Computer Viruses Essays (1653 words) - Computer Viruses,

Computer Viruses In the past decade, computer and networking technology has seen enormous growth. This growth however, has not come without a price. With the advent of the "Information Highway", as it's coined, a new methodology in crime has been created. Electronic crime has been responsible for some of the most financially devastating victimizations in society. In the recent past, society has seen malicious editing of the Justice Department web page (1), unauthorized access into classified government computer files, phone card and credit card fraud, and electronic embezzlement. All these crimes are committed in the name of "free speech." These new breed of criminals claim that information should not be suppressed or protected and that the crimes they commit are really not crimes at all. What they choose to deny is that the nature of their actions are slowly consuming the fabric of our country's moral and ethical trust in the information age. Federal law enforcement agencies, as well as commercial computer companies, have been scrambling around in an attempt to "educate" the public on how to prevent computer crime from happening to them. They inform us whenever there is an attack, provide us with mostly ineffective anti-virus software, and we are left feeling isolated and vulnerable. I do not feel that this defensive posture is effective because it is not pro-active. Society is still being attacked by highly skilled computer criminals of which we know very little about them, their motives, and their tools of the trade. Therefore, to be effective in defense, we must understand how these attacks take place from a technical stand-point. To some degree, we must learn to become a computer criminal. Then we will be in a better position to defend against these victimizations that affect us on both the financial and emotional level. In this paper, we will explore these areas of which we know so little, and will also see that computers are really extensions of people. An attack on a computer's vulnerabilities are really an attack on peoples' vulnerabilities. Today, computer systems are under attack from a multitude of sources. These range from malicious code, such as viruses and worms, to human threats, such as hackers and phone "phreaks." These attacks target different characteristics of a system. This leads to the possibility that a particular system is more susceptible to certain kinds of attacks. Malicious code, such as viruses and worms, attack a system in one of two ways, either internally or externally. Traditionally, the virus has been an internal threat (an attack from within the company), while the worm, to a large extent, has been a threat from an external source (a person attacking from the outside via modem or connecting network). Human threats are perpetrated by individuals or groups of individuals that attempt to penetrate systems through computer networks, public switched telephone networks or other sources. These attacks generally target known security vulnerabilities of systems. Many of these vulnerabilities are simply due to configuration errors. Malicious Code Viruses and worms are related classes of malicious code; as a result they are often confused. Both share the primary objective of replication. However, they are distinctly different with respect to the techniques they use and their host system requirements. This distinction is due to the disjoint sets of host systems they attack. Viruses have been almost exclusively restricted to personal computers, while worms have attacked only multi-user systems. A careful examination of the histories of viruses and worms can highlight the differences and similarities between these classes of malicious code. The characteristics shown by these histories can be used to explain the differences between the environments in which they are found. Viruses and worms have very different functional requirements; currently no class of systems simultaneously meets the needs of both. A review of the development of personal computers and multi-tasking workstations will show that the gap in functionality between these classes of systems is narrowing rapidly. In the future, a single system may meet all of the requirements necessary to support both worms and viruses. This implies that worms and viruses may begin to appear in new classes of systems. A knowledge of the histories of viruses and worms may make it possible to predict how malicious code will cause problems in the future. Basic Definitions To provide a basis for further discussion, the following definitions will be used throughout the report; Trojan Horse - a program which performs a useful function, but also performs an unexpected action as well; Virus - a code segment which replicates by attaching copies to existing executables; Worm -

House On Mango Street Essays - Chicano Literature, Free Essays

House On Mango Street Essays - Chicano Literature, Free Essays House On Mango Street Esperanza. Esperanza. As a young girl, Esperanza is a young girl who looks at life from experience of living in poverty, where many do not question their experience. She is a shy, but very bright girl. She dreams of the perfect home, with beautiful flowers and a room for everyone. When she moves to the house of Mango Street, reality is so different than the dream. In this story, hope (Esperanza) sustains tragedy. The house she dreamed of was another on. It was one of her own. One where she did not have to share a bedroom with everyone. That included her mother, father and two siblings. The run down tiny house has bricks crumbling in places. The one she dreamed of had a great big yard, trees and 'grass growing without a fence'. She did not want to abandon where she came from, but she knew she wanted to be free of everything that life on Mango Street brought. They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I have left behind. She is committed to her roots on Mango Street. We witness Esperanza blossoming from a innocent, shy girl to one who witnesses much, but all of this makes her strong and clear about her desires for her life. What she sees is the male domination (machismo), violence and rape. The violence in the home was ordinary to those that lived there and Esperanza knew this. It didn't make Sally stronger. Sally is abused by her father He never hit me hard, as her mom tends to her wounds. Sally eventually leaves home and gets married at a young age. She ends being abused, instead by the fist, by mind control. Her new husband treats her like a prisoner in her home. She sits at become afraid to go outside. The leave home, she would need permission. She evolves from a victim of child abuse to a slave-like wife. Esperanza sees this despair throughout her story. In My Name, She looked out the window her whole life, they way so many women sit, with their sadness on an elbow. Abuse to Rafaela, again subtle because she does not go out, in fear of husband. Poverty on Loomis, Keeler and Paulina; poverty is a way of life. The impact is for all generations, the parents who cannot get out, the children that see it and the little ones who cannot know any better. The opportunities are limited in the barrio. Esperanza was embarrassed when she pointed to her house there. There?, as if there was no place for a girl to live. But survival is instinctive and there is a certain amount of barrio pride Those who don't know any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we are dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny knives. They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake. The victim of being called a rice sandwich. Hurt by the sister superior as she points to a row of ugly houses reminding Esperanza of the sin of being poor. Machismo is something seen in the domestic situations throughout Hispanic people. The violence, the subservience that is expected and the men believe the women are second and are second class citizens. There role is to be domestic housekeepers and to birth children. Alicia makes tortillas for her father. When Esperanza is raped, she is again taught of the power of (some) men. But throughout her growth Esperanza gets very clear that she will not live as those around she sees. She wants independence. She knew getting out would help her achieve her dreams. She was motivated but everything she experiences. She learns about trust when Sally told her the circus would be fun, only to be raped. Her shyness (eating alone in the company lunchroom), and about being gullible. In Cathy Queen of hearts, Cathy says, father will have to fly France and find her cousin and inherit the house. She believes that everything will be good. But she feels incredibly stupid for not for not knowing better. But she does learn. When she learns that the box, is a music box. She is ashamed for