Information Technology INT1001

Lecture 12
Privacy, Crime & Security

1
 Computers Are Your Future
Tenth Edition

Chapter 9: Privacy, Crime, & Security

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Privacy, Crime, & Security

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 Privacy in Cyberspace
 Privacy is the ability of a person or
entity to control and prevent others from
collecting, using, and selling personal,
confidential information.
 With the use of computers and the
Internet, having anonymity, the means
to communicate without disclosing your
identity, has become more difficult to
achieve.
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 Privacy in Cyberspace
 Technologies that
jeopardize online
anonymity include:
 Cookies
 Global unique
identifiers
 Ubiquitous computing
 Radio frequency
identification

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 Privacy in Cyberspace
 After a user visits a Web site, a small text
file known as a cookie may be written to
the user’s hard disk by the Web site.
 Although some cookies are used for
justifiable reasons, this is not always the
case.
 Some cookies are used to gather personal
information without the user’s consent.

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 Privacy in Cyberspace
 Anonymous use of the Internet is made
more difficult through the use of global
unique identifiers (GUIDs), an
identification number produced by
software or a piece of hardware.
 Companies that have GUIDs integrated
into their products usually do not inform
the public.
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 Privacy in Cyberspace
 The tendency to interact with more
than one computer at a time is called
ubiquitous computing.
 Given that smaller devices such as
smartphones can receive and transmit
personal user information, if they are
lost, the privacy of the user could be
compromised.
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 Privacy in Cyberspace
 Radio frequency identification
(RFID) uses radio waves to track a chip
or tag.
 Often used for inventory control in stores
 Example of a concern about RFID
technology:
 It could compromise a person’s anonymity and
privacy if information stored on RFID tags
attached to U.S. passports is misused

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 Privacy in Cyberspace
 To protect society, governments should
provide privacy rights including but not
limited to:
 Informing users of the collection of information
and its intended use.
 Allowing users to give or deny their consent to
have their information collected.

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 Privacy in Cyberspace
 Privacy online:
 Use protective software or devices such as
Anonymous Surfing or IronKey Secure USB
flash drives when using the Internet.
 Create e-mail addresses from free Web-
based services whenever you use your e-
mail address for such things as chat rooms
and mailing lists.

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 Privacy in Cyberspace
 Privacy online (continued):
 Teach children the importance of getting
permission prior to giving out personal
information over the Internet.
 Before you fill out any online registration
forms, make sure the privacy policy
statement of a Web site states that the
information provided will not be sold.

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 Privacy in Cyberspace
 Privacy at home:
 GPS capabilities are embedded in newer cell
phones so they can be located.
 Services such as Wherify and uLocate can
determine the precise location of a cell
phone.
 Software is available to determine and
provide notification when a cell phone
leaves a specific geographic area.

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 Privacy in Cyberspace
 Privacy at work:
 Refrain from making personal calls on a
work phone.
 Avoid using a company e-mail account
for personal purposes.
 Assume that your actions at work are
being monitored.

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Privacy in Cyberspace

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 Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 Actions that violate the law are known as
computer crimes.
 Crimes perpetrated through the use of the
Internet are cybercrimes.
 The area of law dedicated to computer
crime is called cyberlaw.
 Many Web sites educate users about
cybercrime and cybercriminals.
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Computer Crime & Cybercrime

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 Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 Types of computer crime
 Identify theft: A criminal gains access to
personal information in order to
impersonate another
 Phishing: Legitimate-looking e-mails or Web
sites are created in an attempt to obtain
confidential data about a person for illegal
purposes.

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 Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 Types of computer crime (continued)
 Malware (short for malicious software):
programs developed to intentionally harm or
gain access to a computer system without
permission.
 Includes spyware, viruses, worms, zombies, and
Trojan horses

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 Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 Types of computer crime (continued)
 Spyware: software that gathers private
information and tracks Web use, and
provides that information to third parties
 Adware: a form of spyware that generates
annoying pop-up and banner ads
 Keyloggers: keep track of keystrokes to
provide cybercriminals with confidential data

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 Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 Types of computer crime (continued)
 Computer virus: code that is concealed
inside a program and intended to harm or
destroy files
 File infectors attach themselves to files.
 Boot sector viruses attach to the first tracks on a
hard drive and execute each time you start the
computer.
 Macro viruses attach to data files and take
advantage of application macros.

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Computer Crime & Cybercrime

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 Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 Rogue forms of malware include:
 Time bomb: A virus program that remains
dormant on a computer system until it is
activated by a specific event
 Worm: Similar to a virus but does not
need the action of a user to execute the
code and cause damage

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 Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 Denial of service (DoS) attack
 Assaults an Internet server with so many
requests that it cannot function
 Accomplished through zombies, individual
computers in a botnet—a group of
“hijacked” computers.

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 Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 Trojan horse
 Normal-looking program that includes
concealed instructions
 Created to cause harm

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 Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 As the stealing of private and
confidential information increases, the
possibility of fraud also increases.
 The physical stealing of computer
equipment is also growing, especially
computer components such as
microprocessors and chips.

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 Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 Types of fraud and theft
 Memory shaving: only a portion of RAM
is stolen to make the theft less evident
 Password stealing: unauthorized
gathering of passwords

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Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 Techniques to obtain passwords

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 Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 Types of fraud and theft (continued)
 Salami shaving: an embezzlement tool in
which a program takes a little money from
numerous accounts
 Data diddling: individuals change data so
that it is hard to determine that the
resulting theft has occurred

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 Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 Types of fraud and theft (continued)
 Forgery: information is transmitted over
the Internet as if from a user by an illegal
source that appears to be legitimate.
 A high percentage of cybercrimes go
unreported because of blackmail.

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 Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 Types of computer criminals
 Crackers  Shills
 Cybergangs  Cyberstalkers
 Virus authors  Sexual predators
 Swindlers  Cyberbullies

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 Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 Examples of Internet Scams

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 Computer Crime & Cybercrime
 Cyberstalkers use the Internet, social
networking sites, and e-mail to harass or
threaten an individual.
 Most perpetrators are men.
 Most victims are college-age women.
 Cyberbullies send threatening
messages via e-mail or text messages.
 Cyberbullying involves minors.
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 Security
 Computer security risk is:
 Any intentional or unintentional action that
results in damaging a computer system
and/or its data
 Increased by wireless LANs because
transmissions occur over shared airwaves
instead of dedicated lines.

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 Security
 Security options available for wireless
networks include:
 WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)
 WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access)
 WPA2

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 Security
 Threats to the security of computer
systems include:
 Corporate espionage
 Information warfare
 Security loophole detection programs
 Attacks on safety-critical systems
 Terrorism

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 Security
 To reduce security risks:
 Use an uninterruptible power supply
(UPS), which supplies additional power during
power outages or electrical current fluctuations
to prevent damage or loss to computer
components and/or data.
 Control access to computer systems though
appropriate password selection and know-
and-have authentication.
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 Security
 To reduce security risks (continued):
 Use biometric authentication—the use
of voice recognition, retinal scans, and
fingerprint scans for authentication
purposes.
 Incorporate firewalls, which can be
hardware or software, to prevent
unauthorized access.

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 Security
 Avoiding scams on the Internet and
preventing cyberstalking
 Use common sense.
 Don’t give out personal information.
 Be cynical of information provided in chat
rooms.
 Read documents carefully.
 Remain cautious when using the Internet.
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 What You’ve Learned
 The lack of complete federal regulations
to protect the right to privacy for
individuals has resulted in numerous
Web sites collecting and accumulating
personal information.
 Computer crime and cybercrime are on
the rise, including such crimes as
identity theft, malware, fraud, and theft.
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 What You’ve Learned
 Computer criminals, such as crackers,
cybergang members, and virus authors,
are often the cause of the increase in
computer security risks.
 Security risks are events, actions, and
situations that could lead to losses.

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 What You’ve Learned
 Although no computer system can be
totally safe, you can take simple steps to
protect your computer and data.
 Encryption can be used to guard privacy
online through public key encryption.
 The government must keep trying to find
a balance between its need to know and
the privacy rights of individuals.

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