How do private businesses use computers to guarantee security?

Answer 1

Private businesses do not use computers to grantee security. Computers decrease the security of stored data.

Businesses do, however, use computers to increase productivity and keep data safety from being lost through backup procedures.

Businesses can drastically increase security by disabling access to extranets such as the internet. As well as disable USB ports and locking computer cases.

If internet is required firewalls, antivirus, and monitoring programs can be used. But they are not fool-proof.

Using Operating Systems not prone to viruses (hardened Operating Systems, such as hardened Linux distributions or Hardened Proprietary Operating Systems) is probably the top safety feature a company can use. But these Operating Systems loose the ability to be compatible with software which could otherwise increase productivity (ironically, compatibility is a major reason why security is poor).

Hardened Operating Systems use security features such as stack smashing pointers, preventing data memory segments from being executable, executable hashes/signing, and randomization of program locations in memory.

Windows, Mac OS X, and regular Linux distributions are not hardened.

Windows incorporates its UI into its Operating System, making potentially very insecure.