Where Am I Going?

Where are WE Going with Technology?
Our In-Class Discussion for the current module wanted us to think about the future of technology. So that's where I want to begin this blog. When I think about technology it is exciting, scary, and awe-inspiring. I'd like to briefly explain each of these thoughts.

The future of technology is exciting. It really is. Cell phones have evolved into these amazing devices that can do so much. They have changed the way people communicate. No longer do we need to wonder how to get in touch with someone. They can be reached by using tiny cell phones that not only call people but also make reservations, look up information, give people directions, and even manage our houses. We are able to control the lights in our houses by our cell phones. We can watch movies. The list goes on and on. And that's just one example. The evolution of computers could fill this blog all by itself.

The future of technology is scary. I think that's an understatement. Technology can be very wonderful and very awful at the same time. Future wars will be fought without foot soldiers. Unmanned devices will take their places. And, while that should be a source of comfort, I think it's a frightening idea. Technology will create more powerful weapons of war that will cause greater destruction and loss of life. Another idea to ponder is the role that computers will pay in bringing down countries. Just this past week we heard about "hacktivists" causing problems for MasterCard, Visa, and PayPal. This is just the beginning. I think cyber terrorists will be the new threat everyone will need to be aware of. That is a very scary thought, indeed.

The future of technology is awe-inspiring. This is my favorite thought about the future of technology. I suppose it is because everyday I see medical advances that enable the impossible to be possible. The future of surgery is amazing. Doctors are now able to perform surgeries that are less invasive and more precise than was ever dreamed of. Prostate surgeries to remove cancers are routinely done with the assistance of robots. These robots have the precision and artificial intelligence to do what was never possible. Technology is allowing babies to be born and, not just survive, but flourish. My family has living proof of the miracles wrought by technology. My nephew and his wife gave birth to triplets this past April. They were born at just 27 weeks of gestation. None of them weighed even 3 pounds at birth. Two of them had significant complications and weren't expected to live. Modern medical technology allowed these babies to survive incredible problems. Today, at 7 months of age, these 3 babies are 15 pounds each. They are happy, well-developed infants. Their future is promising. Yes, modern technology is truly awe-inspiring.

My Thoughts about this Blog

When this semester began my biggest concern for this class was, in fact, this blog. I had never written a blog. I had never wanted to write a blog. I'm a scientist by trade. We tend to just present the facts when communicating to others. Also, I was more than a little concerned about being able to add things like pictures or articles to the blog. I'll admit I was pretty intimidated at the thought of embedding a video. And what could I possibly want to write about???
My first blog was simple, short....and boring. For my next blog  I got adventurous and added links to articles and even a video. Painfully added them, I may add. From there my blogs became more creative. I learned how to embed videos. I grew excited at the thought of my next blog. I couldn't wait to include new tricks that I had been taught. I even included a tutorial that I made. Yes, it was simple but the fact remains that I made it and I included it in my blog. I showed my blog to others, whether they wanted to see it or not, because I was proud of what I had done. Could I have even imagined this at the beginning of the semester? Not at all.

The ultimate compliment came in the form of a request from my professor. She asked my permission to share my blog with future classes. She liked it too! I am honored that she thought that highly of my first blog and I am happy to share it with others.

So, What now?

I don't think I will continue to add to this blog but that doesn't mean there aren't other blogs in my future. This one will remain as it is. It will serve as an example of what I have learned in this class for future employers. It is definitely a part of my portfolio.From the initial entry to this last one there has been a huge increase in my ability and knowledge. Not only has this class been extremely valuable from the point of view of increased security knowledge, it has been equally valuable for the increased abilities I now have to work with media to create an attractive and informative product. My immediate plans are to use this knowledge by volunteering at the Niagara County Animal Shelter. They could use some help getting their dog and cat pictures posted on-line. I feel confident that I will be able to help them with that task. And it will allow me to continue increasing my knowledge base while helping a very worthy cause.
I will miss writing this blog. It really has been an enjoyable experience. Thank you for this opportunity.

Risky Business & What Can We Do About It?

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Just when I think I've learned about all I can learn in a course, this module comes along. This module dealt with risks we can encounter whether we are on-line or conducting business using today's technology. I know it opened my eyes to the unknown dangers that are out there. I also know that it has changed the way I go about my on-line experiences. I'd like to tell you about what I learned about peer-to-peer networks, my on-line safety, and the security of my home network. Additionally, I want to educate you about how Wal-Mart protects the personal information of it's customers. I also feel I must be candid about how I used to conduct certain on-line activities.

What Didn't I Learn???
This module had a big impact on me and my family. We were doing things we shouldn't have been doing and leaving ourselves open to having our personal information stolen.

Let's start with peer-to-peer networks. I guess I always knew that nothing is ever truly free but I never really thought about downloading free music as stealing. Really. My kids had no qualms about downloading songs onto their iPods and I just jumped on the bandwagon with them. Then a few weeks ago my son discovered that the peer-to-peer network that we get our music from, Lime Wire, had been shut down by the government. THEN we start this module and I discover that we had been conducting illegal downloading of songs!! Yikes!! So, we are a different family now. Music will be paid for if anyone wants to download it. My personal opinion is that these artists make obscene amounts of money for what they produce (especially the stuff my son listens to) and they really can't be hurting from these downloads. I guess I should thank the government for shutting down Lime Wire. It was a big source of viruses, spy-ware, and malware if you weren't diligent with using your anti-virus software to check everything you downloaded. I've read about computers becoming completely infected after a song or two were downloaded. I guess I should consider us lucky that we weren't one of those victims.

So, the next eye-opening thing I discovered was that our wireless router was pathetic as far as security went. I read the parts of the module that dealt with securing your wireless router and chuckled along with the people on the video when they spoke about router passwords being......"password". How could anyone be that dumb? Well, guess what. When we bought our router and set it up I was much less tech savvy than I am now. The password on our home router was......."password". Yep. I am embarrassed to admit this but at least I can say I've learned from this experience. I can also admit that the SSID we were broadcasting was NETGEAR. So, let me recap what I discovered. We were broadcasting our SSID as NETGEAR with the password of "password". I might as well have just left our credit cards sitting on our front steps and saved any war-drivers some time. Unfortunately, the router technology is WEP which I have learned is old school and not very secure. That will change in the future, but for now I feel a little more confident since I made some much needed  adjustments. At the least I feel that if someone were trying to use our wireless network to go on the Internet or steal our credit card information I've just made it a little tougher for them. Perhaps they will just move on to the next house that may not be as secure.

Part of this assignment included displaying a screen shot of my computer's SSID information. I have Windows 7 so the directions were a little different than the operating system that was used as an example in our learning module. Here's what I was able to capture as information from the dialog box on my computer:

This screen shot shows that I have no authentication and that the encryption type is WEP. But the key items I want to highlight on this screen shot are the SSID, which is KCKRMULL, and that it is requiring a network security key, which isn't displayed. Those are changes that I have made since starting this module. My kids complain about these changes each time they log onto their accounts in iTunes using their iTouch since they have to enter the security key. A small price, I tell them, for added security.

While I'm on the topic of security, personal security to be precise, I looked at the corporate website for Wal-Mart to see how they are protecting their customer's personal information. From what I was able to discover about in-store transactions is that they use WEP but the network is MAC address filtered. This means that it looks at each individual computer trying to connect to the network to see if it is allowed to connect. Even if the WEP key was cracked the individual would not be allowed to access the network because the laptop's MAC address is not in the list of allowable MAC addresses. For on-line purchases they

 use SSL technology. They also have a digital certificate from Verisign. This allows your personal information to be transmitted in encrypted form to a Wal-Mart.com web server. Wal-Mart also discloses that any hard copies of personal information are kept in locked locations or cabinets with similar restrictions for electronic storage of personal information. When it is disposed of it is shredded, destroyed, erased, or some other way made unreadable. It sounds like Wal-Mart is taking many steps to ensure their customer's personal information is secure.

A Last Note 
My daughter received an unnerving message the other day from Face Book. It seems someone in California was trying to access her account but was having trouble with her password. She needed to answer several security questions and change her password before she was allowed to access her Face Book account. She brought it to my attention since she has decided that her mom is becoming a security nut ever since she started taking this class. We discussed what constitutes a secure password and I feel confident that the password she selected will be a secure one. I think we all learned something from this module.

Information Security Awareness Project

A Contest, an Opportunity

As part of my experiences in CIS 205 our class has been given an opportunity to win money! Well, let me preface this by saying that, if our submission is great, we could win money. We have been placed on teams to help foster teamwork and create our projects. The contest is sponsored by Cyberwatch, an organization comprised of higher education institutions, businesses, and government agencies whose mission is to improve the quantity and quality of the information assurance workforce. I thought it was an interesting organization and decided to become a member. I know that, at the least, I will receive their newsletter. Depending on where my education leads me, it may prove to be a valuable resource for my future. The fact that I can receive a discount on Comp TIA certification exams is a terrific benefit that I plan to take advantage of. The contest that Cyberwatch is sponsoring is geared toward producing posters and short videos aimed at college students. The goal is to spread information security awareness. I'm excited about this contest! I don't know what my team's chances are for winning but I think this will, ultimately, be another great accomplishment to place on my resume.

My team and our project

My team has narrowed down our plan for this project to a short video. We have decided that cybercrime is an excellent topic to cover since college students can be easy targets for these predators. The video, according to the contest requirements, should be about 2 minutes in length. We haven't made any detailed decisions yet, other than the fact that it will be a video and not a poster. I suggested that we use a website called called Xtranormal.com. The link to it is www.xtranormal.com and it is a text-to-movie movie-making system that we can run entirely in our browser. Once we are done editing the video we can publish it and make it available on the world wide web. I have made a couple simple videos, just for fun. My 14 year old son made a couple videos also. It is simple enough that anyone with some time and patience can create a video. I'd like to give you an example of a video I made. It is only 30 seconds long, and has a few items in it I'd like to change, but it does give you an idea of what I thought about as a platform for this project.
This video talks about my love of Cannoli flavored ice cream and the possible consequences if I eat too much of it:

I think myself, and my team, will be able to create an informative video that has the potential to look spectacular.And who knows? Maybe if it's spectacular enough we will be the answer to the question ---------------->

That would be nice.

Don't Threaten Me!!

Let me start out by saying that Stephen King has nothing in his arsenal that comes close to how frightening attacks on your computer can be.

My Reflections on this Module
Each time we start a new module I am excited at the prospect of what I am going to learn in regards to computer security. This module didn't disappoint me in the least. I feel pretty savvy when it comes to knowledge about computer viruses. They've been around almost as long as personal computers have been around. I did enjoy the background and history of virus origins since it's always good to know how something began.

What really grabbed me were the articles on hackers, botnets, and zombie computers. The facts about hackers, and their habits, made me think about these individuals as their own culture. They seem to have their roots based in quests to satisfy their curiosity or attain a goal. It seems, however, they've lost sight of what effects they cause in their quests. I learned that the majority of hackers don't have malicious intentions when they try to achieve something. What they are doing may not be proper, but it isn't bad either. The other side of the coin, the hackers with bad intentions (also known as crackers), are a different story. I can't understand why they would use their knowledge to cause something bad to happen. Especially since, I would think, being able to see what they've done would be their "prize". They aren't around when an innocent victim has their hard drive corrupted or wiped out. They aren't standing there when these people realize a lot of their personal data is gone forever, or irretrievable. So what is the fun in that? Where is their prize? I could almost understand the crackers who are able to cause problems to major corporations or networks. Their accomplishment becomes a media story so they feel they can brag or feel good about it. But the crackers who affect individuals are just wrong.

I must mention that the information about botnets and zombie computers made me look at my computer in a whole different light. There are some telltale signs that your computer has become a zombie for a botnet  army but I'm not sure the average computer user would know what to look for. There are limited choices you can make when it comes to stopping this threat and the idea of wiping out your entire hard drive and starting over from scratch is painful, to say the least. So now, each time I go onto the internet,  the thought passes through my head  "Is my computer at risk of becoming a zombie?"

What will I do differently? That's easy to answer. First of all, I will keep my anti-virus software up to date. Additionally, I've done some research and I think I'm going to download an add-on for Mozilla Firefox called NoScript.

This way I will be in control of what URLs will be acceptable. I read the reviews on it and they are overwhelmingly positive.  I learned about this add-on from a video that was provided to us in this module.It was a very good video and I'd like to provide you with a link to it. Please take the time to watch it, you may learn something!



Now, while this video was good, the following video from the fine folks at Symantec points out some additional things that may prove useful in keeping your computer safe from outside threats. This video talks about a family of fake anti-virus applications. They mimic legitimate anti-virus software but their whole purpose is simply to get money from you. You can get one of these fake applications after clicking on a link in a professional looking website. Suddenly pop-ups begin to appear telling you that your computer is infected and what you need to do to fix this problem. Ultimately, they are hoping you will follow the links to a page where you provide your credit card information. Once they have your card number they will sell it or use it to buy items. All this can be prevented with a good anti-virus software program running on your PC.

I am almost ashamed to admit this but, several years ago, I clicked on a link that was fake. I was bombarded with pop-ups telling me my computer was infected and offering a solution for a price. Ultimately, I ended up wiping out the contents of my hard drive and starting from scratch. A hard lesson to learn but one I won't soon forget.

My Anti-Virus Program

There are plenty of choices out there when it comes to anti-virus software.   Some are free and some can range in price from a few dollars to upwards of $100.00 for the rights to use the software. The choice comes down to a matter of personal preference. I have McAfee Anti-Virus 2011 as the anti-virus software for my computer and the other computers that we use in our home. We used to have AVG as our anti-virus program but I didn't feel it performed as well as I had hoped. In it's defense, I was using the free version which doesn't have as many bells and whistles as some programs that you can buy. After discontinuing AVG, I decided to go with CA Anti-Virus. It is provided as the anti-virus software that Time-Warner customers can use for free with their internet subscription to Roadrunner. It did too good of a job. The computer that I installed it on slowed down so much nothing could be accomplished. My family complained loudly and frequently. I decided a change needed to be made....again. So I chose McAfee Anti-Virus 2011. I am very pleased with the job it is doing. It runs quietly in the background, and doesn't use a lot of system resources. When it perceives a potential threat it notifies me with a pop-up window that allows me to choose what action I want it to perform. I think I will stay with it for a long time.
Since I am singing it's praises, I want to provide you with a screen shot of what my home page looks like, along with part of the scan report:




As you can see, the program is scheduled to do regular scans and I have noticed that it performs regular updates without me needing to get involved. I really like how it works.

What To Do if the Bad Guys Succeed 

So, let's assume you have an up-to-date anti-virus program running and you are a careful person when it comes to clicking on suspicious links. This doesn't mean you may not fall victim to an authentic looking link.  I'd like to take this time to show you how to "fix" your computer. Basically, you are turning back the hands of time (kind of like Daylight Savings Time) to a time before you clicked on that link. You are performing a System Restore. I wish I had this knowledge several years ago when I ran into that link that caused me to need to reformat my hard drive.
The following video will guide you through the steps you will need to take to restore your computer:

Like I said in the tutorial, I hope this short video proves helpful if you ever need to restore your computer to an earlier point in time.

My Conclusion
Everyday we encounter countless threats to our computers. With education and the proper tools to protect ourselves we can avoid these threats. As new threats are born, it is up to each of us to do our job to prevent them from spreading.

Crime and Punishment

I found this module fascinating just from the sheer amount of information I learned from it. It made me scared to go onto the Internet, especially my e-mail accounts! As I reread parts of this module I came to realize that, instead of being scared, I should consider myself fortunate to have learned this information.

First of all, I didn't realize that spam is illegal. So, the question that needs to be asked is: why do all of us get tons of spam each day? My junk mail has large amounts of e-mail dumped into it each day. I don't pay much attention to this junk mail folder so it really  doesn't have much potential to affect me. But every once in a while something catches my eye. I have resisted the temptation to click on the e-mail to open it and now, after reading this chapter, I am glad I did.  I have armed myself with new weapons to reduce the amount of spam that shows up in my  in-box and report that which I find particularly annoying, offensive, or scary.

Scams seem almost ridiculous in today's world but I imagine there's lots of people out there who fall for them. The Work-From-Home scam preys on those individuals out there who are looking for a break. Whether they are disabled or need extra cash, these scams are directed at them. The Mystery Shopper scams can be an easy way for the criminals to steal money from unsuspecting victims. I say can because there are legitimate Mystery Shopper organizations out there and they do provide a service for many businesses. That is exactly what makes it hard to determine what is phony and what is real.



I thought the Nigerian Letter scam was truly unbelievable even after reading about it both in our book and on-line. The ability to send out these poorly constructed letters, filled with grammatical and spelling errors, and still get people to respond to them is really sad. Especially when I read about how some victims responded after realizing they had been tricked into parting with substantial amounts of  their money. It is good that there have been arrests due to these scams. However, I think these arrests are just scratching the surface. The saying that applies here is "If you make a better mousetrap, the mice tend to get smarter." I think that this will just make these criminals invent new ways to steal money from victims.

I thought the section on pharming and phishing was particularly chilling. It seems that, eventually, no one will be able to avoid being a victim of these crimes. Of these two crimes I think pharming is the one that has the potential to cause more harm. Pharming is a crime that occurs when the criminal tampers with the domain name server of a business. Traffic to the website is secretly diverted to a different website. This other website looks exactly like the legitimate one and the victim thinks they are on the correct website because the browser is displaying the correct web site but, really, it's a fraudulent site. How scary is that!?!? I've often teased my husband because he likes to do our banking the old fashioned way. Well, I might have to rethink my beliefs. At least that paper check he writes out will make it to the business he sends it to and NOT a business that just looks like it. The same holds true for any banking that he does.
I thought this diagram did a good job outlining the steps that take place when a pharming scam occurs:

Phishing occurs when bulk e-mail is sent out that tries to get the potential victim to click on a link to a legitimate looking, but fake, website. The fake website then tries to get the person to give up their personal information and account passwords. The theme to these websites is that a person's account has been corrupted or is about to be closed and the business needs their information to restore the person's account to it's prior status. In thinking about both of these schemes, it seems that phishing would be more easily avoidable as long as a person knows what to look for and follows some basic rules.
I found this great article that describes phishing and pharming and the opinions of one person whose job it is to protect people from these threats on a daily basis. The link to it is :http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/First-Was-Phishing-Next-Is-Pharming/ 
I recommend reading it .

I really enjoyed finding this video on YouTube.  It's from the fine folks at Symantec and gives a funny, but informative, lesson on the scary things we can encounter on the world wide web:




So, you would think that after learning about all these schemes and scams I would be immune to anyone messing with me online. Well, the truth of the matter is that I had a phishing scam arrive in my junk in-box just last week. The scam was from someone posing as a PayPal account manager. The e-mail title said that my PayPal account had been compromised. Had I not become educated in these schemes I might have fallen for the scam. After all, it did look legitimate and how could I not respond to such a convincing title?

This message appeared above all the junk e-mail messages. It alerts readers to look for the "trusted sender" icon. Well, nothing in my junk box has a trusted sender icon....otherwise it wouldn't be junk! A legitimate message would look like this:

paypal.com which alerted me to the fact that this was a phishing scheme. I selected "Mark as Spam" and sent it on it's way to be investigated.

I consider myself, and my family, fortunate in that we haven't been victimized on-line. It seems like the number of victims is continuing to grow despite efforts from organizations  like the IC3, the FBI ,and SpamCop. It also seems like the number of criminals caught and brought to justice is tiny in comparison to the total number out there. It will take education and vigilance on the part of everyone who uses the Internet to keep themselves from becoming victims of this growing type of crime. I know that, since reading the information in this module, I'm better prepared to protect myself when I go on the Internet.

Keeping it Private on the Wild, Wild Web

This learning module was a real eye opener for me as far as how easy it is to fall victim to cyberstalking and identity theft.




Cyberstalking. After reading the chapter on cyberstalking I can't say that I've come away from it armed with any way to protect myself, or my family, if someone decided to target us. However, I have learned about some of the technology that is used to cyberstalk so, in that regard, I feel that I could recognize what was happening to make it stop sooner.

It seems like cars are a big tool for cyberstalkers. It is fairly simple to wire a car with a GPS system or cell phone in order to be able to follow a person and listen in on their conversations. I can't imagine how unnerving it would be to know you are being followed and not know how it is being accomplished.

I found snoop-sticks fascinating. These devices have the ability to cause havoc in a person's life by their ability to see everything a person is doing on their computer. Your passwords and account numbers are not safe. Every e-mail can be read. All websites that you visit can be seen by your unknown perpetrator. The fact that they were created as a parental control tool is lost upon realizing the true potential of this device.

The statistics on cyberstalking were fairly sobering also. It seems like the stalkers are quite diligent in pursuing their victims. The fact that 66% of victims are stalked at least once each week and that 78% of stalkers find they need to use more than one approach to truly terrorize their victim is startling. (The credit for these statistics came from "Cyber Crime Fighters - Tales from the Trenches" by Felicia Donovon and Kristyn Berner.)





Identity Assumption and Identity Theft. This section of our learning module really had an impact on me. I feel that any intrusion into someone's identity is unacceptable and should be dealt with quickly and harshly. The ramifications to someone's life range from bothersome to overwhelming and life altering.

The fact that the World Wide Web isn't well regulated allows for individuals with a vendetta against someone to swoop in and assume their identity. A smear campaign is easy to launch since web sites are fairly easy to set up. One aspect that I had never considered is the effect of identity assumption on educators. Teachers can have their reputations tarnished all due to an angry student. Teens can also assume the identity of another teen in order to get revenge against them or bully them. The repercussions of a teen doing this to another teen can cause huge amounts of stress in the victim's life. It is hard to prove that those postings or web sites really weren't your creation and, in fact, are completely against the values you hold dear.

The biggest eye opener for me dealt with identity theft. It seems like it would be fairly easy for someone to steal your identity if you aren't careful. Equally unnerving was the fact that the victims are often guilty until proven innocent. The amount of time and money that go into recovering your identity can ruin people if the theft of your identity didn't already. I found this great article on personal record keeping to help prevent identity theft. Included in this article are retention guidelines for records like tax returns, bank statements ATM receipts, and utility bills....just to name a few. The link to this article is:   http://www.shrednations.com/articles/personal-records-retention.php
I highly recommend reading it. It explained the proper length of time to keep these records along with some suggestions for disposal.

When I read about children under the age of 18 being targets for identity theft my thoughts immediately turned towards my daughter. When she was 15, and starting her first part-time job, she received a notice from a bank about a credit card she was attempting to open. She had no idea where this bank obtained this information. I called the bank and, after explaining that she was only 15 and not interested in a credit card, they promptly closed the application and placed a notice on any future attempts to establish credit in her name. Now I realize she was a potential victim and the perpetrator probably worked with her.

One of the changes I made in my life after reading everything associated in this learning module was to invest in a paper shredder. My husband and I have always ripped up any unwanted, but sensitive, mail that is delivered to our house. After reading about identity theft I decided it was time to protect ourselves more fully. Our shredder is now conveniently located next to the paper bag for old newspapers. Our motto is "Shred, Shred, Shred"!




Another change in my life brought about by this learning module was checking my credit report. Now it may be naive of me, but I never had looked at my credit report before this. At least not as a conscious effort apart from refinancing a mortgage or refinancing a home equity loan.  It was interesting to review and, although I knew my credit score was excellent, it still felt good to see it in print. Now I have established a schedule for checking my credit report about every 4 months. I found the following YouTube video interesting. It discusses the biggest reasons you should check your credit report once a year. Checking for errors in your personal information, looking for identity theft, finding areas that will help you repair your credit, credit inquiries made against your credit report, and the fact that it costs nothing to check your credit report are the topics covered in this video.




I think you'll agree it was worth viewing. I never realized how many ways your credit score can affect your daily life.

In conclusion, the Wild, Wild Web can be a scary, dangerous place. I know I learned some valuable tips to keep myself and my family safe the next time we venture onto it.  I hope to make others aware of the dangers they may encounter and how to keep themselves and their personal data safe also.

How Does Computer Security Affect Me?

Our current Learning Module has focused on concepts related to computer security. We have been exposed to the concept that everyone leaves a digital footprint when they enter the on-line world. We have read about our digital trail and personal privacy. We have searched for and discovered what information exists about ourselves out on the World Wide Web. We have been exposed to the concepts of collective intelligence and reality mining. So it makes sense for me to finish this learning module by discussing how computer security affects me.

Computer security affects me on some pretty intimate levels. It affects me personally. It affects my college experience. It affects my career life. As part of this learning module we read an article titled "Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship". This article highlighted what constitutes acceptable behavior when using technology. It also pointed out common behaviors that range from impolite to criminal when using the internet or, simply, computers in general. It addressed the  concerns that each of us should have when visiting websites and conducting business using computers. For this blog I would like to discuss 3 of the themes discussed in the article. These themes are: digital commerce, digital literacy, and digital law.

Digital Commerce. Digital commerce involves the buying and selling of goods electronically. I, personally, enjoy purchasing items on-line. Some of my favorite websites include eBay and Dillyeo. These sites offer both fun and useful items that I wouldn't be able to purchase anywhere else for the prices offered. I trust these sites because I know the digital information that I provide them will be safe. I have ventured into websites that have proven to be disreputable. Luckily, I was stopped by my internet browser before I was able to enter the site.  The following short video offers some advise on protecting your identity and researching sites before you shop on them. It's lighthearted but does get it's point across:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEhqvznSkds&feature=email
Another idea to consider when surfing the net is that there are a huge and growing number of illegal and immoral websites out there designed to lure you into them. They are especially attractive to teen shoppers. Teens tend to be naive and vulnerable when it comes to shopping on line. The following article explains, in detail, what to look for in a bad website and how to avoid having your identity stolen. It also discusses the issues of immoral or illegal websites.The link to it is http://digiteen.wikispaces.com/Digital+Commerce .

Digital Literacy. As a non-traditional student in college I can't help but compare the difference between my college experience of 20+ years ago and now. We live in such an electronic world that the whole style of teaching has changed completely. On-line courses, such as CIS205, were not even a thought back when I was a new college student. These courses allow for such a broad educational experience that their value can't even be measured.  Enhancing that experience is an ever growing wealth of technology. Educators not only need to educate, but they also need to stay current on new technologies. The world is moving at an ever quicker pace and students need to be able to learn at this rate. Employers expect the new college graduates to have a high level of information literacy.
This link explains the challenges faced in today's libraries regarding digital literacy:
http://www.library.illinois.edu/diglit/definition.html

Digital Law. Anyone who knows me also knows how proud I am to work at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.  I believe in the Institute's mission statement and hope for a cure for cancer in the not-to-distant future. To know that some of the world's most prominent researchers are found at Roswell is a very exciting feeling. These researchers dedicate themselves to their work and do not consider  themselves done for the day once they leave their research labs. That is why Roswell supports and encourages encrypted devices to transport medical research data outside of the institute. The security of the research data is never taken lightly. That is why these encrypted devices play such a vital role.
The following link starts off describing a situation in which an unencrypted device, containing personal health records, was stolen  from an Ontario, Canada, hospital. It is a perfect example why no medical research or records should be allowed to be saved on unencrypted devices. http://i-sight.com/corporate-security/maintaining-information-security-and-privacy/
Soon New York State will have in place laws requiring any medical data be stored on encrypted devices. I think this is a good law. The wrong information in the wrong hands could have devastating consequences for many people.

I guess I would conclude this blog by reflecting on just how much computer security affects all of us. Security cannot be taken lightly and we all need to be vigilant in our on-line travels to be sure we don't encounter or cause breaches in internet and computer security.

My first blog

This is the first time I have ever created a blog or posted anything to a blog. I have created this blog as part of the requirements needed for my Intro to Principles of Computer Security class (CIS 205). I know people who love to blog but I had never considered blogging as a creative outlet for my own thoughts.

I was excited about taking this class because I wanted to expand my knowledge of computer security and what can affect it. I am more excited now because I think this class will be presented in a unique manner. Several of the requirements are unlike anything I have encountered so far in an on-line class, and this blog is just one example.

I think that blogging my thoughts and experiences in this class will provide a clear road map to anyone who reads this as to just how much I have learned throughout this semester. It will also prove to be an excellent reminder to me about what I have accomplished. At work I am required to keep a running  list of what I have learned or accomplished throughout the year. The list aids both myself, and my boss, when it is time for my yearly review. This blog should prove to be no different.