Technology plays a massive role in today's society, so information and system security are more critical than ever. "It is clear that the rate and cost of data breaches are increasing. Since 2001, the victim count has increased from 6 victims per hour to 97, a 1,517% increase over 20 years" (Imber, 2025). In this paper, we will discuss the importance of information and system security, the different types of attacks or scams that systems might encounter, the symptoms and damage that each branch of attack can inflict, why computer systems are vulnerable to these kinds of threats, and recommendations for protecting a computer system or network.
The need for a solid and reliable security system, whether for a personal computer at home or a commercial network system, is critical. A security system can help prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information such as Social Security numbers, banking, and credit card details. Unauthorized access to this information can cost people and companies thousands of dollars. "If it were measured as a country, then cybercrime — predicted to inflict damages totaling USD 6 trillion globally in 2021 — would be the world's third-largest economy after the U.S. and China" (Magazine, 2024). In Week 3, we discussed the capabilities of pinging servers to determine how fast packets of information could be sent and if the server was reachable. However, this capability can be used in cybercrime, called the "ping of death." "In this type of assault, the attacker sends malformed or oversized ICMP packets that exceed the maximum IPv4 packet size of 65,535 bytes. This crashes or freezes the target system as it struggles to process the oversized packets" (Rika, 2023). These types of attacks can cause frustration for owners of servers and potentially lead to revenue loss, especially if these servers are involved in business activities.
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Two other examples of attacks are phishing and exploiting security holes/vulnerabilities. Phishing is an attack in which people or programs impersonate an official person or program, such as a Microsoft representative or a popular antivirus software, to deceive individuals into handing over access to personal information such as passwords or essential files. These attacks can lead to stolen access to accounts or, even worse, identity theft. Examples of exploiting security holes/vulnerabilities include using loopholes or vulnerabilities to attack outdated, poorly designed software or weakly configured security on computers or networks. Some of the symptoms of these attacks could include data loss, unusual activity on the network, or the disappearance of documents or files.
Computer systems will always face threats such as the ping of death, phishing, or exploiting security holes/vulnerabilities, as systems can be accessed from anywhere in the world if they are connected to the internet. Without being connected to the World Wide Web, computers would not be able to be targeted; however, they would also be unable to access the luxuries of software updates, new features, and the ability to access web pages. In order to mitigate the risk of these attacks, people and companies should always keep computers and programs updated, as this prevents the exploitation of known loopholes or weak security points in systems. Additionally, it is crucial to educate system users, such as family members or employees, about the risks of phishing scams and the necessary actions to prevent becoming a victim.
Works Cited:
Imber, D. (2025, January 22). The Latest Cyber Crime Statistics (updated January 2025) | AAG IT Support. AAG IT Services. https://aag-it.com/the-latest-cyber-crime-statistics/
Magazine, C. (2024, November 18). Cybercrime to cost the world $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. Cybercrime Magazine. https://cybersecurityventures.com/hackerpocalypse-cybercrime-report-2016/
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