USES OF THE INTERNET & INTERNET SECURITY

The Internet is a global networking system that can be used on most devices nowadays and has
become an essential part of our lives. There are various uses of the Internet by which companies
and individuals are making their daily tasks more productive and more comfortable. Some uses
of the Internet includes:

• Social Networking
• Education
• E-commerce
• Online Banking
• Online shopping
• Video games
• Research
• Communication
• Entertainment
• Job research
• Email
• Cashless transactions
• Video conferencing
• Booking tickets

*A website is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common
domain name and published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a
particular topic or purpose, such a s news, education, commerce, entertainment or social medias.
Hyperlinking between web pages guides the navigation of the site, which often starts with a
home page. The most visited sites are Google, Youtube and Facebook.

A website is a place on the Internet where we can easily post information about ourselves,
our business or topics we’re passionate about. Websites can be used for personal purposes such
as blogging or sharing information about hobbies and interests. For businesses, a website serves
as an online storefront where customers can view products or services, make purchases and reach
out for customer support. They are also commonly used for education purposes with many
schools and universities having their own websites to share information and resources with
students.

*A web browser is an application for accessing websites. When a user requests a webpage from
a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page
on the user’s screen. Browsers are used in a range of devices including desktops, laptops, tablets
and smartphones. Some examples of web browsers include : Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge ,
Safari , Mozilla Firefox, Opera , Brave , Vivaldi , Maxthon etc.
* A search engine is a software system that provides hyperlinks to web pages and other relevant
information on the web in response to a user’s query. The user inputs a query within a web
browser or a mobile app and the search results are often a list of hyperlinks accompanied by
textual summaries and images. Users also have the option of limiting the search to a specific type
of results such as images, videos or news. Common examples of search engines include :
Google, Bing, Yahoo , Baidu , Naver , DuckDuckGo , Ask.com etc.

* Search engines work by crawling hundreds of billions of pages using their own web crawlers.
These web crawlers are commonly referred to as search engine bots or spiders. A search engine
navigates the web by downloading web pages and following links on these pages to discover
new pages that have been made available.

VIRUS ATTACKS THAT IMPACT COMPUTERS & THE INTERNET

A computer virus is a malicious application or code used to perform destructive activity. A

computer virus is an ill-natured software application that can attach itself to other programs, self-
replicate and spread itself onto other devices. When executed, a virus modifies other computer
programs by inserting its code into them. If the virus’s replication is successful, the affected
device is considered “infected” with a computer virus.

The malicious activity carried out by the virus’s code can damage the local file system, steal
data, interrupt services, download additional malware or any other actions the malware author
coded into the program.

A computer virus is a small program that can be spread from one computer to another and can
even affect a computer’s operations. Such viruses can modify or destroy any data stored on a
computer. Most viruses nowadays are executable files that attach themselves to emails and
spread from one computer to another. Once executed or opened, these viruses will spread to
other applications or computers.

Computer viruses have the “Virus” name because they resemble illnesses in the way they
infect a system. Typical signs of computer virus infections include:

 Ongoing crashes and blue screen errors

 Slow performance
 Missing files
 Low storage
 Unexpected behavior
 Constant browser pop-ups
 Unidentifiable programs
 Increased network activity
  Disabled security software

Common types of computer viruses include:

• Resident virus
• Multipartite virus
• Direct Action
• Browser Hijacker
• Overwrite Virus
• Web scripting virus
• File Infector
• Network virus
• Boot sector virus

In order to protect ourselves from computer viruses, it is essential to have multiple layers of
cybersecurity defense. Having a firewall or anti-virus is a great start, but it isn’t a comprehensive
solution. There are multiple layers to consider in a cybersecurity plan, like user education,
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), DNS filtering and more.

A computer can get a virus in many different ways such as:

o Sharing music, files or photos with other users

o Visiting an infected website
o Opening spam email or an email attachment
o Downloading free games, toolbars, media players and other system utilities
o Installing mainstream software applications without thoroughly reading license
agreements

Some common types of computer virus attacks include:

1>Ransomware – This is a type of malicious software that threatens to publish or blocks
access to data or a computer system, usually by encrypting it, until a victim pays a
ransom fee to the attacker. In many cases, the ransom demand comes with a deadline. If
the victim doesn’t pay in time, the data is gone forever or the ransom increases.

2>Trojan Horse – Trojan viruses are malicious programs that disguise themselves as
legitimate files, which makes them difficult to detect. Trojans are used to spy on victims,
steal data, infect other programs and inflict other harm. Trojans are typically sent by
scammers or hackers who use social engineering tactics, like the ones used in phishing
attacks. Trojan horse malware appears as a harmless or helpful file, leading users to
install the malware unwittingly on their computers or phones.
 3>Worms – A worm virus is often categorized as a sub-class of computer virus. One
main difference between the two is that a user must perform an action for a virus to keep
spreading, whereas a worm does not require human intervention to spread. Once a worm
enters the system, it sort of scouts the environment looking for opportunities such a s
emailing itself to everybody in the contact list.

HOW CAN COMPUTER VIRUSES BE REMOVED?

Antiviruses have made great progress in being able to identify and prevent the spread of
computer viruses. When a device does become infected, installing an anti-virus solution is still
the best bet for removing it. Once installed, most software will conduct a scan for the malicious
program. Once located, the anti-virus will present options for its removal. If this is not something
that can be done automatically, some security vendors offer a technician’s assistance in removing
the virus free of charge. The following are some steps that should be taken in order to safeguard
our computers from viruses:

 Use anti-virus protection and a firewall

 Get antispyware software
 Update the operating system regularly
 Increase the browser security settings
 Avoid questionable websites
 Only download software from sites you trust
 Carefully evaluate free software and file-sharing applications before downloading them
 Do not open messages from unknown people or websites
 Immediately delete messages you suspect to be spam

WHAT IS THE INTERNET SECURITY PROTOCOL?

Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) is a framework of open standards for ensuring private,
secure communications over Internet Protocols (IP) networks, through the use of cryptography-
based protection services and security protocols. Network security protocols are used to provide
vital protections for data flowing over a network. Implementing network security protocols
helped to address these potential security risks. Internet Protocol Security provides the following
security services for traffic at the IP layer:

 Data origin authentication – Identifying who sent the data

 Confidentiality (encryption) – Ensuring that the data has not been read in route.
 Connectionless integrity – Ensuring the data has not been changed in route
 Replay protection – Detecting packets received more than once to help protect against
denial of service attacks.
 Some examples of internet security protocols include :
 Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)
  Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS)
 Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS)
 Kerberos
 Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
 Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS)

*A cyberattack is any intentional effort to steal, expose, alter, disable or destroy data,
applications or other assets through unauthorized access to a network, computer system or digital
device. Using Internet Protocol Security systems, the threat of cyberattacks can be eliminated.