Software and hardware means of information protectionare a complex of special programs, the function of which is, as is easy to guess, the protection of information. The main areas in which software tools are used to protect information are as follows:
- information protection (hereinafter IS) from unauthorized access;
- FROM FROM COPYING;
- FROM FROM malware;
- cryptographic data protection;
- software protection of data transmission channels.
Information protection against unauthorized access
To protect the information system from someone else'sintrusion, it is necessary to observe certain security measures. Thus, software protects information subjects and objects, delimits access to information and computing resources, monitors and registers actions with target objects.
Under authentication and authenticationmeans checking the subject who wants to gain access to whether he is actually what he claims to be. The most common way to identify is to check with a password. However, as practice shows, password protection is by no means the best way to protect data, because the password can be overheard, peeped, intercepted, and even completely unraveled.
After the successful completion of the procedureidentification, the subject gets the opportunity to work with the resources of the computer system, the further protection of which is carried out at the hardware and software levels, as well as at the data level.
Information protection against copying
Software for protecting information fromillegal copying prevent the distribution of illegal copies of software and currently represent the only reliable tool that can protect the copyright of developers. The essence of these tools is simple: the program will perform its functions only if some unique uncopable element is identified. The role of such an element (key) can be assigned to a specific part of the computer or to a special device.
Information protection against destruction
Any system of protection puts before itself the maingoal: it must protect information from destruction. Since data destruction can occur due to a wide variety of reasons (unauthorized actions, software and hardware failures, computer viruses, etc.), the organization of protective measures should become one of the most important tasks of each user.
It is also worth mentioning separately the danger thatcarry small, but quite complex and harmful programs - computer viruses that can spread themselves on their own, and also be introduced into other people's programs and transmitted over the network. The creators of viruses can pursue a variety of goals: from the innocuous output of a message to the complete destruction of information and the destruction of the system.
Cryptographic protection of data
The cryptography method has become one of the main andthe most powerful means of ensuring confidentiality and data integrity control, which are software protection tools. The main element of cryptography is the encryption or conversion of data into an unreadable form using special encryption keys.
Software protection of data transmission channels
The basis of this direction in the field of securityare screens - software tools for protecting information in networks whose purpose is to restrict the access of users belonging to the same network set to the servers of another network set. The screens control all information flows passing between two networks. An example of a screen can serve as a firewall (firewall), installed to protect the local network of an organization that has access to an open environment (for example, the Internet).
