M1 – Discuss information security
Potential threats
Malicious damage – Malicious damage is when a person intentionally sets out to corrupt or delete
electronic files, data or software programs. The most common way is internally, which focuses in the
organisation system. If an employee were to open and download files from an infected e-mail, it will
spread across the rest of the network and affect the rest of the company.
Threats related to e-commerce – Threats on e-commerce can be very stressful for both the company
and the public as e-commerce is all about advertising goods. If advertising and selling is being affected,
it can cause a big impact on buying and selling.
Counterfeit goods – Counterfeit goods are the fake replicas of genuine merchandise. Counterfeit
criminals can create products that almost replace the real thing in the hopes of tricking a buyer into
paying a high price for a fake item. This can be generally known as a scam. It is a major problem for
companies and organisations as it affects them the most. There is counterfeit software out there which
is made for the purpose of harming a computer system and take personal details. Software companies
such as Microsoft have suffered heavily on this.
‘Technical failures’ – A technical failure is an unwanted and unnecessary error of technology based
systems.
Human error – Human error is the most inappropriate way for a company to feel threatened. It is
the input of false data into a computer done by a person. The data is incorrect, misleading or
irrelevant. It doesn’t have to just be data; it can be something reckless such as forgetting to
perform system security maintenance, allowing the network to be vulnerable to attack!
Theft – Theft of equipment is just an inconvenient threat to the company. Having equipment stolen
can be a problem as they’ll need to use their budget to replace it and they’ll need that equipment
back quickly. They may have stolen something important that could potentially halt the company’s
performance. This is why physical security is required as well as software security.