computer security, the protection of systems and information from harm, theft, and unauthorized use. Computer hardware is typically protected by the same means used to protect other valuable or sensitive equipment—namely, serial numbers, doors and locks, and alarms. The protection of information and system access, on the other hand, is achieved through other tactics, some of them quite complex.The security precautions related to computer information and access address four major threats: (1) theft of data, such as that of military secrets from government computers; (2) vandalism, including the destruction of data by a computer virus; (3) fraud, such as employees at a channeling funds into their own accounts; and (4) invasion of privacy, such as the illegal accessing of protected personal financial or medical data from a large database. The most basic means of protecting a computer system against theft, vandalism, invasion of privacy, and other irresponsible behaviours is to electronically track and record the access to, and activities of, the various users of a computer system. This is commonly done by assigning an individual to each person who has access to a system. The computer system itself can then automatically track the use of these passwords, recording such data as which files were accessed under particular passwords and so on. Another security measure is to store a system’s data on a separate device or medium that is normally inaccessible through the computer system. Finally, data is often encrypted so that it can be deciphered only by holders of a singular encryption . (See .), Computer security, the protection of computer systems and information from harm, theft, and unauthorized use. Computer hardware is typically protected by serial numbers, doors and locks, and alarms. The protection of information and system access is achieved through other tactics, some of them quite complex., Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software , systems and networks from threats that can lead to unauthorized information disclosure, theft or damage to hardware , software , or .