Discussion: Email Attachments

Discussion: Email Attachments

NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT:Discussion: Email Attachments

Acceptable use policies help to address these problems. For example, employees may be restricted from downloading files from the Internet. Downloaded files, including email attachments, are the most common way viruses and other malicious codes enter a computer network. Network security policies typically prohibit employees from using personal CDs/DVDs and USB drives, thereby preventing the transfer of malicious code from a personal computer to the network.

Let’s look more closely at some of these common network security threats. We typically think of hackers as outsiders who attempt to break into a network by exploiting software and network vulnerabilities, and indeed these black hat (malicious) hackers (crackers) do exist. However, more organizations are looking to employ ethical hackers (white hat hackers), those who are skilled at looking for and closing network security vulnerabilities ( Caldwell, 2011 ).

Spyware and adware are normally controlled in a corporate network by limiting the functions of the browsers used to surf the Internet. For example, the browser privacy options can control how cookies are used. A cookie is a very small file written to the hard drive of a computer whose user is surfing the Internet. This file contains information about the user. For example, many shopping sites write cookies to the user’s hard drive containing the user’s name and preferences. When that user returns to the site, the site will greet her by name and list products in which she is possibly interested. Weather websites send cookies to users’ hard drives with their ZIP code so that when each user returns to that site, the local weather forecast is immediately displayed. On the negative side, cookies can follow the user’s travels on the Internet. Marketing companies use spying cookies to track popular websites that could provide a return on advertising expenditures. Spying cookies related to marketing typically do not track keystrokes in an attempt to steal user IDs and passwords; instead, they simply track which websites are popular, and these data are used to develop advertising and marketing strategies.