[citw150] Lesson 3 - Question 6

Societal Issues
 
The U.S. Constitution guarantees every American the right to privacy.  As many 
people have found out the hard way, the interney theatens this right.  Although 
the internet is the one most robust information channel for everyone in the 
world and many companies and education institutions can no longer function with 
out it, it is a serious threat to our privacy.  The problem is that even with 
all of the media and attention identity theft is getting (much of it done 
through the internet), most users are unaware of how REAL this threat actually 
is.  Everyone in this course has most likely heard of Ebay and maybe even 
bought something from it.  According to the Internet Fraud Complaint Center 
(IFCC), online auctions are the number one source of complaints about internet 
fraud which made up of 46.1% of internet fraud complains in 2002 (you can 
obtain this information at: 
http://www.ifccfbi.gov/strategy/2002_IFCCReport.pdf).  
 
Another threat to users' privacy is spyware.  Spyware is a surveillance tool 
that can gather user information and activity without the user?s knowledge. Spy 
software can record your keystrokes as you type them, passwords, credit card 
numbers, sensitive information, where you surf, chat logs, and can even take 
random screenshots of your activity. Basically whatever you do on the computer 
is completely viewable by the spy. You do not have to be connected to the 
Internet to be spied upon.  The most common way people can get spyware loaded 
on their PC is by downloading and installing popular music sharing freeware 
that silently installs other software without their knowledge used to monitor 
their PC activities, however there are also many other ways for Spyware to 
infect your PC.  Here are a few things to look for that could mean you have 
spyware on your PC:
 
1. You enter a search term in Internet Explorer's address bar and press Enter 
to start the search. Instead of your usual search site, an unfamiliar site 
handles the search.
 
2.  A new item appears in your Favorites list without your putting it there. No 
matter how many times you delete it, the item always reappears later.
 
3.  Your system runs noticeably slower than it did before. If you're a Windows 
2000/XP user, launching the Task Manager and clicking the Processes tab reveals 
that an unfamiliar process is using nearly 100 percent of available CPU cycles.
 
4.  A search toolbar or other browser toolbar appears even though you didn't 
request or install it. Your attempts to remove it fail, or it comes back after 
removal.
 
5.  And the final sign is: Everything appears to be normal. The most devious 
spyware doesn't leave traces you'd notice, so scan your system anyway
 
This information was obtained from pcmag.com.  You can read about it at: 
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1524266,00.asp.  There is also some good 
information about how to aviod spyware.  I hope this societal issue relates to 
you and teaches you something that you didn't know.  I'll look forward to your 
replies.
 
 

 
Robert Morris
Contact Information:
email: rdmorris@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it."

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