Computer crime and forensic - Term Paper Example

The good that he has done is to open up the activities of NSA, as well as its partner in Britain, who violates the privacy of the two countries citizens through secret government surveillances (Ball, 2013). This can be considered good, since it elicits a dialogue on the suitability and the unsuitability of such activities. For this reason, he should be protected by the whistle blowing agency, for having divulged sensitive, but vital information regarding government agencies. However, Edward Snowden has already caused too much damage on the reputation of the government agencies, as well as placing sensitive and classified information that is only accessible by the security agencies in the public domain, thus making the security of the countries prone to many breaches (The Economic Times, 2013).

For such reasons, he may have committed a big blunder, though the result is that, it has opened a public debate on the security agencies breaching of the privacy of private individuals and entities. Thus, instead of considering him as a criminal, he should be treated as a hero who worked towards risking his life, for the sake ensuring that the public is aware of the existing violations. Therefore, he should not be incriminated. References Ball, J. (October 25, 2013). Leaked memos reveal GCHQ efforts to keep mass surveillance secret.

The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/25/leaked-memos-gchq-mass-surveillance-secret-snowden Greenberg, A. (September 13, 2013). Intelligence Officials Admit That Edward Snowden's NSA Leaks Call For Reforms. Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/09/13/intelligence-officials-admit-that-edward-snowdens-leaks-call-for-reforms/ The Economic Times. (Oct 26, 2013). Edward Snowden's leaks most serious in US history: ex-CIA official. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.

com/2013-10-26/news/43415706_1_intelligence-community-edward-snowden-intelligence-agencies Question 2 Mobile Threats This is a major threat to every individual and even a threat personally, since it entails the installation of a malware on an individual’s mobile phone by criminals, who are able to manipulate the a malware program to be able to purchase items from the app store, without the permission of the mobile devise owner (McAfee report, 2012). The danger associated with this type of threat is that; it can drain the wallet accounts created by individuals for the purpose of online purchase of items from the app stores, since it can easily be installed on the mobile devices of such individuals, whenever they connect to the purchase sites.

Malware This is another threat to the privacy and data accessibility of individuals, through the installation of malfunctioning software that blocks the operating system from being able to access data, thus blocking the accessibility of the data purchased, until the owner of the computer system pays some ransom. This type of software is called the ransomware (McAfee report, 2012). This threat poses a danger to all of us, as well as to self, since it can be done to anyone’s computer. Big-Scale Attacks This is considered a big threat to all of us, since it is a malicious attack not specifically targeted at financial gain, but for the purposes of causing as much damage as possible to the computer systems.

The most worrying aspect is that, the threat targets company systems, which will in turn put the performance