Internet Security

Poor Internet Security Leads to Cyber Crime

It is a growing concern as tens and thousands or even millions of viruses are introduced yearly. If the computer is securely protected, it will be susceptible to viruses, phishing scams and hackers who will do anything to steal one's personal information and personal identity. Thus, hosted security services should be part of a cost-cutting consideration even during an economic downturn. With technological advances and more sophisticated methods employed by these hackers and 'virtual attackers', Singapore government has addressed these issues seriously by dedicated more time and efforts to fight computer crimes. A case in point was a Singaporean hacker who was convicted to 180 years in prison for posting fake July 2005 bomb threats. The following is an article extracted from SC Magazine online:

A Singaporean hacker has been charged with posting a fake July 2005 bomb threat on a technology website and 60 counts of illegally accessing a wireless network.

Lin Zhenghuang, 21, was charged last week with facetiously warning of a bomb at a local bus stop - just after the London subways and bus bombings. Other site users reported Lin's post to authorities, according to an Associated Press report.

Lin, who uses the online pseudonym "krisurf," also faces 60 charges of illegally accessing nine wireless networks between July 2005 and February 2006, according to the AP. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and US$6,500 in fines.

Lin has been charged with violating Singapore's Computer Misuse Act.

Garyl Tan Jia Luo, 17, was also charged with accessing the web via another person's internet connection in November of last year. A neighbor told authorities that Tan had accessed his web connection in May 2006.


(http://www.securecomputing.net.au/News/70959,singapore-man-faces-180-years-in-prison.aspx)

Google Tools

Google Translate

This service provided by Google helps to translate any text, or webpage URL or a document into another language of your choice. In the past, there was no such programme that was free and available online; instead people had to engage professionals to translate their text for a fee. This translator tool is very useful, especially when I have friends from overseas who speaks a different lanaguage e.g. spanish. This tool helps me to translate their words and aid in my interaction with them. I can also pick up few simple words or phrases whenever I am travelling to another country whose people does not speak English or Mandarin. This cool feature of Google translate even provide audio whereby it teaches you how to pronounce the word. I can even share my translated text with friends and families which makes it so fun and convenient. Below is an instructional video on Google Translator Toolkit:

Google Answers

This question and answer service was introduced by Google to allow users to pay researches to answer questions, which can costs from US$2 to as much as US$200. Users who are satisfied with their answers can also leave an additional tip of US$100 to the researcher. This was a cool and innovative Google tool; however this service was officially terminated on 1st December 2006. Personally, I feel that in this age where we are fully equipped with digital literacy skills, such service might not be as useful as it would be in the past. We can easily search for information on the Web for free, instead of paying Google Answers. One of the example of the question posted was "How to find a supplier to print funny holiday business cards for their business?". To substantiate my above point, I just merely did a quick search and 425,000 results appeared instantly in less than 0.16 seconds. This shows how fast the internet has evolved and has become increasingly easy to navigate and search for information. Thus, I think that it is a smart move for Google to shut down this service and instead, focus and expand on other tools and services that would be more effective and efficient for users to find information.

Although Google Answers have ceased this service and stop accepting questions, they have archived all their questions and answers in the past that are still available for viewing. If you are interested, you may visit: http://answers.google.com/answers/

E-learning

I truly believe that e-learning can be made effective through the use of digital media. Online learning helps to engage people, be it kids or adults of all ages, in learning, motivate them, as well as appealing to their thirst of knowledge. The convenience and efficiency of online learning have also brought about advanced educational performance, as well as better time management and flexibility for all of us.


A perfect example of an online learning experience I had was during my Computer Science module last semester. We were given this web link: http://www.w3schools.com/, that provides W3Schools online web building tutorials. This online learning not only reinforced the lectures, but also gave us hands-on and interactive learning experience. One example was learning how to create a website using HTML codes. It starts first with some basic background knowledge and notes that are easy to read and remember such as the following example:

What is HTML?

HTML is a language for describing web pages.

• HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language
• HTML is not a programming language, it is a markup language
• A markup language is a set of markup tags
• HTML uses markup tags to describe web pages

Then the "real lesson" begins. The lessons was taught step-by-step and you can try to edit the codes, play around with the programme for better understanding. After the end of the syllabus, they even provide a quiz to test your knowledge and understanding. The site also provides a 'quicklist' that summarizes down all the important tips and notes in order to start your very own website! There are references, templates, examples and even a forum to help one clear their doubts/queries through interaction with others or getting professional help.


Personally, this W3Schools web tutorials not only had a website that was easy to navigate, their information including their examples were extremely infomative, fun and enjoyable. It made learning exceptionally incredible and I did not have to worry about forgetting what the lecturer taught in class, because I can always head back to the site to refresh my memory, providing me with a stress-free learning environment. E-learning has definitely captivated me and guaranteed an individual learning preferences and styles.