apache security
If there is one thing that I can take away from this last year of studying digital security systems, it is that most of us are really not very safe with ourselves online. I think that for most of us it doesn't seem like a very threatening place, the internet, when in reality, one misstep can land you in a mountain of problems and even massive debt if not watched closely. Though banks and other institutions like this watch out for us, the sheer time lost when your identity is stolen can ruin a life for someone in a poor economic situation. Most of the problems that we all dance along and move right past are actually web application vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers anywhere in the world. They prey on the amount of holes in IIS security and Apache security as we flit along buying things and handing information over to major corporations. All the while these people out there who want to make a buck off of us are just waiting for us to slip. When you get one of those random pages that won't let you leave, that is them. When you get those emails that ask you to click on the link to receive your prize, they are just waiting for the next victim to fall in to that hole and lose everything. Unfortunately though, most of the attacks and loss of information actually stem from a login page or a shopping cart where we feel fairly safe. It is here that a hacker will attach themselves to us and wait until we give out what they are looking for to someone we trust on the net.
It certainly sounds as if I am advocating paranoia when it comes to accessing the internet, but I really just think that people need to understand what they are doing. If everyone were to look at their uses of the internet as if it were a real place and not just a screen then they may survive a lot longer without being attacked by someone preying on their lack of personal security. There are plenty of ways to safeguard ourselves and it is up to each of us to be vigilant for our own safety.