Erman Javed

2nd Period

The Code Red worm was a computer worm observed on the Internet on July 13, 2001. It attacked computers running Microsoft's IIS web server. The most in-depth research on the worm was performed by the programmers at eEye Digital Security. They also gave the worm the phrase "Hacked By Chinese!" with which the worm defaced websites. Although the worm had been released on July 13, the largest group of infected computers was seen on July 19, 2001. On this day, the number of infected hosts reached 359,000.

ILOVEYOU was a computer virus that hit numerous computers in 2000, when it was sent as an attachment to an email message with the text "ILOVEYOU" in the subject line. The virus arrived in e-mail boxes on May 4, 2000, with the simple subject of "ILOVEYOU" and an attachment "LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs". Upon opening the attachment, the virus sent a copy of itself to everyone in the user's address list, posing as the user. It also made a number of malicious changes to the user's system.

Biometrics are automated methods of recognizing a person based on a physiological or behavioral characteristic. Examples of human traits used for biometric recognition include fingerprints, speech, face, retina, iris, handwritten signature, hand geometry, and wrist veins.Biometric recognition can be used in identification mode, where the biometric system identifies a person from the entire enrolled population by searching a database for a match. A system also can be used in verification mode, where the biometric system authenticates a person's claimed identity from his/her previously enrolled pattern.Using biometrics for identifying and authenticating human beings offers some unique advantages. Only biometric authentication bases an identification on an intrinsic part of a human being. Tokens, such as smart cards, magnetic stripe cards, physical keys, and so forth, can be lost, stolen, duplicated, or left at home. Passwords can be forgotten, shared, or observed.

In the field of computer security, phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. A phisher might pose as an AOL staff member and send an instant message to a potential victim, asking him to reveal his password. In order to lure the victim into giving up sensitive information the message might include imperatives like "verify your account" or "confirm billing information". Once the victim had revealed the password, the attacker could access and use the victim's account for fraudulent purposes or spamming. Both phishing and ware zing on AOL generally required custom-written programs, such as AOHell. Phishing became so prevalent on AOL that they added a line on all instant messages stating: "no one working at AOL will ask for your password or billing information".

1. The primary advantage is that each biometric signature is essentially unique and impossible to forge.

2. Another advantage of such a method is that information is stored in a database, so the signature could be used anywhere by simply accessing the database.

3. Finally, it is better than using a password or key that could be lost or stolen. The password in this case is the person himself.

1. A major disadvantage of using biometrics is the cost of implementing it. Although the price is dropping. There are some digital fingerprint readers for use with a PC that cost around $100.

2. There is fear from civil liberty groups that using biometrics with information stored in databases that can be accessed anywhere in the country may lead to abuses in person freedom and privacy. Reasons for resistance is similar to that against a national ID system.

Antivirus software (or anti-virus) is computer software used to identify and remove computer viruses, as well as many other types of harmful computer software, collectively referred to as malware. While the first antivirus software was designed exclusively to combat computer viruses, most modern antivirus software can protect against a wide range of malware, including worms, root kits, and Trojans.

•Identity information of employees

•Personal information

•Passwords