Minimum Wage free essay sample

A study on the minimum wage laws. This paper examines the public policy implications of minimum wage laws and to a lesser extent living-wage laws (with the understanding that the two are philosophically linked to each other). The author writes, for those of us just now entering the labor force, it would be unthinkable to contemplate the working world without the presence of a minimum wage law. The paper provides a brief history of labor law and public policy in the United States. The paper includes graphs and charts. The minimum wage does not seem to be one of those causes over which people become sufficiently impassioned to protest in the streets. But that is in large measure only because when people are protesting in the streets they tend to call for economic fairness or distributive justice, and both of these concepts are connected to the idea of a minimum wage or its newer and more radical cousin, the living wage. We will write a custom essay sample on Minimum Wage or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page

Does It Matter Where You Go to College

Does It Matter Where You Go to College SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Getting into an elite college is becoming increasingly harder, and many students (and their parents) place tremendous stress on themselves to try to do all they can to get into one of the most prestigious colleges. They believe that graduating from a top college will allow them to have a more prosperous future. While it’s undeniable that elite colleges attract the highest caliber of student, there’s still debate about whether these colleges directly impact professional outcomes.So really, does it matter where you go to college? In this article, I’ll explore the impact of attending an elite institution. While it’s extremely difficult to compare the educational and social impact of one college versus another, we can try to determine the influence a specific college has on one’s professional future. feature image credit:bluefieldphotos bp/Flickr What Is an Elite College? For the purposes of this article, elite colleges are the most selective, prestigious colleges in the country. These colleges are seen as the gold standard, and that's why so many students spend years of hard work and worry to try to get into these schools. Some examples of elite colleges are the Ivy League schools, MIT, Stanford, and the University of Chicago. If you're looking for a complete list, I'd include the top 15 National Universities and the top 5 National Liberal Arts schools in US News on this list of revered super schools. Why It Does Matter Where You Go to College There are a number of reasons why going to a more prestigious schoolcan benefit your future. Below,I’ll detail some of the most important benefits of attending an elite college. Keep in mind that I'm focusing on the potential financial and professional benefits of going to a top college. Additionally, elite colleges may challenge you more academically, and you may enjoy surrounding yourself with other incredibly motivated and successful students. On the other hand, some of the classes at top schools may make you feel overwhelmed. You may feel compelled to select a less rigorous major, or you may not have time to do as many extracurricular activities or have an enjoyable social life. Graduates of Elite Schools Are More Likely to Have Future Financial and Professional Success Probably, the main reason students and their parents care about gaining admission to top colleges is because they believe that attending one of these schools is a ticket to future success. While it’s difficult to prove that going to an elite college makes you successful, there’s a strong relationship between attending an elite school and being successful. On average, graduates from elite schools make more money, and degrees from many elite schools provide the best return on your college investment. Also, while only 2%-5% of all US undergraduates graduate from top schools, 38% of Fortune 500 company CEOs and 44.8% of billionaires graduated from elite institutions. Similarly, of Forbes’s most powerful people, 55.9% of powerful women and 85.2% of powerful men attended elite schools. Graduates of Top Schools Are More Likely to Graduate Even if you believe that all college degrees are equal, the top schools tend to have the highest graduation rates. Those who attend the most prestigious schools are much more likely to get degrees. For example, Harvard’s graduation rate is 98%. Meanwhile, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a significantly less selective state school, has a graduation rate of 76%. Cal State Los Angeles, a California State University school, has a graduation rate of 41%. There are a number of factors that may contribute to the varying graduation rates. The most selective schools only admit top students; therefore, almost all of their students possess the necessary motivation to ensure that they graduate. Also, selective schools, particularly selective private schools, may offer more support services and guidance that result in higher graduation rates. Finally, some of the larger, less selective state schools have a higher percentage of low-income and nontraditional students. These students face additional obstacles that can prevent them from graduating. Low-Income Students May Benefit the Most From Going to a Top School On average, low-income students have significantly lower graduation rates. Furthermore, low-income students are more likely than wealthier students to attend a college that is less selective than one they could have attended. A widely read study determined that, for students admitted to elite schools, choosing to attend a somewhat selective school like Penn State over the most selective schools like Harvard didn’t impact future earnings for the majority. However, the payoff of attending elite colleges was greater for economically disadvantaged students. Why It Doesn’t Matter Which College You Attend There is definitely an argument to be made that where you go to college is insignificant. What matters are your skills, experience, work ethic, and that you get a college degree. Here are some reasons why it may not matter where you go to college. Going to an Elite School Isn’t Essential for Future Professional Success As previously mentioned, a study concluded that students who were admitted to top schools and opted to go to less selective schools ended up earning as much as their peers who graduated from the top schools. Therefore, you can conclude that what really matters isn’t where you go to school but possessing the attributes that make you competitive for admission to the top schools. Similarly, a Wall Street Journal study found that the prestige of a college doesn’t impact future earnings for many students. Specifically, the studyconcluded that a school’s prestige does have an impact on future earnings for business and liberal arts majors, but there is virtually no impact on future earnings for STEM majors. Additionally, even though graduates from the top schools are more likely to become CEOs or ridiculously wealthy, the majority of people who do aren’t graduates of elite institutions. Any Advantage of Going to an Elite School May Be Offset by Its Cost Even if going to a top college leads to somewhat higher earnings, those higher earnings may be more than offset by the substantially higher price of elite private colleges. For example, for the 2015-2016 academic year, the estimated cost of attendance for a year at Stanford was $65,177. For a California resident, the estimated cost of attendance for UCLA was $32,289. Over four years, that’s a difference of more than $120,000. Even if, hypothetically, the Stanford degree led to an annual salary that was $2,000 more than the UCLA degree, it would take more than 60 years of that extra salary just to cover the added cost of attending Stanford. However, keep in mind that elite private colleges typically offer the most generous financial aid. The listed cost of attendance may not be what you end up having to pay. Elite colleges aren't cheap. Conclusion: Does It Matter Where You Go to College? The short answer is that it depends. Primarily, it depends on your goals and background. If you want to become president or a CEO, you may be more likely to do so if you attend one of the most elite colleges. Similarly, some of the top Wall Street and consulting firms are known to almost exclusively hire employees who graduated from the most prestigious schools. Also, graduates of elite colleges have an advantage in the business world from strong, powerful alumni networks. However, If you want to be a scientist or teacher, there may not be much of an advantage, at least monetarily, from attending a top school. On the other hand, the data does suggest that students from low-income backgrounds may benefit the most from attending elite schools and choosing to attend the most selective school that accepts them. Furthermore, the answer depends on which schools you’re comparing. The difference between graduating from Stanford and graduating from UCLA is probably minimal, if there’s any difference at all, in the eyes of most employers and graduate schools. However, there’s a much larger difference between Stanford and Cal State Los Angeles. Again, you can still achieve any professional goal if you attend from Cal State Los Angeles, but the graduation rate of Stanford is significantly higher, and the average salaries of Stanford grads are substantially higher. It's important to remember that you can graduate from any college, and if you fully apply yourself, you can be a successful CEO, doctor, engineer, or whatever else you aspire to be. Similarly, if you go to an Ivy League college and try to coast through life without showing the dedication that got you into an elite college, you're likely to experience limited success. What Should You Do? Regardless of the school you attend, your work ethic, character, and aptitude will influence your future more than the college you graduated from. Maintain focus and keep working hard, and you’ll give yourself the best opportunity to reach your goals. Because getting a college degree is undoubtedly linked to future success, you want to attend a college that’s a good fit for you and your needs so that you’ll be more likely to graduate (and likely happier!). Find out how to go about researching and choosing a college. Also, research the professional outcomes for students who share your background and graduated with a degree in your intended major. You can use sites like payscale.com and College Scorecard to help you with your research. For example, while the University of Utah is ranked as the 5th best National University in the country by US News, it’s considered one of the very best colleges in the country for video game design. If you want to be a video game designer, going to the University of Utah may be more beneficial to your future career than going to Princeton or Yale. If you’re the first one in your family to go to college, or you have a disability, investigate how well students in your situation fare at a particular school. Each student has specific needs and goals, and you should try to determine how well a college will cater to your needs, and if it's well-equipped to help you fulfill your dreams. What's Next? If you've decided that you want to go to an elite college, find out how to get accepted. Also, you should know how many colleges to apply to and the complete college application timeline. Finally, if you think you can't go to an elite college becauseyou have sub-pargrades, but you want to go to a good school, learn about the best schools with low GPA requirements. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Short responses Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Short responses - Assignment Example I use Microsoft Excel for budgeting as it includes simple formulas for the calculations, which is why accountants also use spreadsheets for advanced budget calculations (Coy, Nelson, Buchanan and Fisher, 1998). Researchers also use spreadsheets to organize large data and this helps them to analyze data to draw meaningful conclusions from the raw data (â€Å"Using Spreadsheet†, 2013). Grocery shopping lists always involve numerous goods and items which become perplexing if not handled well. To avoid confusion and losing money on unnecessary items, I use Google Drive to create a list of items I need to buy. Google Docs provides grocery list templates which make grocery shopping easier and simpler (â€Å"Using Google Docs†, 2013). Listing my grocery items on a spreadsheet prevents me from missing on an item and helps me plan my weekly budget on food. Spreadsheets allow the organization of data to help in the analysis of these data which is particularly useful for researchers. This helps them import the data to spreadsheet software which carries out calculations on the data for statistical analysis (Meyers & Gamst et al.,

Week 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Week 7 - Essay Example These attacks are usually meant to coerce authorities into giving into the political, religious, and social goals of the terror groups. Therefore, terming the fight against terrorism as â€Å"war† eludes logic. As a counterterrorism measure the â€Å"combat on terror† has various questionable aspects. The main problem with the approach by the United States is that terrorism is viewed as a factor that can be dealt with through military action. According to Reese & Lewis, in 2003, United States soldiers invaded Iraq on grounds that Saddam Hussein was manufacturing weapons capable of mass destruction and that he was linked to the September 11 attacks (779). The result of the invasion was mass deaths of civilians and the abuse of human rights. Critics of this invasion, according to Reese & Lewis state that the United States was not averting any terror threats; rather, the invasion was an excuse for imperialist activities in Iraq (779). The problem with viewing terrorism as being synonymous with the September 11 attacks is that it distorts the meaning of terrorism to the general American population. According to Pillar, most Americans view terrorism almost entirely in relation to the September 11 attacks (1). The difference with the 9/11 attacks and other terror attacks is that most terrorist activities are not as organized and lethal as the 9/11 attacks. The reason for this difference is that most terror groups have neither such sophisticated weaponry nor such detailed planning. Since 9/11, almost all counterterrorism measures are equated with the fight against the Al-Qaeda, with every terror-related incident being examined for possible links with Al-Qaeda. To date, most of the counterterrorism resources are channeled towards making sure that the Al-Qaeda does not reestablish itself (Pillar 2). The practice to equate terrorism with Al-Qaeda is misinformed considering that there are numerous other terror groups the world over. For example, Pillar writes

Fashion design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fashion design - Essay Example oduce a range of clothing and aesthetics designs that will capture the interests of the customers, by following the developing trends and even going back to reinvigorate some traditional or ancient clothing styles and aesthetic components that were fashionable during the time, which can also integrate fully into the current tastes and preferences of the people (Eceiza and Alvarez, 22). Design functionality and aesthetic value forms the fundamental principles of fashion design, since a fashion designer must come up with a design that functions well for the current generation, while also matching the emerging trends and thus giving a touch of aesthetically pleasant attire. Most significant in the world of fashion design, is the consideration into who is likely to wear the garment or the accessory that has been produced, and on what occasions is the attire desirable. Therefore, with the interest of the current generation on the forefront, coupled by the occasional desirability and aesthetic appearance, a fashion designer is sure to remain in the business. There are a variety of skills that are desirable for an individual to qualify as a fashion designer. First, a wide knowledge in fabrics, ornaments, garments and fashion trends is highly desirable for anyone waiting to become a fashion designer (Eceiza and Alvarez, 37). The knowledge of fabrics is essential; since it enables an individual understand what type of material is desirable to produce a clothing fashion, based on the occasions for which the clothing is designed. The knowledge of ornaments is also relevant, since it allows individuals to understand the types of ornaments that are suitable to produce certain accessories, and which of such ornaments is worth matching the dressing that is designed for such occasions (Brogden, 42). Another relevant requirement for a prospective fashion designer is the knowledge of fashion trends. This is necessary because fashion is not statistic, and thus new designs are

Transport Layer Network Layer Protocols Attack

Transport Layer Network Layer Protocols Attack Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1: Background Data Communication technologies and the underlying protocols in the twenty-first century is one of the critical elements that acts as the backbone for electronic commerce and use of the world-wide-web (Todd and Johnson, 2001[1]). The increase in the growth of electronic commerce as well as other forms of internet-based secure communication have increased not only the risks associated with networking related attacks that involve in the loss of personal information and possible financial loss to the victims. One of the major components in the Internet communication is the underlying protocol that governs the compilation and communication of the information from the source computer to the target and back (Nash et al, 2001[2]). The role of the protocols in the networking also has a key influence on its ability to securely deliver the information as part of the overall communication architecture. This makes it clear that the robustness of the protocol and the extent to which a given proto col architecture can resist intruder attacks through encryption efficiency etc dictates the security associated with the information transfer as argued by Todd and Johnson, (2001). In this report a critical overview on the transport layer and the network layer protocols of the TCP/IP protocol architecture is presented to the reader. The research aims to throw light on the possible security attacks on these protocols and the possible countermeasures in order to prevent such attacks. The attacks in these cases mainly concern with the infringement of the information through unauthorised access bypassing the security or breaking the encryption surrounding the information being transported. 1.2: Aim and Objectives The aim of this research is to investigate the possible attacks on the Transport layer Network layer protocols and present possible countermeasures on overcoming the threat of these attacks on the day-to-day Internet-based data communication. The above aim of the research is accomplished through embracing the research on the following objectives To conduct a literature review on the Transport and Network layers of the TCP/IP protocol architecture. To conduct a critical overview on the possible types of attacks on the Transport Layer and Network Layer protocols. To present a critical analysis on the possible countermeasures to prevent the attacks on the Transport layer protocols. 1.3: Research Methodology A qualitative approach is used to conduct the research. Since there are five layers to the TCP/IP model of which the research aims to investigate the protocols associated with the Transport and Network layer, a qualitative approach is deemed effective as the infrastructure required to simulate tests for conducting a quantitative research is limited for conducting the research. As it is also apparent that the analysis on the five layers of the TCP/IP model is beyond the scope of the research conducted in this report, the research conducted mainly focuses on the key threats and possible types of attacks on the protocols of the TCP/IP layers discussed. 1.4: Chapter Overview Chapter 1: Introduction This is the current chapter that presents the aim, objectives and brief overview on the research conducted to the reader. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter presents an overview on the layers of the TCP/IP model followed by a detailed overview on the key Transport layer and Network layer protocols. The chapter also presents a brief overview on the network attacks and the possible threats associated with the Internet data transfer. Chapter 3: Protocol Attacks This chapter presents a critical overview on the types of attacks on the Transport Layer and Network Layer protocols. The chapter presents a critical analysis on the methods used and the potential losses that may result due to the attacks. Chapter 4: Countermeasures This chapter presents a critical overview on the possible countermeasures that are implemented in order to prevent the attacks discussed in chapter 3. A comparative study on the countermeasures discussed is also presented in this chapter. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1: Internet Security in the twenty-first century The increase in the need for internet security from unauthorised access and malicious attacks is not only due to the need protecting personal/sensitive information of the users but also the service providers (Ganesh and Thorsteinson, 2003[3]). This is naturally because of the fact that the service providers can perform effectively only when the requests sent to the server are valid thus making justifiable use of the resources (Rayns et al, 2003[4]). The use of the resources in terms of the number of connections and the allocation of memory to cater for each connection established with the web server of the service provider is deemed to attribute to the extent to which a given website establishment performs effectively. This makes it clear that the need for internet security is not only a matter of protecting personal information but also effective utilisation of the computer resources dedicated for the purpose as argued by Rayns et al (2003). Walden (2007)[5] further argues that the security over the internet is mainly accomplished through implementing security measures on the connection-oriented and connection-less protocol used for transferring information from one end to another. It is interesting to note that the above focuses especially on the resource utilisation and protection of computer from malicious attacks through ensuring that the communication to and from the computer are not only secure but also valid. It is necessary to ensure both the validity and security of a given connection over the internet because of the former corresponds to the availability of the service whilst the later attribute to the reliability of the available service (Walden, 2007). It is also interesting to note that the prevention of unauthorised access to information systems connected to the Internet is deemed effective as opposed to implementing access control on each individual system as argued by Todd and Johnson (2001). This makes i t clear that the implementation of the security over the Internet is mainly through implementing the preventive measures against malicious attacks through strengthening the protocols used in the various layers of the TCP/IP model. As the TCP/IP model forms the basis for communication over the internet, it is apparent that the robustness of the protocols implemented in each layer of the TCP/IP stack dictates the effectiveness of the Internet security implemented (Walden, 2007). In the next section a critical overview of the TCP/IP model is presented to the reader. 2.2: TCP/IP Model ‘TCP/ IP is a set of rules that defines how two computers address each other and send data to each other’ as argued by Blank (2004) (p1)[6]. Naturally the above makes it clear that TCP/IP is merely a framework that governs the methods to be deployed in order to enable communication over the internet between two computing devices. As TCP/IP is platform independent in nature, it provides a communication framework that can be deployed across any given operating system on a computing device connected to the Internet or even a dedicated network as opposed to the World Wide Web. This further opens room for development of new protocols and communication standards/rules that can be implemented using the TCP/IP model on any one of its five layers as argued by Rayns et al (2003). Hence securing the information being transferred from one end to another over a given network or the Internet can be accomplished through implementing a combination of protocols to operate within the laye rs of the TCP/IP framework. The five layers of the TCP/IP model are Application Layer Transport Layer Network Layer Data Link Layer and Physical Layer. From the above it is evident that TCP/IP can be implemented in a given network using any number of protocols in each layer of the TCP/IP model depending upon the level of security required and the speed in data transfer. This is because of the fact that the increase in the number of protocols naturally increases the size of the data packet being transferred as part of the communication thus having a direct impact on the speed of communication as argued by Rayns et al (2003). It must also be noted that the protocols presented in each layer of the TCP/IP model shown in Fig 1 is merely a selection and not the exhaustive list of the protocol suite. From the model represented in Fig 1 one should also appreciate that the layers of the TCP/IP model are arranged in a logical fashion so that the protocols closer to the top at the layer 1 associate themselves with the computing applications that handle data encryption and security. The protocols to the bottom of the TCP/IP stack on layer 5 on the other hand associate themselves with the actual data transfer from one end to another through establishing connection and enabling communication between sender and receiver as argued by Blank (2004). As the research presented in this report focuses on the Transport and Network layers of the TCP/IP model a detailed overview on the five layers is beyond the scope of this report. A brief overview on each TCP/IP layer is presented below. Application Layer – This layer of the TCP/IP model comprises of the protocols that associate with the handling of data and the encryption of the information order to effectively transfer the information from one end to another. The application layer is also deemed as the layer of the TCP/IP model that communicates with the actual application that is handling the information prior to its transfer over the Internet. The protocols of the application layer enable the interaction between the computer and the actual web application that performs the business logic associated with the application prior to preparing the information for transfer over the Internet. This makes it clear that the application layer encryption is mainly associated with the segmentation of the data into packets and allocates the associated headers in order to enable their transfer over the Internet. This also makes it clear that the security associated with the information transfer is not implemented at the A pplication Layer of the TCP/IP model. This makes it clear that the application layer protocols are extensively used in case of client server applications where the data transfer between the client and the server is in the full-duplex mode (Feit, 1998[7]). Transport Layer – This is the actual layer that manages the connection between the two computers and the success or failure of the information being transferred as argued by Blank (2004). The purpose of the Transport layer protocol as the name suggests is to ensure the secure and successful transfer of information over the Internet between the communicating parties as argued by Ganesh and Thorsteinson (2003). The process of enabling end-to-end communication for successful data transfer is the major task that is accomplished using the Transport layer of the TCP/IP model. It is also interesting to not that the transport layer of the TCP/IP model provides the error tracking, flow control and data fragmentation capabilities independent of the underlying network as argued by Feit (1998). The transport layer of the TCP/IP model also performs the task of assigning the header to the data fragment off the overall information being transferred from one end to another. The transport layer of the TCP/IP model implements two forms of communication strategies. These are connection-oriented and connectionless implementation as discussed below. Connection-Oriented Implementation – The TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) protocol of the transport layer accomplishes the connection-oriented strategy of data communication. The connection-oriented approach o data communication corresponds to the process where a connection must be available between the communicating parties in conformance with the authentication and association rules prior to actually performing data transfer. This makes it clear that the data transfer in case of a connection-oriented approach depends on the extent to which the connection being established is live between the communicating computers. This makes it clear that the data transfer in a connection-oriented implementation can be accomplished only with the ability to maintain the connection between the computers thus making the data transfer reliable as argued by Feit (1998). This is naturally because of the fact that termination of the connection of loss of connection established during the cours e of the communication/data transfer would trigger a request to resend the information thus providing room for transferring all the information from one end to another. The session based communication strategies in terms of enabling the communication security is one of the key features of the connection-oriented implementation as prolonged inactivity or termination of the session will naturally terminate the connection established thus protecting the information transferred over the internet. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) which will be discussed in the next section depends on the establishment of a connection-oriented communication strategy in order to ensure that the communication between the two computers using the connection oriented approach will help protect the information being transferred by the transport layer protocol. As discussed earlier, the transfer of information from one end to another in a communication channel is accomplished through segmenting the information in to equal sized segments of data called packets that are assigned a header containing the details of the packet as well as its sequence in the information being transfer. The connection-oriented implementation of the transport layer has following key features Sequential data transfer – This is method which follows the First-in First-out (FIFO) strategy. Thus the sequence in which the data packets are received is the same in which it is being sent from the source computer. This approach is deemed secure to ensure that the information being transferred is not tampered with and loss of one of the packets will enable the sender to resend the entire information again. However, the major disadvantage is that the increase in the size of the information will result in poor performance in terms of speed of data transfer. Higher level of error control –As the connection oriented approach ensures that the connection established is live between the sender and the receiver throughout the entire communication process, it is clear that the error control is accomplished successfully through enabling the sender to resend the packets that were not received in the initial transfer. The control in the loss of packets using the above resend strategy naturally minimizes the error associated with the data transfer. Duplication Control – The connection-oriented strategy also has the inherent ability to eliminate duplicate data packets transferred thus allowing the connection-oriented architecture to ensure consistency in the information being transferred. Congestion Control – The TCP protocol monitors the network traffic as part of the transport layer activities. This ensures that that the session established between the sender and the receiver can transfer the required information successfully prior to reaching the session time-out situation as argued by Feit (1998). The client-server communication over the internet is a classical example for the implementation of a connection oriented strategy in the Transport layer of the TCP/IP model. The use of the PKI in the communication is one of the key aspects of the connection-oriented implementation that makes the TCP protocol a key element in the secure data transfer strategies of the day. Connectionless Implementation – As the name suggests the connectionless implementation is the case where a dedicated connection is not required to complete the data transfer between the communicating computer as argued by Blank (2004). The User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is used in the case of connectionless implementation where the transfer of the data packets merely comprises the packet order and the source/target details alone. This makes it clear that the transfer of data can be achieved at a higher rate as the authentication and validation of the data transferred is not restricted to a time frame or the session that controls the communication. However, the major issue associated is the lack of security and inaccuracy of the data transferred. Alongside, the key issue with the UDP protocol and the connectionless implementation is the lack of traceability of the information thus resulting in a non-reliable communication channel as argued by Blank (2004). The UDP is thus deemed to be an insecure mode of communication over the internet due to the lack of security measures apart from authentication and identification of the communicative parties. It is further important to appreciate that implementing PKI using the connectionless approach would result the exposure of the information and the lack of effective acknowledgement of the authentication between the communicating computers thus affecting the information security providing room for network attacks that can directly affect the information being transferred through the connection. Network Layer – Blank (2004) argues that the network layer of the TCP/IP model performs the task of delivery of the data within the network one the data packet has reached the appropriate network subnet. This makes it clear that the network layer of the TCP/IP model plays a critical role in identifying the correct network target/destination in order to enable effective communication between the communicating parties as argued by Feit (1998). In case of the World Wide Web, the Network Layer plays the vital role of identifying the destination network and enabling the routing of the packets through the network in order to effectively reach the destination without the data being tampered by unauthorised users. The protocols that are widely used in the Network layer include the Internet Protocol (IP) and the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP). The Routing Information Protocol (RIP) of the information TCP/IP model which is predominantly used in the Application layer plays a vi tal role in the network layer for enabling routing of the information across the networks in order to effectively reach the target computer in the communication channel established over the Internet. It is further critical to appreciate the fact that the routing of the packets alone is not the task of the network layer protocols but also to enable the transport layer protocol to effectively enable the communication and data transfer between the communicating computers. This makes it clear that network attacks over the internet by hackers to affect the performance of the communicating computers in order to gain unauthorised access is accomplished through manipulating the communication strategies implemented by the protocols in the Transport and Network Layers of the TCP/IP model. The access to information and the actual infringement of the information which is deemed as the consequence of the hacking or network attack is related to the infringement of the information at the applicati on layer protocols that hold the actual information being transferred (Blank, 2004). However, the attacks themselves that facilitate the aforementioned are accomplished through manipulating the procedures associated with the Transport Layer and Network Layer protocols. The attacks typically include spoofing, overloading, flooding etc., which are discussed in detail at chapter 3 of this report. The Data Link Layer and the Physical Layer of the TCP/IP model involve the actual hardware based communication strategies that are beyond the scope of this research. Hence these two layers of the TCP/IP model are not discussed any further. It is important to appreciate the fact that the top three layers of the TCP/IP stack interact frequently in order to enable the secure communication and allocation of computing resources on the computing devices involved in the communication (Blank, 2004). 2.3: Public Key Infrastructure – an overview PKI implements a form of cryptography known as the asymmetric cryptography in order to enable secure communication between two computers over the Internet as argued by Todd and Johnson (2001). This process mainly involves the use of a public key and private key that are used for encrypting and decrypting the information at the client and server ends respectively (Blank, 2004). The process of encryption is beyond the scope of this research although its role in the secure communication and the extent to which a hacker can manipulate the authentication strategies for launching an attack is relevant to the research. Hence the discussion in this section mainly concerns with the handshake and the communication strategies deployed along with an overview of the players in the PKI. This will help in identifying the various attacks plausible and the level manipulation that can be implemented by the hacker over the protocols used in order to infringe the communication between the client and ser ver computers. It is deemed that the PKI is a reliable communication strategy to implement secure communication through the use of Trusted Third Party (TTP) authentication and approval of the overall communication process between the server and the client computers. The key components of the PKI infrastructure that enable successful and reliable communication over the internet are discussed below Certificate Authority (CA) – The CA is the issuer and control of the public key and the digital certificate associated with the authentication and transfer of secure information over the connection established using the TCP protocol. The primary role of the CA is to generate the public and the private keys simultaneously for a given server computer or service provider (Blank, 2004). The public key as the name suggests is made available over the public domain for encryption/decryption of the information at the client-end of the connection. The private key is not shared and stored at the server which is used for encryption/decryption of the information as applicable at the server end of the connection established for communication. From the above description it is evident that the role of the CA in the PKI is pivotal for the effective implementation of the PKI for secure communication free of network attacks. This is because, if the server hosting the CA application is attacked either using cross site scripting or flood attacks, the public keys stored as well as the associated certificates for verification are compromised thus resulting in the hacker gaining control over the communication channel without the knowledge of the server or the client as argued by Blank (2004). This makes it clear that the security at the CA computer is critical to establish a reliable TTP computer for implementing connection-oriented communication using TCP protocol of the TCP/IP model. Registering Authority (RA) – The RA as the name implies is the verifier of the digital certificate before it is issued to a requestor as argued by Todd and Johnson (2001). The role of the RA computer in the PKI implementation is to enable an independent authorisation of the digital certificates issued thus providing a secondary verification of the information prior to communicating to the server. This presence of an independent verifying program or computer as part of the communication makes the PKI a reliable communication strategy to implemented connection-oriented communication over the internet in a secure fashion. It is also deemed to the key weakness of the PKI strategy owing to the fact that the reliability of the RA as a TTP in the communication process dictates the effectiveness of the communication and the protection of the server from intruder attacks as argued by Todd and Johnson (2001). However, the reliability of the CA or RA is not the issue of debate in this re search but the potential attacks that threaten the stability of the computers hosting the CA and RA programs in order to enable secure connection oriented implementation across the Internet. The key area where the attacks can be accomplished by hackers to disable the RA or the CA computer eventually compromising the information held within is the use process of handshake where the RA or the CA computer is expected to receive an acknowledgement (ACK) from the requesting computer for each message successfully communicated. It is through manipulating these handshake communications a CA or RA can be compromised as the communication channel is expected to open for a specific time period to receive the ACK as well as allocate sufficient resources to complete the data transfer. Abuse of this feature is one of the major areas where the connection-oriented communication faces threat of attacks. These are discussed in chapter 3 elaborately. Directories – The directories are the locations on the public domain that host the public keys for enabling the encryption of the information. The keys are normally held in more than one location in order to enable easy/quick access to the information as well as a verification strategy to ensure that the key retrieved is indeed the valid one for data transfer between the client a given server computer. Certificate Management System (CMS) – This is the application that controls or monitors the certificates issued and facilitates the verification process. The CMS forms the core of the PKI infrastructure as the CA and RA computers in the given PKI implementation are expected to host a validated CMS program to enable the connection-oriented communication between the client and the server. The key issue associated with the case described above is the fact that the CMS program itself is an independent application and hence its reliability/robustness to prevent malicious attacks alone dictates the extent to which a given CA or RA is reliable over the Internet. The key security strategy in case of the PKI implementation is the sharing of the public key whilst retaining the private key at the server computer as argued by Burnett and Paine (2001) [8]. This strategy allows the server computer to effectively encrypt or decrypt the information without depending upon the public key and hence leading a two pronged attack as the information encrypted using private key can be deciphered using the public key and vice versa. Although the use of the two independent keys helps overcome the security threats to the information being transferred, the transfer process itself is not governed by the PKI. This is the major weakness of the PKI infrastructure that allows room for malicious attacks that can hamper the performance by the CA, Ra or the host server computers as argued by Burnett and Paine (2001). From the above discussion it is evident that the security established using the PKI is mainly dependant on the following key elements of the PKI infrastructure CA and RA – The validity and reliability of these computers play a vital role in the effective implementation of the PKI. Apart from the fact that the client computer sending the information depends upon these computers security of the information in its entirety, it is also clear that the availability of these computers and their responses in terms of session time control and preventing session time-out cases are critical to enable successful communication in a connection-oriented implementation using the TCP protocol. An attack on the hosting server for the CA or the RA mainly in terms of flooding or denial of Service will result in the failure of the PKI infrastructure in terms of lack of availability. This situation is one of the major elements that must be addressed as part of the security strategies to be implemented on the transport layer protocols. Encryption Algorithm – The encryption algorithm used for issuing the public and private keys is another element that influences the security and reliability of the PKI as argued by Burnett and Paine (2001). The effectiveness of the hashing algorithm used for the purpose is not only essential for ensuring the security of the information through encryption but also dictates the size of the information for transmission after encryption as well as the speed associated with the data transfer for a given encryption strategy. As the complexity of the encryption algorithm naturally increases the size of the data being transferred thus affecting the speed associated with the communication, it is critical to establish a balance between security and speed in order to enable effective communication over an established connection. It is also important to note that the use of encryption algorithm dictates the extent to which a hacker can hack into the information that is being transfer whil st launching a transport/network layer attack as argued by Burnett and Paine (2001). It is deemed that the hackers through launching malicious attacks at the transport layer or the network layer tend to utilise the time gap to decipher the information being transferred in order to use the data for personal benefits. This makes it clear that the code hacking at the protocol level mainly attribute to the speed with which a given payload data transferred over a connection can be decrypted prior to termination of the connection itself as argued by Burnett and Paine (2001). From the above arguments we can deduce that the encryption poses the threat of single point of failure to the PKI in terms either being weak to prevent infringement or highly strong affecting the communication speed as argued by Nash et al (2001). Advantages or benefits of PKI The major benefits of the PKI include the following The TTP presence enables higher level of security through verification by independent entities in the communication process. The CA and RA in the PKI play a vital role in achieving the aforementioned. The dedication of resources for developing stronger algorithms to generate reliable public and private keys is yet another advantage associated with the PKI implementation. This makes it clear that the transport layer protocol (TCP) of the network layer protocol (IP, ICMP) weaknesses in terms of the request for resend and other key elements of connection verification can be overcome through robust algorithms. The growth f the electronic commerce at an exponential rate is one of the key factors that attribute to the availability of resources dedicated to the development of the PKI security strategies (Nash et al, 2001). The security infrastructure behind the storage and retrieval of the public keys is yet another area where the reliability and effectiveness of the PKI is evident. The fact that in case of reliable CA and RA, the security is indeed robust and the information being transferred is secure as well as the communication process as argued by Nash et al (2001). Constraints, Weaknesses and threats TTP reliability and costs – As discussed before the major issue is the TTP reliability. The involvement of the TTP not only questions the

Literature and Experience :: Free Essays Online

Literature and Experience When I wrote my first work, The Naked Tree, I was an ordinary housewife. I had been a passionate literature lover, but I had never practiced writing or studied literature. The Naked Tree began as non-fiction. One day I saw a posthumous show of artist Pak Su-gun, and I found myself swept by an incomprehensible confusion. He suffered from poverty all his life, but after his death, he became the artist whose works commanded the highest prices in the ROK. During the Korean war, he eked out a living by painting cheap portraits in the PX of US Forces, and I worked there trying to talk US soldiers into having their portraits made. In order to maintain a hand-to-mouth existence, both he and I led a life of the bottom, in which the least level of self-esteem could not be maintained. After the war, he was never free of poverty; he struggled to make a living and died at the young age of 51. When I saw that he was evaluated as the best artist in Korea and treated as such, I was swept by complicated emotions, a mixture of fury, sadness, and joy. Such feelings gradually developed into a passion that I wanted to bear witness to how he had lived. I wanted to write a good biography, which would help understand everything about him, and I wanted to shock art dealers, who were intent on making profits by trading his works at high prices without knowing anything about how he had lived. That was how I began to write a biography, hoping to apply for an annual open competition for nonfiction works held by Sindong-a, a monthly magazine. The deadline approached, but my writing did not progress. There were spurts of good writing, though, and in those moments I was elated. However, next day I would read the parts that had gone particularly well, and discover that they were the lies I had made up, not real episodes. I was not supposed to make up stories in the name of writing a biography. I had no choice but to throw them away, and I would be back to the slow- progressing stage. In writing his biography, there was another difficulty, aside from the battle with lies. I wanted to talk about my own stories. Literature and Experience :: Free Essays Online Literature and Experience When I wrote my first work, The Naked Tree, I was an ordinary housewife. I had been a passionate literature lover, but I had never practiced writing or studied literature. The Naked Tree began as non-fiction. One day I saw a posthumous show of artist Pak Su-gun, and I found myself swept by an incomprehensible confusion. He suffered from poverty all his life, but after his death, he became the artist whose works commanded the highest prices in the ROK. During the Korean war, he eked out a living by painting cheap portraits in the PX of US Forces, and I worked there trying to talk US soldiers into having their portraits made. In order to maintain a hand-to-mouth existence, both he and I led a life of the bottom, in which the least level of self-esteem could not be maintained. After the war, he was never free of poverty; he struggled to make a living and died at the young age of 51. When I saw that he was evaluated as the best artist in Korea and treated as such, I was swept by complicated emotions, a mixture of fury, sadness, and joy. Such feelings gradually developed into a passion that I wanted to bear witness to how he had lived. I wanted to write a good biography, which would help understand everything about him, and I wanted to shock art dealers, who were intent on making profits by trading his works at high prices without knowing anything about how he had lived. That was how I began to write a biography, hoping to apply for an annual open competition for nonfiction works held by Sindong-a, a monthly magazine. The deadline approached, but my writing did not progress. There were spurts of good writing, though, and in those moments I was elated. However, next day I would read the parts that had gone particularly well, and discover that they were the lies I had made up, not real episodes. I was not supposed to make up stories in the name of writing a biography. I had no choice but to throw them away, and I would be back to the slow- progressing stage. In writing his biography, there was another difficulty, aside from the battle with lies. I wanted to talk about my own stories.

Compare the representations of Frankenstein Essay

Compare the representations of Frankenstein in Branagh’s Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the 1931 film Frankenstein directed by James Whale Language- 1931: Camera –   Close ups are not used on Frankenstein as Branagh wants people to wonder what he looks like. There are lots of pans to show the set and the people there.   There is a close up on the monsters hand when it is twitching. There aren’t many edits which makes it boring and not very interesting. Sound –   Diegetic sound is the machines, Frankenstein shouting, noise of the monster being taken up. Non-diegetic sound is the thunder; there is no music at all in the extract. Mise-en-scene –   Henry Frankenstein is wearing a lab coat/straight jacket, which gives the impression that he is crazy.   He has slicked back hair using hair oil.   The acting style is very over the top, like theatrical acting. Frankenstein is side lit, to make him look scared and horrified.   Overall the lighting is mostly by top lights and sometimes the lightening. 1994: Camera –   There are lots of frantic zooms, pans and also up and down shots, which makes the audience intimidated. The camera follows Frankenstein and shows his emotions/feelings.   The edits are very fast and unnoticeable, using cuts and jump cuts.   By making the editing quicker, this builds up the tension. Sound –   Diegetic sound are the chains, machines moving, bangs, slots into the body, the electricity sparks and also Frankenstein’s voice and movements.   Non – diegetic sound is the dramatic theme music, building up to create much more tension. Mise-en-scene –   Victor Frankenstein is dressed in trousers but with no top. However the monster is naked. Frankenstein’s hair is shoulder length, which is very messy and sweaty. The acting style is exciting and energetic but not mad.   Frankenstein is mainly lit on his upper body.   There are lots of side lights and candle light, however the room looks dark. Institutions – 1931:   In black and white.   Universal studios made the film, as they knew horror would be a big money spinner.   It was voted one of the best films of the year by New York Times. 1994:   It wasn’t as brand new as it was in 1931, as in 1994 many horror films had been out. The technology was much more advanced and a lot had changed from 1931, new ideas and there was a new effect on people. Audience – 1931: The big actor, Boris Karloff was used to attract the audiences.   People in 1931 were different to 1994, as it was all fresh and new to them.   Cinema was a get away for people.   Frankenstein was a big horror, and scared the audiences of its day.   The monster, which was thought as Frankenstein became a big horror icon, with a built up brow and a bolt through his neck. 1994: Kenneth Branagh and Robert de Niro were used to attract audiences. Horror films were the norm to people in 1994. They were a lot more sophisticated.   Money was much more wide-spread in 1994 but wasn’t as much in 1931. Representation – 1931: Frankenstein was dressed very much like a man in 1931.   His movements, delivery of the lines and his acting style is all over the top, like in the way of a theatre play. The light is normally based on the monster and when it’s on Frankenstein, the light would be on his upper body. The 1931 film changes Frankenstein’s name to Henry, rather than Victor The audience are supposed to react to Frankenstein in a scary way and that he comes across very mad. 1994:   Frankenstein dresses and looks very much like a man of the time that the novel was written.   His movements and acting style is energetic and exciting however doesn’t come across at all mad. The light is mainly based on Frankenstein’s upper body; the rest of the room is very dark.   The music interprets Frankenstein very well, as he is running around being busy. The music is a fast, dramatic orchestra. Frankenstein’s name stays the same as the novel, which is Victor.   The audience are supposed to think that Frankenstein is very involved with his work and wants to get it done to see the result.

Identity Theft: Exaggerated Risk or Real Threat? Essay

Introduction â€Å"You have $92.13c left in your Chase bank account, contact us today with your details to switch from telephone banking to online banking† – I was in the country barely 72 hours and I was already subject to someone attempting to steal my Identity! I am referring to the past summer that I spent in America working under a student visa. After registering my mobile phone and opening my first American bank account, I started getting texts like the one above. This my was my first personal exposure to the problem of Identity theft, and after a quick Google search to enquire what I was dealing with, I found that it was a very common occurrence in America; More than 57 million American adults receive â€Å"phishing† attack emails & texts every year – from hackers or cyber thieves who pretend to be trusted service providers to steal consumer account information, and more than half of those who responded become victims of Identity Theft (Gartner Research, Phishin g Attack Victims Likely Victims for Identity Theft). Lucky I didn’t respond to that text then, aren’t I? That was just my small run in with what has become a global problem over the last decade. And, the more I delved into the reading for this topic, the more I became aware of the vast amounts of literature available to me. I felt none of the other topics for this assignment had such in depth reading, which was mostly available online to me. There was online e-books, some of which I purchased; â€Å"Identity Theft Secrets: Exposing The Tricks of The Trade† – By Dale Penn, and â€Å"Double Trouble† – by Neal O’Farrell. Research websites were also helpful, like the Gartner Research website. I found some very interesting websites online, one of which I’ll give a mention; â€Å"Publications USA† – an American government run website, it had a section to provide American consumers with information on Identity Theft. Sites like these helped me understand the impact of Identity Theft on the consumer, how the consumer battles it – and ultimately this showed me how business must deal with it, in their every day transaction s with consumers. There was a vast amount of Scholar articles I found online, through Google scholar of course, they took very interesting views on the problem, and posed some very good questions. These articles included; â€Å"Did Privacy issues cause identity theft?† to articles such as â€Å"Identity theft: Myths, Methods and the New Law†. Also, simply with a quick look at the papers every Sunday for the past few weeks, I found plenty of material in them – Papers such as the Sunday Business Post, The Financial Times, The Guardian & The Irish Times. They always provided me with something to read that was related to identity theft. After reading all this material, I saw both sides of the argument. Most do believe Identity theft is a Real Threat to business and consumers alike. I will quickly look at how much of a problem this has become, and I will then point to some of the major cases, and the impact of these cases on business. However, there are the those that believe Identity theft is over exaggerated, I will look closely at how researchers collect their data for research, and I will also look at the impact of this over-exaggeration within business, how it has sparked some companies within the protection business to come under scrutiny for over-exaggerating the risk of Identity Theft. Why and how do Identity Thieves do it? â€Å"Cybercrime has surpassed illegal drug trafficking as a crime enterprise† – [Symantec Corporation, 2009] Identity thieves use the Internet as a weapon against individual consumers by taking personal and financial information, such as credit card numbers and social security numbers, and then using that information to, purchase products or launder money (Identity thieves have been known to purchase cars and homes or even create criminal records under another individual’s identity) [Overseas Digest, When Bad Things Happen To your Good Name]. Such a scheme can be devastating for an identity theft victim and can create financial costs for credit card companies and other commercial entities. According to Columbus state university research, computer fraud in general, within the U.S. alone, exceeds $3 billion each year, and in the U.K. exceeds  £2.5 billion each year [Columbus State University, 2011]. These statistics alone show the huge impact of computer fraud and identity theft on the economy and businesses in the world we live in today. It shows what a lucrative business Identity Theft has become today. Cases of Identity Theft Causing a â€Å"Real Threat† in Business Arguably the most famous case of Identity Theft is that of Frank Abagnale, who was depicted in the 2002 Hollywood blockbuster movie â€Å"Catch Me if You Can† [DreamWorks (film), 2002]. In the 1960’s, Abagnale eluded authorities by posing as characters such as an airline pilot, doctor, assistant Attorney General, and history professor, all the while racking up $4 million in bad cheques [Posing Facts, 10 bizarre cases of Identity Theft]. This bizarre case of Identity theft is portrayed in a comical sense in the film, with Tom Hanks left chasing shadows. But for businesses in today’s society it is far from comical, as the protection of consumers’ information poses major issues within business today. The best way to see the affects of Identity Theft on business is to actually take a look at some of the major cases within the last few years. This will show the business issues and the impli cations it is having on business on a daily basis. The headlines within the last few years have highlighted the threat that Identity Theft poses. In what was dubbed at the time the largest ever case of identity theft to be prosecuted by the American Department of Justice [CBS News, 23rd Feb 2010], the â€Å"Miami Hack Pack† (dubbed that by [Miami New Times, May 20th 2010]) stole over 100 million credit Card details over the course of 4 years. The credit card details, which they hacked, were stored by a number of companies; one of which was T.J. Maxx, a British retailer (they would be known here in Ireland for their chain of stores called â€Å"T.K. Maxx†). The hackers gained access to the company systems of T.J. Maxx and stole personal information of over 45 million credit card and debit cards in July 2005. These cards belonged to the company’s customers who purchased items from January 2003 to November 23, 2003, however the company did not discover the theft until much later in 2007 [Identity Theft Awareness, 2011]. Deepak Taneja, chief executive of Aveska, a firm that advised the company on information security commented at the time; â€Å"It’s not clear when information was deleted, it’s not clear who had access to what, and it’s not clear whether the data kept in all these files was encrypted, so it’s very hard to know how big this was,† [St. Petersberg Times, 30th March 2007] – This quote shows the issues TJ Maxx faced at the time. They simply didn’t know how large this was, added to this was the fact that it took nearly 2 years to find the breach. A combination of the above led to huge consumer outrage at the way T.J. Maxx handled their customers’ information, and left consumers baffled as to why T.J. Maxx held onto the details for 2 years after the transactions had taken place. Many experts speculated that TJ Maxx would pay dearly for the incident. Customers would abandon the brand for fear their personal information would be exposed, and investors would avoid the brand because of crippling fines and costs faced by the company. However, in the 12 months that followed the announcement of the breach, TJ Maxx never looked better. Revenues increased Profits increased, and share price increased [Neal O’Farrell, Double Trouble; 12 Reasons why we’re Losing the Battle against Identity Theft]. But what does this mean? Could this have been contrived as a clear message to TJ Maxx and other businesses that not only is a data breach no big deal any more, but it may just be another acceptable cost of doing business? Perhaps. But there is still no doubting the potential impact of a company’s consumer information being breached. And, in the case of TJ Maxx, if the right procedures were followed, this kind of occurrence may have been preventable. Despite the fact their Brand and profits didn’t suffer, TJ Maxx realised this was a major wake up call. And it was still a learning curve for any business looking in. Lessons must be learnt: 1) Collect only the minimum personal customer information needed to complete a business transaction. 2) Retain the collected personal information for only as long as needed per business and legal requirements. 3) Monitor systems to detect unauthorized software and suspicious network traffic such as unusual data download in terms of size and time. [Identity Theft Awareness, 2011]. Businesses must constantly consider their risks and assess their internal controls to prevent costly incidents and their unintended consequences. As far as TJ Maxx, the company spent over $130 million to deal with the consequences of this international identity theft case. Even though their Brand didn’t seem to suffer, and profits rose and investment wasn’t hindered, TJ Maxx couldn’t afford to take this risk again. [Neal O’Farrell, Double trouble] The second case I’ll look at is that of Sony’s PlayStation Network hack earlier this year. The details of 77 million of Sony’s online PlayStation Network customers were breached. This most recent major intrusion has shown that Identity Theft is still a major issue for large corporations. This case again raised major questions about online transactions [The Guardian, April 2011]. Confidence in E-Commerce has always been a major problem for business [OECD; Reinforcing consumer confidence- Key to Boosting e-commerce], it has been for years, after all, it’s the reason that most think twice before making an online purchase, it’s that lingering feeling that overshadows an online purchase. It is an obstacle that is being slowly removed, but set backs like this do not help, as Steve Curran, creative director at the Brighton-based studio Zoe Mode, told Develop Magazine; â€Å"From my perspective, the bigger issue is not about the PlayStation Network, but confidence in digital distribution generally. For every story like this that breaks in the mainstream press, consumer confidence about their details being safe is eroded. Confidence [in online transactions] has been building up, and I think will continue to, but this is a blip. It could be a little step back† [Develop Magazine, †Digital distrust could follow†, 2011]. This hack was a major set back for the company’s on going battle for control of the gaming market with Microsoft’s Xbox. And it was up to Sony to rebuild confidence in their brand after the major breach [The Guardian, April, 2011]. Is it an â€Å"Exaggerated Risk†? One thing I did notice when I was doing my research was that, most of the information we have on cyber crime losses is derived from surveys. But can one form an accurate estimate by survey alone? J. Ryan & T. Jefferson claim in their book â€Å"The Use, Misuse, and Abuse of Statistics in Information Technology†, that losses are extremely concentrated, so that representative sampling of the population does not give representative sampling of the losses as a whole. They also argue that losses are based on unverified self-reported numbers. Not only is it possible for a single outlier to distort the result, we find evidence that most surveys are dominated by a minority of responses in the upper tail [J. Ryan and T. I. Jefferson; The Use, Misuse, and Abuse of Statistics in Information Security Research]. In the 1983 Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances an incorrectly recorded answer from a single individual erroneously in inflated the estimate of US household wealth by $1 tr illion. This single error added 10% to the total estimate of US household wealth [Dinei Florencio & Cormac Herley, Microsoft research; Sex, Lies and Cyber-Crime Surveys]. In the 2006 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) survey of Identity Theft the answers of two respondents were discarded as â€Å"not being identity theft† and â€Å"inconsistent with the record†. Inclusion of both answers would have increased the estimate by $37.3 billion, in other words it would have changed the estimate 3 fold [Federal Trade Commission, 2007]. In surveys of sexual behaviour men consistently report having had more female sex partners than women report having had male sex partners (which is impossible). The difference ranges from a factor of 3 to 9. It is pointed out that a tiny portion of men who claim, e.g., 100 or 200 lifetime partners account for most of the difference. Removing the outliers all but eliminates the discrepancy [Florencio & Herley, Microsoft Research]. These seem like simple mistakes, which could be avoided, however safeguards against producing these erroneous results seem largely ignored when it comes to Cyber-Crime surveys [Florencio & Herley]. So, what does this potential over exaggeration mean for business? This over exaggeration and bad estimates can have huge consequences on both resource allocation and in policy issues within business and government alike. Imagine this, in a simple scenario; a research company comes out with staggering new figures about the rise in Identity theft, online fraud, and the number of companies being sued by customers who were affected by their bad data protection protocols. This type of scenario has happened before; take for example the research conducted by the ITRC (Identity Theft Resource Center) in 2008. They reported that Data Breaches soared by 47% over 2007 [ITRC, 2008 Data Breach Totals Soars]. These kind of estimates can cause alarm bells to ring for some businesses, they in turn may pump more funds into the data protection systems in their own firm to prevent what they believed were â€Å"Real Threats†. Yet, as highlighted above there could be major issues with these statistics, and Florencio & Herley even mention the discrepancies of the ITRC yearly surveys in their book. Again, imagine the implications of such research on policy issues, especially government policy issues. If the government take the results of a certain survey on Identity Theft as a perceived â€Å"Real Threat†, and adopt major measures to tackle it, it could have major implications on business. For starters, it could damage consumer confidence in E-Commerce. Like I mentioned before, it’s the reason we all think twice before making a purchase online and isn’t it the reason for the introduction of Prepaid Credit Cards? People who have never experienced Identity Theft take measures to avoid it. And this could be all down to policy measures. Exaggerated Risk on business in the industry On 29th March 2011, CPP Group PLC, a British based company selling life assistance products, announced that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) would be launching an investigation into the sale of one of its products to U.K. customers. The product included services such as credit-score monitoring, an Internet search facility alerting the user of inappropriate use of their data and a caseworker to help the person reinstate their identity [The York Press, 30th March 2011]. The financial services Authority’s investigation centres around allegations that CPP overstated the risk of identity theft when selling insurance for that purpose. As a result in the investigation, CPP had to suspend all sales of its identity theft protection product with immediate effect. The product includes services such as credit-score monitoring, an Internet search facility alerting the user of inappropriate use of their data and a caseworker to help the person reinstate their identity. And, after announcing the news to the London stock exchange, shares in CPP fell a staggering 46% from  £2.35 to  £1.50, within one day of trading [Financial Times, March 2011]. The reason for this dramatic fall was, as Chief Executive Eric Woolley stated, â€Å"Card and identity protection products in the U.K. accounted for more than 60 per cent of CPP’s business† [Eric Woolley, March 2011]. This shows how exaggerating the risk of Identity theft within this type of organisation can cause massive losses for a business. In one fowl swoop CPP Croup PLC lost almost half its market capitalisation, just because they were â€Å"under investigation† for over stating (A.K.A Exaggerating) the risk of Identity theft through calls to potential customers. This example shows that some can, and do, overstate the risk of Identity theft, and they reap the rewards as a result, as they can sell the technology to tackle it. Conclusion In the introduction I provided an overview of some of the literature and then within the assignment I took a look at both sides of the argument. Through the major cases above I have shown how Identity Theft is a Real Threat to business. However it is also a threat to small businesses, small businesses must follow the same guidelines as highlighted in the TJ Maxx instance. Failure to could possibly lead to the damaging effects of major fines, lawsuits and the damaging of the brand image of a company, as well as deterring investors. Don’t forget the wider implications for business, with the growing trend towards e-commerce, many companies want to take advantage of this, however major data breaches as seen above can hamper the consumer confidence and set back this industry. Again this is a threat to business in this area. Is Identity theft over-exaggerated? You may think I strayed from the point a little here, but I felt it was important to look at this side of the argument, and what drives it. What mainly drives it is that backing of the argument that the surveys conducted are unreliable. I am personally not over awed by this argument, however the people who make the argument point to some interesting evidence of the inaccuracy of surveys from some top researchers in Identity Theft. A look into the CPP Group case gives another side to the exaggerated risk argument. Do people/corporations over-exaggerate the risk for their own benefit? Perhaps. But that is where regulation steps in, and in the case of CPP they had to change their marketing strategy within a few weeks once the FSA began an investigation. Overall, this was a very interesting topic to research, and it opened my eyes to some new areas of IT within business and some of the problems it must tackle. Bibliography 1.Gartner Research, Phishing Attack Victims Likely Targets for Identity Theft, 4th May 2004; (http://www.social-engineer.org/wiki/archives/IdTheif/IdTheif-phishing_attack.pdf) 2.Symantec Corporation; â€Å"Cyber Crime has Surpassed Illegal Drug Trafficking as a Criminal Money-maker; 1 in 5 will become a Victim† – Sept 10th 2009; (http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20090910_01) 3.Overseas Digest; â€Å"Identity Theft: When Bad things Happen to your Good Name†. – February 2001; (http://www.overseasdigest.com/odarticles/idtheives.htm) 4.Columbus State University;â€Å"Is There a Security Problem in Computing?† -17 February 2011; (http://csc.columbusstate.edu/summers/notes/security.htm) 5.DreamWorks (film); â€Å"Catch me if you Can† – December 25th 2002; (http://www.angelfire.com/biz7/netmeeting/catchme.html) 6.Stefan Nagtegaal; â€Å"Data Theft: 100 million Records stolen† – 13th August 2008; (http://whereismydata.wordpress.com/tag/tjx/) 7.CBS News; â€Å"11 Indicted in Largest ID Theft Case Ever† – Feb 23rd 2010; (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/05/tech/main4323211.shtml) 8.Miami New Times; â€Å"The Biggest Identity case ever. Right here in Miami† – May 20th 2010; (http://www.miaminewtimes.com/content/printVersion/2270696/) 9.Identity Theft Awareness; â€Å"TJ Maxx Identity Theft† – 2011; (http://www.identity-theft-awareness.com/tj-maxx.html) 10.St. Petersberg Times; â€Å"TJX Hacker Theft May be Largest Security Breach. Data from 45.7-million Cards illegally Obtained† – March 30th 2007; (http://www.sptimes.com/2007/03/30/Business/TJX_hacker_theft_may_.shtml) 11.Neal O’Farrell; E-BOOK: â€Å"Double Trouble; 12 Reasons why we’re Losing the Battle against Identity Theft† – 2011; (http://www.identityguard.com/downloads/ebook-double-trouble.pdf) 12.The Guardian; â€Å"PlayStation Network Hack: Industry Reactions and Theories† – 29th April 2011; (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2011/apr/29/psn-hack-industry-reactions?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487) 13.OECD; â€Å"Reinforcing consumer confidence- Key to Boosting e-commerce† – 16TH November 2009; (http://www.oecd.org/document/20/0,3746,en_21571361_43348316_44078356_1_1_1_1,00.html) 14.Develop Magazine; â€Å"Dvs on PSN hack; digital distrust could follow† – 27th April 2011; (http://www.develop-online.net/news/37568/Devs-on-PSN-hack-Digital-distrust-could-follow) 15.J. Ryan and T. I. Jefferson; â€Å"The Use, Misuse, and Abuse of Statistics in Information Security Research† – 2003. (http://www.belt.es/expertos/HOME2_experto.asp?id=5752) 16.Dinei Florencio & Cormac Herley, (Microsoft Research) â€Å"Sex, Lies and Cyber-Crime Surveys†. (http://www.belt.es/expertos/HOME2_experto.asp?id=5752) 17.Federal Trade Commission; â€Å"2006 Identity Theft Survey Report† – November 2007. [http://www.ftc.gov/os/2007/11/SynovateFinalReportIDTheft2006.pdf] 18.ITRC; â€Å"2008 Data Breach Total Soars† – June 15th 2009; (http://www.idtheftcenter.org/artman2/publish/m_press/2008_Data_Breach_Totals_Soar.shtml) 19.The Financial Times; â€Å"CPP in free fall amid FSA worries† – March 29th 2011; (http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/89a516dc-5a38-11e0-86d3-00144feab49a.html#axzz1eB8FvcKU) 20.The York Press; â€Å"FSA’s concerns contested as CPP Claims ‘highest level of integrity’ â€Å"- March 30th 2011; (http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/business/news/8941469.Watchdog___s_concerns_contested_as_CPP_claims____highest_levels_of_integrity___/)

Communication Essay Example

Communication Essay Example Communication Essay Communication Essay Listening to follow multiples oral directions Is a listening strategy that could easily be incorporated into any lesson plan. Being able to listen and then follow multiples oral instructions Is an Important strategy for students to learn because it Is a skill they will utilize their whole lives. They will use It do complete homework assignments, their bosses when thieve older and have Jobs will give them multiples oral directions to follow, an IT person for their cable company will give them oral directions to help get their cable working again. It is a skill that is important for their future. Teachers vive oral directions multiple times a day during school, and incorporating this strategy into lessons will help students be more successful at school as well. Listening to follow multiples oral directions reinforces the use of other listening skills. Listening requires a person to think about they are listening to in order to respond properly. This type of listening requires students to receive information, construct meaning from the information, and then use the Information to respond. Listening to follow multiples oral directions Is Just an extension B. To learn how to listening to follow multiples oral directions, I would Introduce this activity. Discuss with students what it means to listen. Explain that you are going to practice listening to following directions. To follow directions that I tell you verbally, that I told to you out loud instead of writing it down, you have to do a few things. First you have to think about what I asked you to do, then you have to remember it, and finally you have to do it. Lets all say those steps together! Ill say the step, and then you say it. Have students say all three steps. Lets practice here at the carpet. Im going to give you three directions to follow, dont do anything until youve heard all three directions. First I want you to put your arms straight up In the air, then I want you to stand up, and then I want you to turn In a circle. Repeat the Instructions one more time, and then ask students to follow the directions. Ask students how well they think they did, did anyone have trouble remembering the directions? Ask students to go back to their seats, and pass out a following the directions worksheet. The worksheet would have 5 problems. The 1st problem would have a picture of a deer, a bear, and a rabbit. Tell students not to do anything until theyve been given all 3 directions. Ask students to draw an x on the abbot, a circle around the deer, and a square around the bear. The rest of the problems would be similar. Each problem would have 3 pictures, and you would ask students to do three things involving those pictures. C. The first way to help support the development of listening and oral communications skills for all students Is to teach them strategies to help with these skills. Children arent born with these skills, they are skills that have to be taught and learned. Information, and that they shouldnt interrupt someone else while theyre talking. They have to be taught how to communicate with adults and classmates. How to speak in complete sentences, how to use the vocabulary they learn in everyday speech, how to ask and answer questions in different types of situations, how to take turns when talking, and how to speak at an appropriate rate. Students need to be taught these things starting at an early age so that they become experts at listening and oral communications. Another way to support the development of listening and oral communications skills is to have students practice their strategies and skills with classmates. This gives students a chance to practice both listening and speaking skills. Provide students with opportunities to use their skills in a variety of situations. Have students practice listening for information as well as taking turns talking by having them pair share about what they ate for dinner last night, or what they did over the summer. Then ask each student to tell the rest of the class their partners response. Having students role play the different strategies theyve learned to practice them in a controlled situation will also support the development of listening and oral communication skills. D. Listening and oral communication skills are essential to the development of engage because listening and oral communication (speaking) skills are they themselves language skills. There are four basic language skills and they include: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. (CGI) Listening and speaking skills support reading and writing skills as well as vice versa. As babies children listen to their parents, which is why adults speaking to babies, toddlers, and children is so important. By listening to parents babies begin to imitate speech by babbling. Eventually by listening to adults and other children speak; toddlers begin to speak as well. Listening leads to the development of oral communication skills. The development of beginning oral communication skills leads to the ability to learn listening skills needed for social and later academic situations. Language continues to develop by speaking to others. Adults can help the development of speaking skills by modeling them for children. Adults, including parents, relatives, and teachers can demonstrate speaking for children by describing what they are doing (self-talk), describing what the child is doing (parallel talk), and by introducing new words as is appropriate. An adult can also help by restating what child has said in the proper format. (Education. Com) Children use their listening skills to learn from adult speech, and later apply it to their own speech. The speech skills they learn by listening help develop their overall language skills. Listening and speaking skills lead into learning to read (reading skills), and writing skills. Reading skills are also important to the development of language as reading helps support speaking skills by introducing proper grammar, sentence format, and vocabulary. All of the previously mentioned language skills support the development of writing skills. Writing skills are improved by listening, speaking, and reading skills.

How did the Civil war affect government in the United States Essay

How did the Civil war affect government in the United States - Essay Example The American Civil War affected the government of the United States in both positive and negative ways. The positive effect was the fleeing of slaves meaning there was no more slavery, no segregation of people that was done by looking at skin color and every citizen is being treated equally. Additionally, because of war the economic power of America increased and defeated that of stable countries of that time. Apart from the positive effects of the American civil war, there were negative ones such as the government becoming stronger and powerful making it to be known as a government with unlimited powers, the Southern citizens were forced back to the union, and their voting rights were taken away (Taylor 18). In addition, many families were also divided and without knowledge brothers fought each other which led to the intensifying of the civil war (Taylor 2). There were improvements that were noticed in the transportation sector the Erie Canal was opened in the year 1823 due to government support. In addition, the construction of the railroad in the year 1840 was termed a credit on the government side. Second, land policy was another issue of the civil war whereby the government distributed the land equally among the people in America. Thirdly, the federal government took part in regulating and leasing rules that were to govern the banking system in the United States introduced banking systems. Fourthly, the government took part in solving tariff differences that existed between the Southerners and Northerners. The Southerners on one hand were for the idea of buying produced goods externally with no duties imposed on while the people from the west had no idea of which side to go, and this caused a lot of controversy that forced the government to interfere (Ransom). Moreover, because of the civil war the government was obliged to acquiring loans from other developed nations to meet its financial obligations. This was to be paid easily by imposing revenues

Reflaction paper for public health class (pbhl2000) Essay

Reflaction paper for public health class (pbhl2000) - Essay Example ver, hospitalization and morbidity statistics are too alarming that it remains a question whether our government is serious about its concern on public health. Published in 2004 in The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Zaher’s article titled, â€Å"Smoking-Related Diseases: The Importance of COPD† presents the glaring reality regarding our present public health status, that is, the government’s efforts to reduce smoking and promote public health are ineffective. Zaher et al.’s article article is very informative as it presents data about smoking-related diseases, especially COPD. It is also very implicative as it analyzes different cases of smoking-related diseases, and suggests more concern on COPD cases. Moreover, it is predictive as it provides the smoking disability adjusted life years (DALYs) till year 2020. The article presents valuable information about smoking-related diseases. First, smoking is still rampant, given the number of smoking cases and smoking-related diseases. According to the article, there is continuous increase in the cases of smoking-related diseases from 1999 and the number is still expected to increase in the future. In particular, deaths related to smoking are expected to increase from 53,238 in 1999 to 76,390 in 2020 (Zaher et al. 1425). Cases of COPD are expected to rise even more than other reasons by the year 2020 (Zaher et al. 1425). Furthermore, the cost of public health on smoking-related diseases alone is yet to rise with the continuous increase in the number of cases. Among which, lung cancer cost will remain the highest as it has proven in the year 2000 survey. Zaher et al.’s article is also implicative as it carefully analyzes different cases of smoking-related diseases. According to the research, limited attention is given to COPD, considering the higher cases of lung cancer and chronic heart disease (CHD). Nevertheless, the authors emphasize that more attention should be given to COPD