Communication Essays on OS and Browser Security

OS and Browser Security

Apparently, attackers are now a more serious threat to computer OSs and browsers unlike in the past when they were initially created. Just like the sidewalks, when OSs and browsers were flawless and perfect when they are newly built and worked perfectly (Georgiev, Jana, & Shmatikov, 2015). However, currently, they have become vulnerable to cyber attacks. The security strategies used in protecting the OSs and browsers from attackers have been failing due to several reasons. This has made it complex to protect them.

The primary reason for the failure to protect from hackers is that most users are prone to visiting insecure web pages and links, unaware of the risk involved. Phishing links are used lure the user to their sites where they hack into and manipulate their victim’s browsers and operating systems (Defreez, Shastry, Chen, & Seifert, 2014).

Notably, most hackers conveniently attack computers that are poorly secured, which is one of the major reasons for the failure of the browser control system. More so, a majority of users secure their computers with passwords that are not adequately strong, which makes it easier for hackers to access the OSs and browsers. For example, poorly secured computers can be easily directed to a virtual private network by hackers before connecting the user to the Internet (Georgiev et al., 2015). This helps the attackers to format the data and information on their computers.

It is important to note that most hackers use the technique of spear phishing to obtain confidential information of customers. This hacking trick cannot be controlled easily by the browser’s control system. The hackers develop new ways to attack consumers’ web browsers. This is very common in industries where employees with computer knowledge easily access the e-mail addresses of the company to phish for certain information from unsuspecting users.

References

Georgiev, M., Jana, S., & Shmatikov, V. (2015). Rethinking security of web-based system applications. In Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on World Wide Web (pp. 366–376). ACM.

Defreez, D., Shastry, B., Chen, H., & Seifert, J.- P. (2014). A first look at Firefox OS security. arXiv preprint arXiv:1410.7754.