Caught in the Middle: How the Internet Can Improve and Destroy Lives

Caught in the Middle: How the Internet Can Improve and Destroy Lives

Our access to information has never been as convenient. In ancient times, only young men were allowed to go to school and learn about philosophers and literature. When the ultra-conservative Middle Ages came along, knowledge was left in the hands of the religious, and wouldn't see a renewal until the Renaissance. As the centuries passed, people were granted greater access to information, until our modern day scholars decided to make things easier for everyone.

From libraries stocking books in order, we moved to databases that stored information in a way that it could be stored, searched through, and retrieved. These databases and the way they were managed were brought online, where they came to the Information Superhighway. The Internet has since revolutionized the way that knowledge is accessed, and has given people from all over the world a chance to learn more and do more.

People are also now, more than ever, eager to share their expertise on specialized subjects, and help out those in need through the ease of online communication. What are some of the advantages offered by the Internet?

• Some sites offer knowledge and information for free or a minimal fee. The online free encyclopedia Wikipedia, for instance, has allowed users to post their knowledge on certain topics, and has given users the chance to access this knowledge as they would a real encyclopedia. There are also many other sites that offer information for free, such as science sites offering modules that science teachers can use when performing experiments, or clothing sites offering online courses in fashion design.

• Not all libraries carry the books that we need, so online merchants such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble sell books, allowing more people all over the world to buy them. With the advent of the electronic book, or e-book, people can now read books on their computers without having to pick a real heavy book up.

• Knowledge is offered in different media, depending on the learning abilities of those who need information. If a person is more visual, he or she can choose to watch a video or read an online book or pamphlet on the information he or she needs. If a person learns better through listening, however, he or she can choose to listen to audio files. This flexibility and versatility of the Internet has allowed more people to learn in the format that they want and are most comfortable with.

The beneficiaries of this technology are undoubtedly our children. They will have an easier time doing their research for school, since information is easy to retrieve online. They can buy the books they need if their local libraries don't have them. They can learn through all means possible.

These benefits, however, come with their own risks, and we as parents are caught in the middle of a war between free speech and censorship. While there are thousands of students who benefit from the knowledge offered by the Internet, there are also thousands more who become victims of predators, such as credit card thieves or worse, pedophiles. While there are thousands of students in developing countries who find their minds opened constantly by their exposure to new mindsets and cultures, there are thousands more who find themselves duped by once trustworthy people online.

If you have a child who uses the Internet constantly, then you may want to take note of these disadvantages to better monitor your child’s Internet use.

• While information is easier to retrieve online, it can also encourage your child to simply cut and paste information, with little or no effort devoted to analysis. This can make your child lazy, and may even lead to your child being accused of plagiarism by perceptive teachers. 

• Not all information online is true, and not all information online is edited. This has led to many schools banning the use of online sources and Wikipedia as references in important reports and assignments.

• Many online help forums are actually a venue for child predators to stalk new victims. Because children and teenagers often seek affirmation and help from people outside their family circle, they are more susceptible to such attacks. 

• Pornography is rife online, and some multimedia sites may actually contain pornographic or disturbing images or footage. While your child learns from useful multimedia files, he or she may also be traumatized or wrongly indoctrinated if he or she accesses the wrong ones.

The Internet has its advantages and disadvantages, and we as parents have the right to be alarmed and vigilant. The wealth of information online has also allowed wrongdoing to proliferate, and we can often find ourselves caught in the middle. All that we can do is protect our children, and make sure that they have access to real books and research materials, so that they don't have to rely completely on online sources for their work.

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Free Firewalls and Children Protection Programs

History of Computer Viruses since 1989-1999

Actual Case Studies of Kids on the Internet

Actual Case Studies of Kids on the Internet

As people are quickly becoming more and more dependent on technology for their everyday needs and desires, particularly the use of computers, business developers in the software industry have constantly tried to look for ways to take advantage of the trend, for their own profits and for the growth of the information technology industry as a whole. Some of these include sites and software that are geared towards the younger generations, like public chat rooms and social networking sites. With the number of hits these receive daily, it is no question that these are things that children and adolescents of the present look for.

While social networking sites and chat rooms promote socializing with one another (even if it is mostly text), there are dangers that are associated with such. Some of these include exploitation, extortion, pornography, sexual advances, etc., just to name a few. Perpetrators are aware most of the time that they are dealing with children and young adults, which is why they have more confidence to do the things they do – children are far easier to trick than adults.

Actual cases of these have happened, many of them in the United States. Just recently, a female teenager in Texas sued the site MySpace, a social networking site wherein a person can meet anyone from anywhere in the world. A MySpace page can be filled with pictures, videos, and other multimedia. A fake profile of a person can be made up easily, thanks to the power of computers and technology.

The lawsuit stemmed from the fact that this female teenager was sexually assaulted by an older teenager whom she met on MySpace. This man apparently put up a fake profile in MySpace, complete with fake pictures and fake data. Through this MySpace profile, they met through the Internet; he got a hold of her phone number, met each other personally and from there, the assault took place.

Incidentally, the girl’s lawsuit didn't win. In order to prevent such incidents from occurring, one should exercise extreme caution, especially in chat rooms and social networking sites such as MySpace. The case study proves that the danger on the Internet is ever present. However, that shouldn't deter children and adults from using the Internet freely – it is just important to exercise caution when doing so, something that this young girl apparently failed to do.

In addition, the girl herself lied about her age as well, claiming that she was an 18 year old when at that time, she was actually just 13. MySpace provides the privilege of using their site only for those 14 and above. Clearly, these actions show that the young girl didn't exercise caution and was exposing herself to danger by lying about her age and flirting with other male members older than her.

Other cases also involved instant messaging chat rooms and social networking sites, such as those when perpetrators tried to steal passwords and other valuable account information from MySpace users by sending them a fake HTML code (MySpace users can insert their own HTML code into their own profiles, for the matter of customization). However, since some users are children, they are unknowingly exposing their accounts which could possibly expose their location, phone numbers, and other valuable information that should be kept private. Most of the children don’t understand HTML code and they don’t know if the effect can be positive or negative.

There are many more cases in wherein children are taken advantage of through the Internet via chat rooms or social sites. As parents, it is your duty to protect and preserve your privacy from strangers, who could use your children to get what they want. Protecting them can sometimes mean restricting their Internet time, no matter how unpopular or how unconventional that seems nowadays.

With the case of the young girl, it can be seen that parents didn't exercise much caution as well because of the fact that she was able to get by pretending to be someone she was not. The chances of the act happening the way it did could have been lessened had the parents been more careful, as well as the girl herself.

Free Firewalls and Children Protection Programs

Free Firewalls and Children Protection Programs

The internet is an established part of our world, and modern education has included it in the education of our children. Unlike past generations, where the internet was as much a source of games and amusement as a tool for adults, these days our children are immersed in it. Given that it is a part of their daily lives at school, it naturally follows that we can't keep them from their computers at home so they can do research and homework on it. With that in mind, we have to keep a close watch on the things our kids do online so that they don't unwittingly become security risks in this day and age of computer-related crimes.

There are two types of programs that will help our home security over the internet immensely; the first is firewalls, which keep out viruses and spyware that our kids may accidentally touch on in the course of conducting their research. The second is child safety software, which are programs especially geared towards helping parents monitor and control their children's online time. Here are the top three free picks for firewalls and child safety programs you can download.

Firewalls

1) Comodo Firewall - one of the top picks among both free and purchaseable firewalls, comodo scans all incoming internet traffic before actually allowing it to touch any other part of your PC. It's main feature is a program behavior analyzer that detects if programs have any unusual activity that may signal a virus or worm in the program. For inert viruses it also has a trojan protocol detector that is constantly updated online.

2) Kiero Personal Firewall - this is a software that has been reported by users to offer them minimal headache in operation and use. While it's protections aren't as sturdy as some other firewall programs, it offers reasonable defense nontheless. It's main strength is it's ease of use, so that you can teach your children to operate it, giving them the benefits of learning internet security early in life.

3) Zone Alarm - this is rated as a cross between comodo and kiero. It offers more security options than Kiero and is easier to use than comodo. The most balanced choice between ease of use and security. Depending on your preferences, it can also be taught to your children, but it's advanced settings may actually cause them to mess up your firewall, so it might be a good idea to keep the operation of this software to yourself.

Child Security

1) EZ off - this program is essentially a time management software for your computer. It will automatically turn the PC on and off at scheduled intervals, allowing you to control how much time your children spend on the net. This is best used to keep your kids from playing video games past their bedtime. The timer also features a calendar and scheduler, so that you can even keep the PC running for set intervals when you're not at home.

2) Windows Supervisor - this is an office program that can also be used at home. It's main purpose is to monitor all logs made on the computer, so that you will be able to tell not only WHEN your children access the internet, you'll be able to tell what activity was running when they were there, including what sites they visited, files they up or downloaded, programs executed, and even keyboard typing done.

3) StopGame - for those who want to let their children enjoy the internet from time to time, a less-strict version of EZ off is similar to a firewall in that it lets certain, specified programs and web sites be accessed at certain times of day by the computer. If your kids are, for example, doing homework from 6pm to 8pm and you let them have game time from 8pm to 10pm, you can set this program to allow them access to certain games (that you specify) from the 8 to 10 slot. Also, taking a cue from Windows Supervisor, it will be able to monitor past activity as far as the allowed game programs listed are concerned, as well as attempts made by your kids to access other sites.

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All About Online Abduction

All About Online Abduction

The fact that the Internet is rapidly expanding backs the notion that more people are regularly using the online medium. Thus, everyday, there are tons of reports over cyber-crimes committed by online predators worldwide.

Because the Internet is an open medium for people from all walks of life, you can't always prevent your kids from getting there. When logged on the Internet, your child can be exposed to a lot of dangers. There are many predators out there that are ready to feed on innocent children within the Internet.

The Internet is a place to meet people and expand a person's social circle. However, be reminded, and also remind your kids, that not all people you may meet online are 'friend material'. Like in actual life applications, you should never easily provide trust to anybody.

Online abduction is among the most popular cyber-crimes committed by scrupulous individuals over the Internet. It isn't surprising that there have already been reports of kids getting kidnapped by people they meet over the Internet. Abductors can't abduct your child online, but there are tactics that could help them do the dirty intentions.

Because kids are just starting out in life, they have to learn things and lessons in life the hard way. It is during the childhood and puberty years of kids that you should be able to extend your protection and guidance to your kids.

Some worst case scenarios of online abduction

To learn more about how online abductions are widely committed, it would be helpful if you would be informed about how the predators do their thing. Take note that online abduction strategies are alike in many ways, so by learning the usual worst case scenarios, you can understand the process better and prepare to prevent them from occurring.

Worst case scenario 1

Your child is logged online. Because almost all his friends are raving about friendster.com, MySpace.com and several other social networking sites, it is natural that he keeps his own account. Through the site, your child can interact with his friends through the in-site interactive features like private chats, emails, bulletins and posts.

Because social networking sites are social function systems, there are features that allow people to surf the entire system to meet new people. This is where the danger sets in. There might be individuals who would befriend your child. The individual may disguise themselves as another kid the same age as your child.

The process doesn't happen over night. Cyber criminals are so patient that they are willing to spend days, weeks, months or even years establishing the friendship with your child. When your child is at ease with the person, that is when the cyber criminal attacks.

The cyber criminal can ask your kid for an eyeball, wherein they would be meeting each other personally. Most online abduction cases ever reported are committed this way. When the kid is out to take an eyeball with his friend, it turns out the meeting is a set up and the disguising friend will then abduct the kid.

Worst case scenario 2

In chat rooms and interactive channels, your kid might meet people who are out there to socialize so they could victimize innocent people. The cyber criminals might lure your kid into doing something that could compromise his safety, as well as your safety and the safety of all on your household.

The cyber criminal can ask your kid about addresses, credit card numbers and personal identification numbers on bank accounts. Since your kid is unsuspecting and is treating his online friend with so much trust, he would be willing to disclose the information asked by his friend.

When your kid divulges your address, the cyber criminal then will be able to track and monitor your kid and abduct him when there is a chance. The abductor might kidnap your kid when nobody's home except your child, or during the middle of the night when everybody is asleep.

What to do when your kid is abducted

The best thing to do when your child has been victimized by online abduction is to report the matter to the authorities. The police will extend their help in helping you find your missing child. Also retrieve the information on the Internet about your child's friends, who can be suspected of committing the cyber crime.

Keep your cool and do not panic. Experts are advising you not to give in to the demands of the abductor. If you do, you might be contributing to the continuity of such crimes. If you don't, give your full cooperation to the authorities.

Online abduction can be prevented if you educate your child about the dangers of meeting strangers on line. Do your thing now.

History of Computer Viruses since 1989-1999

History of Computer Viruses since 1989-1999

Robert Morris’s Internet Worm of 1988 was the biggest news in virus history for several years.  Until 1992, most virus news was much quieter.

In 1989, for example, Ghostball was released.  This was the first virus able to attack different kinds of targets.  Before Ghostball, viruses were classified by their attack, like “file infector” or “boot sector virus.”  Ghostball was the first Multipartite virus, because it could follow several attack patterns.

In 1990, a programmer named Mark Washburn demonstrated a Polymorphic virus.called 1260.  This virus could actually change the structure of it’s own code—meaning, every time it infected a new system, it looked different while doing the same thing.  In effect, this kind of virus “hides” from anti-virus software by wearing disguises.

Michelangelo was the first virus to achieve stardom.  It was discovered in 1991, and was predicted to cause incredible amounts of damage when it reached it’s trigger date, March 6th, 1992 (March 6th is Michelangelo’s birthday).  If an infected system is booted on March 6th, the virus will erase the hard drive.  Despite doomsday warnings made by the press and the antivirus industry of “at least five million infected systems at risk,” only about 10,000-20,000 computers worldwide were hit by the virus.

The Concept virus was discovered in 1995.  Concept is short for “Proof of Concept,” and it was designed to show how viruses could be written in the macro language programmed into Microsoft Word.  By 2004, roughly 75% of all viruses are macro viruses.

The CIH virus, later renamed “Chernobyl,” appeared in 1998.  This was a very damaging virus that was not only programmed to erase hard drives but also tried to erase BIOS chips.  For the first time in history, a virus had managed to actually damage the hardware it was running on.  Fortunately, CIH wasn’t very good at it, and only damaged a handful of systems.

Firewalls and Firewalls and Proxies

Firewalls and Proxies

In building construction, a firewall is a structure designed to contain building fires.  For example, an attic crawlspace that covers the entire length of the building would allow a fire to roar from one end of the building to the other.  Breaking up the crawlspace with non-flammable walls helps to slow the spread of a fire.

Network firewalls have a similar function.  A firewall is a network security system, either a program or an actual device, that breaks up a network to contain viruses and hackers.

Imagine two large fish tanks side by side, separated by a wall.  We want to allow the blue fish to mingle, but we need to keep the carnivorous fish on the left away from the baby fish on the right.  If we opened a computer-controlled door in the wall, programmed to only allow blue fish to pass but no one else, that would be a fishtank firewall.

Network firewalls “segment” the network.  Local traffic—the information that moves between the computers in that segment—doesn’t go through the firewall to the larger network outside.  And information that doesn’t need to reach anyone inside the firewall is blocked out, just like the carnivorous fish  in our example.

A Proxy is another network security tool.  Proxies are replacements for Internet servers.  When a computer requests a website from the internet, a main hub provides the IP address.  A firewall can interfere with this, and declare that no one inside the firewall can surf the Internet.  The Proxy is then the “official” way past the firewall.

A proxy server has a list of “authorized” websites.  When the user’s computer requests the address from the Internet, the proxy checks it against the list, and if the website is approved, it authorizes the firewall to let the traffic through.  If the website is not approved, then the firewall sends a message saying “you are not authorized to visit this website.”

Drive-By Downloads

Drive-By Downloads

You’re surfing the Web, enjoying a quiet afternoon, when a window pops up on the screen.  “New Windows Antivirus Update Available,” it says.  “Would you like to update your system?”  You get “Yes” and “Cancel” buttons at the bottom.

It looks like a real, honest-to-goodness Windows message, right down to the logo in the corner.  Should you click Yes, or Cancel?

The correct answer is “Neither.”

In programming terms, this is known as a Drive By Download.  A website you visited has this code set to run as soon as you visit.  The pop-up is trying to install something on your computer, and if you click “Yes,” you really have no idea what you’re agreeing to.  Your computer may now be set to make long distance phone calls, or assist in a Denial of Service attack, or just flash adult advertisements at you every thirty seconds.

Many malware programmers design their systems to look just like system messages and windows.  Just because an email or a pop-up says it comes from Microsoft, or your bank, for that matter, doesn’t make it true.

We don’t want any of that, so we should hit “Cancel,” right?

Nope.

It may look like a standard Windows message, but it’s really not.  It’s just an image of those buttons.  Clicking either button—in fact, clicking anywhere in the image—is the same as clicking “Yes” and giving the mystery program blanket permission to do whatever it’s going to do.

The correct answer is to click on the little “X” at the top right of the window, closing it without clicking on anything inside it.  This is one of the best ways of keeping malware off of your system.

When in doubt, don’t click.  This advice works for ads, email attachments, and mystery files, and is a really good habit to get into.

Denial of Service Attack

Denial of Service Attack

Imagine a group of junior high school kids who decide to play a prank on their least favorite teacher.  They agree that they will all call the teacher’s phone, as quickly as they can dial, non-stop, until he unplugs the phone in frustration.

When this happens using the Internet rather than telephones, it’s called a Denial of Service attack.  Such attacks are designed to either keep the target system so busy handling the attack that it can’t get anything else done, or to overwhelm it into shutting down completely.

Why should anyone but a system administrator worry about denial of service attacks?  Users need to be aware of something called a BotNet.

The MyDoom virus was one of the first viruses to attempt two levels of attack.  First, the virus would try to spread.  On infection, though, it would insert a second program into the system.  Basically, on MyDoom’s trigger date (February 1st, 2004), any infected system would launch a denial of service attack against MyDoom’s real target.

The virus tried to establish a collection of computers that would all launch attacks on the same day.  This collection is a botnet, and in the years since MyDoom pioneered the concept, literally dozens of programs have expanded on the idea.

A popular program in use today is Stacheldraht.  Stacheldraht is the master program, and it manages a collection of “handler” computers.  Each of these handlers can control up to a thousand “zombie” computers around the world.  The hacker with the Stacheldraht master says “attack this server,” the handlers pass the word along, and thousands of systems instantly change from peaceful home computers into remote-controlled computer attackers..

Sure, it sounds like a line from a bad horror movie, but it’s true.  Users need to keep their systems from becoming one of Stacheldraht’s zombies.

Backdoor Programs

Backdoor Programs

It’s the ultimate nightmare for a computer user—the idea that someone outside the computer can take over.  The official “technical” term is Remote Administration, but hackers are more likely to use the word Backdoor.

With Windows XP, remote administration comes pre-installed.  Windows XP has an option called Remote Assistance, where an XP technician can “remote in” and take over your computer.  The remote tech has as much control over your system as if he was sitting there at the keyboard.

The hackers predate Microsoft by several years.

NetBus, for example, was designed in 1998 by Carl-Fredric Neikter, and many of the backdoor programs since then have followed a similar design.  

The program comes in two parts, the Client, and the Server.  The server is the part that has to be installed on the machine to be hacked, and the Client is the controlling system.  Once the Server program has been installed, the Client has almost total control, from dangerous things like recording keystrokes or launching programs to annoying things like opening the CD tray.  Netbus 2.0 Pro was even marketed commercially as a remote administration program.

Some other backdoor programs are Back Orifice (which was named as a pun on Microsoft’s Back Office program), SubSeven, and Poison Ivy.

Any backdoor program allows an outsider full, unrestricted access to the hacked computer.  The hacker can copy information off of the computer, activate webcams, even remotely shut down or crash the computer.  Netbus and SubSeven are very popular among “script kiddies.”

In one major case in 1999, a law professor was fired and charged because system administrators found child pornography on his system.  He was acquitted—almost five years later—when the court was shown that Netbus was used to copy the images onto the computer.

Most backdoor programs are easily stopped by antivirus and firewall programs.