by Aimee Coulter

Created on: November 20, 2008   Last Updated: January 24, 2009

In the last two decades, the sophistication of hacker tools has increased at the same rate that the technical knowledge required to hack into a system has decreased. In 1980, computer crime consisted mainly of guessing passwords. And even as recently as 1990, hackers were only as dangerous as their ability to crack passwords and exploit known vulnerabilities. But by the year 2000, hacking tools had become extremely sophisticated and required the hacker to have little to no programming skills at all.

Back doors, sniffers, sweepers, hijacking sessions, stealth diagnostics, internet worms and phishing are now commonplace. By these methods, private, confidential and proprietary information is stolen, corrupted or destroyed. The rapidly developing level of invasive and destructive hacking tools has increased the need for computer security in business settings. Establishing information security best business practices for your organization decreases the chance of an attack. These practices are not solely related to software protection. They also include common everyday practices that employees can become all too complacent about.

You should never assume the firewall and antivirus software installed on your computer when you purchased it will be sufficient or that an upgrade will not be needed. New viruses are created and discovered daily. Threats evolve and mutate. Often they co-opt, or partner up, increasing your exposure and the amount of damage that can be done to your organization. Keep yourself informed of threats and the users they target to decrease the likelihood of your systems being affected. In addition, identify the best defense against each potential threat and integrate that into your organization's systems prior to invasion. In the event that your systems are attacked, you will already be aware of the danger level and any corrective actions that need to be implemented.

Five Major Computer Security Risks

Zombie PC Armies. This malware targets Windows users, has a high likelihood of occurring and a high danger level. Would be criminals with few programming skills purchase bot-building kits online for a small fee. They plant the bots on malicious Web sites or attach them to an email. The botnet then sweeps up money with spam, spyware and denial-of-service attacks.

Bots, like most malware, often attack when users visit unfamiliar websites, click on links in unsolicited emails or when opening attachments to emails without exercising appropriate caution. A common

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