"The only real security that a man can have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability. "
Henry Ford
Computers, networks, and the Internet. These technologies have changed the world we live in. But even as these things have made our lives easier and more efficient in many ways, they have also made them as equally complex. Big business, small business, and personal users alike use computers to store information about themselves, their finances, and private information. One of the major challenges produced by making things easier is "how do we protect this electronic information?"
PC users accidentally delete files they shouldn't. Computer hardware breaks down. And the Internet seems to be crawling with unsavory characters who would like nothing more than to gain access to your computer and the data stored on it. How do you cope in a world were your private and personal information is constantly at risk?
We, at DarkStone Data, believe the answer begins with two words: awareness and knowledge. Our mission in creating this security section on our site is to offer you awareness and education. By keeping you up to date with current security issues, and by providing you with the information and understanding you need through our articles and resource links, we hope to help you develop a more secure computing environment for your personal and business data.
Security Issues and The Internet
The Internet is perhaps the most significant and influential development in the history of man. Over 4 billion people are currently connected to this vast portal to cyber space. It has, indeed, become a vast community with business, entertainment, news, education, and social interaction all available to us in the blink of an electron. Unfortunately, the very act of connecting to this vast resource introduces us to new dangers.
Each day through technology, changing laws, corporate greediness, and our own lack of awareness, our on-line privacy and security become more and more threatened. These threats come in many forms and from many sources. Hack attacks, spyware, Trojans, and viruses are all designed to obtain our personal and business information, or to maliciously wreak havoc with our electronic data and hardware. And the technology made to render these attacks are being refined and improved all the time.
There are two major problems when it comes to protecting ourselves from these threats. The first is that too often we are unaware of them until it is too late. It is impossible to protect ourselves if we do not realize that there is something we need to be protected from. The second problem is a lack of action, either from apathy, disbelief, denial, or simply because we don't know what to do about the situation. If you turn on your computer and connect it to the Internet without taking any security precautions, your personal and business data is at risk. And I guarantee you that sooner or later, someone will gain unauthorized access to your system and the information you store on it. The worse part of it is, you probably won't even know it happened.
Regardless of whether you connect to the Internet for business use or personal browsing, a well planned and implemented security system is essential to protect the information stored on your computer.
Security Issues and Your Computer
Security does not begin and end with your connection to the Internet. It is just as important that you make sure that your computer is protected at the local level as well. Security on this level not only means protection from attack, but it also means protecting your data from loss through negligence, accidents and hardware failure.
How can you effectively control local access to your computer and the information you keep on it? What can you do to protect your data from accidental loss? Are the passwords you use really effective in preventing unwanted access to your computer? These are just a few of the issues that you need to answer in order to ensure that your computer is secure at the local level.
Security Issues and Your Business
Large corporations make security a top priority. These organizations spend thousands of dollars to ensure that their business data is as secure as possible. Unfortunately, as a small business owner, you probably don't have that kind of budget to work with. But that does not mean that you should be any less diligent when it comes to protecting your business data.
You don't need to spend thousands of dollars like the big guys do, but you should have a well thought out security program in place for your business. 
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