Comprehensive Assignment:
Add a new 400- to 500-word posting to your blog in which you reflect on the benefit of online communication tools.
Look carefully at your classroom’s computers, or think of a classroom computer lab that you have interacted with in the past.
Discuss the types of security you have in place to prevent malicious software and/or hackers and cite any areas of concern.
Clearly, there are many obvious benefits to on-line communication tools. There's just no denying to on-line communication is here to stay, as the Internet itself will probably be with us from now until forever. Throughout my many blog posts, I have tried to intelligently, articulately, succinctly, and passionately express my concerns about America's current addiction to the Internet. My research into both on-line communication tools and viruses served only to reinforce my beliefs and concerns. The Internet is a dangerous place, and it is necessary to remain consistently vigilant when working or playing on-line. There are just too many dangerous people in the world that would like nothing more than to hack into your account in order to steal your personal information. Someone could steal your money or steal your identity, and at the very least, they could ruin your identity by spreading disinformation.
I've had copious experience working with computers and working in school-based computer labs. While in college and seminary, I tended to avoid the computer labs available there. As a school teacher, I have found that access to a computer lab is essential for my own sanity. Some days, I just need a place that I can take my students where they can work independently, I can take advantage of the available technology, and I don't have to worry about standing in front of the class lecturing my head off all the time. Once my fall allergies kick in, I can only lecture for so long before my throat is on fire.
Personally, there is very little that I do in order to safe-guard my computers. I have Norton Anti-Virus on my computer, and I also have other programs to protect against computer-based infections. I have had bad experiences with viruses in the past, especially during the 2009-2010 school year. I think that a vast majority of the school's computers may have been infected due to the fact that so many students were accessing video games sites that were not authorized. These sites were fronts for hackers, and I believe that, when students down-loaded the games, they were also down-loading viruses as well.
I believe it is very hard to keep our computers from getting viruses. Unfortunately, each new virus being created by hackers is more deadly than the last. Nevertheless, companies like Microsoft and Apple have vested interests in protecting both their assets and their customers, so they employ the best and brightest minds available in order to develop programs specifically designed to counter the viruses.
With my Apple MacBook, I don't have to worry a whole lot about viruses, because Apple has a reputation for having very strong virus protection measures in place. I have been concerned that there were viruses out and about and trying to infiltrate my computer, but my browser window seems to shut down spontaneously, without warning, when a virus is detected. It can be frustrating, as my hard work may be lost and not recovered, but at least I know my computer is consistently safe.
The Internet is not the benign world we once thought it would prove to be. It hasn't ended world poverty, it hasn't reduced the number of fatherless homes, it hasn't eradicated rape or abuse, and it certainly hasn't made politicians any more honest (although it has enabled many of us to call their bluffs.)
The Internet, in sharp contrast to original, naive perceptions, is a dangerous place indeed. Like the human body, it is vulnerable to attack from the outside. It can be hard to defend. Once it is "sick," it can be very timely and costly to properly cure.
From the very beginning, I've been adamant about the simple fact that I should have been a doctor. In the summer of 2010, I invested a considerable amount of time researching what I believe to be the coolest of all of the government agencies: the CDC's EIS (the Epidemic Intelligence Service.) The men and women who make up the EIS are known as disease detectives, as these elite epidemiologists trek around the country and even around the world at a moment's notice in order to identify a virus and strategize how to best eradicate it (just think of the movie "Outbreak" with the awesome Dustin Hoffman and Morgan Freeman.) When it comes to identifying a human virus, I understand the process much better than the comparable process of identifying and eradicating computer-borne viruses.
Does anyone even remember the dreaded "Sasser" virus? Probably not. Our memories tend to be limited when it comes to such things. Nevertheless, my computer-based research produced the names of viruses that I haven't even considered in years. Here's some information on the Sasser, just to refresh your Education Technology-addled brains:
Sasser (2004)
Estimated Damage: Tens of millions of dollars
Sasser began spreading on April 30, 2004, and was destructive enough to shut down the satellite communications for some French news agencies. It also resulted in the cancellation of several Delta airline flights and shut down of numerous companies’ systems worldwide.
Unlike most previous worms, Sasser was not transmitted via e-mail and required no user interaction to spread. Instead the worm exploited a security flaw in non-updated Windows 2000 and Windows XP systems. When successfully replicated, the worm would actively scan for other unprotected systems and transmit itself to them. Infected systems experienced repeated crashes and instability.
Sasser was written by a 17-year-old German high school student, who released the virus on his 18th birthday. Because he wrote the code when he was a minor, a German court found him guilty of computer sabotage but gave him a suspended sentence.
Now, at this point, something like Sasser is a thing of the past. We don't have to worry about it anymore. What we do have to fear is the deadly Trojan known as "Zeus." Zeus can eat money, literally, from right out of your account. It's terrifying Britain right now, and we must all hope and pray that it doesn't find its way to the United States...Unless, of course, it's already here. Good thing I don't have any money in my pitiable bank account, anyways. From what I'm reading, it is already in the United States, corrupting credit card companies' files. With any luck, maybe it'll attack Chase Bank, and they'll lose all their valuable files that say I owe them thousands of dollars. The fact of the matter is, I never would have had to use so many credit cards, in the first place, had I not been spending so much time attending school at Southern Seminary and then the University of the Cumberlands, when I could've been working a real job like a normal person. Oh well. Live and learn, right?
Here's some info about Zeus, from Wikipedia:
Zeus:
(also known as Zbot, PRG, Wsnpoem, Gorhax and Kneber) is a Trojan horse that steals banking information by keystroke logging. Zeus is spread mainly through drive-by downloads and phishing schemes. First identified in July 2007 when it was used to steal information from the United States Department of Transportation, it became more widespread in March 2009. In June 2009, security company Prevx discovered that Zeus had compromised over 74,000 FTP accounts on websites of such companies as the Bank of America, NASA, Monster, ABC, Oracle, Cisco,Amazon, and BusinessWeek.
Zeus' current botnet is estimated to include millions of compromised computers (around 3.6 million in the United States). As of October 28, 2009 Zeus has sent out over 1.5 million phishing messages on Facebook. On November 3, 2009 a British couple were arrested for allegedly using Zeus to steal personal data. From November 14–15 in 2009 Zeus spread via e-mails purporting to be from Verizon Wireless. A total of nine million of these phishing e-mails were sent.
It is still active in 2010. On July 14, 2010, a security firm Trusteer filed a report which says that the credit cards of more than 15 unnamed US banks have been compromised. A recent outbreak is being called Kneber.
In my own lifetime, and in my own experience with computers, I have not had to worry much about having a virus on my computer. My Apple MacBook is the gold standard when it comes to virus protection, and I'm confident that, when a virus is detected, my browser simply shuts down unexpectedly rather than expose my precious files to infection. When I was at Zoneton Middle School, there was a particularly nasty virus spreading across the nation at the time, and although the virus never crippled the Internet as was worried, it did manage to have the desired effect of terrorizing just about everybody I knew. Rather than sitting around waiting for my files to be raided by this voracious little file carnivore, I chose to down-load a protective program on my computer which would detect any files that were already infected, identify the file, and delete the file. Right now, my parents' computer (a much older lap-top than my own, and a Dell at that) has a virus on it. The Internet won't open without asking annoying questions first, and then, when you finally get Windows Explorer to open, it starts self-replicating the windows. Last week, 24 browser windows tried to open virtually simultaneously, and in the end, I had to close ALL of them before I could complete my important work on just one of the available windows. When I was in college, I had the distinct dis-pleasure of having a computer hacker for a best friend. Jacob had viruses that he could send to people through e-mail, to include programs like "e-mail bombs" which would self-replicate e-mails within the in-box with hundreds or even thousands of e-mails (which would just keep self-replicating until the in-box was completely full--rendering e-mail useless.) Jacob also had different programs that he could use to spy on clueless individuals, even giving him the ability to log other people's key-strokes so that he could acquire their passwords and other sensitive information. My foray into the dark world of computer hacking was intense but very brief. I used my own limited but still devious computer prowess to access a girl's e-mails in order to find out if she was interested in me; when I found out that she was dating my arch enemy, I just couldn't help but blab about it to anyone that would listen, and somehow, someone with devious interests all their own told the girl that I was spying on her. Needless to say, our hot date to a Creed concert never happened, and the girl never talked to me again. She also put up some Internet protections to insure that no one ever spied on her e-mails ever again.
All that to say this: We Americans are far too dependent upon technology. We fear computer viruses because they have the potential to ruin our lives, up-ending our priorities, rendering our daily activities impossible and irrelevant.
It need not be so. We are slaves to our lap-tops, and our cellular phones. If we ever lose access to our technology, we are going to feel as if we are quitting smoking "cold turkey"--only it will be much worse than a nic-fit. Our personal information, our money, our pictures--seemingly everything is dependent upon us having eternal access to the Internet. We communicate with friends, date potential soul mates, pay bills, and more, all right from our lap-tops. If our country ever experiences a disaster wherein we lose our access to the Internet (such as in a nuclear strike on the part of determined terrorists), we are all going to be in big trouble. One EMP (from a nuclear weapon or a solar flare) could theoretically knock out all of our available technology, ending life in the United States as we now know it. Remember that the Internet is something finite, and it is very convenient when everything is working properly, but don't depend on it too much. Keep your priorities straight: love your families, develop your relationships with friends, do good deeds in your community. Help those that are less fortunate than yourself: the poor, the orphan, the widow. I don't think God put us on Planet Earth in order to spend all of our time with our faces inches from a glowing computer monitor. We can do better, people.
On that cheerful note, I have to state that this is my final blog posting for Educational Technology at the University of the Cumberlands.
I am now, finally, within three classes of being "done" with my Alternative Certification Program. I have been at the University of the Cumberlands since the fall of 2007, and it seems as if I've been "attending" there forever, despite the simple fact that I've never set foot on campus (although, I did drive by it and gawk while driving to South Carolina.)
I have invested vastly differing quantities of time and energy, depending upon which class--or classes--I have been enrolled in at the University of the Cumberlands. In the grand scheme of things, I have invested far, far more time completing projects for Educational Technology than I have for virtually every other class (with the rare exception of "Research Methods"--a class that has left me scarred for life and probably qualifying for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder benefits.)
Take care, God bless, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.
My thoughts and prayers shall be with you, and your students, throughout the 2010-2011 school year.
On a related note, I covet your prayers as I continue to hunt for a job in the field of education. My "dream job" at my "dream location" has just miraculously become available, but I have no clue whether or not I will be a competitive applicant and candidate for the position. On paper, I'm looking better and better, but in an interview situation, I might mess up really badly if the killer butterflies attack my poor stomach again. I can only imagine getting my dream shot but then throwing up on a conference room table during an interview. God forbid, right?
I have no idea how long I'll ultimately remain within the field of education. I love kids, but honestly, I find many teachers to be repulsive creatures that have no business working with children on a daily basis. Teachers have their summers off and breaks throughout the year, yet they consistently seem burnt-out and bitter about their jobs. With the sky-rocketing number of Americans who are currently "unemployed," I think teachers should be thankful for their jobs and never, ever, ever take them for granted.
Keep teaching. The world is full of evil, darkness and ignorance. We teachers have the opportunity to shine the light of knowledge into a world darkened by ignorance, to shine love into a world of hate, to shine tolerance into a world of bias and prejudice.
Pro Deo et Patria,
Nate
Nathan L. German
CPT, USAR
Chaplain Candidate, SS
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