Posted by secExtra on May 25th, 2009

From behemoth corporations to authors to college students and to even the most occasional computer user, the future of computer security is on everyone’s mind these days.

The prevalence of spyware and hacking continues to grow faster than the technology and as a result intellectual intelligence; personal and corporate information is downloaded and transferred without the knowledge of the holder.

By the year 2010 it is estimated that the proliferation of software bugs will be equivalent of one new bug every five minutes. As the bugs increase so does the number of internet users, some with less than honorable intentions.

The field will be wide open for these bad guys to pick and choose whatever bugs they want to exploit. This anticipated malevolence is due on large part to our own neglectful ways. We increase our vulnerability in many ways; the two most common are inattention to detail and basic human naÔvetÈ.

Antivirus software and anti-spyware software along with strong personal firewall protection are effective against the majority of internet threats. The average user is reminded constantly through warnings and error messages to be on guard for new viruses and spyware and yet that same user refuses to take the necessary action.

Many users are actually using only a partial protection program, i.e., antivirus program and no firewall or anti-spyware program. The result is malicious spyware that grabs our information and is the prevailing cause of internet identity theft.

Today’s security experts offer the following tips to protect computer users from scams such as phishing:

1) Never use the same user ID’s for all logons. Each account should have a different ID and passwords for all financial accounts should be changed every ninety days.

2) Never use your e-mail password for any other accounts. This will cut down on the likelihood of unauthorized access to your e-mail.

3) Whenever possible store passwords in an encrypted file or password manager program. This will offer some protection in case an intruder or spyware application attaches itself to your password list.

4) Never click on links in e-mails, especially from financial institutions. Inputting information serves as an open invitation to hackers and phishers.

There is a litany of other well meaning and in some cases necessary tips to follow, however, the same experts say that the future of computer security is dependent upon the reaction to a worldwide digital Pearl Harbor, a cyber event so catastrophic that computer security as we know it today will be virtually non-existent.

It will take that type of global cyber event to serve as a wake up call to mandate software security, site security and authentication will become stricter. TSP and PSP software development will be in the hands of professional software engineers.

The future of computer security will be the result of reactivity to the global cyber event that will create the institution of internet security standards which might include standard vulnerability reporting, standard software patches, a single naming convention to address newly discovered viruses along with a standard and secure configuration of software.