Information Security: Threats and Trends

Image source: security.uconn.edu

Aside from the Group 2’s Presentation 1 last January 7, the Group 3 reported their Presentation 1 as well about the Information Security: Threats and Trends. What I will be sharing here are from my notes and some researched terms.

Information Security, sometimes shortened to InfoSec, is the practice of defending information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction. -Wikipedia

Primary Goals of Information Security:
-Confidentiality – the protection of personal information. -Google
-Integrity – the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness. -Google
-Availability – the quality or state of being available. -Google

Threats – possible danger that might exploit a vulnerability to breach security and thus cause possible harm. -Wikipedia

Current Threats:
-Caller
-Crytolocker

Common Threats:
-Bot
-Malware
-Virus
-Worm

Phishing – the attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money) by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. -Wikipedia

How to prevent the threats?
-Security Policy
-Security Awareness
-Access Controls
-Identification
-Authentication
-Authorization

About the Trends, I wasn’t able to take down notes because the words in the powerpoint were too long and the reporter just read their presentation. They did not have a game. They just had a quiz for us. So if I will rate their reporting 1-10, I would rate them 6.

xoxo -Melanie ♥

Green Computing

Image source: http://technology-green-energy.blogspot.com/

The Group 2 already reported their Presentation 2 about Tile App last December 15, 2014. They reported their Presentation 1 last January 7, 2015. So this blog is all about the Group 2’s Presentation 1 which is the Green Computing.

Green Computing is the study and practice of environmentally sustainable computing or IT. -Wikipedia

Green Computing is also called Green Technology. It is the environmentally responsible use of computers and related resources. Such practices include the implementation of energy-efficient central processing units (CPUs), servers and peripherals as well as reduced resource consumption and proper disposal of electronic waste (e-waste). -TechTarget: Search Data Center

---

Image source: http://technology-green-energy.blogspot.com/

I cannot remember every detail about the reporting they had. So, what I will be sharing here are the things I have noted when they had their reporting. This is just a few so maybe I’ll have to research on the Internet for more infos.

They talked about ways for Green Computing. One of those is the Power Management which is a conservation of power. Another way is the Server Virtualization which is known as VPS and it is used to split server. The advantage of it is it reduces the number of servers. The disadvantage is the implementation can be a major hurdle. “Hurdle is an obstacle or difficulty.” -Google. The other ways are the Efficient Recycling or E-waste and Telecommuting.

The reporters were too fast so I had a hard time copying for notes. So if you want to know more about Green Computing, I have found a blog that talks about it. Just click this.

xoxo -Melanie ♥

TILE APP

Last December 15, 2014, aside from the Group 1’s Presentation 2. The Group 2 was scheduled to present their Presentation 2 on the same day. The gadget or technology they have chosen to show to the class is the Tile App.

This is how the Tile App looks like and its size

What I have learned about the Tile App from the Group 2’s presentation is that it is an application and hardware that you attach to something important or something that you don’t want to lose. If you have lost or misplaced something and you have attached a Tile App to it, it will help you look for that thing but with the help of Apple iOS (7 or 8) and Android devices (4.4 or higher KitKat and Lollipop) with Bluetooth 4.0. Co-founders are Nick Evans and Mickey Farley. This thing was released last 2011. It is water-resistant, tiny but tough and has a minimal design. It has a range of 50 to 100 feet. There is no need for battery replacement or battery charge since its battery is good for more or less than one year. It cost $25 per 8 tiles. The sad part is that it is not yet available in the Philippines. And also, the Tile App does not run on Windows devices.

The reporters did a great job in reporting about it. They showed a video about the Tile App. But they did not have a game for us. We just had a quiz about their report. If you want to know more about the Tile App. Just click this.

xoxo -Melanie ♥

NVIDIA Shield Portable

In our ICT173 groupings, each group was assigned to report 2 topics. The first topic was provided with our teacher which will be the Presentation 1 and the second topic should be about a gadget or technology that is not familiar to the public and it will be the Presentation 2.

The Group 1 already had their Presentation 1 last week. So last Monday, December 15, 2014, they reported their Presentation 2 about the NVIDIA Shield Portable. Even though I am not into gadgets, it still amazes me that I have never heard this gadget before. Well, maybe because this gadget is for gamers, and obviously, I am not a gamer.

But to let you know about this gadget, I have researched some of the information about it…

The Shield Portable is a crossover of a handheld game console and mini tablet computer by Nvidia, released on July 31, 2013. -Wikipedia

By the way, Nvidia Corporation (/ɪnˈvɪdiə/) is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia manufactures graphics processing units (GPUs), as well as system-on-a-chip units (SOCs) for the mobile computing market. -Wikipedia

The NVIDIA SHIELD Hub comes preloaded on your portable and features over 200 SHIELD optimized games, such as Portal and Half-Life 2, designed for SHIELD’s precision controller. You can even run the most popular game emulators to relive your retro gaming days. -Shield

Specifications:

• Processor: NVIDIA^® Tegra^® 4 quad-core mobile processor with 2 GB RAM
• Display: 5-inch 1280×720 multi-touch HD display
• Audio: Front facing tuned port, bass reflex stereo speakers with built-in microphone
• Storage: 16 GB
• Custom Armor Color: Silver
• Wireless: 802.11n 2×2 Mimo 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi
  Bluetooth 4.0 LE
  GPS
  Miracast^*
• Battery: 28.8 Watt Hours
• Operating System: Android KitKat OS
• Software: Google Play^™
  NVIDIA SHIELD Hub
                  Sonic 4 Episode II THD
                  Expendable: Rearmed

These are the things that I find relevant in knowing about this gadget. If you want to know more about its specifications, you can go to their website. Just click this.

xoxo -Melanie ♥

IT Careers and the Global IT Talent

Today, December 10, the Group 1 had their reporting for Presentation 1. Their topic was about IT Careers and IT Global Talent. Their presentation was boring but quite interesting since it was well explained at the last part of their presentation. And also, I think there is a need for us to pay attention because they will be giving a quiz afterwards. I guess nobody doesn’t like to receive a zero score on their quizzes.

So if we are going to talk about IT Careers, our world nowadays has so many jobs to offer. There are also so many careers that you can choose from, such as being a System Analyst, Systems Administrator, Support Specialist and so on. But the question is, do we have the skill or the talent that can reach to the company’s expectations?… Here in ICT (Information and Communications Technology) in the USC (University of San Carlos), they mold us to become the best persons in the IT Industry. They want us to enhance the skills and talents that we have or acquire it through learning. Skills can be acquired if you are just willing to learn. Talents are inborn and you will just have to develop it more. The Group 1 also state the Pros and Cons in being in the IT Industry. I can’t talk much about what they have reported ’cause the info they have given to us wasn’t able to retain in my mind.

After the reporting, they gave the quiz through a group activity which is raising our illustration boards for our answers. Luckily, the questions were easy and our group was able to answer the questions correctly. Thanks for our teamwork and the attentiveness we had during the Group 1’s reporting. Our group, the Group 6, was the highest. We got 10/11, other groups got 9 and 8. Not bad!

I think that’s all for now. I badly need to publish this and send the link to our teacher. ‘Til next time! 🙂

xoxo -Melanie ♥

Debate – 12/01/14

Debate is a formal discussion on a particular topic in a public meeting or legislative assembly, in which opposing arguments are put forward. -Google

Debate is to discuss (something) with people whose opinions are different from your own. -Merriam-Webster

---

Last December 1, 2014, our teacher gave us topics to debate on and our class was divided into 2 groups for Affirmative and Negative side. We debated about the issues nowadays like:

» Is Facebook a safe social networking site or not?

» Is going online a necessity nowadays or not?

» Is downloading in Torrent okay or not?

The debate ended with a winner and our group won.

What I can say about the first topic is that Facebook is indeed a safe social networking site. There is a Privacy Setting that you can change if you want to. You can either make your posts or photos visible to Friends, Friends of Friends, Public, Only Me or you can even Customize the setting if who are the people allowed to see your posts and photos and you can also hide it to specific persons. With that, you can have your social life private and safe. So, Facebook is a safe social networking site.

For the second topic, I agree with going online is not a necessity nowadays. Life is changing drastically and we can’t stop it. Technologies are everywhere. But as what I have understood about necessity is that it is referring to the things that we cannot live without, like food, water, air and etc. So, I can conclude that we, as humans, can live without going online. Therefore, going online is not a necessity.

I can say that I agree to the third topic given which is Torrenting is okay and I also disagree ’cause I don’t use Torrent that much. I agree that Torrenting is okay since not everyone can afford to watch movies, to buy a software application and etc. But I also disagree since downloading in Torrent is pirating, and pirating is stealing, and stealing is a sin. So again, in this third topic, I can’t choose between affirmative and negative.

SO THAT’S IT! My thoughts about our debate. Thank you for taking time to read. Have a great day! 🙂

xoxo -Melanie ♥