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Emma Wenger

Paper-Based vs. Electronic Voting: States Move in Different Directions - 0 views

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    Scenario: Different US states are taking different approaches to voting. Maryland is enforces paper voting, with some digital use by scanning a copy of each vote to have on record. On the other extreme, Utah Republicans are embracing technology by having everyone vote over the Internet. Social Ethical Issues: Security: James Evans, Utah GOP Chairman, thinks "the risks associated with Internet voting aren't worse than the current system". Learning Curve: Maryland bought new machines for voting and there was some concern about people being confused when using them. IT Systems: Optical scanner for a digital record of votes Electronic Voting Machines Internet Stakeholders: Voters - Do they care about the convenience of online voting or the more reliable security of paper voting? State - Depending on what method of voting, time and money will be used more or saved. Applications to Specified Scenario: The article questions why there is so much concern with voting electronically when we already do so many important things online. We do our banking and buying online, giving out personal information, so why not elections? The article answers, "e-commerce expects and is comfortable with a certain level of fraud. Our electoral process, however, has zero tolerance for fraud". With banking and e-commerce, the costs aren't as high as with elections. Any risks also outweigh the benefits. Elections have also historically never been electronic until now. So there is a certain security and assurance that comes from the traditional paper ballot votes.
Omer Shaikh

The societal costs of digital piracy - 1 views

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    Situation: The article focuses on the extent of losses on industries which have been affected by digital piracy, such as major film and music industries. The article states that these industries have taken tremendous hits because their content is simply copied and illegally distributed, resulting in major losses of profit. It says that in our time, it is far too easy to get a hold of pirated content, and as a result, it is virtually impossible to punish every single violation. Social and ethical: The article relates to several social and ethical concerns. It links to security because it states that pirated content can often contain viruses and other forms of malware, and attempting to pirate content means that you are putting the information within your system at risk. Intellectual property is the main focus of the article, which is obvious because it focuses upon the control content creators should have over their works and how this control is violated by individuals who pirate content online. It also links to the issue of digital citizenship in that it seems to set an expectation for users of the online world to be just and reasonable with their activities online. It discusses why it is wrong to pirate content online, which further displays that the writer is trying to indicate the privileges of the digital world and why they should not be misused. It systems: The article does not discuss the IT system behind online piracy. However, it is rather simple. Firstly, original content is published on a domain which is approved of by the author. Often, the author will require money in return for his or her work, and this will be handled by the administrators of that domain. The content is then either bought or hacked by an outsider, and given away for free or cheaper on another domain which has not been approved of by the original author. Outside users may then access this domain and take part in the piracy chain. Application to applied
willmichael

Hackers into US government websites - 0 views

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    Scenario : At least 22.1 million people that are current or former US government workers since 2001's information was hacked and possibly breached into by hackers who stole the Office of Personal Management (OPM) data. It is believed that China stole this information to increase their collection of data of intelligence on US government employees, according to the article. Social / Ethical Issues : China and hackers now have personal information about millions of Americans which is a big ethical issue because no one knows how they are going to use that information and no one knows how much information they actually got. Also, China could use their newly-gained information against government workers unless the workers release personal government information about the US. This could possibly be a huge problem for the US if China basically uses espionage against US government employees and for their own personal gain. IT systems and things the hackers were able to breach: fingerprints databases social security numbers job assignments performance evaluations records on family members and close friends who were listed on job applications for security purposes financial and health records computer user names and passwords Stakeholders: China - Given that they stole information from the United States government intelligence, their relationship between the US and China will weaken. United States government and citizens- US gov't will now have less trust in China and also have a weakened relationship with China. The United States will most likely also take new security measures to make sure their information is more secure, and United States government workers will now be very hesitant to give out their information.
willmichael

Electronic Voting Fraud: A Real Threat to Any Democrat Running for President - 0 views

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    Situation : In the United States right now, we are in the process of choosing a new president. For those who do not know, the election process in the US consists of two conflicting opinions of two different parties (Democrats and Republicans.) The Republicans basically believe in lower taxes and less government intervention, while the Democrats believe in raising taxes and more government action. Based on the article, the current state of the US electoral process shows that electronic voting machines guarantee a Republican victory in 2016. Social / Ethical Concerns : Influence on Politiicans - The article claims (this article is VERY pro democratic and VERY pro Hilary Clinton) that the candidate who has the most votes won't in fact win. Rather, the article claims that unless Hilary wins each major swing state by 10% more than the Republican or the corruption of politics with online voting does not end, she will not win. Security issues - The machines may be easy to hack into with the right knowledge and tools, and a hacker could easily sway the country's votes. Influence on People - The best candidate with the most votes from the electoral college should win, so this is a major social and ethical concern because of the idea that America is all about the people deciding the future of the country, and if the right candidate isn't chosen, it could affect our future for generations to come. IT systems flaws: -sometimes the voters don't click on the right candidate and they are mad because the computer won't let them click on the candidate they actually want -machines can malfunction and freeze -some of the voting places are in major favor of one candidate and they may sway the votes after the tallied online -electronic voting machine may not even be present and paper ballots may be used (it's not fair to have some people with paper ballots and some with online voting ballots) -electricity dependency may cause a computer to shut down if there is a loss of power
Omer Shaikh

How to campaign online: 15 dos and don'ts - 0 views

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    Scenario: This article from the guardian focuses upon the positives to online campaigning, and states that citizens should drop the criticism they impose upon online campaigning. Instead of stating the possible concerns alongside online campaigning, the article mentions Barack Obama and the success he has achieved through extensive online campaigning. The author seems to firmly believe that online campaigning should simply be accepted and embraced instead of criticized. Social and Ethical significance: With the widespread use of digital technology all over the globe, it is not a surprise that many political candidates have understood the power of the online world, and have played it to their advantage. As mentioned in the article, Barrack Obama spent a generous amount of capital on his online campaigns, and this eventually led to his success in becoming president. Above all, online campaigns can give candidates a voice which extends far beyond the reach of their rallies or campaign areas, a voice that all citizens who are involved in the voting procedure may then acknowledge and be influenced by. IT Systems: Online campaigning can be accomplished through many varying methods. However, one popular form of online campaigning involves candidates publishing advertisements/campaigns on popular media websites, such as youtube. Anyone who then watches a video on youtube will have to watch the advertisement campaign before proceeding. There are very few IT systems which are involved in accomplishing this step. First, the candidate approaches the website giant and forms an advertisement contract. Then, the candidate provides the corporation with a form of advertisement. This can be in text, image, or video format. The corporation then uploads this form of advertisement onto their servers, and the advertisement is incorporated into their ads section and in some form affiliated with their website so that users of the website may also experience the campa
willmichael

Can 140 characters affect the 2016 presidential election? - 0 views

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    Situation: Twitter is a major social media site for people in the United States. This article brings up the proposed idea that Twitter could play a deciding role in the 2016 election in the United States. Social / Ethical Issues: Twitter in general is a very big social media where everyone can voice their opinion, and every tweet that people tweet can be used against or for a candidate. Even if a candidate tweets something and deletes it, people will most likely have a screenshot of the tweet and will use it against candidates. Stakeholders: People everywhere in the USA can voice their triumphs or downfalls in life on social media. Especially now with social media, candidates every word can be used against them, so it's important for the candidates to use their social media accounts appropriately and effectively to help move up in the polls and attract new voters. Possible Solution: Twitter accounts need to be verified for the person's data and thoughts to be viewed as professional (like a CNN, Fox, NBC reporter would be verified.) So, unless the candidate directly says it or the candidate's thoughts are tweeted by a verified journalist, it should be advised not to trust it because of how many false information there is out there.
Varjavand Contractor

Why electronic voting isn't secure, but may be safe enough | The Guardian - 1 views

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    Situation: With countries such as the UK and India already implementing e-voting as their main method of voting for their desired candidates, it is hard not to see that e-Voting is slowly taking the concept of voting for elections, to a new front. Social and Ethical Significance: The article brings to us the example of the 2003 elections in the UK and how e-Voting "failed to make an impact to the people." That was moreover, because there were many people who didn't own a smart device/laptop, and a few didn't even know what the internet was, yet. The Issue with e-Voting then was that it hadn't made the impact because it wasn't the primary method of communication yet. Online voting has been trialled all over the world now, in hopes that it may be implemented in the future. However, developers have claimed that they see major amounts of issues with the softwares and networks/servers that are online. They claim that the reliability and security standards are very hard to meet, when it comes to e-voting systems. Furthermore, they have stated that th requirements are very tough and too high to be met, unlike other transactions. "Online banking suffers problems but refunds are possible after checking your bank statement. You can't 'refund' a vote and 'vote statements' can't be provided to check your vote was correctly recorded as that would enable vote selling and coercion." Stakeholders: Candidates - If the servers are mendled with by a virus or hacker, the results of the ballot could potentially be rigged and the candidate would lose his/her chances of winning the elections. Voters - If the servers are mendled with by a virus or hacker, the voter's vote can potentially be changed, and as a result, the voter feels a loss of security.
Omer Shaikh

E-Voting: Big Risks for Small Gains - 1 views

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    Scenario: The article I am analyzing focuses upon the disadvantages brought about by electronic voting. The article attempts to convince the reader that there are absolutely no advantages to e-voting when compared to traditional voting, and the chance of fraud is much higher in e-voting than it is in traditional voting. The article does give credit to the fact that traditional voting, especially in the US, can also be prone to acts of fraud and corruption, however, he seems to be inclined towards this being less likely than the possibility presented by e-voting. Social/ethical issues: The social and ethical issues that show up in this article are primarily security and reliability. The writer clearly does not seem to believe that the e-voting system is too secure, as he often states that there are many ways in which the e-voting system can be cheated and violated. He believes that e-voting often generates results that do not match up with the predicted results from the votes cast. He also does not seem to comfortable with the idea of fully trusting a machine to measure and calculate the result of the votes, as he seems to favor the idea of votes being manually counted and recorded by poll workers. IT systems: E-voting often takes place on a particular website or on a private network which specific voting computers are connected to. Here, voters can verify their identification before proceeding to cast a vote. After the vote is cast, the information is sent to a central server where it is stored and constantly recalculated by the system for an updated vote count. Stakeholders: Regionally, everyone is a stakeholder in electronic voting. All individuals in the particular area are effected by the results of a large-scale electronic vote, as these are usually to decide governmental leaders/officials. Local businesses might be the most impacted stakeholders, because they are heavily effected by the policies and laws that could be passed by the new official,
Varjavand Contractor

Obama's win means future elections must be fought online | The Guardian - 1 views

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    Situation: This article pertains to the United States' Presidential Elections of 2008 that was won by Barack Obama and his usage of the Internet as well as Social Media. The reason he won the 2008 elections was not just because of his presidential policies, but however due to his personal reach and trust that the Internet will help fund and run a primary part of his campaign. Social and Ethical Significance: This article talks about how online campaigning is the key to 90%+ of political campaigns of the future and how they function. The article takes the (obvious) example of Barack Obama's presidential campaign of 2008 that was a historic campaign for multiple reasons. The article [published in 2008], claims that the primary reason that Obama succeeded because he "understood the potential of social media to communicate and raise funds - leaving his 72-year old opponent floundering." This campaign is the first election where all candidates utilised online social networks like Facebook [and still popular then, MySpace] to send forward their messages. This article also talks about personal knowledge of a person can be gained by reading a candidate's personal details such as favourite musicians and pastimes. Obama was successful on Facebook, rather than other competition, because he was engaging to people younger to him on his online campaigns, who appreciate casual behaviour, online and offline[while his competition kept it overly professional online]. "At 47, he may be older than the average user there, but Obama is a natural Facebook politician. On his personal profile there - which featured his "Our Moment is Now" motto - Obama named his favourite musicians as Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, and Bob Dylan, and listed his pastimes as basketball, writing, and "loafing w/kids" " Stakeholders: Candidates - They are the people relying on the Internet and their campaigns, that he can get the kind of reach he needs to move forward in his own elections. Voters - They
ashtonclark

heres my itgs triangle - 1 views

News Event / Situation / Scenario Brief description of the Who, What, When, Where, How and Why of the scenario. * hackers supplied by the us government * Chinese hackers arrested after US request...

started by ashtonclark on 13 Oct 15 no follow-up yet
Henry Willams

Shoppers cheated by supermarket scanners - National - NZ Herald News - 0 views

  • meaning shoppers buy products believing they are getting a bargain but end up being charged full price.
    • Henry Willams
       
      The individuals who are affected by this IT development are everyday shoppers, and the very clear and evident disadvantages, are that they are paying more than they need to on the things they buy.
  • In the United States, scanner price mistakes have resulted in court cases against big retailers.
    • Henry Willams
       
      This shows another kind of person who is affected by this IT development, the retailers, as they are being called out on these glitches in the system, and having to pay for it. The retailers, in this case, are the responsible party. This also shows the legal ramifications on society that came about as a result of this development, as retailers are being sued for charging customers more than necessary, regardless of whether or not the retailers were aware of it.
  • Overseas studies have found that the introduction of barcode scanners cut the error rate from 11 per cent to about 4 per cent.
    • Henry Willams
       
      This shows a feasible way to solve this problem.
annaosborne

Cyber Attacks on U.S. Companies in 2014 - 1 views

  • The spate of recent data breaches at big-name companies such as JPMorgan Chase, Home Depot, and Target raises questions about the effectiveness of the private sector’s information security. According to FBI Director James Comey, “There are two kinds of big companies in the United States. There are those who’ve been hacked…and those who don’t know they’ve been hacked.”[1]
  • more than 1,000 U.S. businesses have been affected by the Backoff malware, which targets point-of-sale (POS) systems used by most retail industries.[4] These attacks targeted administrative and customer data and, in some cases, financial data.
  • As cyber attacks on retail, technology, and industrial companies increase so does the importance of cybersecurity. From brute-force attacks on networks to malware compromising credit card information to disgruntled employees sabotaging their companies’ networks from the inside, companies and their customers need to secure their data. To improve the private sector’s ability to defend itself, Congress should: Create a safe legal environment for sharing information
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Work with international partners.
  • Encourage cyber insurance
  • nstituting the right policies is critical to harnessing the power of the private sector. In a cyber environment with ever-changing risks and threats, the government needs to do more to support the private sector in establishing sound cybersecurity while not creating regulations that hinder businesses more than help them.
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    One of the articles for network threats
Lena Billos

Apple sued over Wi-fi Assist feature - BBC News - 0 views

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    A woman in California was using Wi-fi assist on her iPhone, and it caused her major data charges on her phone bill. Wi-fi assist is suppose to help connect the phone to Wi-fi hotspots when they come up, or change the connection if the current connection is low. This should ultimately lead to having a smaller phone data bill. However, that was not the case for this woman. She sued Apple because of the false advertising. Apple advertised this new feature, however it does not work the same as it is advertised. Instead of changing the Wi-fi when the connection is low, the phone switches to data usage without notifying the user. AppleInsider mentioned that Apple did not state the specific details of this feature. Because of this mistake, users could lose up to $5 million dollars. The mistake will not reach that many people, because many people today are on higher data rates anyway. It is unknown what happened with the legal matters of the Californian Woman.
Emma Wenger

Kanye West Pirate Bay Tweet Underscores The Music Industry's Other Piracy Problem: Up T... - 0 views

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    Situation: Recently, Kayne West was caught looking at music software on Pirate Bay. Although there's no evidence that he downloaded anything, his internet search for software add-ons highlights how much software the music industry uses illegally. These softwares, such as synthesizers, composers, sequencers, etc, are available on the internet for free and are easily found on torrent sites. An array of music producers use software illegally, from people to just starting out by making music in their bedroom to people that have made millions from their music. Social and Ethical Significance: Influence on Public - If there are these major music producers illegally using software, then what's to stop the rest of the public from doing the same thing. People look up to these artists and may think that if those people can do it and get away with it, so can they. However, the opposite could be true if these artists are punished or called out for their actions. People could then see it is wrong and that they could be caught too. Another effect the widespread downloading of illegal software by artists could have is that it would lessen the value of their music. People could refuse to pay for their music and download it illegally. "The irony is that musicians and music producers, far more than most other creative professionals, have been hit especially hard by the wave of digital piracy that washed over the world nearly two decades ago" (Willens). So musicians are creating their music illegally and the public listens to that music illegally. Maybe a solution is to not have music be an industry that is profitable. Violation of Intellectual Property - "Widespread availability has created an endemic problem for software makers, who sometimes see piracy rates north of 90 percent for their creations" (Willens). The Internet has made it so easy to download unlicensed software. These are softwares that people put time an effort into creating. A generalization about s
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