1.4.9

Protecting Against Malware

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Anti Malware / Virus Software

Network administrators must make sure that all computers on a network are sufficiently protected from malware.

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Anti-virus software

  • Anti-virus software provides real-time 'on-access' scans of files to detect if they have been infected by a virus.
  • That means that when a file is opened, the anti-virus checks that it has not been infected.
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Anti-malware software

  • Anti-malware software performs periodic scans of the system.
  • Anti-malware software detects unknown pieces of malware, and removes them from the computer.
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Motivation for these softwares

  • These pieces of software can help to identify and quarantine malware.
  • Quarantining a piece of software prevents it from running and allows users to decide whether to:
    • Attempt to remove a virus from the software.
    • Destroy the software.

Firewalls

It is important to monitor and filter data coming into and out of a network.

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Firewalls

  • A firewall is either a hardware device or a piece of software which sits between a device and the Internet.
  • Firewalls inspect and filter incoming and outgoing data packets.
  • They try to stop hackers gaining access to the network and stop malware getting into the network.
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Packet filtering

  • One role of the firewall is packet filtering.
  • The firewall inspects each packet and drops those which do not meet certain criteria.
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IP-address filtering

  • The firewall only allows traffic from certain known sources.
  • This can be used to prevent denial of service attacks.
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Port-blocking

  • Firewalls can block access to certain ports.
    • One important port is port 22, which allows remote access via the Internet. By blocking this port, we can prevent hackers trying to take over the server.

Jump to other topics

1Computer Systems

1.1Systems Architecture

1.2Memory & Storage

1.3Computer Networks, Connections & Protocols

1.4Network Security

1.5Systems Software

1.6Ethical, Legal, Cultural & Environmental Concern

2Computational Thinking, Algorithms and Programming

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