Security

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The security of computer systems has in the past often been undervalued, even though businesses and private individuals are becoming more and more reliant on computerized systems to manage sensitive and/or private data. Now that almost every computer is connected to other computers, via the Internet or some other way, would-be attackers are offered a very large number of potential targets.

Due to the nature of electronic security breaches, it is very difficult to apply existing laws regarding breaking and entering, property destruction or theft to such acts. Many countries have therefore passed new laws designed to specifically deal with what is now known as "cyber crime (in Dutch)". Unfortunately many of these laws are extremely broad or show that legislators cannot completely understand all the aspects of computer security and hacking or the differences between electronic and physical environments. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the USA is a good example of this.

Although laws are available to deal with electronic crimes, like in the physical world it is important to take adequate protection measures, such as picking difficult to guess passwords, using encryption to protect sensitive data and installing a firewall.

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Articles

E-mail security

Computer security

Network security