Internet security

Password managers[edit]

A password manager is a software application that helps a user store and organize passwords. Password managers usually store passwords encrypted, requiring the user to create a master password; a single, ideally very strong password which grants the user access to their entire password database from top to bottom.^[22]

Security suites[edit]

So called security suites were first offered for sale in 2003 (McAfee) and contain a suite of firewalls, anti-virus, anti-spyware and more.^[23] They also offer theft protection, portable storage device safety check, private Internet browsing, cloud anti-spam, a file shredder or make security-related decisions (answering popup windows) and several were free of charge.^[24]

History[edit]

In 1972, Egyptian engineer Mohamed M. Atalla filed U.S. Patent 3,938,091 for a remote PIN verification system, which utilized encryption techniques to assure telephone link security while entering personal ID information, which would be transmitted as encrypted data over telecommunications networks to a remote location for verification. This was a precursor to Internet security and e-commerce.^[25]

At the National Association of Mutual Savings Banks (NAMSB) conference in January 1976, Atalla Corporation (founded by Mohamed Atalla) and Bunker Ramo Corporation(founded by George Bunker and Simon Ramo) introduced the earliest products designed for dealing with online security. Atalla announced an upgrade to its Identikey hardware security module, called the Interchange Identikey. It added the capabilities of processing online transactions and dealing with network security. Designed with the focus of takingbank transactions online, the Identikey system was extended to shared-facility operations. It was consistent and compatible with various switching networks, and was capable of resetting itself electronically to any one of 64,000 irreversible nonlinear algorithms as directed by card data information. The Interchange Identikey device was released in March 1976.^[26] In 1979, Atalla introduced the first network security processor (NSP).^[27]