In this age where everything is computerized and or internet based, people spend more time on their pc’s than ever. You can pay your bills, email, perform financial transactions with the bank, social network, shop, get a degree, and the list goes on. These activities involve the transmission of sensitive data over the network and open the door for criminals to steal your valuable personal information. Knowing how to stop these thieves is important. The purpose of this report is to address a few of these security issues and discuss ways to prevent attacks from occurring. Users pose the largest security threat to a pc. Users go out on the internet, haphazardly clicking away on links that could open their pc for an attack. Malware, phishing scams, bot herding, viruses, and worms are just a few of the ways that your pc can be attacked. First and foremost is the user needs to understand that they must use caution when accessing the network. Follow sensible rules such as, don’t open email from strangers, don’t click on strange links, and don’t walk away from the pc without logging out. Never give out passwords, and change passwords often. Every 30-90 days is good and make sure you create strong passwords. As a rule of thumb, only give users access to the specific files and folders that they need. Use common sense when you are on the network and you can prevent malicious attack on your pc and protect sensitive information. Another way to protect your pc from malicious attack is by utilizing patches and hotfixes to the operating system software. Regular updates to the OS ensure that your device has some protection from worms or other malicious code that can damage the pc. Use firewalls on the network. Antivirus software needs to be installed also to protect the pc and it is imperative that you ensure that the program is updated regularly (Brandt, 2009). It is very important to schedule regular scans of the pc to check for viruses or other security threats to your system. Spyware infested software poses a security risk to pc’s on a regular basis. They are stubborn and difficult to remove once they have installed on the pc. They could exploit your system by transmitting sensitive information to criminal via a keylogger that could have been hidden inside of the malicious code. I would suggest using a tool such as Malwarebytes or Unlocker to get rid of the spyware. The Unlocker software overrides the permissions and kills the processes that are used by the malware so you can remove it from the device. There is also keylogger detection software available on the market as well to assist with protection of your device. (Grebennikov, 2007) Another way to protect your device is by not leaving the computer connected on the internet all of the time. As we learned in our discussions in class, there are bot herders out there who scour the networks looking for devices that are always on and open. They are able to be found because the ip address will stay the same as long as they connected to the internet. The bot herders can turn your device into a zombie and they can be used to broadcast malicious code throughout the network once they are taken over. Using a combination of various steps can help stop security threats to your pc. Using common sense while on the network is so important to protect sensitive data from getting into the hands of criminals. This is why it is so important to have a security policy in place to ensure that the rules are followed and network security is not breached. Knowing how to stop the thieves in their tracks is very important and I hope these tips that were provided in this report are helpful.

References
Brandt, A. (2009, January 26). 17 high-risk security threats (and how to fix them) . Retrieved from http://www.pcworld.com/article/157106/17_highrisk_security_threats_and_how_ fix_them.html

Grebennikov, N. (2007, March 29). Keyloggers: How they work and how to detect them (part 1) Retrieved from http://www.securelist.com/en/analysis?pubid=204791931