What is computer security?

                    Computer security is a method of preventing unauthorized use of your computer. There are                                 preventative measures, to help you stop “intruders” (unauthorized users) from gaining access to your                     machine, or the programs you have installed on it. There are also detection programs to help you                         decide if you have been compromised, and if so, what has been done to your system by the intruder.

    Why should I care about computer security?

                    Because there is the possibility that you have used your computer to carry out banking, buy                                 products, and communicate with others through email, chat rooms etc, then there is the possibility                         that you and/or your machine have been compromised. You may not consider your communications to                     be valuable to other people, but do you really want strangers going through your personal mail and                         then using the information they have gained to either attack other systems or use your email address                     to send forged emails as though they have come from you. Have you kept any financial details on                         your computer? The Hacker may find them useful in their illegal activities.

    Who would want to break into my computer at home?

Intruders (also referred to as hackers, attackers, or crackers) may not care about your identity. Often they want to gain control of your computer so they can use it to launch attacks on other computer systems.

Having control of your computer gives them the ability to hide their true location as they launch attacks, often against high-profile computer systems such as government or financial systems. Even if you have a computer connected to the Internet only to play the latest games or to send email to friends and family, your computer may be a target.

     How easy is it to break into my computer?

Unfortunately, intruders are always discovering new vulnerabilities (informally called "holes") to exploit in computer software. The complexity of software makes it increasingly difficult to thoroughly test the security of computer systems.

When holes are discovered, computer vendors will usually develop patches to address the problem(s). However, it is up to you, the user, to obtain and install the patches, or correctly configure the software to operate more securely. Most of the incident reports of computer break-ins received at the CERT/CC could have been prevented if system administrators and users kept their computers up-to-date with patches and security fixes.

Also, some software applications have default settings that allow other users to access your computer unless you change the settings to be more secure. Examples include chat programs that let outsiders execute commands on your computer or web browsers that could allow someone to place harmful programs on your computer that run when you click on them.