Thursday, 7 May 2009
'Ill' worker fired over Facebook (My View)
above is the link to the article i was reading about. which is about a swiss women who i sacked because she said she had a migraine and that she needed to be in a darkened room but she was found to be on her wiki.
i think it is unfair to sack an employee if they are on a computer at home because one they might just have hurt there self and are caipable of using a computer but in this case well i see it as unfair as she could have recovered from her migraine and there is also a big difference in being in your bed using a phone than sitting in work on a computer. At home there is no pressure to get work done she can relax and really does not have to focus but at work she does. her work knew she was on it so they were checking up on her which means they cant trust her so why have her employed in the first place.
So in conclusion i think workplaces should not have the right to spy no matter what. If they employ us then we must be trusted . So why not trust we are not fit enough for work
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Acceptable Use Policy
An acceptable use policy (AUP; also sometimes acceptable usage policy) is a set of applied by rulesnetwork and websit owners which restrict the ways in which the network or may be used. AUP documents are written for site corporations, businessess, universities, school, and website owners often to reduce the potential for legal actions that may be taken by a user, and often with little prospect of enforcement.
Acceptable use policies are also integral to the framework of information security policies; it is often common practice to ask new members of an organization to sign an AUP before they are given access to its information systems. For this reason, an AUP must be consise and clear, while at the same time covering the most important points about what users are, and are not, allowed to do with the IT systems of an organization. It should refer users to the more comprehensive security policy where relevant. It should also, and very notably, define what sanctions will be applied if a user breaks the AUP. compliance with this policy should, as usual, be measured by regular audits.
E-mail spam
E-mail spam, also known as "bulk e-mail" or "junk e-mail," is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by e-mail. A common synonym for spam is unsolicited bulk e-mail (UBE). Definitions of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent in bulk. "UCE" refers specifically to "unsolicited commercial e-mail."
E-mail spam slowly but exponentially grew for several decades to several billion messages a day. Spam has frustrated, confused, and annoyed e-mail users. Laws against spam have been sporadically implemented, with some being opt-out and others requiring opt in e-mail. The total volume of spam (over 100 billion emails per day as of aprill 2008has leveled off slightly in recent years, and is no longer growing exponentially. The amount received by most e-mail users has decreased, mostly because of better filtering. About 80% of all spam is sent by fewer than 200 spammers. Botnets networks of virus-infected computers, are used to send about 80% of spam. The cost of spam is borne mostly by the recipient, so it is a form of postage due advertising.
E-mail addresses are collected from chatrooms, websites, newsgroups, and viruses which harvest users' address books, and are sold to other spammers. Much of spam is sent to invalid e-mail addresses. ISPs have attempted to recover the cost of spam through lawsuits against spammers, although they have been mostly unsuccessful in collecting damages despite winning in court.Friday, 2 May 2008
Anit Virus
McAfee Plus offers proactive PC security to prevent malicious attacks, so you can protect what you value as well as surf, search, and download files online with confidence.
AVG offers All in one (Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Rootkit, Anti-Spam, Firewal, Safe Downloads, Safe Instant Messaging, Safe Search, Safe Surf, System Tools, Technical Support)
with AVG antivirus, the signature updates are seamless and unobtrusive. The way security updates should be. But as a user - besides AVG offering a freebasic version of its software.
I like AVG Antivirus because it delivers on a simple promise, and not a fantasy of how information might be managed in the future
Tuesday, 8 January 2008
Be Careful when meeting people
If you do decide that you want to meet them, arrange the meeting in a public place and take along a parent or an older friend that you can trust. Anyone who won't agree to these arrangements probably has something to hide.
Go to the Netsafe web site and view the video entitled "Be cautious about meeting online friends".
You've now reached the end of this section of the course. You can return to any topic by using the menu at the left-hand side of the screen, or you can return to the home page for the course by clicking the NetSafe logo at the top left of the screen.
Be Cautious with E-mail
You should never open an e-mail attachment from anyone you don't know. The attachment could easily be a virus or some kind of objectionable material - this is one of the commonest ways in which viruses are spread.
Many e-mail programs prevent users from opening attachments with any kind of "active" content, ie: anything which runs a program or script which could damage your computer.
You should also avoid following hyperlinks in e-mail messages from anyone you don't know, as they can lead to web sites which will infect your system with a virus or spyware, or display objectionable material.
Finally, never reply to unwanted emails. That simply lets the sender know that your e-mail address is genuine and is likely to lead to more unwanted emails in future.
Reporting Abuse
If you click on this button you'll be taken to a page where you'll be warned that you must agree to the content of your report being shared with international law enforcement agencies and that you will be required to enter your name, age and at least one means of contact. If you are not willing to accept these conditions, you can click another link to be taken to a page where you can make an anonymous report.
If you agree to these conditions, you will be directed to another page where you will be asked whether you want to report online content or online abuse. Once you have made your choice you will be asked to enter your personal details, then directed to the appropriate reporting site.
Be Careful in Chatrooms
This is fine if you want to have a private chat amongst a few friends, but be wary if anyone you don't know asks you to take part in a private chat. Why do they want to talk to you alone? What do they want to say that they don't want anyone else to know about? If anyone in a chatroom says anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, tell someone you trust, such as a parent or teacher.
You can also report abuse online to CEOP, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. Many social networking web sites now display CEOP's Report Abuse button which you can click to report abuse instantly:
Guard Your Personal Information
If the wrong people get hold of your mobile number you could find yourself receiving unpleasant or threatening text messages, or even being attacked by a mobile phone viruses. In the worst cases, you may be forced to change your mobile number, which can be a major nuisance for both you and your real friends.
Similarly, giving out your email address too freely can lead to unwanted spam or other undesirable e-mail. If you feel you have to give out your e-mail address online, it's a good idea to use a disposable e-mail address, such as a Hotmail or Yahoo address, and keep your real e-mail address secret. That way, if anything unpleasant happens, you can simply stop using the affected address and sign up for another one.
If you do start to receive abusive texts or emails, let your parents or a teacher know. Telephone companies can often trace the source of text messages and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) may be able to trace the senders of e-mails. Your e-mail program may also allow you to block e-mail messages from specified addresses, or even restrict the messages you can receive to messages from friends already in your address book.
Know Who You're Chatting To
There's a famous cartoon showing that On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog, but the ability to hide behind a false identity can have more sinister implications. In particular, people trying to take advantage of children or teenagers will often lie about their age and pretend that they share interests with those they are talking to, so that they can gain their trust.
You may come across things that make you feel uncomfortable when you are chatting to someone, for instance, they may push you for personal information, such as your address or mobile number, or they may be reluctant to answer your questions. You should be particularly suspicious of anyone who asks you to keep your chats secret.
If anything makes you feel uncomfortable, you should tell a responsible adult, such as a parent or teacher. If the situation is innocent, no harm will be done, but if it is not, you may protect yourself or someone else from danger.
Go to the Netsafe web site and view the video entitled "Online friends may not be who they say they are"
Chat Rooms and Social Networking
There has been increasing concern about the use of chat rooms for "grooming". "Grooming" is the term given to interaction between an adult and a child with an end view of sexualising that relationship. "Grooming" is illegal. You should always keep yourself safe by keeping personal information to yourself and never agreeing to meet alone in person anyone you meet in a chat room.
Many of the considerations which apply to chat rooms apply equally to instant messaging services and other social networking sites, such as MySpace, Bebo and YouTube. You can make sure that you are safe by following some simple guidelines, as outlined in the next few pages.
Data Protection Act
Further information on the following topics can be downloaded from the Information Commissioner's website
The eight principles of good practice
The six conditions for fair data processing
Sensitive data
Rights under the Act
Criminal offences created by the Act
Unsolicited electronic communications
The role of the Information Commissioner's Office
Data Protection Act
Further information on the following topics can be downloaded from the Information Commissioner's website
The eight principles of good practice
The six conditions for fair data processing
Sensitive data
Rights under the Act
Criminal offences created by the Act
Unsolicited electronic communications
The role of the Information Commissioner's Office
Disability Discrimination Legislation
Many visually-impaired users make use of screen readers to view web sites. The screen reader reads the text of the web site aloud, but unfortunately it does not cope well with graphics. This can be overcome by creating an alternate tag for each graphic image, giving a brief text description of the image. When the screen reader encounters this, it reads the text of the tag, letting the user know the content of the image.
Hearing-impaired users are unable to hear sounds on a web site, but once again, an alternate tag can be attached. If the mouse is moved over the link to a sound file, a brief text description is displayed.
The RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind) have considered taking legal action with about inaccessible websites, but companies have generally been prepared to make the necessary changes, rather than face legal action. In 2000 a blind user successfully sued the organisers of the Sydney Olympics over their inaccessible web site and several American companies were successfully sued over the accessibility of their websites in 2004.
Digital Rights Management (DRM)
the need to keep a Satellite Television receiver box connected to the public telephone network
certain high definition film disks can only be played back on a computer which is connected to the internet
the latest large screen television displays need a special module to display high definition DVD movies. If this module is not present, the output from the DVD player is disabled. The presence of the module guarantees that the incoming digital signal is not being copied.
regional coding of DVDs prevents a DVD disk purchased in the USA from being played on a European region DVD player.
Click this link to find additional information on Digital rights management
Digital watermarking involves inserting and encrypted digital code into an image. It is of particular use with images which are placed on websites and thus easily copied. It is invisible to the casual user but provides a tracking mechanism for owners. It is a digital code, which can be unique to the image or used for all the owner's images. Click this link to find additional information on watermarks.
You can obtain a selection of freeware or shareware digital watermarking tools from Tucows. Why not download one or two of these and try them out for yourself?
Digital fingerprints are unique labels inserted into different copies of the same content (eg: an e-book, video or music file) prior to distribution. Each digital fingerprint is assigned to a specific recipient, and thus provides the capability to trace those who use their content for unintended purposes. Fingerprints are closely associated with the content and difficult to remove.
Copyright and the Internet
The same rules generally apply to materials published on the Internet as to those published on other media. Almost everything on the Internet is copyright, so when you download material you should ensure that you are not breaking copyright law.
The greatest areas of commercial concern have been copyright infringements involving music files and still and moving images, particularly movies and TV programmes. A digital file can be cheaply and easily copied and distributed anywhere in the World via the Internet. The creator of the original work is excluded from the process and thus receives no financial reward.
Copyright
Initially, the author of a work is the copyright owner, but ownership can be sold or transferred to someone else. Copyright on books etc. normally lasts for seventy years after the death of the author. Sound recordings are usually protected for fifty years. However, this is not always the case. You can obtain more information at:
Is4Profit
The Patent Office
Copyright Licensing Agency
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
Alternatives to P2P
Free software is available from a number of sites including shareware.com and tucows.com. Some of this software is freeware, meaning that it is totally free to users. Other programs are shareware, meaning that users are permitted to download and try an evaluation copy before deciding whether or not to buy the software, often for a nominal fee. Some evaluation copies have restrictions, such as only working fro a certain number of days, or limits on the size of files that can be handled.
Many freeware programs are small utilities, but there are major items available, including Linux, an operating system which many believe to be superior to Windows, and Open Office, an application suite which is compatible with Microsoft Office and provides similar features.
Why You Should Avoid P2P
Downloaded files often turn out to contain viruses or spyware. In many cases, downloaded files are faulty and do not operate as they are meant to. There has been some speculation that copyright holders have deliberately uploaded "poisoned" copies of files, to discourage users.
Users of downloaded software (and other users of pirate software) may not be able to obtain support from the software vendor when they require it, eg: Microsoft will not provide certain upgrades to Windows XP users unless they can demonstrate that their copy of XP is genuine. This includes updates to its anti-spyware software, so users of illegal copies of Windows can find themselves exposed to a real risk from new spyware.
Downloading Files
Record companies, movie producers and software vendors claim that file sharing deprives both companies and artists of income and jeopardises future production, but many users claim that it gives them access to materials they would otherwise be unable to afford.
Many of the files found on file-sharing services are copyright and should not be uploaded or downloaded without the consent of the author or copyright holders. To date no-one has been prosecuted for downloading files, but there have been many successful prosecutions of users who have uploaded large numbers of files.
