• Maintaining the safety of your computer online is important for several reasons. What is first to do is protecting yourself from all the risks of attacks that target your personal data. But you must realize that a compromised system has hidden dangers associated with a lack of security. The lack of security will in turn trigger attacks in other parts. Good security practices not only benefit you, but also the other users.

    Financial Data

    One of the most important reasons to have a good security in the computer is for the finances. Users access their bank and credit card accounts, and buy items, services and even properties online. A hacker who gains access to any of these accounts can cause the owner severe financial problems and many recovery efforts. Good computer security is very important to ensure vital accounts are always in a safe condition. Data security is very important and you must ensure that each of your data can be accessed at any time. You also have to prepare emergency options when something happens to your data, for example when you lose them in an external device, say SD card. In this context, your ability to recover files from SD card is something you must have if you don't want to fall into further problems.

    Infiltration and Fraud

    A hacker who gains control of your system can pretend to be you. If you have a local network configured with several computers, accessing a machine can give the intruder access to the entire network. Hackers also use compromised systems to spread viruses and other malware to affected friends via emails sent to contacts on their address list. Users are more likely to run infected programs that seem to be sent by someone they know, so gaining access to your system can be a way to attack your friends and family.

    Control and Spam

    Hackers commonly install programs that allow them to return to compromised systems whenever they want, or remotely control the system. A common use of infiltrated systems is to send unwanted emails, allowing the pirate to fill networks with advertising without taking the blame.

    Interrupting Communications

    Another use of infiltrated computer systems is what is called "zombie" computers to launch denial of service attacks. A hacker compromises a large number of systems and then instructs them to flood a site with communication requests. This can overwhelm the target's ability to respond to legitimate users, and can effectively knock out the site for the duration of the attack. Maintaining good system security can prevent your computer from becoming another tool in a hacker's arsenal.

    From the explanation above, it can be concluded that data security is very important because your data is a description of yourself and what you have in relation to your activities with your computer. Setting up as many security options as possible is useful to minimize the risks that might occur. Hopefully this article is useful for you.

    Header Image Credit: California State University, News Center