments to addresses outside of the system (prevention of data transfer or theft).  The job of the Security Manager has been made much harder in recent years because of items like USB Pen Drives that have high storage capacity.  They can be plugged into virtually any USB port in the system and quickly download data.  Providing the person can gain access, they will have the ability to download confidential information files. (Internet security: firewalls and beyond)

Litigation Issues

The concept of litigation seems most prevalent in the area of IT Security.  Nearly all forms of electronic media have the potential for being involved in litigation cases.  When these instances arise, one of the most important aspects will be the gathering of data or information for evidence.  Where it is believed that a criminal act has taken place the computers and network devices may be removed for evidence.  This type of confiscation can impose a serious threat and disruption to the business as the court may instruct the system to be frozen, which means that the back-up recovery system could not be immediately invoked.  Failure to comply with court orders can result in very severe penalties.  This impact is mitigated by having the geographical architecture divided into a number of nodes or junctions allowing for components to be removed or bi-passed.

Integrity of Research

Search Engines like Google provide open-ended sources of information, not all of which can be relied upon for data integrity.  It is possible to use filters like that of ‘google scholar’ or ‘google books’ to find more reliable academic sources of information.  Using databases via search engines like EBSCO are a more direct means of drilling down into more reliable sources of information.  EBSCO has the ability to drill down by subject and focuses purely on reliable academic works. (EBSCO)

Works Cited

EBSCO. Colleges and Universities. 2011. 8 7 2011 <http://ebscohost.com/academic>.

“Internet security: firewalls and beyond.” Communications, Vol 40 Iss 5 (1997): 92-102.

Michael E. Whitman, Herbert J. Mattord. Principles of Information Security, 4th Ed. Boston MA: Cengage, 2011.