Threat Assessment

Many users go to great length to protect themselves from threats that come along with daily online usage; others do not. A Firewall may be good at preventing some forms of intrusion and vulnerable to others - this is where threat assessment comes into play. Before an incident even occurs, this process can be used to carefully analyze the likelihood of a problem and develop ways to counter it. Threat assessment is a very practical and simple way to counter a probable incident. It proves that good judgment is sometimes the most reliable defense against intrusion and infection. Threat assessment generally takes place after a threat has been detected by the scan of anti-virus software. If potentially harmful items are found, a user can take the appropriate action. While a threat may be presented in many variations, here are some of the most common: • Viruses - a virus may be defined as any malicious code or software that attaches to hard drive. • Worms - a worm can replicate itself but not be attached to other programs. It is mostly contracted through email attachments. • Trojan - often disguised as useful program, Trojans are known for launching other infections. • Spyware - this type of threat monitors a user’s activity and has the ability to intercept sensitive information.