Communications Overview

TextNotes - Telecommunications-Crime-Viruses

Communications: The new Explosion

Internet – WWW – E-mail – Teleconferencing – Fax – Voice Mail – Bulletin Boards – Online Systems.

Communications at its simplest form is one computer linked with a wire to another computer. (Imagine a tin can, string, tin can.)

If a modem is used, the "Network" size increases millions of times. Add millions more, and you get the WWW (Information Superhighway, Internet, and Net.)

Millions of people being able to send and receive information from each other.

E-mail is a message that is sent by one person to another. Since both people may not be "connected" to the system at the same time, the message "sits" until the reviver "logs" onto the system and retrieves his mail.

Telecommuting is the ability of people to do their "work" at home. Why come to the office to answer phones and type reports if it can be done at home?

Newsgroups are popular because many people who share the same interest ( hobby) can "talk" to each other. They can POST messages and get responses.

Today, the speed at which we access these services is limited by two things; speed of our modem and the copper phone lines.

Fiber optics – coaxial cable – microwave transmission

Global positioning service – uses satellites to track your position on earth. Why?

Good or Bad.

A sci-fi magazine recently had a story about GPS being installed in company laptops. Company officials always knew where they were.

How does a cellular phone work?

Computers can be built with cellular phones in them so that they can send and receive information from anywhere.

Digital vs. analog signals

Why does cellular one want to get rid of all old analog cellular phones? Cellular phone companies buy frequencies to use. If they can pack more customers onto one frequency, thy can have more customers.

L.A.N. (Local Area Network) can be two or twenty computers connected together. (Using cables or phone lines). Thy share information and files. The one computer that "controls" everything is called the server or host.

W.A.N ( Wide Area Network) is several LANS connected together..

Security: at the time you connect your computer to a modem, you are in danger. Your information can be traced, copied, and stolen. Limited security measures are in place.

Most crimes are due to motivation and opportunity. In a high-tech world with networks everywhere, opportunity is always present.

Who in your company has access to financial data ?

18 year old computer consultants are protecting billions of dollars in assets.

Crime 1 F.P.L.. Programmer took 1/10 cent from each customer. Placed it in his own account electronically.

Crime 2 Person made up bills for office supplies. Sent out thousands of them.

As technology improves, people get more resourceful. Fake atm machine was used to get credit card numbers and passwords.

The most common computer crime is software piracy. (copying software )

These crimes have some motivation: money $$$

Other types of computer crime include sabotage.

Crime: employee sets up a program that will destroy company records one week after he is fired.

Crime: employee tells his company that he has made copies of all internal e-mail. He will sell it if they fire him.

Viruses

Are malicious programs that are written by someone and then "distributed" to others. They are intended to annoy, aggravate and harm others.

A virus is actually a small program that is written by someone. The program is "attached" to another large program such as a game. When the user loads the game into his computer, the virus is also loaded.

Viruses are triggered by different means: Time, date, number of off/on cycles, etc.

Types of viruses:

Time bomb Logic bomb Worm Polymorphic Stealth

A way to prevent your computer from being "infected" is abstinence ( buy only licensed software and never use a modem)

A more realistic way is to use an anti-virus program:

Purchase an anti-virus program and install it on your computer. This will keep 99% of all viruses from infecting your computer.

Norton anti-virus, Mcafee, virus-tech

These are installed on your computer and scan every bit of data that you put into your computer. It checks it against a list of known viruses. If it finds a match, it alerts you.

Problem: Some advanced viruses are polymorphic.

Data security and control

Computers are wonderful tools that we have come to depend on.

Sometimes too much !! People or companies that use computers should (must) be prepared for possible problems:

The hardware is cheap, it is the data that costly.

A device called a U.P.S. (uninterruptible power supply) provides "clean" power to your computer. It provides battery protection for 10 –15 minutes.

Backup, backup, backup – make several copies or backups of valuable data. Some people store all of their companies information on the hard drive of a computer.. Oops.

1. Floppy disk

2. Tape backup

3. Zip drive

4. On-line storage company - privacy , ease of use.

5. USB "keychain" memory.

Besides mechanical breakdown of computers, you must be aware of intentional damage.