The Internet in its current state is similar to a city with no locks on doors of its houses, where computers can be thought of as houses and networks making up Internet, city streets. Computers as they are sold today are inherently insecure, allowing access to anyone with a bit of curiosity or malicious intent. As businesses come to rely more and more on electronic information (not least e-mail), potential disruption caused by a data burglary, informational arson attack or digital graffiti has reached a level that businesses should not ignore

The threat Any computer on Internet exposes a series of ports through which information flows. By default these are all open and unlocked. Whilst many of them may lead to empty rooms or brick walls, an attacker will only need to find one port vulnerable to attack for whole system to be compromised.

Even if your ports are secure; intruders can get into your computer in a Trojan horse. A piece of software disguised as something useful can contain a malicious sub-program to install a backdoor into your system. Often these programs claim to give something for free or display small games whilst an attacker has a good nose around

One of most worrying developments has been proliferation of automated attacks. These can be run from an attacker's computer, scanning hundreds or thousands of computers in a day; or can be self-replicating Internet worm. These are a hybrid of virus programs and computer security attacks. In worst-case scenarios, they can bring whole segments of Internet to a standstill.

Attacks on your information can be carried out for as varied reasons as an arsonist burns things, a robber steals things or kids spray-paint walls. An electronic attack could leave you with no data (imagine losing your accounts day before your filing date), data that has been altered in subtle ways (imagine your accounts with 10% taken off each figure), a website that is 'owned' by a teenager in another country or an office full of computers that no longer do job for which they were intended.

When we drive a car we are accepting and using a set of standards that have evolved since turn of century to ensure safety, convenience and fair access for all users of road system. Some of these standards are globally accepted (for instance a road is made from tarmac and wheels are made from rubber) whilst others vary from country to country (for example if we drive on left or right). The practical upshot of these standards is that a car designed and built for use in one country can be safely used in another (possibly with a little bit of inconvenience).

1. Email Address theft – Have you ever wondered how you get SPAM mail even though you’ve been super cautious NOT to subscribe to anything, yet it still comes your way? One of reasons could be that you have your EMAIL link on a website. With email harvesting software available (even for free trials) anyone can harvest your email address right off your website automatically. 2. Picture Theft – Most average users are aware that you can right-click pictures on a website and download them to their own computer. It is common knowledge for most internet users and webmasters. 3. Return URLs – For some credit card processing companies (such as PAYPAL and EGOLD) it is possible to view source of web pages and look at return (thanks for purchasing) page, where you can directly go to URL, click on link to download software without paying for it 4. Website Layout - If a Webmaster likes your site, they can save out page (and structure) and edit it in their own HTML editor software and claim design layout for themselves 5. PHP Scripts - If you have a clever script (i.e. written in PHP) and you need to send it to someone, they could easily have a look at your PHP script to see how you did it. They can then copy code or re-write it slightly and call it their own Or use it for their own PHP software and scripts.