IT security threats - Research Paper Example

IT security threats Affiliation: Discuss global IT security threats and potentialsolutionsOne of the threats to IT according to CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) program is the insider threat (from employees, contractors or even business partners) since they are in a better position to access the information system of the organization without detection (http://www.cert.org/). The solutions to this are to enforce strict passwords and having account management practices as well as policies, responding quickly to suspicious and or disruptive behavior and especially on the information technology systems, enforcing stringent security access and controls and has less privileged access to users of the sensitive information systems (Silowash, Cappelli, Moore, Trzeciak, Shimeall and Flynn, 2012).

The other threat to information technology is the threat of credit card fraud which leads to unauthorized use of a credit card (Turban and Volonino, 2011). Some of the potential solutions includes avoiding to give out the credit card but rather opt to enter the credit card number on a secure online order, avoiding to disclose credit card number and other details on websites that are not secure or on emails, avoiding to leave the credit cards and other receipts that contain the credit card details lying around or even writing of PIN number where it can be easily found (http://www.

scambusters.org/CreditCardFraud.html).Other than the above two threats, Microsoft provides other threats like spoofing and tampering mainly conducted by cyber criminals and spies. In order to prevent or stop these threats, installing backups regularly, coming up with more tough and complicated configurations that will not be easily broken into and installing firewalls are some of the basic security precautions people and organizations should make (Springer, 2010).ReferencesCert Program. Retrieved from: http://www.cert.org/Scambusters.

Retrieved from: http://www.scambusters.org/CreditCardFraud.htmlSilowash, G., Cappelli, D., Moore, A., Trzeciak, R., Shimeall, T. and Flynn, L. (2012). Common Sense Guide to Mitigating Insider Threats, 4th Edition (CMU/SEI-2012-TR-012). Retrieved January 24, 2013, from the Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University website: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/abstracts/reports/12tr012.cfmSpringer. (2010). Security for Web Services and Service-Oriented Architectures. New York: Springer.Turban, E. and Volonino, L. (2011). Information Technology for Management: Improving Strategic and Operational Performance (8th Ed.). New Jersey: Wiley.