
Photo By N1NJ4
I know, I’m old – we don’t call it ‘surfing the net’ anymore. Whether you like to keep up with your family and friends on FaceBook or play games online or even just pay some bills, there are some guidelines to keep in mind to do it safely. Below is a list of terms to familiarize yourself with when going online:
Online Security:
It’s a method to protect Computers and networks. It should provide security against disasters, corruption (like spammers), and thieves trying to steal your information.
Authorization: A system whereby a group of users can access the system. This can apply to a person’s individual computer or the application that they’re using. The method for authorizing might include passwords, smart cards or even biometric sensors.
Authentication: This is the way that one is identified as the “User” of the account. The same techniques for authentication could include passwords, smart cards, or biometric sensors.
Access Control List: This is a list that contains the permissions given to the users on different occaasions.
Chain of Trust: This is to ensure that all the software that customer uses is authentic.
Cryptography: This is used to provide data security while transaction is being transmitted.
Firewall: This is to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network (think Spambots). Both hardware and software can be ued to implement this.
Anti-virus Software: Software used to identify and remove viruses, malware, worms, tapeworms, bugs, creepy crawlers, rodents and mice (oh, sorry – we need our mice).
Back-Ups: If you don’t back up your date — you’re just stupid. It’s not a matter of IF something will happen to your data or your computer. It’s a matter of WHEN it will happen. (Usually at the mostest, inconvenienest times.) Store a back up copy in a safe place. I have my data stored in an ‘online back storage place’ AND on my computer AND on a back-up drive.
Encryption: A security measure to encode normal readable data into non-readable form. Only certain (and authorized people can decrypt the information. They would use a certain ‘code’ or key to decrypt the data.