The rise of technology has brought people both benefits and disadvantages of life. The heavy workloads people used to do in the early times can be accomplished in a few clicks of the mouse. The formerly weeklong job an employee does is already possible to be completely done in a single day with the use of high-end gadgets and technologies which enables man to explore the possibilities of life with convenience and comfort. Perhaps, the main highlight of technological revolution was the invention of computers.
Ideas regarding computers have existed in the early times; however, with the inappropriateness of the technology during those times, computers have not been brought to life. The modern models of computers which are similar to what we are using at this time have only been immortalized in the twentieth century. Comfortable and convenient as it may seem, the effects of technology in our lives are not at all times good. It has been said that technology can be compared to a double-edged sword which can either make or break our life (Policarpio, 2007).
Computers are a good manifestation of this metaphor. Although we reap so much benefit from these wonder-workers, it also offers us detriments which could harm us at one point in time. Several theorists have already argued with the computer’s negative effect on our health, on our psychological aspect of life and even in our social life and activities- and the arguments never cease as technology progresses. COMPUTER SECURITY DEFINED In the computer lexicon, security is both praised and lamented.
Many argue that the existence of computers have increased man’s security. On one hand, some also regret the vulnerability of these computers to hacking which endangers the security of man in the virtual world. Computer security is basically the aspect of computer science which deals with the implementation of protected operations of computers. Enforcing computer security is essential in such a way that computer users most often than not store information which are confidential and should not be disclosed and exposed to anyone else.
This is most common in businesses and intelligence offices. In instances that this information becomes exposed to the vulnerable computer space, it becomes a great weakness and detriment to the people. Security in this technical term is referred to three important aspects- confidentiality, integrity and availability of data and intelligences stashed on computers (NIST, 1997). These three important aspects comprise the ability of a computer to be secure and free from hacking threats. Integrity refers to the integrity of both the data and the system.
Data integrity means that the manner of changing the data is specific and authorized, whereas system integrity means that the system functions without discrepancies and impairments, free from manipulative acts. Confidentiality pertains to the non-disclosure of data to unauthorized persons and availability pertains to the permission of data retrieval to authorized persons. These trio-characteristics of computer security are important and impairment of one aspect hurts the whole system security (National Research Council, 1991).
WHAT MAKES COMPUTER MORE SECURE
Since the offset of the computer age, that is, in the late 20th century, there was an increasing and upward trend in the demand for the use of computer primarily because of its gift to heavy loads of work and also the security it provides to the information. Unlike before, people don’t have to make use of stacks of folders and boxes to store files. There is no need of steel cabinet, locks and keys in order to stash these documents in an organized manner. Moreover, with the use of a computer, security measures are heightened to an innovative genre.
With the laws being passed aimed at increasing the computer’s security, the businesses would take it that making use of the computer technology would increase the confidentiality and integrity of their files. This happens because of the programs stored in the computers. From the most basic password protection, a certain intruder would find it hard to pore over confidential files. Also, should there be a local are network connection of computer groups, there would still be security through the existence of firewalls, which when activated, disallows the other users to gain access to your files.
Also, with the rise of legislations and rules aimed at providing a more secure computer environment, there is a greater chance for confidentiality to be achieved. Example of this is the Computer Security Act of 1987 wherein agencies were required to take special trainings so as to further strengthen the definition of security in the virtual environment. There are also regulatory boards which maintain and take attention on the usage, management and procurement of computer systems- this is specially intended to the government.