Summaries of the Articles about the Computing Enviroment - Term Paper Example

Summaries of chosen articles One of the article contains detailed information about mainly all the aspects of identity thefts; ranging from the preventions that should be taken to avoid the occurrence of identity thefts to the perspective of the authorities to handle the crime. Hurst (2009) terms the criminal as the ‘anonymous attacker’ and states some real life cases of individuals who have become victims of such criminals. This article points out the different techniques that are commonly adapted by the intruders and the appalling figures that are being witnessed nowadays regarding the respective crime in UK. Hurst, P 2009, Anonymous Attacker, CIFAS, viewed 12th October 2010, Another literature that has been chosen for the respective research is a guideline for the insurance of identity theft (Defaqto Media 2010). This text explains how identities can be stolen even when an individual is very cautious about revealing his personal information. This guideline identifies the following techniques by which identity may be stolen of the internet users, as well as others; intercepted postage mail, stolen handbags and online activities. It also gives information about the different insurance policies that have been formulated to handle identity thefts. Defaqto Media 2010, Identity theft insurance guide, viewed 14th October 2010, The third chosen article highlights a study that was conducted by Royal Holloway, University of London (Alpha Galileo 2010). The study analyzed the concerns and worries of individuals regarding their experience on the internet. The results showed that the most feared crime on the internet is of identity theft in UK. The sample consisted of around 1048 respondents therefore this data also proved to be a useful source of information about the demographics of the average internet user in UK. Alpha Galileo 2010, Survey reveals our identity theft fears, Royal Holloway, University of London, Mcafee is one the most prominent security providers in the world of computing, who offer products like anti-viruses etc. A comprehensive article was published by them in 2010; it provides useful facts about the intensity of the problem in UK and how people lose large amounts of money due to this crime. This article also revealed surprising facts about the identity theft of children, as young as six years old. Mcafee Inc., 2010, What you need to know to avoid identity theft, viewed 12th October 2010, During the research study of the respective topic, an article was found that stated an instance of laptop theft from University of Kentucky, in August this year (Herald, 22 August 2010). The laptop had detailed data about the patients in a certain department. Around 2000 individuals got affected by this theft and were directed to be cautious of any identity theft incidents. This article highlights the need to keep information safe and monitored under some kind of supervision to avoid such cases of theft. Herald, 2010, Identity-theft warning issued after UK patients records stolen, 22 August. The last article that has been chosen for the research topic is the latest news on the respective crime in UK (Guardian, 11 October 2010). The article warns homeowners to be vigilant about their property statuses since imposters, fraudsters are attempting to sell off or mortgage properties by stealing identities. This article also outlines few steps that can help individuals to avoid such undesirable instances. Mark, K 2010, ‘Homeowners warned to be vigilant as identity and registration fraud rises’, Guardian 11 October Identity Theft in UK Abstract The integration of internet in the lifestyle of humans has made personal data vulnerable to attacks. The access to such sensitive data has become easier with the technological trends. It is due to this reason that identity thefts have become a global problem. UK is also one of the regions of the world that is affected by this crime and the respective crime is increasing at an alarming level. Precautions should be taken at the organizational as well as individual level to mitigate the problem. 1. Introduction The advent of computers has changed the lifestyles of individuals to a great extent, in almost every walk of life. Computers caused revolutionary changes in the field of business, education, medicine etc. Then, the inception of internet made life more convenient and fast-paced due to the removal of geographical barriers of communication. Internet made the whole world come closer like never before but also invited crimes that had never been experienced by people. Internet has become the hub of information; academic as well as personal. Internet offers services for which people have to reveal their personal information. All major businesses and organizations have online presence due to which their customer’s information is accessible through the internet. This level of technical integration in our lives has created temptations for the criminals to maliciously use this data for their own inappropriate purposes. Identity thefts, credit card frauds, social security numbers stealing are some of the most common internet crimes of the modern world. 2. Identity Theft Identity theft is defined as the usage of someone else’s personal information for one’s own benefit. The impostor might pose to be someone else for some financial gains, getting sanctioned for a loan or mortgage etc. The nature of modern computing has introduced numerous forms of online services like banking, online shopping, education etc. This causes dispersion of personal information around the internet and thus makes it vulnerable. Mcafee Inc (2010) stated that once the information is revealed to some company, it is up to the concerned authorities to safeguard it against malicious intent. 2.1 Phishing In the last section, the reason for identity theft was given as the dispersion of personal information at numerous sources that might not be given the highest level of security. Another common attempt to gain personal information of an individual is called ‘phishing’ in technological terms. Defaqto Media (2010) stated that online scammers obtain email addresses from different data sources and send scam emails which have the look of real, professional emails. The content of the emails may be the announcement of winning a lottery or the update of personal information in the individual’s respective bank. The recipient might reply to the email consisting of his personal details with the viewpoint that it is a part of routine bank processes. The scammers replicate the official layouts of the original documents and obtain similar email aliases to make the email look genuine. The personal details of the individual might be used to make online transactions, earn good loans or mortgages etc. 2.2 Intensity of the Issue in UK A report by CIFAS (Hurst 2009) published the increase in identity as much as 36% in the year of 2009 in UK, as compared to the previous years. According to a research conducted by Hurst (2009); £463 is the amount that is stolen from an average victim of identity theft. The following table shows the number of victims with respective to different postcodes in UK: Figure 1: Number of victims w.r.t postcodes in UK in 2009 (till Sept) (Hurst 2009) According to the figures given by Federation of Small Businesses (2009); almost 54% of the businesses have been affected in the year of 2008 by identity frauds, 37% individuals have fallen victims of phishing emails. Another survey conducted by the same organization stated that around £2.61bn were stolen from UK citizens in 12 months from Aug 2008 to July 2009. Information Security Group (ISG) at Royal Holloway, University of London conducted a study about the concerns that people have regarding the revelation of their information on the internet (Alpha Galileo 2010). The sample of 1048 respondents gave their feedback that identity theft was the most feared crime on the internet. Identity theft requires much attention of the government and individuals since it leads to serious crimes like opening a bank account in someone else’s name or selling someone’s house with the help of fake documents. Mark (2010) notified that the Land registry and Law Society have recently combined their efforts in UK to fight the identity fraud and theft instances in the selling and purchasing of properties. This article pointed out that the homeowners who did not live in the country have an increased risk of such identity frauds. With the passage of years, identity theft has caused much damage in UK. It is due to this reason that authorities and organizations have become more cautious than ever. University of Kentucky publicly apologized to its patients in June this year when one of their laptops were stolen from the premises of their respective hospital (Herald, 22 August 2010). The laptop contained records of around 2027 patients who were notified about the incident and advised to be alert about any identity thefts and fraud incidents. 2.3 Strategies to address the problem Hurst (2009) provided some precautionary steps that should be taken to avoid identity theft on the internet: Protect ones computer by deploying firewall and installing anti-virus software Passwords should be kept very safe and private. If personal information is being provided to a website then it should be ensured that the website is safe and reliable. Email attachments should only be downloaded if the source is authentic or known by the user. Companies and banking institutions need to deploy more reliable measures for the security of the data so that identity theft cases can be minimized. Customers should be vigilant about their bank accounts and credit card statements to ensure that no one else is utilizing their resources. Some authorities and business organizations have become more aware about the concept and crimes of identity theft therefore they are more attentive towards this cause. Many online services are making use of latest technologies to inhibit this crime. One of the most successful technologies is geo-location; this technology informs the respective organization about the location of the online customer (Gueye, Ziviani, Crovella and Fdida 2006). The company matches the current location of the customer with the demographics of his credit card details. For example; if a credit card from London is being used in an online transaction from the interior areas of Iran then an alarm should be raised. If such a contradiction arises, the transaction is declined and the attempt of identity fraud is avoided. Similar developments are being witnessed in the field of detecting identity fraud and promise a bright and safe future for the companies as well as individuals. 3. Conclusion The crime of identity theft has marked its presence around the globe therefore it is also found in UK at a great frequency. During the research process, it was discovered that identity theft is increasing in UK at an alarming level. Personal identity should be considered as valuable as one’s assets and properties and hence not disclosed to any unauthentic or unreliable source. Geo-location is one of the latest and reliable technologies to handle the detection of the crime of identity theft. References Alpha Galileo 2010, Survey reveals our identity theft fears, Royal Holloway, University of London, Defaqto Media 2010, Identity theft insurance guide, viewed 14th October 2010, Federation of Small Businesses, 2009, Inhibiting Enterprise: Fraud and Online Crime Against Small Businesses, ISBN: 978 0 906779 95 8 Gueye, B., Ziviani, A., Crovella, M., Fdida, S 2006, ‘Constraint-Based Geo-location of Internet Hosts’, IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, Vol. 14, No. 6. Hurst, P 2009, Anonymous Attacker, CIFAS, viewed 12th October 2010, Herald, 2010, Identity-theft warning issued after UK patients records stolen, 22 August. Mcafee Inc., 2010, What you need to know to avoid identity theft, viewed 12th October 2010, Mark, K 2010, ‘Homeowners warned to be vigilant as identity and registration fraud rises’, Guardian 11 October, Read More