How Do Hackers Get Into Your Hard Drive?
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Vulnerabilities
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There are two distinct categories that define how a hacker can gain access to your system.
The first and probably most dangerous category is what is known as Malware, which also includes various kinds of virus infections, specifically the Trojan variety.
The second category is referred to as social engineering, and this is a vulnerability that any computer user can ensure is reduced to zero.
Malware
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Without question, the users of the Microsoft Windows operating system are most at risk to having their systems compromised, not necessarily due to Microsoft products being inferior, but because the overwhelming majority of computers in the world run Windows, and that makes Windows the most attractive target to focus on.
Beginning at the most basic, if a computer was built, configured, and then had its operating system and software loaded, but never connected to the Internet (or any network) and never exchanged data with any other computer, there would be no chance that any type of malware would ever be introduced. In every case, malware is passed from one computer to another through a mechanism where the target computer communicates with another infected computer, or takes in data that is infected from another computer.
Email has long been a transmitter of virus infection, some types leading to the remote access of a system by a hacker, as has any form of storage media, whether that is a floppy disk, a USB drive or a memory stick. The way to protect against the majority of attacks propagated through any of those media is to install and maintain an anti-virus program.
The Internet presents a number of other challenges, even allowing a computer that has anti-virus protection to become infected simply by viewing a web page. To reduce the chances of this type of infection happening on a system, aside from running an up-to-date anti-virus program, it is critical to make sure that all of the security updates available from Microsoft are installed as soon as is practical. An unpatched system is an open door; keep your security updates up-to-date at all times.
Internet Explorer (the Microsoft web browser) is oftentimes exploited and many security experts will recommend that an alternate browser be utilized, Mozilla Firefox being one of the many available.
Downloading and installing software from an unknown or untrustworthy source is asking for trouble. If you have doubts, use Google to search for more information about this software package you are considering installing. If there has been a problem, a few minutes reading should provide you with that information. -
Social/Environmental Issues
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With all of the technical challenges discussed above, believe it or not, the worst vulnerability in the security chain still remains the end user. Even though people are repeatedly told to not reveal their passwords, when asked, even by a stranger on the telephone who tells them he is from tech support, a fair percentage of people will reveal their passwords.
Be careful out there, it's dangerous.
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