Whether you engage in global commerce or have a network established simply to communicate with others on the Web, there are a number of threats that exist when operating in the realm of the World Wide Web. Network security is an important function that ultimately will protect your computer and data from multiple threats. Here are some examples of common threats networks are exposed to every day:
Session Hijackers – Hijackers can access your computer in a number of ways. One way they can do this is through SMTP hijacking. This means a hijacker can gain access to your list of e-mail addresses through an SMTP server of an unprotected host. By doing so a hijacker is able to send spam to any users listed in the e-mail address book. This is actually a frequent problem networked computers have to deal with. It is usually very difficult to track the origin of a spammer in this case as email is usually redirected through various hosts.
Backdoors – Certain programs allow remote access through application backdoors. Still others have glitches or bugs in the system that allow someone to gain access to the network via a backdoor. This is very dangerous as the interloper can then take control of multiple programs.
Remote login – In some situations a person can connect to your computer network from a remote location and take control of certain computer functions. They may for example view or change files and run programs unbeknownst to you on your computer network.
