P3 explain the security risks and protection mechanisms involved in website performance Security Risks A security risk is when a person or situation which poses a possible threat to the security of something. Hacking: The risks of having your website hacked are that it can become non-operational for an extended period of time. The risk of this is that customers won’t be able to access your website and won’t be able to buy your products or services. Another risk is that your website could end up on the Google blacklist, which will lower your chances of appearing on Google’s search results. If your website is hacked, people won’t buy from you. People will not take the risk of also being hacked and having their credit card details stolen. For example if your website has malware, people will not browse your website.

Viruses: The risks of having a virus on your website, is that not only will your website will be infected but your computer too and this will severely harm your computer, files and programs. A virus can have the risk of simply causing your internet connection fail or as complicated as a spyware that sends personal information about you back to its creator. Another risk is that the virus will infect the boot sector of the hard drive and the boot information and this will allow the virus to clone itself when your computer boots up and therefore make it more difficult to remove. A very dangerous risk that a virus can cause is a complete destruction your computer.

Identity Theft: The risks of identity theft is that your personal information will be stolen and can lead the perpetrator to register for credit cards, mobile phones and other services as your identity and can cause financial loss. Another risk is that the information gained will be used to log in to existing accounts and perform transaction in your name. Risk like this happen because of viruses and hacking, and if they have access to your email they can send you links to malicious websites or websites will have you wright more information about yourself.

Protection Mechanisms A Protection mechanism is built into the computer architecture and is the process that helps support the enforcement of security policies.

Firewall: A Firewall is a program or device that acts as a security and that helps protect your computer from viruses and malicious websites. Firewalls work as a filter between your computer and the Internet. You can decide on what types of emails you want being sent to you and what types of websites you can access e.g. social networking sites. Trojan horse programs and spyware are a common cause for identity theft. A Firewall can prevent your computer from harbouring such programs by either allowing all traffic to pass through except a specific type of data, or it can prohibit all traffic unless it meets it too is a certain type.

Secure Socket Layers: The Secure Socket Layer or SSL is a protocol where devices communicate over the Internet in a secure fashion. The problems with communicating over the internet is that you don’t know that the person you’re talking to is who they are and you don’t know who could be watching the conversation, SSL helps prevent this. When securing web communications on a website, a public key is first established, and this is the SSL certificate. This verifies that they are who they say they are. Once the verification is complete, a new public key is obtained. When someone wants to communicate to this website they will do so on its SSL-secured port.

Adherence to Standards – Strong Passwords Adherence to standards is the act of following to the rules of a website or web browser with the web standards of the World Wide Web Consortium. When owning an account on a website it’s key to have a strong password that only you will know so that it ensures the safety and security of your personal information. For example if you have an account on a shopping website the information on there is typically your email, a registered card and your zip code. When making sure you have a strong password, include lower case letters, uppercase letters and numbers. Strong passwords help protect you from financial loss and identify theft.

Laws and Guidelines That a Particular Website Has to Adhere To: The particular website that I will be defining the laws and guidelines of is the social networking website Facebook. Facebook has to legally comply with the Data Protection Act of 1998 because it stores the data of its millions of users. Facebook is not allowed to share any of your information on any other websites or even anywhere for that matter without your consent or permission. When the you have allowed Facebook to share your information it has to be used fairly and lawfully, being for limited purposes as well as being kept for no longer than necessary. When that information is shared to another website, then that other website has to now follow the Data Protection Act and keep it safe and secure. The last of the rules its Facebook has to abide by is to not transfer the information outside of the UK unless it has an acceptable protection.