Week Thirteen: Clear

This week's topic was computer security and safety, ethics and privacy. Although this topic was briefly discussed earlier in the course, this week went more in depth with the topic. From describing the people who commit cybercrimes, to ways to protect your computer from harmful software, to how much information one should consider giving out over the web. According to the text, Discovering Computers 2010, there are seven basic categories of those who commit cybercrimes. They are: hackers, crackers, script kiddies, corporate spies, unethical employees, cyberextortionists, and cyberterrorists. Each of the people who commit cybercrimes do it for their own personal reasons, whether it be personal gain, because they can, or to "teach a company/person a lesson about their security."

All of the computer risks mentioned can involve the people mentioned above, except for system failure, generally. Internet and network attacks, unauthorized access and use, hardware theft, software theft, and information theft are usually committed by a person, or people, whereas system failure is usually attributed to a power surge, or any kind of natural disaster. All of these computer risks can be experienced by both an individual or a company/corporation. 
Although I was aware that cybercriminals try to use e-mail as a way for infecting a computer, by sending spam, I didn't realize that they can also copy real companies' emails, request information through there, and commit their crime. This is both problematic for the company and the individual alike, because not only does the individual risk getting a virus, a worm, or the like, but they also could experience information theft (i.e. identity theft). The company could then be blamed if something like this happens, or they could potentially lose their customers' trust. 
Therefore, computer users must always beware of not only the e-mails they receive, but the attachments, and the webpages linked within the e-mail. Ways in which computer users can help to keep their computers safe, since their is no way to completely keep a computer safe from computer crimes, are by installing anti-virus software, continually backing up their data, staying informed about recent virus alerts, as well as installing firewalls into their computer. 
For more information, I found this website useful: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/