Music and Meaning - Tupac Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Music and Meaning - Tupac - Essay Example Then, I will explain why and how the following four songs had a strong impact on my personal life: â€Å"Life Goes On†, â€Å"Keep Ya head Up†, â€Å"California Love† and â€Å"Changes†. A good friend of mine introduced me to the works of Tupac Shakur many years ago and although Tupac has been dead for 15 years, his music is still very important to me. From the beginning I could feel that his songs were authentic. Tupac seemed to turn his personal thoughts and experiences into music, which is the very reason why his songs do not only sound authentic, but truly are authentic as well.Moreover, I was and still am impressed by the variety of topics that are addressed in his various songs. This is another reason why Tupac was and still is very important to me; depending on my mood or my situation there are certain songs that fit my situation. I listen to different songs when I am happy compared to when I am sad or angry and Tupac seems to have the right song for me in every situation. Moreover, Tupac touched on a variety of topics, including racism, tolerance, social and racial equality, violence, conflicts with the law, life in the ghettos, criticism of the â€Å"Americ an Dream† and the love for his Mom, which is another reason why his versatile lyrics are captivating. â€Å"Life Goes On† is one of Tupac’s songs that hit my emotional nerve, more than that, it helped me through a sad period of my life. It is a song about losing loved ones, but while remembering them, life goes on and one has to continue with life, even though it might be hard to do so.

Linguistics and Language Essay Example for Free

Linguistics and Language Essay Language Comprehension †¢Language Production †¢Language Acquisition Psycholinguistics is a branch of cognitive science What will be covered in this class? †¢ How do we produce and recognize speech? †¢ How do we perceive words, letters, and sentences? †¢ How do we learn and recall information from texts? †¢ How can we improve texts to make them easier to understand? †¢ How does the brain function to process language? †¢ What are the causes and effects of reading disabilities? Is there language in other species? Central themes in psycholinguistics 1)  What knowledge of language is needed for us to use language? Tacit (implicit) knowledge vs. Explicit knowledge †¢ tacit: knowledge of how to perform something, but not aware of full rules †¢ explicit: knowledge of the processes of mechanisms in performing that thing 2)  What cognitive processes are involved in the ordinary use of language? How do we understand a lecture, read a book, hold a conversation? Cognitive processes: perception, memory, thinking, learning Some definitions of basic components of language: Semantics: The meaning of words and sentences Syntax: The grammatical arrangement of words in a sentence or phrase Phonology: The sound pattern of language Pragmatics: How language is used in a social context Examples from psycholinguistics Parsing garden path sentences The novice accepted the deal before he had a chance to check his finances, which put him in a state of conflict when he realized he had a straight flush. 1) The defendant examined by the lawyer turned out to be unreliable 2) The evidence examined by the lawyer turned out to be unreliable The process of parsing is the process of making decisions The effect of prior knowledge on comprehension The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange things into different groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step; otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run this may not seem important, but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another facet of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate future, but then one never can tell. After the procedure is completed, one arranges the materials into different groups again. Then they can be put into their appropriate places. Eventually they will be used once more, and the whole cycle will then have to be repeated. However, that is part of life. Bransford amp; Johnson, 1973 Recall: No context: 2. 8 idea units out of a maximum of 18 Context afterwards: 2. 7 idea units Context before: 5. 8 idea units Child language development How many words do you know? Hint: Dictionary has about: 450,000 entries Test high school graduates: How many words do they know? About 45,000 english words About 60,000 including names and foreign words The average six year old knows about 13,000 words. Learning about 10 words per day since age 1. (One every 90 minutes) How much do we have to teach children to learn language? Do you have to teach a child to walk? Is it the same way of learning a language? My teacher holded the baby rabbits and we patted them I eated my dinner A brief history of psycholinguistics Wilhem Wundt (early 1900s) Interest in mental processes of language production Sentence as the primary unit of language †¢ Speech production is the transformation of complete thought processes into sequentially organized speech segments. Behaviorism (1920s-1950s) †¢ Rejected the focus on mental processes †¢ Measurement based on objective behavior (primarily in lab animals) †¢ How does experience (reward and punishment) shape behavior? B. F. Skinner: Children learn language through shaping (correction of speech errors) Associative chain theory: A sentence consists of a chain of associations between individual words in the sentence What’s wrong with the behaviorist approach? Noam Chomsky (1950s present) 1) Colorless green ideas sleep furiously 2) Furiously sleep ideas green colorless. 3)  George picked up the baby 4)  George picked the baby up. Almost every sentence uttered is a new combination of words The Poverty of stimulus argument: There is not enough information in the language samples given to children to account for the richnes and complexity of children’s language The pattern of development is not based on parental speech but on  innate  language knowledge Linguistic Diversity vs. Linguistic Universals Linguistic diversity There appears to be a lot of diversity among languages Even within languages there is diversity When are two languages different? We speak the same language if we can understand each other Exceptions: Norwegian and Swedish Cantonese and Mandarin Dialects within languages: The myth of pure language How/why do languages change? Why does there seem to be a correct English? Members of the dominant (most powerful) sub-culture tend to speak one dialect and may punish those who do not Linguistic Chauvinism Belief that one’s own language/dialect is the best of all possible languages Black English Vernacular (BEV) Study by William Labov Interviewed African-American street youth You know, like some people say if you’re good an’ sh*t, your spirit goin’ t’heaven . . . ‘n if you bad, your spirit goin’ to hell. Well, bullsh*t! Your spirit goin’ to hell anyway, good or bad. [Why? ] Why? I’ll tell you why. ‘Cause, you see, doesn’ nobody really know that it’s a God, y’know, ‘cause I mean I have seen black gods, white gods, all color gods, and don’t nobody know it’s really a God. An’ when they be sayin’ if you good, you goin’ t’heaven, tha’s bullsh*t, ‘cause you ain’t goin’ to no heaven, ‘cause it ain’t no heaven for you to go to. †¢ Place holders: There vs. It in the copula Copula: Is, Was optional †¢ Negatives: You ain’t goin’ to no heaven BEV just as linguistically complex as Standard American English We don’t see/understand the complexity in other languages Moral: All languages seem to permit as wide range of expressions as others Linguistic Universals What is in common with all languages? Sentences are built from words based on the same physiological processes †¢ All languages have words †¢ All humans have ways of making sounds. †¢ Languages tend to use a small set of phonemic sounds †¢ Phoneme: The minimal unit of sound that contributes to meaning How many phonemes in a language? English: 40 phonemes †¢ Range: Polynesian 11 to Khoisan 141 Discreteness Messages in human language (e. g. speech sounds) are made up of units of which there is a discrete (limited) number Arbitrariness The relationship between meaningful elements in language and their denotation is independent of any physical resemblance between the two. Words do not have to look or sound like what they describe Openness †¢ New linguistic messages are created freely and easily †¢ Languages are not constrained in a way so that there are a limited number of messages that can be created.

Types of Security Threats and Protection Against Them

Types of Security Threats and Protection Against Them Introduction While attacks on computers by outside intruders are more publicized, attacks perpetrated by insiders are very common and often more damaging. Insiders represent the greatest threat to computer security because they understand their organizations business and how their computer systems work. They have both the confidentiality and access to perform these attacks. An inside attacker will have a higher probability of successfully breaking into the system and extracting critical information. The insiders also represent the greatest challenge to securing the company network because they are authorized a level of access to the file system and granted a degree of trust. A system administrator angered by his diminished role in a thriving defense manufacturing firm whose computer network he alone had developed and managed, centralized the software that supported the company’s manufacturing processes on a single server, and then intimidated a coworker into giving him the only backup tapes for that software. Following the system administrator’s termination for inappropriate and abusive treatment of his coworkers, a logic bomb previously planted by the insider detonated, deleting the only remaining copy of the critical software from the company’s server. The company estimated the cost of damage in excess of $10 million, which led to the layoff of some 80 employees. An application developer, who lost his IT sector job as a result of company downsizing, expressed his displeasure at being laid off just prior to the Christmas holidays by launching a systematic attack on his former employer’s computer network. Three weeks following his termination, the insider used the username and password of one of his former coworkers to gain remote access to the network and modify several of the company’s web pages, changing text and inserting pornographic images. He also sent each of the company’s customers an email message advising that the website had been hacked. Each email message also contained that customer’s usernames and passwords for the website. An investigation was initiated, but it failed to identify the insider as the perpetrator. A month and a half later, he again remotely accessed the network, executed a script to reset all network passwords and changed 4,000 pricing records to reflect bogus information. This former employee ultimately was identified as the perpetrator and prosecuted. He was sentenced to serve five months in prison and two years on supervised probation, and ordered to pay $48,600 restitution to his former employer. A city government employee who was passed over for promotion to finance director retaliated by deleting files from his and a coworker’s computers the day before the new finance director took office. An investigation identified the disgruntled employee as the perpetrator of the incident. City government officials disagreed with the primary police detective on the case as to whether all of the deleted files were recovered. No criminal charges were filed, and, under an agreement with city officials, the employee was allowed to resign. These incidents of sabotage were all committed by â€Å"insiders:† individuals who were, or previously had been, authorized to use the information systems they eventually employed to perpetrate harm. Insiders pose a substantial threat by virtue of their knowledge of, and access to, employer systems and/or databases. Keeney, M., et al (2005) The Nature of Security Threats The greatest threat to computer systems and information comes from humans, through actions that are either malicious or ignorant 3 . Attackers, trying to do harm, exploit vulnerabilities in a system or security policy employing various methods and tools to achieve their aims. Attackers usually have a motive to disrupt normal business operations or to steal information. The above diagram is depicts the types of security threats that exist. The diagram depicts the all threats to the computer systems but main emphasis will be on malicious â€Å"insiders†. The greatest threat of attacks against computer systems are from â€Å"insiders† who know the codes and security measures that are in place 45. With very specific objectives, an insider attack can affect all components of security. As employees with legitimate access to systems, they are familiar with an organization’s computer systems and applications. They are likely to know what actions cause the most damage and how to get away with it undetected. Considered members of the family, they are often above suspicion and the last to be considered when systems malfunction or fail. Disgruntled employees create mischief and sabotage against systems. Organizational downsizing in both public and private sectors has created a group of individuals with significant knowledge and capabilities for malicious activities 6 and revenge. Contract professionals and foreign nationals either brought into the U.S. on work visas to meet labor shortages or from offshore outsourcing projects are also included in this category of knowledgeable insiders. Common Insider Threat Common cases of computer-related employee sabotage include: changing data; deleting data; destroying data or programs with logic bombs; crashing systems; holding data hostage; destroying hardware or facilities; entering data incorrectly, exposing sensitive and embarrassing proprietary data to public view such as the salaries of top executives. Insiders can plant viruses, Trojan horses or worms, browse through file systems or program malicious code with little chance of detection and with almost total impunity. A 1998 FBI Survey 7 investigating computer crime found that of the 520 companies consulted, 64% had reported security breaches for a total quantifiable financial loss of $136 millions. (See chart) The survey also found that the largest number of breaches were by unauthorized insider access and concluded that these figures were very conservative as most companies were unaware of malicious activities or reluctant to report breaches for fear of negative press. The survey reported that the average cost of an attack by an outsider (hacker) at $56,000, while the average insider attack cost a company excess $2.7 million. It found that hidden costs associated with the loss in staff hours, legal liability, loss of proprietary information, decrease in productivity and the potential loss of credibility were impossible to quantify accurately. Employees who have caused damage have used their knowledge and access to information resources for a range of motives, including greed, revenge for perceived grievances, ego gratification, resolution of personal or professional problems, to protect or advance their careers, to challenge their skill, express anger, impress others, or some combination of these concerns. Insider Characteristics The majority of the insiders were former employees. At the time of the incident, 59% of the insiders were former employees or contractors of the affected organizations and 41% were current employees or contractors. The former employees or contractors left their positions for a variety of reasons. These included the insiders being fired (48%), resigning (38%), and being laid off (7%). Most insiders were either previously or currently employed full-time in a technical position within the organization. Most of the insiders (77%) were full-time employees of the affected organizations, either before or during the incidents. Eight percent of the insiders worked part-time, and an additional 8% had been hired as contractors or consultants. Two (4%) of the insiders worked as temporary employees, and one (2%) was hired as a subcontractor. Eighty-six percent of the insiders were employed in technical positions, which included system administrators (38%), programmers (21%), engineers (14%), and IT specialists (14%). Of the insiders not holding technical positions, 10% were employed in a professional position, which included, among others, insiders employed as editors, managers, and auditors. An additional two insiders (4%) worked in service positions, both of whom worked as customer service representatives. Insiders were demographically varied with regard to age, racial and ethnic background, gender, and marital status. The insiders ranged in age from 17 to 60 years (mean age = 32 years)17 and represented a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Ninety-six percent of the insiders were male. Forty-nine percent of the insiders were married at the time of the incident, while 45% were single, having never married, and 4% were divorced. Just under one-third of the insiders had an arrest history. Thirty percent of the insiders had been arrested previously, including arrests for violent offenses (18%), alcohol or drug related offenses (11%), and nonfinancial/ fraud related theft offenses (11%). Organization Characteristics The incidents affected organizations in the following critical infrastructure sectors: Banking and finance (8%) Continuity of government (16%) Defense industrial base (2%) Food (4%) Information and telecommunications (63%) Postal and shipping (2%) Public health (4%) In all, 82% of the affected organizations were in private industry, while 16% were government entities. Sixty-three percent of the organizations engaged in domestic activity only, 2% engaged in international activity only, and 35% engaged in activity both domestically and internationally. What motivate insiders? Internal attackers attempt to break into computer networks for many reasons. The subject has been fruitfully studied and internal attackers are used to be motivated with the following reasons [BSB03]: Challenge Many internal attackers initially attempt to break into networks for the challenge. A challenge combines strategic and tactical thinking, patience, and mental strength. However, internal attackers motivated by the challenge of breaking into networks often do not often think about their actions as criminal. For example, an internal attack can be the challenge to break into the mail server in order to get access to different emails of any employee. Revenge Internal attackers motivated by revenge have often ill feelings toward employees of the same company. These attackers can be particularly dangerous, because they generally focus on a single target, and they generally have patience. In the case of revenge, attackers can also be former employees that feel that they have been wrongfully fired. For example, a former employee may be motivated to launch an attack to the company in order to cause financial losses. Espionage Internal attackers motivated by espionage, steal confidential information for a third party. In general, two types of espionage exists: Industrial espionage Industrial espionage means that a company may pay its own employees in order to break into the networks of its competitors or business partners. The company may also hire someone else to do this. International espionage International espionage means that attackers work for governments and steal confidential information for other governments. Definitions of insider threat 1) The definition of insider threat should encompass two main threat actor categories and five general categories of activities. The first actor category, the â€Å"true insider,† is defined as any entity (person, system, or code) authorized by command and control elements to access network, system, or data. The second actor category, the â€Å"pseudo-insider,† is someone who, by policy, is not authorized the accesses, roles, and/or permissions they currently have but may have gotten them inadvertently or through malicious activities. The activities of both fall into five general categories: Exceeds given network, system or data permissions; Conducts malicious activity against or across the network, system or data; Provided unapproved access to the network, system or data; Circumvents security controls or exploits security weaknesses to exceed authorized permitted activity or disguise identify; or Non-maliciously or unintentionally damages resources (network, system or data) by destruction, corruption, denial of access, or disclosure. (Presented at the University of Louisville Cyber Securitys Day, October 2006) 2) Insiders — employees, contractors, consultants, and vendors — pose as great a threat to an organization’s security posture as outsiders, including hackers. Few organizations have implemented the policies, procedures, tools, or strategies to effectively address their insider threats. An insider threat assessment is a recommended first step for many organizations, followed by policy review, and employee awareness training. (Insider Threat Management Presented by infoLock Technologies) 3) Employees are an organization’s most important asset. Unfortunately, they also present the greatest security risks. Working and communicating remotely, storing sensitive data on portable devices such as laptops, PDAs, thumb drives, and even iPods employees have extended the security perimeter beyond safe limits. While convenient access to data is required for operational efficiency, the actions of trusted insiders not just employees, but consultants, contactors, vendors, and partners must be actively managed, audited, and monitored in order to protect sensitive data. (Presented by infoLock Technologies) 4) The diversity of cyber threat has grown over time from network-level attacks and password cracking to include newer classes such as insider attacks, email worms and social engineering, which are currently recognized as serious security problems. However, attack modeling and threat analysis tools have not evolved at the same rate. Known formal models such as attack graphs perform action-centric vulnerability modeling and analysis. All possible atomic user actions are represented as states, and sequences which lead to the violation of a specie safety property are extracted to indicate possible exploits. (Ramkumar Chinchani, Anusha Iyer, Hung Ngo, Shambhu Upadhyaya) 5) The Insider Threat Study, conducted by the U.S. Secret Service and Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute CERT Program, analyzed insider cyber crimes across U.S. critical infrastructure sectors. The study indicates that management decisions related to organizational and employee performance sometimes yield unintended consequences magnifying risk of insider attack. Lack of tools for understanding insider threat, analyzing risk mitigation alternatives, and communicating results exacerbates the problem. (Dawn M. Cappelli, Akash G. Desai) 6) The insider threat or insider problem is cited as the most serious security problem in many studies. It is also considered the most difficult problem to deal with, because an insider has information and capabilities not known to other, external attackers. But the studies rarely define what the insider threat is, or define it nebulously. The difficulty in handling the insider threat is reasonable under those circumstances; if one cannot define a problem precisely, how can one approach a solution, let alone know when the problem is solved? (Matt Bishop 2005) Five common insider threat Exploiting information via remote access software A considerable amount of insider abuse is performed offsite via remote access software such as Terminal Services, Citrix and GoToMyPC. Simply put, users are less likely to be caught stealing sensitive information when they can it do offsite. Also, inadequately protected remote computers may turn up in the hands of a third-party if the computer is left unattended, lost or stolen. 2.) Sending out information via e-mail and instant messaging Sensitive information can simply be included in or attached to an e-mail or IM. Although this is a serious threat, its also one of the easiest to eliminate. 3.) Sharing sensitive files on P2P networks Whether or not you allow peer-to-peer file sharing software such as Kazaa or IM on your network, odds are its there and waiting to be abused. The inanimate software in and of itself is not the problem – its how its used that causes trouble. All it takes is a simple misconfiguration to serve up your networks local and network drives to the world. 4.) Careless use of wireless networks Perhaps the most unintentional insider threat is that of insecure wireless network usage. Whether its at a coffee shop, airport or hotel, unsecured airwaves can easily put sensitive information in jeopardy. All it takes is a peek into e-mail communications or file transfers for valuable data to be stolen. Wi-Fi networks are most susceptible to these attacks, but dont overlook Bluetooth on smartphones and PDAs. Also, if you have WLANs inside your organization, employees could use it to exploit the network after hours. 5.) Posting information to discussion boards and blogs Quite often users post support requests, blogs or other work-related messages on the Internet. Whether intentional or not, this can include sensitive information and file attachments that put your organization at risk. Views of different authors about insider threat 1) Although insiders in this report tended to be former technical employees, there is no demographic â€Å"profile† of a malicious insider. Ages of perpetrators ranged from late teens to retirement. Both men and women were malicious insiders. Their positions included programmers, graphic artists, system and network administrators, managers, and executives. They were currently employed and recently terminated employees, contractors, and temporary employees. As such, security awareness training needs to encourage employees to identify malicious insiders by behavior, not by stereotypical characteristics. For example, behaviors that should be a source of concern include making threats against the organization, bragging about the damage one could do to the organization, or discussing plans to work against the organization. Also of concern are attempts to gain other employees’ passwords and to fraudulently obtain access through trickery or exploitation of a trusted relationsh ip. Insiders can be stopped, but stopping them is a complex problem. Insider attacks can only be prevented through a layered defense strategy consisting of policies, procedures, and technical controls. Therefore, management must pay close attention to many aspects of its organization, including its business policies and procedures, organizational culture, and technical environment. Organizations must look beyond information technology to the organization’s overall business processes and the interplay between those processes and the technologies used. (Michelle Keeney, J.D., Ph.D. atal 2005) 2) While attacks on computers by outside intruders are more publicized, attacks perpetrated by insiders are very common and often more damaging. Insiders represent the greatest threat to computer security because they understand their organizations business and how their computer systems work. They have both the confidentiality and access to perform these attacks. An inside attacker will have a higher probability of successfully breaking into the system and extracting critical information. The insiders also represent the greatest challenge to securing the company network because they are authorized a level of access to the file system and granted a degree of trust. (Nam Nguyen and Peter Reiher, Geoffrey H. Kuenning) 3) Geographically distributed information systems achieve high availability that is crucial to their usefulness by replicating their state. Providing instant access at time of need regardless of current network connectivity requires the state to be replicated in every geographical site so that it is locally available. As network environments become increasingly hostile, we have to assume that part of the distributed information system will be compromised at some point. The problem of maintaining a replicated state in such a system is magnified when insider (or Byzantine) attacks are taken into account. (Yair Amir Cristina Nita-Rotaru) 4) In 2006, over 60% of information security breaches were attributable to insider behavior, yet more than 80% of corporate IT security budgets were spent on securing perimeter defenses against outside attack. Protecting against insider threats means managing policy, process, technology, and most importantly, people. Protecting against insider threats means managing policy, process, technology, and most importantly, people.The Insider Threat Assessment security awareness training, infrastructure reconfiguration, or third party solutions, you can take comfort in knowing that you have made the right choice to improve your security posture, and you will achieve your expected Return on Security Investment. (Presented by infoLock Technologies) 5) The threat of attack from insiders is real and substantial. The 2004 ECrime Watch Survey TM conducted by the United States Secret Service, CERT  ® Coordination Center (CERT/CC), and CSO Magazine, 1 found that in cases where respondents could identify the perpetrator of an electronic crime, 29 percent were committed by insiders. The impact from insider attacks can be devastating. One complex case of financial fraud committed by an insider in a financial institution resulted in losses of over $600 million. 2 Another case involving a logic bomb written by a technical employee working for a defense contractor resulted in $10 million in losses and the layoff of 80 employees. (Dawn Cappelli, Andrew Moore, Timothy Shimeall,2005) 6) Insiders, by virtue of legitimate access to their organizations’ information, systems, and networks, pose a significant risk to employers. Employees experiencing financial problems have found it easy to use the systems they use at work everyday to commit fraud. Other employees, motivated by financial problems, greed, or the wish to impress a new employer, have stolen confidential data, proprietary information, or intellectual property from their employer. Lastly, technical employees, possibly the most dangerous because of their intimate knowledge of an organization’s vulnerabilities, have used their technical ability to sabotage their employer’s system or network in revenge for some negative work-related event. (Dawn M. Cappelli, Akash G. Desai ,at al 2004) 7) The insider problem is considered the most difficult and critical problem in computer security. But studies that survey the seriousness of the problem, and research that analyzes the problem, rarely define the problem precisely. Implicit definitions vary in meaning. Different definitions imply different countermeasures, as well as different assumptions. (Matt Bishop 2005) Solution: User monitoring Insiders have two things that external attackers don’t: privileged access and trust. This allows them to bypass preventative measures, access mission-critical assets, and conduct malicious acts all while flying under the radar unless a strong incident detection solution is in place. A number of variables motivate insiders, but the end result is that they can more easily perpetrate their crimes than an outsider who has limited access. Insiders can directly damage your business resulting in lost revenue, lost customers, reduced shareholder faith, a tarnished reputation, regulatory fines and legal fees. With such an expansive threat, organizations need an automated solution to help detect and analyze Malicious Insider Activity These are some points which could be helpful in monitoring and minimizing the insider threats: Detecting insider activity starts with an expanded log and event collection. Firewalls, routers and intrusion detection systems are important, but they are not enough. Organizations need to look deeper to include mission critical applications such as email applications, databases, operating systems, mainframes, access control solutions, physical security systems as well as identity and content management products. Correlation: identifying known types of suspicious and malicious behavior Anomaly detection: recognizing deviations from norms and baselines. Pattern discovery: uncovering seemingly unrelated events that show a pattern of suspicious activity From case management, event annotation and escalation to reporting, auditing and access to insider-relevant information, the technical solution must be in line with the organization’s procedures. This will ensure that insiders are addressed consistently, efficiently and effectively regardless of who they are. Identify suspicious user activity patterns and identify anomalies. Visually track and create business-level reports on user’s activity. Automatically escalate the threat levels of suspicious and malicious individuals. Respond according to your specific and unique corporate governing guidelines. Early detection of insider activity based on early warning indicators of suspicious behavior, such as: Stale or terminated accounts Excessive file printing, unusual printing times and keywords printed Traffic to suspicious destinations Unauthorized peripheral device access Bypassing security controls Attempts to alter or delete system logs Installation of malicious software The Insider Threat Study? The global acceptance, business adoption and growth of the Internet, and of Internetworking technologies in general, in response to customer requests for online access to business information systems, has ushered in an extraordinary expansion of electronic business transactions. In moving from internal (closed) business systems to open systems, the risk of malicious attacks and fraudulent activity has increased enormously, thereby requiring high levels of information security. Prior to the requirement for online, open access, the information security budget of a typical company was less then their tea and coffee expenses. Securing cyberspace has become a national priority. In The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, the President’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Board identified several critical infrastructure sectors10: banking and finance information and telecommunications transportation postal and shipping emergency services continuity of government public health Universities chemical industry, textile industry and hazardous materials agriculture defense industrial base The cases examined in the Insider Threat Study are incidents perpetrated by insiders (current or former employees or contractors) who intentionally exceeded or misused an authorized level of network, system, or data access in a manner that affected the security of the organizations’ data, systems, or daily business operations. Incidents included any compromise, manipulation of, unauthorized access to, exceeding authorized access to, tampering with, or disabling of any information system, network, or data. The cases examined also included any in which there was an unauthorized or illegal attempt to view, disclose, retrieve, delete, change, or add information. A completely secure, zero risk system is one which has zero functionality. Latest technology high-performance automated systems bring with them new risks in the shape of new attacks, new viruses and new software bugs, etc. IT Security, therefore, is an ongoing process. Proper risk management keeps the IT Security plans, policies and procedures up to date as per new requirements and changes in the computing environment. To implement controls to counter risks requires policies, and policy can only be implemented successfully if the top management is committed. And policy’s effective implementation is not possible without the training and awareness of staff. The State Bank of Pakistan recognizes that financial industry is built around the sanctity of the financial transactions. Owing to the critical role of financial institutions for a country and the extreme sensitivity of their information assets, the seriousness of IT Security and the ever-increasing threats it faces in today’s open world cannot be overstated. As more and more of our Banking Operations and products services become technology driven and dependent, consequently our reliance on these technology assets increases, and so does the need to protect and safeguard these resources to ensure smooth functioning of the financial industry. Here are different area in which we can work and check insider threat, but I chose textile industry as in textile industry there is less awareness of the insider threat. If an insider attack in an industry then industrialist try to cover up this news as these types of news about an industry can damage the reputation of the industry. Chapter 2 Review of Literature S, Axelsson. ,(2000) Anonymous 2001 Continuity of operations and correct functioning of information systems is important to most businesses. Threats to computerised information and process are threats to business quality and effectiveness. The objective of IT security is to put measures in place which eliminate or reduce significant threats to an acceptable level. Security and risk management are tightly coupled with quality management. Security measures should be implemented based on risk analysis and in harmony with Quality structures, processes and checklists. What needs to be protected, against whom and how? Security is the protection of information, systems and services against disasters, mistakes and manipulation so that the likelihood and impact of security incidents is minimised. IT security is comprised of: Confidentiality: Sensitive business objects (information processes) are disclosed only to authorised persons. ==> Controls are required to restrict access to objects. Integrity: The business need to control modification to objects (information and processes). ==> Controls are required to ensure objects are accurate and complete. Availability: The need to have business objects (information and services) available when needed. ==> Controls are required to ensure reliability of services. Legal Compliance: Information/data that is collected, processed, used, passed on or destroyed must be handled in line with current legislation of the relevant countries. A threat is a danger which could affect the security (confidentiality, integrity, availability) of assets, leading to a potential loss or damage. Stoneburner et al (2002) In this paper the author described a the risks which are Types of Security Threats and Protection Against Them Types of Security Threats and Protection Against Them Introduction While attacks on computers by outside intruders are more publicized, attacks perpetrated by insiders are very common and often more damaging. Insiders represent the greatest threat to computer security because they understand their organizations business and how their computer systems work. They have both the confidentiality and access to perform these attacks. An inside attacker will have a higher probability of successfully breaking into the system and extracting critical information. The insiders also represent the greatest challenge to securing the company network because they are authorized a level of access to the file system and granted a degree of trust. A system administrator angered by his diminished role in a thriving defense manufacturing firm whose computer network he alone had developed and managed, centralized the software that supported the company’s manufacturing processes on a single server, and then intimidated a coworker into giving him the only backup tapes for that software. Following the system administrator’s termination for inappropriate and abusive treatment of his coworkers, a logic bomb previously planted by the insider detonated, deleting the only remaining copy of the critical software from the company’s server. The company estimated the cost of damage in excess of $10 million, which led to the layoff of some 80 employees. An application developer, who lost his IT sector job as a result of company downsizing, expressed his displeasure at being laid off just prior to the Christmas holidays by launching a systematic attack on his former employer’s computer network. Three weeks following his termination, the insider used the username and password of one of his former coworkers to gain remote access to the network and modify several of the company’s web pages, changing text and inserting pornographic images. He also sent each of the company’s customers an email message advising that the website had been hacked. Each email message also contained that customer’s usernames and passwords for the website. An investigation was initiated, but it failed to identify the insider as the perpetrator. A month and a half later, he again remotely accessed the network, executed a script to reset all network passwords and changed 4,000 pricing records to reflect bogus information. This former employee ultimately was identified as the perpetrator and prosecuted. He was sentenced to serve five months in prison and two years on supervised probation, and ordered to pay $48,600 restitution to his former employer. A city government employee who was passed over for promotion to finance director retaliated by deleting files from his and a coworker’s computers the day before the new finance director took office. An investigation identified the disgruntled employee as the perpetrator of the incident. City government officials disagreed with the primary police detective on the case as to whether all of the deleted files were recovered. No criminal charges were filed, and, under an agreement with city officials, the employee was allowed to resign. These incidents of sabotage were all committed by â€Å"insiders:† individuals who were, or previously had been, authorized to use the information systems they eventually employed to perpetrate harm. Insiders pose a substantial threat by virtue of their knowledge of, and access to, employer systems and/or databases. Keeney, M., et al (2005) The Nature of Security Threats The greatest threat to computer systems and information comes from humans, through actions that are either malicious or ignorant 3 . Attackers, trying to do harm, exploit vulnerabilities in a system or security policy employing various methods and tools to achieve their aims. Attackers usually have a motive to disrupt normal business operations or to steal information. The above diagram is depicts the types of security threats that exist. The diagram depicts the all threats to the computer systems but main emphasis will be on malicious â€Å"insiders†. The greatest threat of attacks against computer systems are from â€Å"insiders† who know the codes and security measures that are in place 45. With very specific objectives, an insider attack can affect all components of security. As employees with legitimate access to systems, they are familiar with an organization’s computer systems and applications. They are likely to know what actions cause the most damage and how to get away with it undetected. Considered members of the family, they are often above suspicion and the last to be considered when systems malfunction or fail. Disgruntled employees create mischief and sabotage against systems. Organizational downsizing in both public and private sectors has created a group of individuals with significant knowledge and capabilities for malicious activities 6 and revenge. Contract professionals and foreign nationals either brought into the U.S. on work visas to meet labor shortages or from offshore outsourcing projects are also included in this category of knowledgeable insiders. Common Insider Threat Common cases of computer-related employee sabotage include: changing data; deleting data; destroying data or programs with logic bombs; crashing systems; holding data hostage; destroying hardware or facilities; entering data incorrectly, exposing sensitive and embarrassing proprietary data to public view such as the salaries of top executives. Insiders can plant viruses, Trojan horses or worms, browse through file systems or program malicious code with little chance of detection and with almost total impunity. A 1998 FBI Survey 7 investigating computer crime found that of the 520 companies consulted, 64% had reported security breaches for a total quantifiable financial loss of $136 millions. (See chart) The survey also found that the largest number of breaches were by unauthorized insider access and concluded that these figures were very conservative as most companies were unaware of malicious activities or reluctant to report breaches for fear of negative press. The survey reported that the average cost of an attack by an outsider (hacker) at $56,000, while the average insider attack cost a company excess $2.7 million. It found that hidden costs associated with the loss in staff hours, legal liability, loss of proprietary information, decrease in productivity and the potential loss of credibility were impossible to quantify accurately. Employees who have caused damage have used their knowledge and access to information resources for a range of motives, including greed, revenge for perceived grievances, ego gratification, resolution of personal or professional problems, to protect or advance their careers, to challenge their skill, express anger, impress others, or some combination of these concerns. Insider Characteristics The majority of the insiders were former employees. At the time of the incident, 59% of the insiders were former employees or contractors of the affected organizations and 41% were current employees or contractors. The former employees or contractors left their positions for a variety of reasons. These included the insiders being fired (48%), resigning (38%), and being laid off (7%). Most insiders were either previously or currently employed full-time in a technical position within the organization. Most of the insiders (77%) were full-time employees of the affected organizations, either before or during the incidents. Eight percent of the insiders worked part-time, and an additional 8% had been hired as contractors or consultants. Two (4%) of the insiders worked as temporary employees, and one (2%) was hired as a subcontractor. Eighty-six percent of the insiders were employed in technical positions, which included system administrators (38%), programmers (21%), engineers (14%), and IT specialists (14%). Of the insiders not holding technical positions, 10% were employed in a professional position, which included, among others, insiders employed as editors, managers, and auditors. An additional two insiders (4%) worked in service positions, both of whom worked as customer service representatives. Insiders were demographically varied with regard to age, racial and ethnic background, gender, and marital status. The insiders ranged in age from 17 to 60 years (mean age = 32 years)17 and represented a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Ninety-six percent of the insiders were male. Forty-nine percent of the insiders were married at the time of the incident, while 45% were single, having never married, and 4% were divorced. Just under one-third of the insiders had an arrest history. Thirty percent of the insiders had been arrested previously, including arrests for violent offenses (18%), alcohol or drug related offenses (11%), and nonfinancial/ fraud related theft offenses (11%). Organization Characteristics The incidents affected organizations in the following critical infrastructure sectors: Banking and finance (8%) Continuity of government (16%) Defense industrial base (2%) Food (4%) Information and telecommunications (63%) Postal and shipping (2%) Public health (4%) In all, 82% of the affected organizations were in private industry, while 16% were government entities. Sixty-three percent of the organizations engaged in domestic activity only, 2% engaged in international activity only, and 35% engaged in activity both domestically and internationally. What motivate insiders? Internal attackers attempt to break into computer networks for many reasons. The subject has been fruitfully studied and internal attackers are used to be motivated with the following reasons [BSB03]: Challenge Many internal attackers initially attempt to break into networks for the challenge. A challenge combines strategic and tactical thinking, patience, and mental strength. However, internal attackers motivated by the challenge of breaking into networks often do not often think about their actions as criminal. For example, an internal attack can be the challenge to break into the mail server in order to get access to different emails of any employee. Revenge Internal attackers motivated by revenge have often ill feelings toward employees of the same company. These attackers can be particularly dangerous, because they generally focus on a single target, and they generally have patience. In the case of revenge, attackers can also be former employees that feel that they have been wrongfully fired. For example, a former employee may be motivated to launch an attack to the company in order to cause financial losses. Espionage Internal attackers motivated by espionage, steal confidential information for a third party. In general, two types of espionage exists: Industrial espionage Industrial espionage means that a company may pay its own employees in order to break into the networks of its competitors or business partners. The company may also hire someone else to do this. International espionage International espionage means that attackers work for governments and steal confidential information for other governments. Definitions of insider threat 1) The definition of insider threat should encompass two main threat actor categories and five general categories of activities. The first actor category, the â€Å"true insider,† is defined as any entity (person, system, or code) authorized by command and control elements to access network, system, or data. The second actor category, the â€Å"pseudo-insider,† is someone who, by policy, is not authorized the accesses, roles, and/or permissions they currently have but may have gotten them inadvertently or through malicious activities. The activities of both fall into five general categories: Exceeds given network, system or data permissions; Conducts malicious activity against or across the network, system or data; Provided unapproved access to the network, system or data; Circumvents security controls or exploits security weaknesses to exceed authorized permitted activity or disguise identify; or Non-maliciously or unintentionally damages resources (network, system or data) by destruction, corruption, denial of access, or disclosure. (Presented at the University of Louisville Cyber Securitys Day, October 2006) 2) Insiders — employees, contractors, consultants, and vendors — pose as great a threat to an organization’s security posture as outsiders, including hackers. Few organizations have implemented the policies, procedures, tools, or strategies to effectively address their insider threats. An insider threat assessment is a recommended first step for many organizations, followed by policy review, and employee awareness training. (Insider Threat Management Presented by infoLock Technologies) 3) Employees are an organization’s most important asset. Unfortunately, they also present the greatest security risks. Working and communicating remotely, storing sensitive data on portable devices such as laptops, PDAs, thumb drives, and even iPods employees have extended the security perimeter beyond safe limits. While convenient access to data is required for operational efficiency, the actions of trusted insiders not just employees, but consultants, contactors, vendors, and partners must be actively managed, audited, and monitored in order to protect sensitive data. (Presented by infoLock Technologies) 4) The diversity of cyber threat has grown over time from network-level attacks and password cracking to include newer classes such as insider attacks, email worms and social engineering, which are currently recognized as serious security problems. However, attack modeling and threat analysis tools have not evolved at the same rate. Known formal models such as attack graphs perform action-centric vulnerability modeling and analysis. All possible atomic user actions are represented as states, and sequences which lead to the violation of a specie safety property are extracted to indicate possible exploits. (Ramkumar Chinchani, Anusha Iyer, Hung Ngo, Shambhu Upadhyaya) 5) The Insider Threat Study, conducted by the U.S. Secret Service and Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute CERT Program, analyzed insider cyber crimes across U.S. critical infrastructure sectors. The study indicates that management decisions related to organizational and employee performance sometimes yield unintended consequences magnifying risk of insider attack. Lack of tools for understanding insider threat, analyzing risk mitigation alternatives, and communicating results exacerbates the problem. (Dawn M. Cappelli, Akash G. Desai) 6) The insider threat or insider problem is cited as the most serious security problem in many studies. It is also considered the most difficult problem to deal with, because an insider has information and capabilities not known to other, external attackers. But the studies rarely define what the insider threat is, or define it nebulously. The difficulty in handling the insider threat is reasonable under those circumstances; if one cannot define a problem precisely, how can one approach a solution, let alone know when the problem is solved? (Matt Bishop 2005) Five common insider threat Exploiting information via remote access software A considerable amount of insider abuse is performed offsite via remote access software such as Terminal Services, Citrix and GoToMyPC. Simply put, users are less likely to be caught stealing sensitive information when they can it do offsite. Also, inadequately protected remote computers may turn up in the hands of a third-party if the computer is left unattended, lost or stolen. 2.) Sending out information via e-mail and instant messaging Sensitive information can simply be included in or attached to an e-mail or IM. Although this is a serious threat, its also one of the easiest to eliminate. 3.) Sharing sensitive files on P2P networks Whether or not you allow peer-to-peer file sharing software such as Kazaa or IM on your network, odds are its there and waiting to be abused. The inanimate software in and of itself is not the problem – its how its used that causes trouble. All it takes is a simple misconfiguration to serve up your networks local and network drives to the world. 4.) Careless use of wireless networks Perhaps the most unintentional insider threat is that of insecure wireless network usage. Whether its at a coffee shop, airport or hotel, unsecured airwaves can easily put sensitive information in jeopardy. All it takes is a peek into e-mail communications or file transfers for valuable data to be stolen. Wi-Fi networks are most susceptible to these attacks, but dont overlook Bluetooth on smartphones and PDAs. Also, if you have WLANs inside your organization, employees could use it to exploit the network after hours. 5.) Posting information to discussion boards and blogs Quite often users post support requests, blogs or other work-related messages on the Internet. Whether intentional or not, this can include sensitive information and file attachments that put your organization at risk. Views of different authors about insider threat 1) Although insiders in this report tended to be former technical employees, there is no demographic â€Å"profile† of a malicious insider. Ages of perpetrators ranged from late teens to retirement. Both men and women were malicious insiders. Their positions included programmers, graphic artists, system and network administrators, managers, and executives. They were currently employed and recently terminated employees, contractors, and temporary employees. As such, security awareness training needs to encourage employees to identify malicious insiders by behavior, not by stereotypical characteristics. For example, behaviors that should be a source of concern include making threats against the organization, bragging about the damage one could do to the organization, or discussing plans to work against the organization. Also of concern are attempts to gain other employees’ passwords and to fraudulently obtain access through trickery or exploitation of a trusted relationsh ip. Insiders can be stopped, but stopping them is a complex problem. Insider attacks can only be prevented through a layered defense strategy consisting of policies, procedures, and technical controls. Therefore, management must pay close attention to many aspects of its organization, including its business policies and procedures, organizational culture, and technical environment. Organizations must look beyond information technology to the organization’s overall business processes and the interplay between those processes and the technologies used. (Michelle Keeney, J.D., Ph.D. atal 2005) 2) While attacks on computers by outside intruders are more publicized, attacks perpetrated by insiders are very common and often more damaging. Insiders represent the greatest threat to computer security because they understand their organizations business and how their computer systems work. They have both the confidentiality and access to perform these attacks. An inside attacker will have a higher probability of successfully breaking into the system and extracting critical information. The insiders also represent the greatest challenge to securing the company network because they are authorized a level of access to the file system and granted a degree of trust. (Nam Nguyen and Peter Reiher, Geoffrey H. Kuenning) 3) Geographically distributed information systems achieve high availability that is crucial to their usefulness by replicating their state. Providing instant access at time of need regardless of current network connectivity requires the state to be replicated in every geographical site so that it is locally available. As network environments become increasingly hostile, we have to assume that part of the distributed information system will be compromised at some point. The problem of maintaining a replicated state in such a system is magnified when insider (or Byzantine) attacks are taken into account. (Yair Amir Cristina Nita-Rotaru) 4) In 2006, over 60% of information security breaches were attributable to insider behavior, yet more than 80% of corporate IT security budgets were spent on securing perimeter defenses against outside attack. Protecting against insider threats means managing policy, process, technology, and most importantly, people. Protecting against insider threats means managing policy, process, technology, and most importantly, people.The Insider Threat Assessment security awareness training, infrastructure reconfiguration, or third party solutions, you can take comfort in knowing that you have made the right choice to improve your security posture, and you will achieve your expected Return on Security Investment. (Presented by infoLock Technologies) 5) The threat of attack from insiders is real and substantial. The 2004 ECrime Watch Survey TM conducted by the United States Secret Service, CERT  ® Coordination Center (CERT/CC), and CSO Magazine, 1 found that in cases where respondents could identify the perpetrator of an electronic crime, 29 percent were committed by insiders. The impact from insider attacks can be devastating. One complex case of financial fraud committed by an insider in a financial institution resulted in losses of over $600 million. 2 Another case involving a logic bomb written by a technical employee working for a defense contractor resulted in $10 million in losses and the layoff of 80 employees. (Dawn Cappelli, Andrew Moore, Timothy Shimeall,2005) 6) Insiders, by virtue of legitimate access to their organizations’ information, systems, and networks, pose a significant risk to employers. Employees experiencing financial problems have found it easy to use the systems they use at work everyday to commit fraud. Other employees, motivated by financial problems, greed, or the wish to impress a new employer, have stolen confidential data, proprietary information, or intellectual property from their employer. Lastly, technical employees, possibly the most dangerous because of their intimate knowledge of an organization’s vulnerabilities, have used their technical ability to sabotage their employer’s system or network in revenge for some negative work-related event. (Dawn M. Cappelli, Akash G. Desai ,at al 2004) 7) The insider problem is considered the most difficult and critical problem in computer security. But studies that survey the seriousness of the problem, and research that analyzes the problem, rarely define the problem precisely. Implicit definitions vary in meaning. Different definitions imply different countermeasures, as well as different assumptions. (Matt Bishop 2005) Solution: User monitoring Insiders have two things that external attackers don’t: privileged access and trust. This allows them to bypass preventative measures, access mission-critical assets, and conduct malicious acts all while flying under the radar unless a strong incident detection solution is in place. A number of variables motivate insiders, but the end result is that they can more easily perpetrate their crimes than an outsider who has limited access. Insiders can directly damage your business resulting in lost revenue, lost customers, reduced shareholder faith, a tarnished reputation, regulatory fines and legal fees. With such an expansive threat, organizations need an automated solution to help detect and analyze Malicious Insider Activity These are some points which could be helpful in monitoring and minimizing the insider threats: Detecting insider activity starts with an expanded log and event collection. Firewalls, routers and intrusion detection systems are important, but they are not enough. Organizations need to look deeper to include mission critical applications such as email applications, databases, operating systems, mainframes, access control solutions, physical security systems as well as identity and content management products. Correlation: identifying known types of suspicious and malicious behavior Anomaly detection: recognizing deviations from norms and baselines. Pattern discovery: uncovering seemingly unrelated events that show a pattern of suspicious activity From case management, event annotation and escalation to reporting, auditing and access to insider-relevant information, the technical solution must be in line with the organization’s procedures. This will ensure that insiders are addressed consistently, efficiently and effectively regardless of who they are. Identify suspicious user activity patterns and identify anomalies. Visually track and create business-level reports on user’s activity. Automatically escalate the threat levels of suspicious and malicious individuals. Respond according to your specific and unique corporate governing guidelines. Early detection of insider activity based on early warning indicators of suspicious behavior, such as: Stale or terminated accounts Excessive file printing, unusual printing times and keywords printed Traffic to suspicious destinations Unauthorized peripheral device access Bypassing security controls Attempts to alter or delete system logs Installation of malicious software The Insider Threat Study? The global acceptance, business adoption and growth of the Internet, and of Internetworking technologies in general, in response to customer requests for online access to business information systems, has ushered in an extraordinary expansion of electronic business transactions. In moving from internal (closed) business systems to open systems, the risk of malicious attacks and fraudulent activity has increased enormously, thereby requiring high levels of information security. Prior to the requirement for online, open access, the information security budget of a typical company was less then their tea and coffee expenses. Securing cyberspace has become a national priority. In The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, the President’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Board identified several critical infrastructure sectors10: banking and finance information and telecommunications transportation postal and shipping emergency services continuity of government public health Universities chemical industry, textile industry and hazardous materials agriculture defense industrial base The cases examined in the Insider Threat Study are incidents perpetrated by insiders (current or former employees or contractors) who intentionally exceeded or misused an authorized level of network, system, or data access in a manner that affected the security of the organizations’ data, systems, or daily business operations. Incidents included any compromise, manipulation of, unauthorized access to, exceeding authorized access to, tampering with, or disabling of any information system, network, or data. The cases examined also included any in which there was an unauthorized or illegal attempt to view, disclose, retrieve, delete, change, or add information. A completely secure, zero risk system is one which has zero functionality. Latest technology high-performance automated systems bring with them new risks in the shape of new attacks, new viruses and new software bugs, etc. IT Security, therefore, is an ongoing process. Proper risk management keeps the IT Security plans, policies and procedures up to date as per new requirements and changes in the computing environment. To implement controls to counter risks requires policies, and policy can only be implemented successfully if the top management is committed. And policy’s effective implementation is not possible without the training and awareness of staff. The State Bank of Pakistan recognizes that financial industry is built around the sanctity of the financial transactions. Owing to the critical role of financial institutions for a country and the extreme sensitivity of their information assets, the seriousness of IT Security and the ever-increasing threats it faces in today’s open world cannot be overstated. As more and more of our Banking Operations and products services become technology driven and dependent, consequently our reliance on these technology assets increases, and so does the need to protect and safeguard these resources to ensure smooth functioning of the financial industry. Here are different area in which we can work and check insider threat, but I chose textile industry as in textile industry there is less awareness of the insider threat. If an insider attack in an industry then industrialist try to cover up this news as these types of news about an industry can damage the reputation of the industry. Chapter 2 Review of Literature S, Axelsson. ,(2000) Anonymous 2001 Continuity of operations and correct functioning of information systems is important to most businesses. Threats to computerised information and process are threats to business quality and effectiveness. The objective of IT security is to put measures in place which eliminate or reduce significant threats to an acceptable level. Security and risk management are tightly coupled with quality management. Security measures should be implemented based on risk analysis and in harmony with Quality structures, processes and checklists. What needs to be protected, against whom and how? Security is the protection of information, systems and services against disasters, mistakes and manipulation so that the likelihood and impact of security incidents is minimised. IT security is comprised of: Confidentiality: Sensitive business objects (information processes) are disclosed only to authorised persons. ==> Controls are required to restrict access to objects. Integrity: The business need to control modification to objects (information and processes). ==> Controls are required to ensure objects are accurate and complete. Availability: The need to have business objects (information and services) available when needed. ==> Controls are required to ensure reliability of services. Legal Compliance: Information/data that is collected, processed, used, passed on or destroyed must be handled in line with current legislation of the relevant countries. A threat is a danger which could affect the security (confidentiality, integrity, availability) of assets, leading to a potential loss or damage. Stoneburner et al (2002) In this paper the author described a the risks which are

Delegation :: essays research papers

PAPER ON DELEGATION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Introduction on the inside view in the Wireless industry, from the management point in delegating part of their management responsibilities. Explain how delegation could be used more effectively in planning, organizing, leading or controlling within the wireless industry. Also I will describe what skill are necessary for effective delegation and how to structure delegation. Structuring Delegation â€Å"The first step is to assess what decisions are made and who makes them, using not just your own judgments but the opinions of key managerial people and, more importantly, clerical people. Clerical people are the conduit through which most all-organizational information flows. If there are logjams, bottlenecks, or other problems keeping the organization from maximum effectiveness, they know. Ask in which areas you are helpful and in which areas you are part of the problem. You will be surprised at the perceptive responses. Some of them will directly confront your management style. Be objective and open to ideas in this step. Don't dismiss an idea too quickly because it involves the possibility of you having to change. Next, negotiate a small scope of delegated authority to a key person. Don't do this in five minutes. Take time to think it through as if you were the employee to which the authority was delegated. How would you like it to work?† www.strategicdevelopment.com/georgesmartaugust2000.htm   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In my store the manager has a chain of command that we follow in how we delegate responsibilities. Including an Assistant Store Manager, Operation Manager, Senior Sales Representative and Key holder, which is a senior representative that can perform al the duties above and act as the manager on duty when there is no manager around. I am going to explain some of the delegated duties of each position. The assistant store manger: Coach, develop and prepare sales team to meet and exceed defined sales, retention, quality, and service objectives. Manages the daily activities of all store staff, including sales, customer service, and inventory control. Design and implement initiatives and methods/procedures that will drive customer perception of company as the market leader in the wireless industry. The operation manager: responsible for managing and maintaining all inventory within the retail store, including phones, accessories, parts, and marketing materials; ensure physical and cycle count inventories are accurate and equipment is ready for issue on a first-in, first-out basis. The senior sales representative: serves as a multi-skilled member of the retail sales team. This position serves in a leadership capacity by meeting and exceeding sales and retention objectives.

Spending Time with Friends/Spending Time with Family

Can you imagine your life without your family or your friends? Well, whether you agree or disagree, human beings instinctively tend to socialize with others. However, who would you spend more time with, is it your family or your friends? As we know we can’t live without either our families or our friends because they represent a huge part of our lives. In this essay we will compare and contrast between spending time with family and spending time with friends in terms of attitude, places and discussions. No one can deny that attitudes differ between spending time with family and spending time with friends. When we spend time with our families we tend to be intimate, gentle and responsible. Even our behavior is appropriate and our acts are limited. For instance, when we go out with our family to a movie or to a dinner, we won't be able to act foolish and we will be restrained from doing exciting stuff; as our actions will be judged by our family members. But when we hang out with our friends we feel less intimate, more crazy, and liberated , also our behavior becomes frizzy and we act our ages or even younger . For example, with our friends we can tell funny jokes to each other, knowing that none of them will be insulted or degraded because friends tend not to take things seriously. So that’s how our attitude differs. The places we hang out with family and friends are also different. The places where you head to with your family are calm, and not crowded, such as beaches, parks, family restaurants and family resorts. The places that we go to with our family to spend some quality time together. On the other hand the places where we go to with our friends are more crowded and full of life like; movie theatres, shopping malls and night clubs. With friends we go to places that allow us to have fun and enjoy our time as much as possible. That's how the places that we go with our family and friends are different. Another difference is that the topics that you discuss with our family and the ones that we discuss with our friends are dissimilar. For instance, with your family you talk about what happened with you when you were in a particular place on a particular day. Also, you discuss more mature topics that benefit you like; how to manage time, which university to apply for, how to invest your pocket money and open an account in the bank so that you can use it in emergencies, how to solve complicated problems and many other things that are beneficial for you. By contrast, with your friends you discuss topics that you have common interest in, such as; fashion, movies, study, work, simple problems and other things that may be immature and non beneficial for you. And that’s how the discussions contrast among family and friends. Finally, our attitude differs from being with our families than being with our friends similarly with the places that we visit or the topics that we discuss. However, it’s the undeniable fact that we can never live without our families or our friends.

My Favorite Actor Tom Hanks

My Favorite Actor I never thought about that actor I liked but after analyzing it I think the actor that I like and that caught my attention since I was young is Tom Hanks because he was a collogue student that seemed to have no future in acting and he was not very good on his classes in theater, I leaned that he was born in Concord California his childhood was like a normal kid with, divorced parents his father was descendant of British and his mom Portuguese descent.Hanks was a very shy boy, so the theater classes in high school were as a refuge since he was not popular in school. Interestingly later he continued in theater while studying in California Chabot College. He had no acting experience in college and, in fact, credits the fact that he couldn't get cast in a college play with actually starting his career. He went downtown, auditioned for a community theater play, was invited by the director of that play to go to Cleveland, and there his acting career started.His first TV s how â€Å"Bosom Buddies† (1980) where he meet his second wife the actrees Rita Wilson. I still remember when I went to the cinema to see this film â€Å"Splash† seemed formidable. I still remember the beautiful mermaid, in those years I found it in credible. I also want to mention that seemed to me something like that with the hit movie â€Å"Big,† â€Å"Joe Versus the Volcano† or â€Å"Bachelor Party† (these last two do not remember very well but they were commented in the 80's)Tom Hanks was typecast in the roll of movies comic actor or light and family, no one thought that was going to perform as well in a role as â€Å"Philladelphia† in the role of a gay man dying of AIDS is very well played, was really very believable the character that Tom Hanks in this role that I play in Philladelphia, again showed his acting discipline to lose weight for characterization, to show a man really damaged by this terrible disease.Another famous movie .. w here he showed his great talent as an actor was â€Å"Forrest Gump† Fascinate how developing the role of a man with some level of mental retardation, the posture, the faces, the accent. Simply stunning. I also learned that after filming â€Å"The Green Mille† filmed the first part of the movie â€Å"Cast Away† then began a strict diet after which lost more than 30 pounds of weight, grew a beard and began a process of tanning to continue filming.This information seemed important to emphasize that not only is the dress up for memorizing dialogues and act but also how hard it to be the be on diets either to lower or raise a character to represent adequately. Certainly caught my attention in this movie than most of it we see only one man talking to a volley ball (Wilson is unforgettable) Almost the entire sequence of the island, no background music you hear only the sound of the sea. The island is totally inhospitable boring and lonely.Hanks is capable of a performa nce in which not need anything more than himself hallucinating talking to Wilson. To maintain the film in a high level. of a meticulous man . The viewer really believe when he is afraid and the things he does with his character of a meticulous man, when he goes crazy for the toothache, when sick of being alone, when he has the look of a hermit and hardened man, when mourning the loss a human symbol†¦ In my view his work was very well done. My Favorite Actor Tom Hanks My Favorite Actor I never thought about that actor I liked but after analyzing it I think the actor that I like and that caught my attention since I was young is Tom Hanks because he was a collogue student that seemed to have no future in acting and he was not very good on his classes in theater, I leaned that he was born in Concord California his childhood was like a normal kid with, divorced parents his father was descendant of British and his mom Portuguese descent.Hanks was a very shy boy, so the theater classes in high school were as a refuge since he was not popular in school. Interestingly later he continued in theater while studying in California Chabot College. He had no acting experience in college and, in fact, credits the fact that he couldn't get cast in a college play with actually starting his career. He went downtown, auditioned for a community theater play, was invited by the director of that play to go to Cleveland, and there his acting career started.His first TV s how â€Å"Bosom Buddies† (1980) where he meet his second wife the actrees Rita Wilson. I still remember when I went to the cinema to see this film â€Å"Splash† seemed formidable. I still remember the beautiful mermaid, in those years I found it in credible. I also want to mention that seemed to me something like that with the hit movie â€Å"Big,† â€Å"Joe Versus the Volcano† or â€Å"Bachelor Party† (these last two do not remember very well but they were commented in the 80's)Tom Hanks was typecast in the roll of movies comic actor or light and family, no one thought that was going to perform as well in a role as â€Å"Philladelphia† in the role of a gay man dying of AIDS is very well played, was really very believable the character that Tom Hanks in this role that I play in Philladelphia, again showed his acting discipline to lose weight for characterization, to show a man really damaged by this terrible disease.Another famous movie .. w here he showed his great talent as an actor was â€Å"Forrest Gump† Fascinate how developing the role of a man with some level of mental retardation, the posture, the faces, the accent. Simply stunning. I also learned that after filming â€Å"The Green Mille† filmed the first part of the movie â€Å"Cast Away† then began a strict diet after which lost more than 30 pounds of weight, grew a beard and began a process of tanning to continue filming.This information seemed important to emphasize that not only is the dress up for memorizing dialogues and act but also how hard it to be the be on diets either to lower or raise a character to represent adequately. Certainly caught my attention in this movie than most of it we see only one man talking to a volley ball (Wilson is unforgettable) Almost the entire sequence of the island, no background music you hear only the sound of the sea. The island is totally inhospitable boring and lonely.Hanks is capable of a performa nce in which not need anything more than himself hallucinating talking to Wilson. To maintain the film in a high level. of a meticulous man . The viewer really believe when he is afraid and the things he does with his character of a meticulous man, when he goes crazy for the toothache, when sick of being alone, when he has the look of a hermit and hardened man, when mourning the loss a human symbol†¦ In my view his work was very well done.

Democracy and Iraq essays

Democracy and Iraq essays Through what in retrospect seems to be a highly manipulative and dishonest media campaign, George Bush Jr. and the United States armed forces have turned their focus on the democratization of Iraq. Once the necessary evidence needed to support the idea that Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction remained unfound a new mission needed to be established. So the seemingly impossible task of bringing western democracy to a distinctly non-western state has fallen upon the United States of America. Is this even possible? Do not, first and foremost according to the basics democracy, the Iraq people need to want western democracy? Assuming that the Iraqi people do want to be subject to the western idea of self-rule, can they be taught how? The first problem with the democratization of Iraq is the historical context. Iraq sits upon what historically has been a frontier in the sense that Mesopotamias unique geographic features and location have attracted a succession of invaders (Helms 1984, 8). The Middle East has been subject to invasion of the western world for centuries. Beginning with the crusades from Europe in the 11th century, more recently with the perceived invasion of the West bank and the Creation of Israel the animosity towards the west only grows (Mackey 2002, 384). It isnt hard to figure why the Iraqis have not been welcoming Operation Iraqi Freedoms soldiers with open arms. Arab unity was central to the recently ousted Baths partys ideology. Numerous attempts were made by Arab Nationalists to make it a reality (Helms 54). Numerous members of the Bath party have been left over in Iraq. Many citizens of Iraq still believe in a unified Arab world and in that world there is no room for U.S. occupation or Israel for that matter. Many of these insiders, commandos and officials, still exists and wage war on the occupyi...

13 Skills You Need to Put On Your Resume

13 Skills You Need to Put On Your Resume You got skills. And you know how to use them. Presumably, that’s why you’re trying to get someone to pay you for them. Your resume is nothing if not a fancy package of your skills- but did you know that not all skills are created equally? Skills that helped you win your college ping pong championship are not necessarily the same ones that will land you the new job you want, so you have to be discerning. Here are 13  skill types, and how to use them on your resume if you have them.The Hard Skillsâ€Å"Hard† skills are the ones that can tie most directly to the job you’re seeking. They’re easy for a recruiter or an interviewer to recognize and quantify, and they tell a lot about you. These include:1. Foreign language fluency2. Specific certifications you may have3. Computer programming skills4. Typing speed (words per minute)5. Specific software proficiency and training6. Proofreading and copyediting skillsHard skills don’t leave a lot of wig gle room, so this is not an area you want to fudge. If you put on your resume that you speak excellent French, when your experience is really limited to 8th  grade lessons, you run the risk of interviewing with someone who spent a semester in Paris. And when that happens†¦c’est dommage, mon ami.Building hard skills is pretty straightforward as well. If you want to learn HTML coding to add it to your resume, you can take any number of online courses or tutorials. If you want to get your typing skills up to 80 words per minute, you can drill yourself until you get up to speed (ha). These are specific skills with specific goals.The Soft Skillsâ€Å"Soft† skills are less tangible abilities. They’re just as important, because they tell the resume reader more about what you could bring to the job on a day-to-day basis. Soft skills include things like:7. Teamwork/collaboration8. Time management9. Flexibility and adaptability8. Communication skills9. Problem solv ing10. Conflict resolution11. NegotiationUnlike hard skills, soft skills do often leave a bit of room for interpretation. You can adapt all sorts of real world scenarios to back them up. For example, if you brokered peace between feuding teams in your last job, boom- negotiation skills. Where hard skills tell the reader information right away, soft skills are more about showing. Always have specific examples of your soft skills in mind, so that you can come up with evidence on the spot if necessary.If you want to build soft skills, it might not be as easy as with the hard skills, but it can be done. You can take public speaking courses to improve your communication skills, or sign up to volunteer in order to gain experience. Another great way to boost soft skills is to pick a mentor, and work with that person on areas where you could use some enhancement/improvement. Downloading someone else’s expertise can help you see what you need, and can help you brainstorm ways to get t here.The Skills to AvoidRemember when I said not all skills are created equally in resume world? There are some skills that don’t necessarily belong on your resume, no matter how awesome you are at them. Unless they apply directly to the job at hand, there’s no reason to include skills like these:Personal/hobby skillsSports skillsAcademic skillsWhile these are all great, and probably show how well-rounded you are as a person, they undermine your resume as a lean, mean, job-specific machine. Unless you’re applying for grad school or a volunteer position based on your extra-professional hobbies, these types of skills shouldn’t be on your official resume.Your resume should be a snapshot of the best of your abilities, as they pertain to your next job opportunity. You already have a ton of skills, so it’s just a matter of rounding them up and figuring out which ones make for the best applicant package.

Successful Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Successful Project Management - Essay Example In this scenario there is need to better take care of project activities those are critical for the project success. This report is based on a scenario in which Ashleigh Council has to set up Ashleigh Music Festival Ltd (AMF Ltd) which will work like a social enterprise for initiating the festival. This report discusses some of the major activities and tasks required to be completed for planning and handling the activities. Introduction Ashleigh Music Festival Ltd (AMF Ltd) is a social enterprise that arranges music festivals. This corporation has recently initiated a plan to establish a new event of music festival. This event will provide an excellent entertainment facility to public. However, in order to effectively plan the project one of the initial jobs is to assess the project scope in order that they could better understand the project tasks and activities. This project report is also intended to provide guidelines regarding project planning through assessment of project tasks and activities. This report will assess the project tasks that need to be completed in order to arrange the festival in time. This report will review some of the important aspects along with project management processes and techniques which are adopted throughout project lifecycle. This report will also discusses skills and competencies needed by the project team in order to manage a successful project. This report will also try to highlight the project stakeholders and how they will be engaged with project and project manager. Background Ashleigh Council has initiated bidding for the contract to a project which will engage managing and organizing and setting up a music festival at a number of points in the summer of 2013. This festival will continue for 3 days and will start at an outdoor site (plan enclosed), that will have the capacity of 30,000 people. This festival will generate revenue by selling the tickets. In addition, project bidders will be paid by 20% of the revenue generated by ticket sales. This project holds the facility of availing the interest-free loan of up to ?300,000 from bank for equipment rent (the council will cover staff, licensing, health and safety, and site reinstatement costs). Initial Project Tasks This section outlines some of th e key project tasks those will be planned and managed before the project start. These tasks will be the key tasks that need to be completed in order to hold the event in time. At this stage, we will concentrate on some of the main activities that seem to be really significant for the project initiation. In this scenario we will concentrate on these project tasks and will focus on early completion of these tasks for the successful project initiation. Requirements Analysis In this project task we will deeply assess some of the main project activities to better map and understand the project needs. This will help us to better plan the project for the superior project performance. Planning At this stage of project; we will plan the project tasks and activities. In this scenario we will allocate time and resource to each project task. This project stage will involve project task planning. Legal Permission At this stage of project we will take the permission of music festival from local a uthorities. This will offer us a great deal of satisfaction (i.e. eliminating the chances of any legal issue). Recruiting At this stage we will recruit the staff for the project that will be responsible for managing and completing the project tasks and activities. This stage of project will involve publishing the job ads, interviewing the staff and recruiting them. After that we will have to train the staff. Training This will be

Chief Security Officer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Chief Security Officer - Assignment Example Computer crime cab be described as any unlawful activity involving a combination of a network and a computer. Some examples of computer crimes include hacking, pornography, copyright infringement and many others. In essence, the issue of computer crime has elicited heightened debates among heads of various institutions of higher learning. As a chief security officer in the institution I have to establish effective strategies that prevent the occurrence of computer crimes and mitigate any losses that might be suffered in case a cyber-crime occurs. The neighboring institutions of higher learning have established various measures to curb the problem of computer crime. In essence, from the available studies, it can be affirmed that the challenge of cyber-crimes affects  many  institutions of higher learning  across the  US. In this regard, the ministry of education in conjunction with the various institutions of higher learning have initiated several strategies to handle the problem of cyber-crime. In essence, most institutions have established backup information systems to ensure that important information is not lost to cyber-crime. Maintaining an information backup system has proved to be one of the effective strategies for handling the problem of computer crime. Essential a backup system ensure that the stored information is not lost through computer viruses or other computer related malfunctions. Essentially, it is imperative to identify that the problem of computer crime is quite diverse. For instance, one of the m echanisms employed to execute computer crime is the use of viruses. The viruses are spread through the various websites found on the internet including emails. Apparently, the people who conduct computer crimes share some links on the websites and send some random links containing viruses to people’s email. Following such links transfers the virus

Short stories by Alice Walker Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Short stories by Alice Walker - Essay Example The setting occurs in the residence of mama and her daughters where they currently live with her younger daughter. With the expected homecoming of the elder daughter, Dee, they make preparations aimed at ensuring proper reception for expected visitors. The story remains total fiction, which is effectively utilised in delivering the desired message form the author. The author utilises fiction in depicting the meaning of culture and the power of education, while having humour and irony within the story. The story presents the difference in heritage within family members, who shared similar cultural values while residing together. The visiting daughter changes name from Dee to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, a name which she cannot explain its origin. She claims that Dee is dead depicting the death of cultural heritage. Through the actions and behaviours displayed by the elder daughter, heritage becomes nullified and its existence ignored by the character. Mama explains the origins of the fa mily name, running through many generations, and appears hurt by the daughter’s failure to understand the importance and meaning of heritage within the setting of the story. Dee desires family quilts, which she views as artefacts of dead heritage. While desiring these articles, she intends to utilise them as wall hangings, which further displays her misunderstanding of meaning of family heritage. She even tries to speak a language she cannot understand.

Human body partsTrafficing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human body partsTrafficing - Research Paper Example number and the varieties of transplantation options available is the emergent market for human body parts (Harrison, pg21).Legally, body parts used in transplantation surgeries are normally procured form cadavers or brain dead people, however, the demand for organs has far exceeded the availability of organs which leaves thousands of patients in the waiting list. In the U.S alone, 95,000 people were in the waiting list in 2006, while 6,500 people died owing to non-availability of vital organs for transplantation ( Abouna, p34). 82,000 patients of the people in the waiting list were comprised of people waiting for kidneys alone (Rupert, p67). According to the WHO, in 2010 there were approximately 107,000 donated organs worldwide— both legal and illegal and a good percentage of these transplanted organs comprises of 20,000 kidneys which are trafficked (Heymann, 2012). These problems of demands, non-availability and inadequate management of transplantation organs have led to black marketing and trafficking of organs especially in the developing and the underdeveloped countries. The monetary value added to human body parts and vital organs led to their commoditization. People from developing and under developed countries engage in the trade of human body parts because of their financial conditions and the high pay that this kind of trafficking fetches for them.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"The most common source of organs was impoverished people in India, Pakistan, Egypt, and the Philippines, deceased organ donors in Colombia, and executed prisoners in China† ( Danovitch, p1306).. One of the major countries from where organs are procured is India, an Asian country. Hundreds of impoverished people in India either sell or help traffic organs to make a living. Often doctors and nursing homes are involved in such scandals owing to the high price that organs such as kidneys and liver fetch especially from foreigners who are a part of â€Å"transplant tourism†. â€Å"The Voluntary Health

The Military Use of Drones by the US- a Risky and Wrong Choice Research Paper

The Military Use of Drones by the US- a Risky and Wrong Choice - Research Paper Example It is time when the policy and strategy groups and institutions ought to reconsider the success and importance of drones as the military weapons of choice. Indeed, pursuing warfare by means of drones is certainly not a good idea if one takes into consideration the harmful ramifications of this novel military strategy. Instead of furthering the US interests and aiding the nation’s strategic agenda, the military use of drones by the US has indeed curtailed the reputation of the US forces and accrued much negative publicity for the nation. It goes without saying that the US exploitation of drones as a military weapon is not a sane strategic option if one considers the civilian causalities it involves, the incumbent political outcomes, the dilution of the army’s moral and situational awareness and the inability of the drones to effectively curb and dilute international terrorism. It is a fact that if the drone warfare or the military usage of drones by the US forces is not backed by accurate and verified intelligence inputs, it could lead to much collateral damage. Experience has established beyond doubt that the instances when drones were used by the US as a weapon against the targeted enemies, they led to multiple civilian causalities (Whitlock 1).and it is only when one digs deeper that one is able to recognize the havoc drones wreck on the civilians that live near or in the vicinity of the targeted individual or group. Though the exact figures are not verified by the US military, as per the recent news reports, the use of drones as a weapon has led to the killing of a number of civilians in the tribal regions of Pakistan (Whitlock 1). If on the one side the killing of civilians in the drone attacks amounts to crimes against humanity, on the other side this trend is fraught with much serious consequences, as far as the reputation of the United States of America as a world power is concerned (Brunstetter & Braun 339).