Data Transmission Security in Computer Networks and Internet

Abstract

Medical data about patients is generally confidential. Data transmission security for confidential information is an actual issue, with a high informational turnover. Sadly there is no perfect security in data transmission, as is in real life. There is a permanent fight between the effort to secure and the effort to bypass the security of communications. The people that want to reach confidential data may have precise aims about the misuse of this data, or by not being careful, they can make this sensitive data public, and to create problems. More and more of the medical staff use the computer to inform themselves and to communicate. The knowledge about data transmission security in computer networks may not be updated with the methods of intercepting communications. It’s important to be aware about the security of data transmission, about the methods of compromising it, and more important about the methods to strengthen the security level of communications. This paper reviews the usual methods of transmitting data, the methods to intercept the communications and the methods to strengthen the security level of communications. The target reader of this paper is intended to be simple users of computers in computer networks and Internet, and not system administrators. The paper presents only examples of free programs to enhance the security of data transmission.