The Basics of Attack Prevention

The Basics of Attack Prevention

Protecting computers from unauthorized access it both a job and a necessity. Attack prevention takes on many roles and the more familiar the user the better chance of keeping attacks at a minimum. Hacker’s used to be referred to as computer geeks who where able to transform a piece of electronic gear into something else it was not intended to be used as. Nowadays the term “hacker” refers to the individuals who are trying to cause harm to network servers, company servers, and even the personal computer. By understanding the ways a hacker tries to access a computer’s information and using these thoughts as a guideline will help prevent attacks.

Aaron Trupen’s article, “Hacker Prevention Techniques” informs the reader of the five major forms of attacks used by hackers to penetrate Internet users’ computers. Trupen’s brief discussion of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (DDoS), Trojan Horses, Viruses, Websites, and Worms help the average user understand how these attacks take place. By the author informing the reader in generic terms gives the opportunity to reach more people rather then the tech savvy computer user’s, which are a minority in the population. The author’s intuition in being able to explain in detail and make the explanation understandable to the average user is a major plus within this article. By giving examples of each type of attack makes the readers aware of the possible vulnerabilities and the ways to prevent these types of attacks. Not every attack is going to go noticed, but by following the guidelines in protecting the reader’s computer gives the reader a slight advantage.

Turpen starts out by letting the reader know that the recommendations of Anti-Virus Software and firewalls are of personal preference, which allows the reader to understand that these are not just the only types out on the market. Tureen also discusses the areas in which software can be obtained for free and warns if the reader is unfamiliar with a site offering free software to do research about that particular site. Norton Anti-Virus and McAffee are two software programs mentioned in the article, which both are very popular and well known. The author also mentions the reliability of the software and mentions how often updates come out for both software. This information is key to a user to understand and shows the reliability of the product.

A firewall is another protection against hackers. Turpen compares a computer firewall to building construction where “it completely blocks the path of a fire – delaying or halting its progress.” By breaking down the meaning to everyday knowledge allows for the reader to understand exactly how a firewall works on computer systems. ZoneAlarm is the recommendation by the author because the software is offered