To: Prof. Ellis
From: Mamadou Diallo
Date: 03/26/2021
SBJECT: Expanded definition of Computer Network simulation and Network security auditing in A Spatial Context of an Organization (CNSNSASCO)
Table of Contents
Introduction
Computer networking is the current mode of operation for most organizations today. The flow of information within and outside organizations is done using computer devices. The growing concern for the use of computer networking is data security and computer simulation. Some of the commonly used terms that address computer network security include Breach, firewall, and malware. A breach is a term used to refer to when a hacker has successfully accessed complete control of a computer device or a network. A Firewall is a software program that is put in place to prevent any corrupt or unauthorized access to a computer system or network. Finally, our main focus area, malware, refers to that malicious software that corrupts and destroys a computing device or network.
Definitions
The term malware is a broad description of specific malicious programs that include viruses, trojans, worms, and spyware(Bazrafshan et al., 2013). Although there is more malicious software affiliated with malware, we will focus on the four examples named above. The four are the most common types of malware that affect the network of an organization. Some of this malware can originate from within the organization, usually known as micro threats, or can come from outside the company, usually known as macro threats. Most of the macro threats come from competitors, government regulations, technological changes, and customer’s changes in taste and preferences. The micro threats originate from malicious persons inside the company or outside persons like hackers and crackers who might infect computer devices and networks with viruses, trojans, and worms.
Context
A computer virus is a malicious program that corrupts data in a computer. A computer virus, just like a human virus, can transfer itself from one computer to another. Computer viruses are dangerous to any organization and can make a company cone’s normal operations to a stand-still. When a computer virus finds its way into a company’s network, it might lead to a series of problems. A computer virus can erase important data from the company’s website, and it can also steal and manipulate secure information from the organization’s network(Misra et al., 2014). A virus can freeze the normal functions of a computer, which will alter the effectiveness of the device in the company. Therefore, to prevent a network from being infected by a computer virus, most companies have opted to use anti-virus programs and set up strong firewall systems to prevent the virus from affecting the computer network.
A trojan horse malware is a computer malware that allows hackers to access a computer using a back door like the historical trojan horse in the Greek stories that was used deceptively to lead to Troy’s fall. A trojan horse malware comes in the form of a computer application or program that the user downloads or installs in their device, unknowing its hidden intention (Nari & Ghorbani, 2013). The malware may pop-up as ads or emails that were not expected and once, they have been opened or installed in the device, they can be used by cyber thieves or hackers to breach the system or computer network. Therefore, employees who handle computer devices in an organization should be advised not to open any unnecessary online files or applications using its devices.
A worm is a computer is malware that replicates itself to other computers in the same system. A worm is one of the most common malwares in computer network security. Unlike a virus, a worm can make copies of itself to other computers in the network, but a computer virus requires a host to move from one computer to another. A worm focuses on exhausting a shared network’s bandwidth and hard drive (Bazrafshan et al., 2013). Therefore, making copies of itself can fill up the hard drive with unnecessary files that will cause the network to overload and eventually collapse if unattended.
Additionally, a computer worm can steal and manipulate data in a system. Usually, a worm finds its way into a system through spam files and emails that were not expected. Therefore, IT experts advise staff to avoid using and opening up unexpected files using the company’s computers.
Spyware is another type of malware used to spy on the user without the user’s knowledge. Cyber thieves can use spyware malware to steal information from a device and corrupt data from a shared network while using the user’s data. Spyware malware is so malicious that hackers can use it to incriminate someone using their personal information(Misra et al., 2014). Spyware can track down someone’s personal information, including social media content, credit card statements, and identity. Therefore, when one realizes that spyware malware has infected their device, they should use anti-spyware removal software to ensure that their devices are free from foreign eyes.
Working Definitions
In conclusion, malware is one of the commonly used terms in computing today to address the aspect of computer network security. Therefore, since cybersecurity has become one of the main concerns in most organizations, it is necessary to address these malware issues and develop solutions to prevent such infections in organizations’ computer networks.
Reference
Bazrafshan, Z., Hashemi, H., Fard, S. M. H., & Hamzeh, A. (2013). A survey on heuristic malware detection techniques. IKT 2013 – 2013 5th Conference on Information and Knowledge Technology, 113–120. https://doi.org/10.1109/IKT.2013.6620049
Misra, A. K., Verma, M., & Sharma, A. (2014). Capturing the interplay between malware and anti-malware in a computer network. Applied Mathematics and Computation, 229, 340–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amc.2013.12.059
Nari, S., & Ghorbani, A. A. (2013). Automated malware classification based on network behavior. 2013 International Conference on Computing, Networking and Communications, ICNC 2013, 642–647. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCNC.2013.6504162
