Cyberspace
According to Bruce Sterling (1993): “Cyberspace is (Figure 1) a “place” where it looks like there is a phone conversation going on. Not inside your phone, plastic device of your screen. Not inside your talker’s phone, in another city. The place between two phones. Undefined place, over there, where both of you, human beings meet and communicate.”
The term cyberspace is used for the first time by William Gibson, in 1984, in his roman “Neuromancer”, when he tried to give a name to describe his vision for a worldwide network, the connection of all people, machines and sources of data in the universe, through which he can act or trick us in the virtual universe.
Attempting to define cyberspace exactly, the authors cannot find a compatible definition. It is mutual that in the entire cases cyberspace exists only in theory, actually it is an illusion.
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Cyberspace refers to the virtual computer world, actually to an electronic medium used for a global computer network forming to create it easy the online communication. It is a large computer network composed of many world computer networks that include TCP/IP protocol to help in communication and data change activities. Its basic function is an interactive and virtual background for a wide range of users (Cory Janssen, n.d.)
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Cyberspace is characterized by the usage of electronics and the electromagnetic spectrum to save, modify and data exchange through computer systems and physical infrastructures connected. Respectively, it can be considered as interconnection of human beings by computers and telecom, irrespective of geographic prevalence (Rouse Marin, 2008).
According to definition, cyberspace is a virtual computer world, global computer network, which through the electromagnetic spectrum enables forming, saving, modifying, data exchange through information communication systems that are reciprocally connected.
The data system is any written, electronic, or graphic method of communication systems. The base of information system is partitioned and processing data and ideas. Computers and telecom technology are important parts of this system. The term information system is information technology that is used for performing certain organization or individual objects (Seneva S., 2009).
By reason of its own nature, that contains an easy data access, fast data flow, texts combination, weak law regulative that results with easy access etc., cyberspace is subjected to different attacks.
These attempts are called cyber-attacks and they mean an intentional using of computer systems and networks. They use malicious code to change computer codes, logic or data that results in alarming consequences that can compromise data and lead to cyber-criminal, such as data phishing. Cyber-attack is also known as a computer network attack. Cyber-attack involves:
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Data phishing, fraud or extortion;
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Malicious software, phishing, spamming, Trojans, viruses etc.;
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Stolen hardware;
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Denial-of-service (DoS);
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Access infringement;
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Password sniffing;
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System infiltration;
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Instant messages misuse;
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IP addresses stealing and unqualified access, etc. (Cory Janssen, n.d.)
All these types of attacks affect computer safety, decreasing, and at the same time, they are a new challenge for it.
Computer safety can be defined as a collection of tools, policies, safe concepts, safe protection measures, directions, controlling risks, activities, instructions, best exercises, insurance and technologies we can use for cyberspace protection and user’s and organization assets.
Cyberspace security aims to supply reaching and maintenance of safety systems and user attributes. Its safety aims enable:
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Confidentiality: Information should be created and used by subjects that have right to do that, to have a constant access to it;
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Integrity: Information should always be in its original form, complete and correct;
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Accessibility: Information should be available to all who are authorized.
A synonym that is universally accepted for safety aims and criteria is C.I.A.
In spite of increased information security and taking bigger measures to protect the information and to limit the access to it, it appears some threats that destroy it. The main part of those threats are intentional and unintentional. The intentional ones include target attacks or attacks with no previously determined targets by different sources, including criminal groups, hackers, dissatisfied employees, states included in espionage, terrorists, hackers etc.
The huge security services that are responsible for constant following of this type of safety and taking measures for its increasing, give a list of threats. As sources of information safety threats appear operators of the botnet, criminal groups, hackers, insiders, states, fishers, spammers, terrorists.