Computer Crime and Personal Information - Article Example

?Journal We live a highly technologically dependent lifestyle in the 21st century. Everything we do is somehow connected to the world wide web. As such, my privacy as a person has, for quite some time now, been floating around in the internet where it can be accessed by questionable persons. That is why computer companies work very hard to secure my personal information. In the wrong hands, it could be a potentially life threatening situation for me. That is why I do not believe that the government, the FBI in particular should be given access to my personal information without my consent. My personal security and information is protected under the various provisions of the U.S. constitution and I am not just about to surrender it to the FBI based upon a court order. The FBI has it all wrong, the citizens of America do not pose a threat to national security in general. But they are creating situations wherein the actions of the very government that was sworn to protect our interests, become the very threat to our national security. In fact, “...a group of prominent computer security experts argues that mandating “back doors” in online communications products is likely to compromise the security of Americans’ computers and could even pose a threat to national security. “ (Lee, 2013). Would there be any reason for the FBI to legally intercept my electronic communications and spy on my internet activity? I believe that the only reasons that should be allowed would be if the person being surveilled is a foreigner on American soil who hails from a known terrorist country. If that person, or any American for that matter, proves to have some sort of terrorist leanings as evidenced by his offline activities, or, if the person is a known activist or perceived terrorist threat listed in other international terrorist warning lists. There is absolutely no reason in my book to surveille any average American citizen based on the assumption that he is a potential threat. According to Sanchez (2013), “The FBI’s misguided proposal would impose costly burdens on thousands of companies (and threaten to entirely kill those whose business model centers on providing highly secure encrypted communications), while making cloud solutions less attractive to businesses and users. It would aid totalitarian governments eager to spy on their citizens while distorting business decisions about software design. Perhaps worst of all, it would treat millions of law-abiding users with legitimate security needs as presumed criminals — while doing little to hamper actual criminals. “It is upon those beliefs that I would not support any legislation to monitor private citizens on the internet if I were a legislator. Sources Lee, T. (2013). How the FBI's online wiretapping plan could your computer hacked. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/17/how-the-fbis- online-wiretapping-plan-could-get-your-computer-hacked/ Sanchez, J. (2013). FBI's latest proposal for a wiretap ready internet should be trashed. wired.com Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/05/the-fbis-plan-for-a-wiretap-ready-internet- is-misdirected-shortsighted-and-ridiculous/ Journal Question 2 The first big threat to computer security that I believe will be a big issue over the coming days will be the increased Windows 8 attacks geared towards malware, ransom kits, and rootkit modifications. I consider this threat to be a general one as it affects all computer users. The rootkits, ransom kits, and malware programs that are unknowingly installed into the computer poses a high level of personal information security breach and big scale attacks, thus leaving everyone vulnerable to the problem. Once our personal information, as stored on our computer hard drives are accessed by others, the problem of identity theft becomes a very hard to solve problem for everyone. This will not be an easy problem to solve as Windows has a track record of having the most problematic software that hackers can easily expose and flaunt. Another problem that will continue to take hold as our reliance on mobile apps and internet access continues to grow will be the “Snowshoe” Spam. here will always be a distinct possibility that somebody in the general population will accidentally click on a spam link that will open the floodgates for unwanted messages and emails that nobody has the opportunity to opt out of. The time will come when even solicited mail will become suspect at the companies continue to veer towards questionable third parties for their promotional needs. It is the third party that will continue to spread the “snowshoe” and SMS spam problem. SMS spam from infected phones is another problem that will see a rise in its illegal activity over the coming months. Since even our text messages these days are riddled with unwanted spam messages, the program, which works by posing as a legal means of preventing a spamming problem, will cause numerous unwilling victims within our mobile population as it renders our mobile phones useless against these spam attacks. As online business competition continues to increase over the coming decades, we will be sure to see the rise of Hacking as a service within the business market. That is because the face of competition among businesses has already changed and battling it out for supremacy using advertising is no longer the cool way to beat your competitor, these days, hacking is the order of the day and hackers for hire will attack any company that they are paid to do so. This will have a tremendous effect on the economy of our nation and should be considered to be an act of economic sabotage. Even more worrisome for people such as myself is the fact that these hackers now also sell hacking problems to others who wish to hack websites personally. By bringing hacking down to the most basic level of access and use, the people we need to fear the most now are not the professional hackers, but the people who purchase the software to use against any person they perceive to be an enemy that needs to be brought down. In the end, these five choices that I made signify what I believe to be the most important threats to our online presence in the coming months. These are problems that require preventive measures on a 24/7 basis so I am at least confident that the problems shall be solved as they arise. Journal 3 I will admit that knowing that the United States government has direct access to my personal communications using the program known as Prism has left me very worried and jittery about using electronic forms of communication these days. It is not because I am violating or have any intention of violating the laws of the land, but the mere fact that the government feels a need to invade my private life in clear violation of my human rights and other basic rights that are supposed to be protected under the constitution. Prism is a program that should be eradicated and never used again because of the fact that is gives the government access to personal information that I would not normally share with them. Prism is the kind of Big Brother program that would change the way that we live our lives. Most notably, it would remove our right to free speech and thought. We will no longer be able to share our most intimate thoughts or opinions about the world around us without the fear that we could be picked up by some government agency for some comment that we might have made in jest. Let's not forget that because the government knows more about the people in our lives that we do, any action that the people whom we call friends or associates, if done negatively, could have a ripple down effect and drag me into a situation just because of my affinity with the person. Even more importantly, the government can easily profile us using the illegally retained information and accuse us of future crimes in an effort to prevent a person from possibly taking action that they deem subversive or rebellious. I can't stop using Google and Facebook even though I already know the government is monitoring all actions there. The reason is because the internet is an extension of our daily lives. As such, I cannot remove my online presence. However, since I am aware that I am being watched, I will be more conscious and responsible in the way I conduct myself during my online activities. Journal 4 Title: Google Fights Secret Court Over Right to Reveal User Data Request Stats URL: http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/google-fisc-gag-order-user-data-requests/ Summary: In an effort to prove to its users that Google is merely a pawn in the spying game of the government, the internet giant has requested the very secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to allow the company to share the data pertaining to their request for information about particular users with the users themselves. Although Google does not admit to having been contacted by the agency for specific information, this move is seen by many as a method by which the company is hoping to protect its users by asserting their first amendment rights. Since we already know that the government is spying on certain people using information gained from IT companies, the request Google made seems to make sense. After all, trust begets trust. Title: Obama Defends U.S. Intelligence Strategy in Wary Berlin URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/19/us-obama-berlin-idUSBRE95I0OR20130619 Summary: During his trip to Berlin, Pres. Obama tried to convince the people who lived through the Stasi intelligence era of World War 2 that the U.S. was not spying of the citizens of the world. Rather, the U.S. was spying on merely a handful of people under the supervision of the courts in order to protect American citizens. I will applaud the the government's highest leader for wanting to protect the American people from terrorist attacks, having thwarted 50 attempts since the Prism program was used. But the mere fact that he allowed Americans to die in Benghazi when they were screaming for help makes me wonder what exactly Prism is looking for if it missed that terrorist attack. Title: Privacy Authorities Issue Google a “Please Explain” on Glass URL: http://www.zdnet.com/privacy-authorities-issue-google-a-please-explain-on-glass-7000016982/ Summary: Due to the increasing privacy concerns about the use of Google Glass in public places, international privacy groups have voiced their concern over the use of the gadget. 10international privacy authorities asked Google to clarify issues surrounding the controversial gadget and how they planned to overcome it. Personally, I dislike Google Glass very much because I view it as the penultimate voyeur gadget, I would be glad if Google just dropped the whole project without launching it in a test market at all. Read More