5s week 13 assignment BS

Institute

Hardware and Software Security

Hardware security refers to vulnerability protection which comes in the form of a physical device rather than software that's installed on the computer system hardware. It can also pertain to a device that scans a system or monitors network traffic thus it also protects physical systems from harm. Software security refers to an idea that was implemented to protect software against malicious attacks and other hacker risks for the software to keep functioning correctly under such possible risks, to ensure authentication availability and integrity security is required.

There are various advantages of hardware security including reduction of costs by automating routine tasks like keeping records, payroll, and accounting, it also enhances productivity among the staff and business efficiency by developing effective communication within the organization and with clients, moreover, it develops a competitive advantage by executing or implementing the right business technology which boosts the morale of the employees. (Kin Fun Li & Narges Attarmoghaddam, 2018) however, hardware security also has its drawbacks including it is difficult to upgrade and install hardware security like in the case of hardware firewalls it is also slightly expensive to install this hardware security in your organization due to the high cost in some hardware security like firewalls it takes up a lot of physical space and it involves wiring. Additionally, we have counterfeiting challenges for hardware designs are copied and imitated illegally thus we should come up with measures to counteract this counterfeiting program.

Software security entails various benefits including prevention of viruses, identity theft, and spyware by using software to secure the confidential information of an organization for

hackers are coming up with trickier ways to hack the system thus carefully safeguarding the system by using software is needed. Besides software also protects valuable information by encrypting and limiting access to sensitive information of an organ. It also ensures compliance by providing the required encryption for compliance whenever the file is accessed, this is among many other advantages of security software. (10 Common Software Security Weaknesses, 2019) however it also has demerits including launching attacks and damaging the system for attackers utilizes software security weaknesses to launch attacks on the organization system, it also causes financial losses whenever the software vulnerability causes downtime leading to losses of billions of dollars by the organization. Besides sensitive data can be exposed since some software does not protect sensitive data like health information among other critical data. We also have security misconfiguration in software development due to incomplete configuration or insecure default configurations.

Conclusion

To sum, hardware and software security are paramount in today's world since there's a need for protective and defensive tools this is because sensitive information is stored in the cloud, and also financial transactions are done online. Organizations should be on their toes since hackers are hitting hard on both small and biggest organizations in the world thus organizations must take preventive and proactive steps and invest in effective hardware and software security to safeguard their data, systems, and devices.

References

10 Common Software Security Weaknesses. (2019, June 27). Kiuwan. https://www.kiuwan.com/blog/10-common-software-security-weaknesses/

Damaj, I., & Kasbah, S. (2018). An analysis framework for hardware and software implementations with applications from cryptography. Computers & Electrical Engineering, 69, 572–584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compeleceng.2017.06.008

Kin Fun Li, & Narges Attarmoghaddam. (2018, May). Challenges and Methodologies of Hardware Security. ResearchGate; unknown. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327009189_Challenges_and_Methodologies_of_Hardware_Security

The benefits of software systems. (2019). Www.cs.uct.ac.za. https://www.cs.uct.ac.za/mit_notes/software/htmls/ch01s07.html