Chapter 22. Computer Attacks: How Big a Problem?

If you’ve read this far, you know about the many risks to your computer and to yourself in this digital world. You know about identity theft and data theft. You know about online fraud and click fraud. You know about email scams and spam. You know about online surveillance and online stalkers. You know about computer viruses and spyware.

What we haven’t covered yet is perhaps the most dangerous problem you can encounter online. Maybe not the biggest risk, in terms of number of occurrences, but the thing that can literally destroy your entire computer system—or your company’s network.

This ultimate threat to your system’s safety and security comes when malicious individuals stage an attack on your ...

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