There are three topics. Risks to Privacy from Collecting and Storing Data on a Computer, Misuse of Computing Resources and How They Can Be Protected, and Unauthorized Access to Computing Resources.
Personal data can be at risk when stored digitally depending on how and where you store your data. There are many different ways websites or people try to beach or misuse your data. Examples can be targeted advertisement, where sites collect your personal information over time and spread them across other sites to personalize your experience on online stores and sites where ads may be present. An example of a data breach is identity theft, where someone takes your personal information and uses it to pretend to be you, which is especially easy to do online. For the last example, giving your information to websites or companies online may not be a safe choice because depending on the company, the information can get out, where information that is stored in these websites or places online accidentally gets out to the public or to unintended people, sometimes due to hackers or an employee of a company's mistake. But worry not, companies and websites online are required to be careful with your information. Many companies usually have multiple security measures to protect your data from hackers. Furthermore, the government also implements laws that companies have to follow, to make sure that your data is safe. Even though there are other people or companies that generally try to make sure that your data is safe online, nobody can keep your data safe as much as you can. You can make sure that you are giving your information to safe and trusted websites. You can also choose not to reveal too much personal information online, making sure to keep certain information private. You can choose to opt out of cookies on websites, or delete stored data caches. In this way, you can keep your data safe online.
To learn about the misuse of computing resources, you'd have to know what computing resources are. Computing resources are the hardware or software components that process data. Basically any time data is transferred or processed from one place to another. Some examples of this can be cloud storage, where your computer takes your data and stores it into the cloud, where it can be accessed, even if your computer's data or files were lost. Another example is your computer's storage, when you download something, that data goes from that website, into your computer. A really common example is text messages, where the text you send is processed through a connection to go into your friend's text messages. Now that you're familiar with computing resources, let's talk about the misuses or threats of these resources. An example of a misuse is spam distribution, where someone sends texts or emails usually to large amounts of people, which usually contain malicious links or it may ask for personal information. Another example is illegal downloads, where people take illegal files and distribute them through downloads. Since they are not on the cloud and instead on someone's computer, it is hard to access them or delete them without having the physical computer. Viruses can also be another example. A virus is usually installed into your computer, and can mess up your computer, destroy data, or give your data to someone else. One last example is unsecured network breaches. This is when you use an unsecured network, or a network that is public to everyone. The problem with this is that hackers can easily infiltrate this network, along with the devices or data being processed in it. There are many ways that you can prevent the misuses of computing resources from getting into your system. For example, you can use a firewall. A firewall protects your network by filtering traffic; making sure that data being processed within the network is safe. You can also use an intrusion detection system, which alerts you when suspicious activity, known threats, or other possible infiltrations arise. A good example of this is when you get a phone call from an unknown number, and it shows “Possible spam” to warn you of a possible threat. Lastly, you can avoid these threats by generally being careful online, making sure to not join any unverified wifi network available, not opening any scam emails, and making sure to download only from trusted sites and people.
Unauthorized access can happen from small mistakes to hardcore hackers hacking your system. Some examples of how people can gain access to your data without permission is phishing, which is an attack to try to steal your digital information by pretending to be trusted or be legitimate. Examples of this can be a fake website, or scam emails. Another example of unauthorized access could be having a weak password. If you have a weak password, like “1234” on your phone, it is likely for someone to be able to access and open your device. For the last example, hackers or unsafe websites can use something called a keylogger. A keylogger is installed into your computer, sometimes unknowingly, and keeps track of every keystroke you make. This usually has malicious intent, like to record what your password is or any other personal information you give. Sometimes experienced hackers try to gain unauthorized access to bigger things, like secret files, or company property. These breaches can be devastating. A hacker can infiltrate a company and leak information from it, ranging from people's private information to updates that weren't supposed to be out yet. Sometimes a hacker can infiltrate someone's account, like lets say a teacher's school account, and they can send a fake form to the students, asking them to submit personal information. Hackers can even try to infiltrate the government, which can be incredibly devastating because of all the information the government has. Some ways you can prevent unauthorized access is to have a multi factor authentication on your device. This requires the user to take multiple steps to unlock their device, like having a password as well as needing a face ID or fingerprint. Another one can be having a secure password, making sure your password is not easily guessable. Lastly you can regularly update your security, making sure to update your passwords once in a while or making sure all anti viruses or protective programs are not out of date.