As technology improves, opportunities and challenges also increase. We have become a technology-dependent society because of the numerous benefits it brings. However, it has become a focal point for cyber-attacks, cybercrime, and industrial espionage. Cases of ransomware have increased since most of the cybercriminals have now developed tougher-to-prevent means of creating money through cyber-attacks. For an organization who has been a victim of such attacks, the damage caused can be very severe. For example, the ransomware can paralyze business activities of an organization. These attacks are not only target corporates but may also target small business and specific people. Any company or individual with access to critical data should worry …show more content…
When workers tried to access the system, they were only able to see and respond to a demand of $300 paid in bitcoin. The culprit was known as Wannacry or Wanna Decryptor. A similar attack was also reported in various parts of the world (brandom, 2017).One of the best ways to counteract ransomware is to avoid being vulnerable to the threats. Since ransomware attacks freeze and encrypt data, it is essential for an organization or an individual to back up their critical data and information periodically (Kansagra et al., 2016). Through backup, even if the system is attacked and data encrypted, a copy of the same will still be available. The copy may be used to get back control of the files without paying a ransom. Ransomware attacks often get to computers before working their way to servers. Therefore, any backup mechanism put in place should not be directly connected to the computers where the attackers can gain access. A copy of the files will only be safe if the backup is done offline. Although it may take a considerable amount of time to get the system back to normal, it is a painless process compared to a situation in which payment must be made to get back the …show more content…
Britain’s National Health Service was among the organizations that had not upgraded their system to the most recent version (Carlin, 2017). Sometimes, the IT departments of these organization might have valid reasons for the delay in deploying patches such as testing of patches in a lab environment for conflict before allowing them into the system, but timing is critical. The WannaCry demonstrated that many companies could be caught unaware due to their mission-critical custom applications and configurations that need to be check for compatibility before deploying the patches (Shinder 2017). However, it was evident that policymakers had to rethink and balance the risk of waiting and timely patching.Awareness about the potential risks and impact of the cyber activity on computers and networks is essential in preventing ransomware. Campaigns focusing on stressing that employees of organizations should not click on links and attachments should be carried out. Phishing is one of the common entry means of ransomware since most of the end users are not aware of the potential dangers (Kansagra et al.,
Ransomware is a malicious computer program that encrypts your computers contents and requires a key to unlock the encryption. You are instructed to wire bitcoins (anonymous internet
I have written the article about the KKK Ransomware contamination. This irritation is one of the most current increments to the ransomware family. Found not long ago, KKK is identified with the infamous HiddenTear extend and has turned out to be similarly as unsafe as whatever other ransomware piece. It sneaks into your machine and inflicts destruction. It finds and encodes your records along these lines denying you access to them. What is intriguing about KKK, however, is that it just locks the records that are on your Desktop. Be that as it may, this is all that could possibly be needed to cause you a headache. All things considered, the documents you utilize the most are normally in that spot on your Desktop. What's more, the
The use of information technology in business presents major security challenges, poses serious ethical question, and affects society in significant ways. Especially, the computer crime is a growing threat to society and is caused by the criminal or irresponsible actions of individuals who are taking advantage of the widespread use and vulnerability of computers and the Internet and other networks. It presents a major challenge to the integrity, safety, and survival of most business systems.
With the dramatic development in the technology of computers and communications, the entire world has certainly benefited a great deal, but the purchase price of computers might also be very expensive. Computer crimes are now becoming very serious problems that are costing as much as billions of dollars. Also, computer crimes are threatening the continuing future of communication, confidentiality, and even the integrity of businesses and organizations.
Computers have become part of our daily complex lives; we depend heavily on computers to help break our complicated lives down. Most people now prefer to do things the digital way and so does companies. Most of trading (buying and selling) is now online which requires computers. In order to satisfy our hunger for digital living, there is a need for technology called the operating system to carry out the activities we require our computers to do. Computers and technology come in different forms and sizes and due to the capitalistic nature of our economy everyone is allowed to come up with their own form of computer and even the technology to run it. In recent years’ companies have gained interest doing business digitally and since software have become easier to write or code, it is also vulnerable- easy for programmers to access and exploit called hacking. Hackers are unapproved clients who break into a technological framework, change or decimate data, frequently by introducing hazardous malware without the insight and assent of the host company. Companies are now at risk of losing much more than money by doing business the digital way. It is in this view that the Security Exchange
With the growing threat of cyber-terror crimes it is no secret that the victims and potential victims of these crimes would be uneasy. The short terms affects could include loss of valuable information, money, damage to brand and company reputation
Throughout the years, whenever a policy has seemed outdated or irrelevant in US policy, it has generally been gotten rid of. Slavery, prohibition, and discriminate voting laws were all done away with once people realized that they did not belong in the modern world, but there is still one piece of US policy that has long overstayed its welcome. This piece of policy is the use of the electoral college in our presidential election system. The electoral college is a group of individuals who each cast a direct vote for the president. The way that this works is complicated but essentially it boils down to this. Each state has a number of electoral college votes equal to the number of seats they have in the senate plus the number of seats they have in the House of Representatives for a total of 538 votes. Before each election, each party picks a group of people who they tell to vote for their candidate from each state to be their electors. When a citizen votes for president in November of election years, they are not voting for the president directly. They are voting for which party gets to send its group of electors to cast their vote in the electoral college. These electors then cast their votes in early December, and from those votes a winner is declared. Does it seem convoluted and overly-complicated? That is what I think. So, I say that the electoral college should be abolished because it causes problems in presidential elections, the arguments for the electoral college are
In this case study, I will be going over the article “The Ransomware Threat” by Jason Glassberg. I will be going over why randomware is a problem and what it affects it has. The profile of an hacker and what can we do to protect our self again this threat. Also the procedure of what you can do if your computer is infected. What kind of cybercrime were used in this article and if the identity of the offender fits the characteristics of the cybercrime.
There are billions of people struggling every day to have enough to eat, and billions of tons of food being tossed in the garbage, food waste is gaining increasing awareness as a serious environmental and economic issue. Research shows that about 60 million metric tons of food is wasted a year in the United States, with an estimated value of $162 billion. About 32 million tons of it end up in landfills, at a cost of about $1.5 billion a year to local government this economic crisis is worldwide! My research estimates that a third of all the food produced in the world is never consumed, and the total cost of that food waste could be as high as $400 billion a year. The food discarded by retailers and consumers in the most developed countries would be more than enough to feed all of the world’s hungry people, but it is not just those countries that have problems with food waste, it is also an issue in African countries like South Africa. The problem is expected to grow worse as the world’s population increases, unless actions are taken to reduce the waste. Food waste is not only a social cost, but it contributes to growing environmental problems like global warming, experts say, with the production of food consuming vast quantities of water, fertilizer and land. The fuel that is burned to process, refrigerate and transport it also adds to the environmental cost. Most food waste is thrown away in landfills, where it decomposes and emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Cybercrime has become a fast growing concern for the 21st century as businesses, institutions and individuals grow into an interconnected web of computer networks. Online business transactions, along with the sharing of personal information, are vulnerable to a host of disasters that can reap economic and social havoc. Some sources say that today, cybercrime costs more than $1.0 trillion to society--Global Industry Analysts, Inc. forecasted the world cyber security market to reach $80 billion by 2017 (Gale, 2011).
Just like a biological virus, a computer virus is able to infect and ruin lives. This malicious software constitutes more than just simple viruses but also includes other types of software including worms, Trojan horses, and ransomware. Malware has been around since the late 1980’s. Originally, people became hackers to gain notoriety online, but today, it has become more of a business. Cyber attacks originate from all around the world, and it is not just individual people that benefit from it. In two decades, numerous cyber crime syndicates have been created, and states all over the world sponsor hacker groups. Over the past twenty-five years, malware has become less about checking the integrity of computer security and gaining notoriety in the underground cyber society, and it has become more of a chaos creating, money making business that many people and institutions take part in.
My ethical issue with population growth in the future stems from the fact that rising population could in fact reduce our quality of life. The effect of the world’s overpopulation can be devastating. Some factors that reduce the natural resources that feed, water, and give us shelter. These resources give us a desired quality of life. It also sustains life.
Variants of ransomware now allow victims to “pay” by spreading the malware to their friends and family. Another variant, Spora, allows tiered payments that unlock “some” or “all” of a victim’s encrypted files or grant “immunity” from the virus that infected them. Expect that to continue in 2017 with an emphasis on alternative payment modes (always the trickiest part of the ransomware scheme). (Roberts, 2017)
Almost all kind of large and small organizations might face increasing number of attacks into their network or intellectual property. This may lead to data disclosure, data destruction, and damage of organization’s reputation. There are numerous threats in the cyber space which might be capable of stealing, destroying or making use of out sensitive data for financial and non-financial gains. As the amount of computer, mobile and internet users increases, so does the number of exploiters.
Prevalent to the current trend now is the dependency of the society on Information technology and communication systems. Every aspect of human life is one way or the other linked and controlled by information technology tools. The importance of information technology cannot be over emphasized as its unavailability could lead to a form of disaster or the other. Pivotal infrastructures like finance, healthcare, education and security are driven by information technology. However, information technology and its benefits are accompanied by vulnerabilities and risks that can be exploited by people with the necessary technical skills. Individuals like ‘Hackers’ and ‘Cyber Terrorist’ can cause disruption to information systems, commit financial fraud and also attack computers and networks. These attacks and disruptions could result to violence against people and properties. In some cases, death, serious injuries and severe economic loss could occur as a result of these attacks.