Unit 33 – P4 Kojar Ahmed
Whenever a business incorporates a heavy use of technology into their business model, one factor
they will most likely have to consider is safety and security. There are several different risks which
come with using the internet as a resource, but there are just as many actions a business can do to
counter these.
Firstly, what risks are there with an internet connection? There are some annoying issues that can
affect an online business at any time and these must be considered and monitored at the outset.
These include:
• Spam – Unrequested rubbish or junk mail, which can be blocked through easily installed
filters on email accounts
• Spyware – ‘Aggressive commercial’ software that uses various methods to get installed on
your PC and attempt to sell you things or, in some cases, steal money from you by stealing
your passwords or card numbers.
• Adware – Irksome advertising and snooping software scams – for example, phishing, where
users are taken to spoof websites pretending to be legitimate businesses, where they are
asked to ‘re-register’
There are ways for a business to prevent these, however, how successful these actions are depends
on the caution employees act with and how competent or strong the antivirus software the business
is using is. Most antivirus software will do a decent job at finding and eliminating risks, but over the
year’s viruses and spyware/adware have found ways of bypassing this software. Most spam can
easily be filtered through or will automatically be placed in a spam folder, making it easy to manage.
Spyware can be prevented if employees are taught how to use the internet responsibly and if there
are clear guidelines pertaining to the use of the internet. Adware can be frustrating and can really
hinder the efficiency of employees, this can be remedied with software such as Adblock.
As well as Spam, Spyware and Adware, businesses and its employees can also be subject to scams.
Scams come in many different shapes and form. Some may look reputable and totally believable,
whereas some are poorly made and can easily be deciphered as a scam, this is what makes some
scams hard to detect. In order to prevent employees falling victim to these scams, guidelines can be
set in place to prevent employees buying products on company computers as well as preventing the
use of social media etc.
A virus is a small piece of program code that is designed to enter computer systems and which then
spreads to infect more and more files and systems. The virus spreads from computer to computer,
carried by any sort of file that is transferred by portable disc or email attachment. Nowadays with the
increase in technology, it is easier and easier for files and emails to be spread which contain viruses.
This can be avoided by teaching employees to be cautious with the emails they open and setting
guidelines on not plugging in untrusted USB drives.
Trojans are similar to viruses A Trojan is a piece of programming language that works by appearing to
be something else. It is disguised as either something useful or entertaining. These are often
attachments to emails, or they may be downloaded from the Internet. A Trojan will enter a system
and then wait until it is ready to strike. Trojans can sometimes simply be destructive and ruin files;
more commonly they are used to create back-door entrances into someone’s system or a piece of
software. Trojans can completely destroy a business’s functionality if any of their hardware is
exposed, hence why it is so important staff are taught how to avoid trojans.
Whenever a business incorporates a heavy use of technology into their business model, one factor
they will most likely have to consider is safety and security. There are several different risks which
come with using the internet as a resource, but there are just as many actions a business can do to
counter these.
Firstly, what risks are there with an internet connection? There are some annoying issues that can
affect an online business at any time and these must be considered and monitored at the outset.
These include:
• Spam – Unrequested rubbish or junk mail, which can be blocked through easily installed
filters on email accounts
• Spyware – ‘Aggressive commercial’ software that uses various methods to get installed on
your PC and attempt to sell you things or, in some cases, steal money from you by stealing
your passwords or card numbers.
• Adware – Irksome advertising and snooping software scams – for example, phishing, where
users are taken to spoof websites pretending to be legitimate businesses, where they are
asked to ‘re-register’
There are ways for a business to prevent these, however, how successful these actions are depends
on the caution employees act with and how competent or strong the antivirus software the business
is using is. Most antivirus software will do a decent job at finding and eliminating risks, but over the
year’s viruses and spyware/adware have found ways of bypassing this software. Most spam can
easily be filtered through or will automatically be placed in a spam folder, making it easy to manage.
Spyware can be prevented if employees are taught how to use the internet responsibly and if there
are clear guidelines pertaining to the use of the internet. Adware can be frustrating and can really
hinder the efficiency of employees, this can be remedied with software such as Adblock.
As well as Spam, Spyware and Adware, businesses and its employees can also be subject to scams.
Scams come in many different shapes and form. Some may look reputable and totally believable,
whereas some are poorly made and can easily be deciphered as a scam, this is what makes some
scams hard to detect. In order to prevent employees falling victim to these scams, guidelines can be
set in place to prevent employees buying products on company computers as well as preventing the
use of social media etc.
A virus is a small piece of program code that is designed to enter computer systems and which then
spreads to infect more and more files and systems. The virus spreads from computer to computer,
carried by any sort of file that is transferred by portable disc or email attachment. Nowadays with the
increase in technology, it is easier and easier for files and emails to be spread which contain viruses.
This can be avoided by teaching employees to be cautious with the emails they open and setting
guidelines on not plugging in untrusted USB drives.
Trojans are similar to viruses A Trojan is a piece of programming language that works by appearing to
be something else. It is disguised as either something useful or entertaining. These are often
attachments to emails, or they may be downloaded from the Internet. A Trojan will enter a system
and then wait until it is ready to strike. Trojans can sometimes simply be destructive and ruin files;
more commonly they are used to create back-door entrances into someone’s system or a piece of
software. Trojans can completely destroy a business’s functionality if any of their hardware is
exposed, hence why it is so important staff are taught how to avoid trojans.
