Computer Security Literacy

Computer Security Literacy

by Douglas Jacobson, Joseph Idziorek
Released April 2016
Publisher(s): Chapman and Hall/CRC
ISBN: 9781000755626

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Book description

Helping average computer users make sound security decisions, this book focuses on practical security topics users are likely to encounter on a regular basis so that they better understand the function and impact of security in everyday life. The authors offer practical computer security knowledge on a range of topics-including social engineering, email, and online shopping-and present best practices pertaining to passwords, wireless networks, and suspicious emails. They also explain how security mechanisms such as antivirus software and firewalls protect against the threats of hackers and malware.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Table of Contents
  6. Preface
  7. About the Authors
  8. CHAPTER 1 WHAT Is INFORMATION SECURITY?
    1. 1.1 INTRODUCTION
    2. 1.2 HOW MUCH OF OUR DAILY LIVES RELIES ON COMPUTERS?
    3. 1.3 SECURITY TRUISMS
    4. 1.4 BASIC SECURITY TERMINOLOGY
    5. 1.5 CYBER ETHICS
    6. 1.6 THE PERCEPTION OF SECURITY
    7. 1.7 THREAT MODEL
    8. 1.8 SECURITY IS A MULTIDISCIPLINARY TOPIC
    9. 1.9 SUMMARY
    10. BIBLIOGRAPHY
  9. CHAPTER 2 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET
    1. 2.1 INTRODUCTION
    2. 2.2 COMPUTERS
      1. 2.2.1 Hardware
      2. 2.2.2 Operating Systems
      3. 2.2.3 Applications
      4. 2.2.4 Users
    3. 2.3 OPERATION OF A COMPUTER
      1. 2.3.1 Booting a Computer
      2. 2.3.2 Running an Application
      3. 2.3.3 Anatomy of an Application
    4. 2.4 OVERVIEW OF THE INTERNET
      1. 2.4.1 Protocols
      2. 2.4.2 Internet Addressing
      3. 2.4.3 Internet Protocol Addresses
      4. 2.4.4 Public versus Private IP Addresses
      5. 2.4.5 Finding an IP Address
      6. 2.4.6 Domain Name Service
      7. 2.4.7 Network Routing
      8. 2.4.8 World Wide Web
    5. 2.5 COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET
    6. 2.6 SECURITY ROLE-PLAYING CHARACTERS
    7. 2.7 SUMMARY
    8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
  10. CHAPTER 3 PASSWORDS UNDER ATTACK
    1. 3.1 INTRODUCTION
    2. 3.2 AUTHENTICATION PROCESS
    3. 3.3 PASSWORD THREATS
      1. 3.3.1 Bob Discloses Password
      2. 3.3.2 Social Engineering
      3. 3.3.3 Key-Logging
      4. 3.3.4 Wireless Sniffing
      5. 3.3.5 Attacker Guesses Password
      6. 3.3.6 Exposed Password File
      7. 3.3.7 Security Questions
      8. 3.3.8 Stop Attacking My Password
    4. 3.4 STRONG PASSWORDS
      1. 3.4.1 Creating Strong Passwords
    5. 3.5 PASSWORD MANAGEMENT: LET’S BE PRACTICAL
    6. 3.6 SUMMARY
    7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
  11. CHAPTER 4 EMAIL SECURITY
    1. 4.1 INTRODUCTION
    2. 4.2 EMAIL SYSTEMS
      1. 4.2.1 Message Transfer Agent
      2. 4.2.2 User Agents
      3. 4.2.3 Email Addressing
      4. 4.2.4 Email Message Structure
    3. 4.3 EMAIL SECURITY AND PRIVACY
      1. 4.3.1 Eavesdropping
      2. 4.3.2 Spam and Phishing
      3. 4.3.3 Spoofing
      4. 4.3.4 Malicious Email Attachments
      5. 4.3.5 Replying and Forwarding
      6. 4.3.6 To, Carbon Copy, and Blind Carbon Copy
    4. 4.4 SUMMARY
    5. BIBLIOGRAPHY
  12. CHAPTER 5 MALWARE: THE DARK SIDE OF SOFTWARE
    1. 5.1 INTRODUCTION
    2. 5.2 WHAT IS MALWARE?
    3. 5.3 HOW DO I GET MALWARE?
      1. 5.3.1 Removable Media
      2. 5.3.2 Documents and Executables
      3. 5.3.3 Internet Downloads
      4. 5.3.4 Network Connection
      5. 5.3.5 Email Attachments
      6. 5.3.6 Drive-By Downloads
      7. 5.3.7 Pop-Ups
      8. 5.3.8 Malicious Advertising
    4. 5.4 WHAT DOES MALWARE DO?
      1. 5.4.1 Malicious Adware
      2. 5.4.2 Spyware
      3. 5.4.3 Ransomware
      4. 5.4.4 Backdoor
      5. 5.4.5 Disable Security Functionality
      6. 5.4.6 Botnets
    5. 5.5 SUMMARY
    6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
  13. CHAPTER 6 MALWARE: DEFENSE IN DEPTH
    1. 6.1 INTRODUCTION
    2. 6.2 DATA BACKUP
    3. 6.3 FIREWALLS
      1. 6.3.1 Function of a Firewall
      2. 6.3.2 What Types of Malware Does a Firewall Protect Against?
      3. 6.3.3 Two Types of Firewalls
      4. 6.3.4 Putting a Hole in a Firewall
      5. 6.3.5 Firewalls Are Essential
    4. 6.4 SOFTWARE PATCHES
      1. 6.4.1 Patch Tuesday and Exploit Wednesday
      2. 6.4.2 Patches Are Not Limited to Operating Systems
      3. 6.4.3 Zero-Day Vulnerabilities
      4. 6.4.4 Just Patch it
    5. 6.5 ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
      1. 6.5.1 Antivirus Signatures
      2. 6.5.2 Function of Antivirus Software
      3. 6.5.3 Antivirus Limitations
      4. 6.5.4 False Positives and False Negatives
      5. 6.5.5 Sneaky Malware
      6. 6.5.6 Antivirus Is Not a Safety Net
    6. 6.6 USER EDUCATION
    7. 6.7 SUMMARY
    8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
  14. CHAPTER 7 SECURELY SURFING THE WORLD WIDE WEB
    1. 7.1 INTRODUCTION
    2. 7.2 WEB BROWSER
      1. 7.2.1 Web Browser and Web Server Functions
      2. 7.2.2 Web Code
      3. 7.2.3 HTML: Images and Hyperlinks
      4. 7.2.4 File and Code Handling
      5. 7.2.5 Cookies
    3. 7.3 “HTTP SECURE”
    4. 7.4 WEB BROWSER HISTORY
    5. 7.5 SUMMARY
    6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
  15. CHAPTER 8 ONLINE SHOPPING
    1. 8.1 INTRODUCTION
    2. 8.2 CONSUMER DECISIONS
      1. 8.2.1 Defense in Depth
      2. 8.2.2 Credit Card versus Debit Card
      3. 8.2.3 Single-Use Credit Cards
      4. 8.2.4 Passwords
      5. 8.2.5 Do Your Homework
    3. 8.3 SPYWARE AND KEY-LOGGERS
    4. 8.4 WIRELESS SNIFFING
    5. 8.5 SCAMS AND PHISHING WEBSITES
      1. 8.5.1 Indicators of Trust
    6. 8.6 MISUSE AND EXPOSURE OF INFORMATION
      1. 8.6.1 Disclosing Information
      2. 8.6.2 Audit Credit Card Activity
    7. 8.7 SUMMARY
    8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
  16. CHAPTER 9 WIRELESS INTERNET SECURITY
    1. 9.1 INTRODUCTION
    2. 9.2 HOW WIRELESS NETWORKS WORK
    3. 9.3 WIRELESS SECURITY THREATS
      1. 9.3.1 Sniffing
      2. 9.3.2 Unauthorized Connections
      3. 9.3.3 Rogue Router
      4. 9.3.4 Evil Twin Router
    4. 9.4 PUBLIC WI-FI SECURITY
    5. 9.5 WIRELESS NETWORK ADMINISTRATION
      1. 9.5.1 Default Admin Password
      2. 9.5.2 Service Set Identifier
      3. 9.5.3 Wireless Security Mode
      4. 9.5.4 MAC Address Filtering
      5. 9.5.5 Firewall
      6. 9.5.6 Power Off Router
    6. 9.6 SUMMARY
    7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
  17. CHAPTER 10 SOCIAL NETWORKING
    1. 10.1 INTRODUCTION
    2. 10.2 CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS WISELY
      1. 10.2.1 Access Control
      2. 10.2.2 Friend Gluttony
      3. 10.2.3 Relative Privacy
      4. 10.2.4 Why Do You Want to Be My Friend?
    3. 10.3 INFORMATION SHARING
      1. 10.3.1 Location, Location, Location
      2. 10.3.2 What Should I Not Share?
      3. 10.3.3 Opt In versus Opt Out
      4. 10.3.4 Job Market
    4. 10.4 MALWARE AND PHISHING
      1. 10.4.1 Koobface
      2. 10.4.2 Applications
      3. 10.4.3 Hyperlinks
      4. 10.4.4 Phishing
    5. 10.5 SUMMARY
    6. REFERENCES
  18. CHAPTER 11 SOCIAL ENGINEERING: PHISHING FOR SUCKERS
    1. 11.1 INTRODUCTION
    2. 11.2 SOCIAL ENGINEERING: MALWARE DISTRIBUTION
      1. 11.2.1 Instant Messages
      2. 11.2.2 Fake Antivirus
      3. 11.2.3 Emails
      4. 11.2.4 Phone Calls
    3. 11.3 PHISHING
      1. 11.3.1 Phishing Emails
      2. 11.3.2 No Shame Game
      3. 11.3.4 Other Types of Phishing
    4. 11.4 DETECTING A PHISHING URL
      1. 11.4.1 Reading a URL
      2. 11.4.2 Protocol
      3. 11.4.3 Top-Level Domain Name
      4. 11.4.4 Domain Name
      5. 11.4.5 Subdomain Name
      6. 11.4.6 File Path
      7. 11.4.7 File
    5. 11.5 APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE
      1. 11.5.1 Tools of the Trade
    6. 11.6 SUMMARY
    7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
  19. CHAPTER 12 STAYING SAFE ONLINE: THE HUMAN THREAT
    1. 12.1 INTRODUCTION
    2. 12.2 THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CYBERSPACE AND THE PHYSICAL WORLD
    3. 12.3 CONSIDER THE CONTEXT: WATCH WHAT YOU SAY AND HOW IT IS COMMUNICATED
    4. 12.4 WHAT YOU DO ON THE INTERNET LASTS FOREVER
    5. 12.5 NOTHING IS PRIVATE, NOW OR IN THE FUTURE
    6. 12.6 CAN YOU REALLY TELL WHO YOU ARE TALKING WITH?
    7. 12.7 CAMERAS AND PHOTO SHARING
    8. 12.8 I AM A GOOD PERSON, THAT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN TO ME
    9. 12.9 IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO TO MAKE THE INTERNET A SAFER PLACE FOR MY CHILD?
    10. BIBLIOGRAPHY
  20. CHAPTER 13 CASE STUDIES
    1. 13.1 INTRODUCTION
    2. 13.2 UNABLE TO REMOVE MALWARE: HELP!
    3. 13.3 SECURELY HANDLING SUSPICIOUS EMAIL ATTACHMENTS
    4. 13.4 RECOVERING FROM A PHISHING ATTACK
    5. 13.5 EMAIL ACCOUNT HACKED? NOW WHAT?
    6. 13.6 SMART PHONES AND MALWARE
    7. 13.7 HEY! YOU! GET OFF MY WIRELESS NETWORK
    8. 13.8 BAD BREAKUP? SEVER YOUR DIGITAL TIES
    9. 13.9 “DISPLAY IMAGES BELOW”? THE MEANING BEHIND THE QUESTION
    10. 13.10 PHISHING EMAIL FORENSICS
    11. 13.11 IT’S ON THE INTERNET, SO IT MUST BE TRUE
    12. 13.12 BUYING AND SELLING ONLINE
    13. BIBLIOGRAPHY
  21. CHAPTER 14 MOVING FORWARD WITH SECURITY AND BOOK SUMMARY
    1. 14.1 INTRODUCTION
    2. 14.2 AFTER THE COMPLETION OF THE BOOK
    3. 14.3 DEFENSE-IN-DEPTH TASKS
    4. 14.4 CHAPTER SUMMARIES
      1. Chapter 1: Introduction
      2. Chapter 2: Computers and the Internet
      3. Chapter 3: Passwords
      4. Chapter 4: Email
      5. Chapter 5: Malware
      6. Chapter 6: Malware Defense
      7. Chapter 7: Securely Surfing the Web
      8. Chapter 8: Online Shopping
      9. Chapter 9: Wireless Internet Security
      10. Chapter 10: Social Networking
      11. Chapter 11: Social Engineering: Phishing for Suckers
      12. Chapter 12: Staying Safe Online: The Human Threat
      13. Chapter 13: Case Studies
  22. GLOSSARY
  23. APPENDIX A: READING LIST
  24. APPENDIX B: BASICS OF CRYPTOGRAPHY
  25. APPENDIX C: WEB SURFING SECURITY TECHNOLOGIES

Product information

  • Title: Computer Security Literacy
  • Author(s): Douglas Jacobson, Joseph Idziorek
  • Release date: April 2016
  • Publisher(s): Chapman and Hall/CRC
  • ISBN: 9781000755626