COMPUTER PROGRAMMING

Chapter 1 – lesson 2

PRIVACY

We currently live in the Information Age A lot of data can be stored and

processed quickly thanks to computers The people of the Information Age have

a social and ethical responsibility Due to the large amounts of personal

information stored on computers, invasion of privacy has become a very serious problem

PRIVACY - continued

A lot of information is accessed when a company looks up your credit rating

Your credit rating determines whether or not you qualify for loans

Sometimes, information may not be accurate, due to a company making a mistake or if someone has a name similar to yours

For this reason, several laws have been passed to protect you: (laws on next slide)

Laws to Protect You

The Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1979 is one of the laws that guards against inaccurate credit ratings. A person has a right to see information obtained by credit, insurance, and employment agencies. If an individual is turned down for credit they must be allowed to view the files used to make the decision. Only those with a court order or written permission of the person whose information is involved are allowed to view the information.

The Privacy Act of 1974

This act places limits on use of personal data by federal agencies.

Individuals are allowed to view information stored about themselves and are allowed to make changes to incorrect information.

Confidentiality and security must be maintained for any sensitive information

The Financial Privacy Act of 1978 This act states that government

authorities can only access personal financial records with a subpoena, summons, or search warrant.

If records are released to such authorities, the financial institution must inform the person who has access to their records

Intranet, Extranet, Internet

Intranet is a network that is used by a single organization, such as a corporation or school, and is only accessibly by authorized users

The purpose of an intranet is to share information

A firewall is also used to lock out unauthorized users

A firewall is a network security system that prevents unauthorized network access

Extranet

Extends an intranet by providing various levels of accessibility to authorized members of the public

Example: a corporation may extend their intranet to provide access to specific information, such as their ordering system, to registered customers

Internet

The largest and most widely accessed network A world-wide network of computers that is not controlled

by any one organization Has an undeniable impact on modern society because it

allows users worldwide to communicate in a matter of seconds

The Internet is actually numerous networks all linked together through routers

A router is a device that connects different network technologies

Networks connected to routers use TCP/IP(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) software to communicate

Servers or Clients

Computers on the Internet are either: Servers Clients

The client is sent information from a server The client/server structure of the Internet is called

interactive because the information accessed is a result of selections made by the user – Example: a computer with just minimal software for accessing the Internet is a client. The client user selecting options from the Internet is receiving the information from a server, a computer with additional software and files that is also connected to the Internet

Telecommunications

The transmitting and receiving of data Data can be in various forms including

voice and video Requires a modem or adapter and a line

or cable The speed of data transmission (sending)

and receipt(receiving) is measured in Kbps (thousnads of bits per second) or Mbps (millions of bits per second)

Telecommunications - continued Numerous telecommunications options are

available, which vary in speed and cost: Conventional modem uses standard telephone

lines to convert analog signals to digital data Conventional modem is a 56 Kbps modem,

which transmits data at 28.8 Kbps and 36.6 Kbps, and receives data at 56 Kbps

Today, most home and business users select options other than conventional modems if they are available in their area, due to the slow access time associated with conventional modems

Telecommunications - continued DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) modem

uses standard telephone lines with data transmission up to 640 Kbps

Data receipt is from 1.5 Mbps to 9 Mbps A DSL (Asymmetric DSL) is the most

common form used Cable Modem transmits data through a

coaxial cable television network Data transmission is from 2 Mbps to 10 Mbps

and data receipt is from 10 Mbps to 36 Mbps

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986

This act makes it a crime to access electronic data without authorization.

It also prohibits unauthorized release of such data

The Electronic Freedom of Information Act of 1996 (E-FOIA)

This act requires federal government agencies to make certain agency information available for public inspection and is designed to improve public access to agency records by making more information available online

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998

This act requires commercial websites that collect personal information from children under the age of 13 to obtain parental consent

The Safety and Freedom through Encryption Act of 1999 (SAFE)

This act gives Americans the freedom to use any type of encryption to protect their confidential information

Telecommunications - continued ISDN (Integrated Services Digital

Network) is a digital telephone network provided by a local phone company

ISDN is capable of transmitting and receiving data at up to 64 Kbps

ISDN requires the use of an ISDN terminal and adapter instead of a modem

Telecommunications - continued Leased/Dedicated lines are used by

many businesses and schools for Internet access

They allow for a permanent connection to the Internet that is always active

The cost of a leased line is usually a fixed monthly fee

A T-1 carrier is a type of leased line that transmits data at 1.544 Mbps

Internet Services

Internet Services include the World Wide Web, e-mail, and mailing lists

The WWW also called the Web is the most widely used Internet service

The Web can be used to search and access information available on the Internet

A web browser application, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, provides a graphical interface to present information in the form of a website

Another widely used Internet service is e-mail or electronic mail, which is the sending and receiving of messages and computer files over a communications network, such as a LAN (Local Area network) or the Internet

E-mail can be received in a matter of seconds, even if the recipient is located half way around the world

© 2010 Lawrenceville Press

Slide 22

Chapter 1

E-mail Address

An e-mail address is required in order to send and receive e-mail messagesE-mail addresses are provided when you sign up with an ISP or an online service. A typical e-mail address is similar to:

Mailing List server

A server that manages mailing lists for groups of users

Two mailing list servers are Listserv and Majordomo

Often used for discussion purposes When a subscriber posts a message to a

mailing list server, every subscriber receives a copy of the message

Subscribers are identified by a single name or e-mail address

Finding Information on the Web and downloading Files

A search engine like Yahoo, Google, or MSN is a program that searches a database of web pages for keywords and then lists hyperlinks to pages that contain those keywords

A search engine usually works by sending out an agent, such as a spider

a spider is an application that gathers a list of available web page documents and stores this list in a database that users can search by keyword

Most searches yield far too many matches to be useful Limiting the number of matches to a reasonable number

can usually be accomplished by using Boolean login in the search criteria:

Boolean logic uses three logical operators: AND locates pages that include both words OR locates pages that include one word or the other or

both NOT locates pages that include the first word, but not the

second word A Boolean expression always evaluates to TRUE or FALSE

with pages that match the search condition evaluating to TRUE

© 2010 Lawrenceville Press

Slide 26

Chapter 1

MLA Citations

General citation for material located at a website:

Author’s Last Name, First Name MI. Site Title. Access date. Organization name. <URL>.

Example citation of a personal website:Rawlings, Julie. Home page. 23 Dec. 2009.

<http: //www.lpdatafiles.com/jrawlings/index.htm>.

continued next slide

© 2010 Lawrenceville Press

Slide 27

Chapter 1

MLA Citations, continuedExample citation of an article in an online magazine:

Schiffman, Paula. "Making Vinegar at Home." Vinegar Monthly. 4 May 2009. <http://www. lpdatafiles.com/ vinegarassoc/journal.asp>.

Example citation of a posting to a discussion list:

Cruz, Anthony. "Are Orchestras Going Downhill?" online posting. 10 Oct. 2009. Tuscon Annual Ballet Conf. <http://www.lpdatafiles.com/ tuscontoes/downhill.txt>.

Computer Ethics

With so much information that is electronically available people often steal works without thinking about it

This is copyright infringement which is illegally using or copying any type of data or work

Copyright protects media such as text, pictures, music, video, etc

Piracy

Software is copied so easily that it presents a special problem

If software is copied without paying for it, the author of that software is losing money

When people illegally copy software, it is called PIRACY

Protecting Computer Software and Data

Programs written to cause harm are another issue we must consider in software ethics

Virus – harmful software which can copy itself without the user knowing

TYPES OF VIRUSES: Trojan horse: looks like a useful program

that actually damages files on your computer as it runs

Worm: can copy itself over a network. A worm spreads quickly and can cause an entire network to shutdown

Other protection concerns

Crackers/hackers: Someone who gains access to large computer systems with the sole purpose of performing acts of vandalism

This act is illegal and can cause expensive damage

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 specifically makes it a federal offense to access electronic data without authorization

Networks usually 9include a firewall, which is a combination of hardware and software that helps prevent unauthorized access

Other protection concerns

Phishing The act of sending an e-mail to a user

falsely claiming to be a legitimate business in an attempt to trick the user into revealing personal information that could be used for crimes such as identity theft

The Ethical Responsibilities of an IT Professional

IT (information technology) professionals have responsibilities that relate to system reliability Ensure all networks and systems are reliable,

which means: Updating antivirus software Writing programs which are reliable Keeping hardware up to date Maintaining databases Consider the impact on users

We must keep in mind that computers will only do what they have been programmed to do

How To Protect Our Computers Antivirus software: software that

removes the malicious code before it causes harm

Antivirus software should be updated regularly

Do not open e-mail attachments without scanning for malicious coed

One estimate states that 80% of virus infection is through e-mail