Now a days browsing has become our second nature. We unknowingly turn to Internet out of sheer habit. And browsing comes with associated security keywords such as Anti-virus, Firewall, Anti-Malware, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Spam and so on... A lot has been written about Internet/ computer security. But how seriously do we take this issue?
Most of us use Windows operating systems (which is prone to a lot of security issues! [A topic in itself ;-) ]) on home & office computers. If we are using company laptops, the network/ security team takes care of it's security, of course that doesn't end our responsibility!! But what if we are not? I have seen a lot of people who don't care, (Probably they assume that somebody else takes care of this or maybe they don't understand the severity or they just assume it won't happen to them since they don't do any of the things which they are not supposed to!) or the opposite, people who are finicky about security! But believe me there is no such extreme when it comes to computer security. Cause when we think we are secured, there might be something going wrong somewhere... The point here is, it is an ongoing, evolving process.
But why am I writing this boring stuff when a lot has been written already? We probably knew this all along, but forgot about the very fact, By keeping our computers secured, we are in turn keeping our Country secured!!!! How?
There have been a lot of attacks on Indian government websites in recent times esp. from China[Link1, Link2]. And possibly, many of the computers used in the attacks are based in India!!! Now how is this possible? One of the reason, because of many of the users from the first category mentioned above. Who are unaware/ ignorant of the computer security issues. Who click on links which they should not, install unauthorized software which actually are malwares, click on unsolicited emails & download attachments from such emails, and so on ... We know all that part already... Hence unknowingly not only are we compromising our own personal data, but might be helping our foes too.
What are the implications of this to our country's security? Hacking a government computer/ network is equivalent to (and still fresh in our memories) infiltration by Pakistan and the result, Kargil war! In Internet terms it is Cyber War. (The best example of cyber war would be the 2007 cyber attack on a small country Estonia once part of the former USSR and incidentally many of the computers used in the attack were in India!) Most of our confidential data is on our computers now, unlike in paper files which was the case earlier. Hence this new threat. Didn't we want it to be this way? We wanted to get rid of paper and the delays associated, as in western countries. We wanted our country to be at par with these nations. Which is certainly a good thing. But advancement in technology comes with side effects hence more responsibility!!!
Initially when it came to data, it was important to only keep the facilities with confidential material safe and secured, but now its clear that our foes don't need any physical access to wage a war against us. Internet was meant to bring people together, not otherwise!! So far, they probably don't have their hands on any confidential data, but if we don't take any action in the right direction now, they will soon have it! If our computers can be used to attack other countries, would it be difficult to use the same to attack our own?
It's become utmost important for us to be aware of computer security if we are using a computer, it's inevitable that we take necessary, positive action. We have to be vigilant while browsing. We have to learn and teach others about computer security. It's a very serious issue. It's like we are indirectly acting as soldiers in the making or breaking of our Nation... Can we, as loyal, peace loving people, live with the fact that we were in some way responsible for compromising our Motherland?
------
This was a long pending thought, although not interesting to many, nonetheless important to us all, which I felt should be expressed in words. I might have sounded finicky ( which I am! :-) ), but the whole point is to stress the importance of computer security. I welcome any suggestions, pointers in this regards.
To begin with, I have posted a Trend Micro link in the 'Useful Tools' section in this blog. This is a very good site where you need not download anything, but get your computer scanned for Viruses, Trojans, etc online. It takes some 30 minutes or so, but worth it. And at the end of the scan you will know what vulnerabilities, issues exist on your computer, if any and you can take necessary action. I am planning to update the blog with more such useful security tools in coming days.
Also checkout this interesting article, China: Friend or Foe.
Most of us use Windows operating systems (which is prone to a lot of security issues! [A topic in itself ;-) ]) on home & office computers. If we are using company laptops, the network/ security team takes care of it's security, of course that doesn't end our responsibility!! But what if we are not? I have seen a lot of people who don't care, (Probably they assume that somebody else takes care of this or maybe they don't understand the severity or they just assume it won't happen to them since they don't do any of the things which they are not supposed to!) or the opposite, people who are finicky about security! But believe me there is no such extreme when it comes to computer security. Cause when we think we are secured, there might be something going wrong somewhere... The point here is, it is an ongoing, evolving process.
But why am I writing this boring stuff when a lot has been written already? We probably knew this all along, but forgot about the very fact, By keeping our computers secured, we are in turn keeping our Country secured!!!! How?
There have been a lot of attacks on Indian government websites in recent times esp. from China[Link1, Link2]. And possibly, many of the computers used in the attacks are based in India!!! Now how is this possible? One of the reason, because of many of the users from the first category mentioned above. Who are unaware/ ignorant of the computer security issues. Who click on links which they should not, install unauthorized software which actually are malwares, click on unsolicited emails & download attachments from such emails, and so on ... We know all that part already... Hence unknowingly not only are we compromising our own personal data, but might be helping our foes too.
What are the implications of this to our country's security? Hacking a government computer/ network is equivalent to (and still fresh in our memories) infiltration by Pakistan and the result, Kargil war! In Internet terms it is Cyber War. (The best example of cyber war would be the 2007 cyber attack on a small country Estonia once part of the former USSR and incidentally many of the computers used in the attack were in India!) Most of our confidential data is on our computers now, unlike in paper files which was the case earlier. Hence this new threat. Didn't we want it to be this way? We wanted to get rid of paper and the delays associated, as in western countries. We wanted our country to be at par with these nations. Which is certainly a good thing. But advancement in technology comes with side effects hence more responsibility!!!
Initially when it came to data, it was important to only keep the facilities with confidential material safe and secured, but now its clear that our foes don't need any physical access to wage a war against us. Internet was meant to bring people together, not otherwise!! So far, they probably don't have their hands on any confidential data, but if we don't take any action in the right direction now, they will soon have it! If our computers can be used to attack other countries, would it be difficult to use the same to attack our own?
It's become utmost important for us to be aware of computer security if we are using a computer, it's inevitable that we take necessary, positive action. We have to be vigilant while browsing. We have to learn and teach others about computer security. It's a very serious issue. It's like we are indirectly acting as soldiers in the making or breaking of our Nation... Can we, as loyal, peace loving people, live with the fact that we were in some way responsible for compromising our Motherland?
------
This was a long pending thought, although not interesting to many, nonetheless important to us all, which I felt should be expressed in words. I might have sounded finicky ( which I am! :-) ), but the whole point is to stress the importance of computer security. I welcome any suggestions, pointers in this regards.
To begin with, I have posted a Trend Micro link in the 'Useful Tools' section in this blog. This is a very good site where you need not download anything, but get your computer scanned for Viruses, Trojans, etc online. It takes some 30 minutes or so, but worth it. And at the end of the scan you will know what vulnerabilities, issues exist on your computer, if any and you can take necessary action. I am planning to update the blog with more such useful security tools in coming days.
Also checkout this interesting article, China: Friend or Foe.
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