20 Network Security Project Topics

20 Network Security Project Topics Group projects are perhaps some of the most difficult projects that students come across in their university life. Not knowing where to start from or how to bring all the members together is a common problem. Other than this, there is also conflict on topics as different people usually have different ideas. Composing a group project on network security project topics require certain strategies and techniques that we are going to discuss in this second guide of ours. This is the guide where you can actually learn the easiest and fastest way to compose your group project on Network Security. Besides having 20 network security project topics, this guide also contains an informative essay covering one of them. The short sample essay in this guide will help you understand the key points working behind this major. In addition to this, we have also mentioned a few references at the bottom of this guide as well as the previous one, 10 Facts for a Group Project on Network Security, to help you search information regarding the topic you choose. After you’re done reading this guide, we suggest you to read our final guide, Writing a Group Project on Network Security, before you get on with writing your project. Our third and final guide contains tips, information and guidelines on how to compose a group project with ease. The methodologies and structure of writing a group project are properly outlined, structured and composed by our experts. By reading all of the guides, you’ll be able to produce a sublime essay that would persuade your teacher. With that being said, here are 20 topics on network security for you to consider: Is Biometric System More Secure? Can Quantum Computer Become a Reality and Offer Better Network Security? Is Apple Really Virus Proof? Reasons Behind Increasing Cyber Crimes Why Poor Cyber Security for Mobile Environments Is Threatening on a Global Level How Can Poor Network Security Be Responsible for Terrorism? How Changing Network Security Plans More Often Contribute Towards a Safer Connection What Role Has NASA Played in Providing Future Research Ideas Related to Privacy and Security? A Research Paper on Why Cyber Criminals Attack Government Organizations   How did Snowden Revolutionize the World of Security by Leaking NSA’s Information?   Is There a Need to Worry About Network Security?   Is Ethical Hacking a Danger For Us?   What Punishments Are Available to Cyber Criminals   Is Your Data Secure in the Cloud?   Are Some Countries More Secure Than Others?   Impact of Cyber Security Vulnerability on Organizations   How Businesses Are Protecting Against Cyber Criminals   Do All Cyber Criminals Want Money?   Should Banks be Provided More Network Security than Organizations?   Would the World Be a Better Place If Every Individual Is Granted a Right to Privacy? Now, there we go with our 20 topics as discussed, it’s time for you to take a look at our sample essay that we have chosen from the above-mentioned topics. We are positive that it will help you a lot. Sample Essay: Is Biometric System More Secure? Login credentials have been in the play for far too long to provide security to your assets and devices. Now they seem to be failing due to successful cyber attacks and with nothing 100% able to prevent such attacks from happening. However, experts are continuously working to provide better security, and Biometrics seems to be a step in the right direction. Security specialists and technologists from around the globe are taking a shot at Biometric technology to better ensure clients useful data. Biometric security has ended up being a successful and helpful approach to reinforce security, and with the innovation of cameras and unique finger impression techniques on cell phones, security has been given a new face. Biometric security has been around for quite some time now but didnt get much recognition in the field of security until Apple came up with iPhone 5S in 2013. This started the biometric era. Ranging from small devices to big security vaults, biometric technology is serving its purpose to provide better security than ever. Some common Biometric techniques include Facial Recognition, Fingerprint Impression and Voice Recognition. According to experts, some technology is stronger than other and vice versa. Passwords are not sufficient when security is at stake because breaching a password is not much difficult for professional hackers. On the other hand, Biometric confirmation is an authentic and logical approach to handle security breaches. The reason for Biometrics being better than other security providing technologies, for instance, the password security, is that passwords can be cracked if they’re weak or if the breacher is a pro, however, a unique fingerprint or retina scan cant be breached or cracked easily. The most recent Apple and Samsung cell phones, and numerous PCs and laptops are being installed with Biometric sensors. These gadgets also have a Trusted Platform Module or Trusted Execution Environment, that handles the approval of Biometric data independently from the respective device’s operating system. This is not only a step towards initiating a better security environment but also an effective way to keep away from various types of malware attacks coming from the network. With evolving technologies, the threats are likely to grow as well and older security methods are not capable to battle today’s advanced hacking threats. There is a bigger chance of security danger if you’re still dwelling on older security methods to protect something very valuable. Biometric technology has been skyrocketing in the recent years and is likely to grow and advance more. Having this technology empowered for verification and security purpose and implemented in the cell phones and other gadgets we use today have provided a safer environment for online banking, funds transfer and many other activities around the world. Its an adaptable security wall that can help businesses and individuals reduce security risks. References: Matt Curtin (1997), Introduction To Network Security.  interhack.net/pubs/network-security.pdf Joseph Migga Rizza University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Chattanooga, TN, U. S.A. , (2005) Computer Network Security. Didier Benkoel-Adechy (2017), What does the future hold for biometric authentication? Digitus-Biometrics Team (2015), 4 Reasons Why Biometric Security Is the Way Forward digitus-biometrics.com/blog/4-reasons-why-biometric-security-is-the-way-forward/ Robert Springer(2017), Biometric Security: Your Body as Your Password  http://insights.globalspec.com/article/3941/biometric-security-your-body-as-your-password Cisco. (2011). What is Network Security?  cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/what-is-network-security.html

Women on Death Row - Rosie Alfaro

Women on Death Row - Rosie Alfaro Marà ­a del Rosio Alfaro, also known as Rosie Alfaro, is a convicted murderer currently on death row in California for the June 15, 1990, murder of Autumn Wallace, age 9, in Anaheim, California. The Crime In June 1990, Rosie Alfaro was 18 years old, a drug addict and the mother of two and pregnant with twins. She was living in a home in Anaheim with a relative of the father of the twins, which was three blocks from the Wallace home. Alfaro was a high school friend of Autumns older sister April and had stayed with the Wallace family during her second pregnancy. However, in 1989, April began to distance herself from Alfaro, other than to occasionally give her a ride when asked. On June 15, 1990, Autumn was home from school early. The school was having early day and recessed at 2:35 p.m. Autumns mother, Linda Wallace, and April were at work and were not expected home until around 5 p.m. Autumn entertained herself by cutting out paper dolls. On the same day, Rosie Alfaro was busy buying cocaine and heroin and getting high. Her first score was around 11 a.m. and by 2 p.m. she was again out of money and drugs. A friend, Antonio Reynoso, who had been released from prison the previous day, agreed to share his drugs with her if she would agree to share her needle. When his drugs ran out, Alfaro decided that she would rob the Wallaces home to get money for more drugs. Alfaro told Reynoso that she used to live with the Wallace family and that she had left a video cassette recorder at the home and would sell it to him in exchange for drugs. Alfaro, Reynoso, an unidentified man, and Alfaros youngest baby went to the Wallace home. The men and the child waited by the car while Alfaro headed to the house. Autumn answered the door and recognized Alfaro as a friend of her sisters. Alfaro asked if she could use the restroom and Autumn let her come inside. Alfaro then managed to take a knife from the kitchen drawer and then coaxed Autumn into the bathroom. There she stabbed Autumn over 50 times in the back, chest, and head. With Autumn out the way, she went about robbing the house of various electronics, appliances, and clothing. Alfaro later admitted that she knew Autumn would be home alone and she was also aware that Autumn could identify her to the police. The Investigation April Wallace returned home at around 5:15 p.m. and found the door to the house unlocked. When she entered the home she saw that the house was a mess and that there were several items missing. She called out to Autumn, but there was no answer, so she left and went across the street to a neighbors house to wait for her mother to come home. Linda Wallace arrived home around 5:40 p.m. and was told that the house had been burglarized and that Autumn was missing. She went inside the house to search for Autumn and found her dead in the back bathroom. Neighbors told police that they saw a brownish Monte Carlo parked at the Wallace home and that two men, one holding a small child, were standing outside of the car. Police investigators were able to obtain a fingerprint from the Wallace home which matched to Alfaro. Alfaro was brought in for questioning and denied any involvement in the murder. More Evidence Sometime after the murder, Alfaro asked a friend if she could leave a bag of clothing at her house. Alfaro contacted the friend later, asking that she leave the bag outside of her home because she was heading to Mexico early the next day, but she never showed up.Investigators found out about the bag and on inspection found a pair of Aprils boots that had been reported as being stolen and a pair of Alfaros tennis shoes. A warrant for Alfaros arrest was issued and she was brought in for questioning again. Confession In a videotaped session that lasted more than four hours, Alfaro confessed that she alone murdered Autumn and then burglarizing the home. Alfaro was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and burglary. Trial In March 1992 a jury found Rosie Alfaro guilty for the murder of Autumn Wallace. The trial lasted two weeks. Sentencing - The First Penalty Phase During the first penalty phase of the trial childhood friends of Alfaro testified that she grew up in a violent home and that her father was a drunk who abused her mother. They also testified that Alfaro was using drugs as early as the sixth grade and dropped out of school in the seventh grade, at which time she began injecting daily as many as 50 speed balls (a mixture of heroin and cocaine.) Alfaros mother, Sylvia Alfaro, testified that her husband was an alcoholic who often hit both herself and Rosie in front of the other children in the family, and threw the family out of the home during drunken rages. She spoke about her daughters early drug use and her inability to quit. She said that at the age of 14, Rosie was pregnant with her first child. During that same time Rosies father abandoned the family. Who is Beto? Rosie Alfaro also took the stand and testified about her unhappy childhood, her violent father, racial prejudice she suffered at school and about her inability to get off of drugs. She expressed her remorse over the murder of Autumn Wallace, stating that we took your innocent life. With the reference of we the court ruled that she had opened the door to cross-examination regarding what went on during the crime since Alfaro had always insisted that she acted alone. During the cross-examination, Alfaro testified that she did murder Autumn, but did so under pressure from the second unidentified man that had come with her and Reynoso. She referred to the man as Beto but refused to offer any information as to his identity. She also testified that she was high on drugs and out of her head shortly before going to the Wallace home. This time she said that she did not know Autumn would be home and had never planned to harm her. She said that when Beto, who was also high on drugs, saw that Autumn was in the house he became angry and put a knife to Alfaros back and threatened to kill her and her child if she did not stab Autumn. She said she stabbed Autumn a few times, but claimed Beto must have inflicted the remainder of the stab wounds. Alfaro  said that once she came down from her high, she could not believe that Autumn was dead. The prosecutor questioned Alfaro about information regarding the identity of Beto that she had told to a mental health expert that examined her at the request of her lawyers. She testified that she initially told the doctor that the unidentified man was her fathers friend and that his name was Miguel. She then told him that the mans name was Beto and identified him in a photograph and said he had a womans name tattooed on his neck. During questioning of Alfaro and Reynoso the defense suggested that the real identity of Beto was Robert Frias Gonzales, whose nickname is Beto. However, in rebuttal the prosecution questioned Robert Gonzales who denied having anything to do with the murder of Autumn Wallace and who also did not look at all like the man that Alfaro had identified in the picture as being Beto. Unable to identify who Beto was, the jury at the first penalty phase trial was unable to agree on a sentence and the trial court was declared a mistrial. Second Penalty Phase Trial The penalty retrial was held in April 1992 before a new jury. Most of the same witnesses who testified during the first penalty trial, testified again, although this time Rosie Alfaro remained silent. In addition to the original testimony, the defense called an expert criminalist, Marc Taylor, who testified that after examining much of the evidence, that shoe prints found inside and outside the house did not match Alfaros shoes. A deputy sheriff at the Orange County jail testified for the defense about a person he saw who resembled the picture that Alfaro had identified as being Beto getting into a blue Camaro parked across the street from the main jail. Dr. Consuelo Edwards who was the mental health expert that Alfaro had first told about Beto forcing her to murder Autumn also testified for the defense. He said that Alfaros intellectual functioning was borderline, and that she had an IQ of 78 and learning disabilities that were made worse by her traumatic childhood. He described her as a follower. In rebuttal, the prosecutor had several Orange County jail employees testify about Alfaros poor behavior in jail and quoted comments that they had overheard her saying to another inmate. They testified hearing her say, Im a frustrated person who takes things out on people, and have to learn to live with that, and Im not going to be able to do this again. Im no actor. Im going to be cold this time. I just want to get this over with. Orange County investigator Robert Harper testified that Robert Frias Gonzales, who the defense claimed was Beto and the second man with Alfaro on the day of the murder, had a butterfly tattoo on his neck and not a womans name, which is what Alfaro had described. On July 14, 1992, the second penalty phase jury sentenced Rosie Alfaro to death. In August 2007, the Supreme Court of California denied Rosie Alfaros request for a stay of execution. Marà ­a del Rosio Alfaro is the first woman ever sentenced to death in Orange County.

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 23

Case study - Essay Example This is one major way that Personal Greetings Company exploits Gabriella. Both the companies pay them less than they think they deserve to make. Another way to tell their exploitation is from the fact that none of them, according to the case study, has ever been credited for his work. Brandon and Gabriela seem not to have received any credit (praise or just a simple thanks you) for their work from senior staffs like the managers. The last form of exploitation comes from the fact that both of them are being overworked and mistreated. This is another typical way Baxter and Personal Greetings Company take advantage of Brandon and Gabriella. Brandon, for instance, works 20 hours a week – very long shifts perhaps with few breaks) while Gabriela is forced to do many jobs. Gabriela is even treated unfairly by Personal Greetings. He is forced to strip his clothes to in the name of working. Brandon and Gabriella are two young people who clearly depict the typical scenario of exploitation in the society. Both of them are being exploited by the system in place; something that can only be explained by ideological hegemony theory. Ideological hegemony theorizes different way in which exploitation and domination are embedded within the dominant philosophies of society. Such dominant ideas have been internalized by the society and its people to the extended that the dominated and exploited give their consent to the relationships between them and the dominant group. Brandon and Gabriella seem to have given their consent to the relationship between them (the exploited) and their respective companies (the dominant group). Neither Brandon nor Gabriella is ready to accept that he is being exploited. Based on the problem identified in the case study, Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony is one theory that can explain how the concept of power and ideology work in

This is an individual assignment. You are to research an actual Essay

This is an individual assignment. You are to research an actual example of IT leveraging business advantage at an operational level - Essay Example The presence of fierce competition and cost restraints in the present world economic scenario make a proactive approach to envision the future results beforehand and implement appropriate measures to achieve desired results and targets is absolutely necessary. In this report the role played by the IBM Corporation in developing such strategies to enhance multifarious businesses with hardware and software solutions has been studied. The latest innovative ideas implemented by this leader in automation and IT have been incorporated in the report. Practical implementation of an IT strategy by a leader in an online gaming industry has been studied and researched up to some extent from the results obtained by it after choosing a particular IBM product. Information Technology (IT) has grown at a tremendous pace in the last decade and has left no aspect of business or human life untouched. Banking, Healthcare, Education, The Stock Market, etc. are on the verge of being exclusively run using IT. The growth in the IT industry however has not been uniform, as advances in hardware and software development have been influenced by the exclusive needs and requirements of large corporation and governments. This has produced a haphazard pattern of growth in the IT sector and the experts in the field have initiated efforts only very recently to restructure it to be uniform, efficient as well as cost effective. Almost all businesses in the developed and the developing countries are being run using latest and the most modern aspects of IT. Institutions like banks, the hotel industry, fast food chains, fast moving consumer goods industry and others have surpassed their competitors by miles using IT to leverage their businesses. One such organization is the IBM Corporation which was the pioneering organization in ushering the computer age in this century.

Developments in Hacking, Cybercrime, and Malware Essay Example for Free

Developments in Hacking, Cybercrime, and Malware Essay The number one web based attack of 2009 was Malicious PDF activity 49% of web based attacksattempts to deliver malicious pdf content to victims through the web. The pdf attack is designed to exploit arbitrary vulnerabilities in applications that are able to process pdf’s. A successful pdf attack could compromise the integrity and security of affected computers. (Symantec Corporation, 2009) The number two web based attack of 2009 was the Microsoft Internet Explorer ADODB.Stream Object file installation weakness. This exploit accounted for 18% of the total number of web based exploits for the year. This vulnerability allows hackers to install malicious files on a vulnerable computer when a user visits a website hosting an exploit. In order for this attack to be successful, an attacker must exploit an arbitrary vulnerability that bypasses Internet Explorer Security settings.Then the attacker can execute the malicious files that were installed by the initial security weakness. This vulnerability has been known since 2003, and patches have been released since 2004. This exploit exposes the fact that many computer systems were not being kept up to date. (Symantec Corporation, 2009) The number three most common web based exploit of 2009 was the Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 uninitialized memory code execution vulnerability. This attack works by enticing a victim to open a malicious web page. Once a user opens the web page it gives the attacker the ability to execute remote code on the victims computer. Since this is a browser based attack, it gives the hacker potentially more targets than relying on a plugin that may not get installed. (Symantec Corporation, 2009) The top 3 Malware attacks of 2013 were W32.Downadup, W32.Sality, and W32.Ramnit. Although their names all begin with W32., each bug has it’s own way of exploiting a system. Let’s take for instance the W32.Downadup. This  worm has been around since 2008. This worm spreads by taking advantage of a remote code execution vulnerability found in Microsoft Windows server service RFC. This worm strives to block access to security related web sites while attempting to spread to protected network shares via brute force of weak passwords. The Security of the entire network is at stake with this worm. This virus demonstrates shows how important it is to keep servers and workstations updated with the latest virus definitions. (W32.Downadup.B, n.d.) The W32.Ramnit has been around since 2010. This worm is spread by infecting executable drives and removable drives. This malware steals bank usernames and passwords. Having a security policy prohibiting personal drives from being used in the workplace is paramount. This type of attack could cause data loss if unmitigated. (Symantec Corporation, 2013) The W32.Sality is in my opinion the nastiest of all three bugs. What makes the W32.Sality particularly nasty is that it can infect executable files on local, removable, and shared drives. W32.Sality is known as an (EPO) or entry point obscuring polymorphic file infector. Essentially, it’s a sophisticate worm-like virus that ensures its survival by downloading other malware and disabling security software. One of the most damaging features of the W32.Sality virus is how it decentralizes peer to peer networks with sophisticated code instruction that populates the network with infected computers. (W32.Sality., n.d.) References W32.Downadup.B. (n.d.). Retrieved June 26, 2014, from http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2008-123015-3826-99 W32.Ramnit. (n.d.). Retrieved June 26, 2014, from http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2010-011922-2056-99 W32.Sality. (n.d.). Retrieved June 26, 2014, from http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2006-011714-3948-99 Symantec Corporation. (2009). Symantec Global Internet Security Threat Report Trends for 2009. Mountain View: Symantec Corporation. Symantec Corporation. (2013). Symantec Global Internet Security Threat Report Trends for 2009. Mountain View: Symantec Corporation.

Cyber Ethics Essay -- essays research papers

Cyber Ethics: Rules for Using the Web We all have heard of ethics. According to Webster’s II New College Dictionary (1995), ethics is the rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession. As Winn Schwartau (2001) stated â€Å"ethics is also about understanding how your actions will affect other people†. Cyber-ethics is the ethical decisions we make when using the Internet. We are tasked to use the Internet on a daily basis and we task students to use the Internet regularly, but to use it properly we must adhere to ethics. Ethics is not a law but your moral code. We must know how to avoid plagiarism, know the acceptable use of the Internet, and we must be familiar with Censorship in order to know what moral standards to follow with the World Wide Web. Plagiarism, or as Steven Gardiner (2001) calls it cyber cheating is the new twist for cheating. Over the years plagiarism has become much harder to detect. But, how do you know when a student has copied his work from online, and not give the proper credit to the rightful owner? I remember working on my undergrad and to prevent cyber cheating my professor only allowed us to use a limited number of Internet cites. The rest were to be from physical books from the library. I can see why a student would copy a paper over writing one. It only takes a few minutes to search the web, cut and paste, and then add you name. The time they saved in research just added more time for them to do the things that are fun. The second way to detect cyber cheating according to Gardiner (2001) is that if you task a student to write a paper is MLA and the paper is in APA it is almost a given that the paper was not written by the student. As most teachers are parents or have that parental instinct, they are aware of the capabilities of their students. So another way to determine if the paper is a fake is ask yourself if that student could really produce that quality of work. To understand the appropriate use of the Internet you have to know what is acceptable and what is not. The Department of Justice categorizes computer crimes in three different ways: the computer as a target, the computer as a weapon, and the computer as an accessory (e.g., para 2, â€Å"What is Cyber Crime?† n.d.). We must teach children how to use the Internet the right way. Much of what we know is learned, and the same goes for using the ... ...hnology era a living nightmare. References Crystal, J., Geide, C.A., & Salpeter, J. (2000, November). The concerned educator's guide to safety and cyber-ethics. Tech Learning [Online]. Retrieved October 22, 2004: http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/TL/112000/cyberethics.htm Federal Censorship. (2002, February). Retreived October 22, 2004 from the World Wide Web:http://www.epic.org/free_speech/censorship/ Gardiner, Steven (2001). Cybercheating: A New Twist on an Old Problem. Retrieved October 22, 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0110gar.htm Radnofsky, Mary and Vuko, Evelyn ( 2004, June 1). Teacher Says: Teaching Cyber Ethics: Kids on the Internet. Washington Post Online. Retrieved October 22, 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64135-2004May28.html Schwartau, Winn (2001). Cyber Ethics 101: What Are (Is) Ethics?. Retrieved October 22, 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ed-u.com/cyber-ethics.htm Webster's II New College Dictionary. (1995). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. What is a cyber crime? (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.cybercitizenship.org/ Cyber Ethics Essay -- essays research papers Cyber Ethics: Rules for Using the Web We all have heard of ethics. According to Webster’s II New College Dictionary (1995), ethics is the rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession. As Winn Schwartau (2001) stated â€Å"ethics is also about understanding how your actions will affect other people†. Cyber-ethics is the ethical decisions we make when using the Internet. We are tasked to use the Internet on a daily basis and we task students to use the Internet regularly, but to use it properly we must adhere to ethics. Ethics is not a law but your moral code. We must know how to avoid plagiarism, know the acceptable use of the Internet, and we must be familiar with Censorship in order to know what moral standards to follow with the World Wide Web. Plagiarism, or as Steven Gardiner (2001) calls it cyber cheating is the new twist for cheating. Over the years plagiarism has become much harder to detect. But, how do you know when a student has copied his work from online, and not give the proper credit to the rightful owner? I remember working on my undergrad and to prevent cyber cheating my professor only allowed us to use a limited number of Internet cites. The rest were to be from physical books from the library. I can see why a student would copy a paper over writing one. It only takes a few minutes to search the web, cut and paste, and then add you name. The time they saved in research just added more time for them to do the things that are fun. The second way to detect cyber cheating according to Gardiner (2001) is that if you task a student to write a paper is MLA and the paper is in APA it is almost a given that the paper was not written by the student. As most teachers are parents or have that parental instinct, they are aware of the capabilities of their students. So another way to determine if the paper is a fake is ask yourself if that student could really produce that quality of work. To understand the appropriate use of the Internet you have to know what is acceptable and what is not. The Department of Justice categorizes computer crimes in three different ways: the computer as a target, the computer as a weapon, and the computer as an accessory (e.g., para 2, â€Å"What is Cyber Crime?† n.d.). We must teach children how to use the Internet the right way. Much of what we know is learned, and the same goes for using the ... ...hnology era a living nightmare. References Crystal, J., Geide, C.A., & Salpeter, J. (2000, November). The concerned educator's guide to safety and cyber-ethics. Tech Learning [Online]. Retrieved October 22, 2004: http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/TL/112000/cyberethics.htm Federal Censorship. (2002, February). Retreived October 22, 2004 from the World Wide Web:http://www.epic.org/free_speech/censorship/ Gardiner, Steven (2001). Cybercheating: A New Twist on an Old Problem. Retrieved October 22, 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0110gar.htm Radnofsky, Mary and Vuko, Evelyn ( 2004, June 1). Teacher Says: Teaching Cyber Ethics: Kids on the Internet. Washington Post Online. Retrieved October 22, 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64135-2004May28.html Schwartau, Winn (2001). Cyber Ethics 101: What Are (Is) Ethics?. Retrieved October 22, 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ed-u.com/cyber-ethics.htm Webster's II New College Dictionary. (1995). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. What is a cyber crime? (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.cybercitizenship.org/

Explain the principal social perspective

Functionalism is a structural (macro) perspective that suggests that our behaviour is influenced by the society is organised. They believe that the institutions have a major impact on how we behave in the society. The individuals are constrained by the society, and the functionalists views the individuals in the society as a puppets. Functionalists says we as an individual have little power about what we do and the institution influences us. This can be seen in society in form of laws, norms, values (norm underpins values), beliefs and relationship. This theory suggests that the individuals in the society must behave properly; otherwise, they are regarded as deviant and are punished. Functionalism believes that every part of the society are interdependent with each other, which helps society to keep going. It is almost like a human body, where different parts of the body has a function together, which keep it alive and healthy; this is called organic analogy. For instance, the family helps by bringing up the next generation about the patterns of shared and stable behaviour that are called social order. Different social institution such as, legal system, political system, health system, family system and education system work together to maintain a stable society from generation to generation. For instance, the legal system provides laws, norms that underpin values, safety, discipline and order and the health system provides free health services, family system provides help in reproduction that increases the economy. All of these institutions together to form an ‘integrated whole’ society or social structure. The major function of these social constitutions are to make individual to follow the norms that underpins values and internalize them, which leads to value consensus. According to Talcott Parson, society is based on value consensus where shared and common values and behavioural norms lead to a common culture. Consensus is an agreement in the society about the values, and have freedom, equality, justice and fairness. These values are acquired by passing down from generation to generation, through primary socialisation. These values benefit everybody equally, some the example of values that exist in our society are right for equality, justice and privacy. There are mechanism of social control in the society, like punishment and rewards. Socialisation and social control ensure that there is equilibrium in the society. The process of socialisation achieves equilibrium in the society, whereas family, religion, law and mass media, which are the agents of socialisation, are responsible for maintaining the equilibrium. The functionalist believes that the western societies are meritocratic, which means the system rewards the individual in the society based on their effort and talent and social mobility is possible in this system. They also believe that people in the society can achieve status by working hard and there is equality of opportunity in the society. Talcott Parsons proposed the functionalist approach, which considers health and illness and assumes negative definition of health. He described that illness is a form of deviance that distracts proper functioning of the society, in the same way that crime does. Ill members in the society must perform a social role where sick role consists of four elements, two of which are right and responsibilities. The rights associated with the sick role was to be excused from normal social obligation and be cared for, whereas the responsibilities were to take steps to get better and co-operating with the medical professionals such as doctors. This view suggests that ill must be cared for and must be dealt with as soon as possible in order for the society to run smoothly. 1. Marxism The founder of Marxism is Karl Marx (1818-1883), who was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist and revolutionary socialist. Marxism structural (macro) perspective, where our behaviour is determined by the way society is organised. The social institutions such as laws, rules and norms have big impact on how we behave and we are controlled by the society. Marxists believes that the society is not interdependent, instead it believes that economy is the base or infrastructure of the society, and our behaviour depends upon the economy of the society. Marxists sees the society as a system that operates to make profit for the upper class. Whereas the working class are socially engineered to conform the needs of the upper class who benefit from the societies using capitalist economic system. Capitalists exists all around the world and the economies of industrial societies in the west are based on capitalism. Marxists explains that the capitalists economies compromises two main social class; the capitalists and the workers. The upper class people were the capitalists who were regarded as powerful, whereas the workers or the labours were the lower class people and were seen as powerless puppets. The capitalists exploits the workers since they do not get recognition for what they do as get have minimum wage and make surplus profit by persuading the lower class to buy the goods by advertising. The capitalists are opposite of socialism since the capitalists control what we think and what we do, the working class people are ‘brain washed’ into accepting set of beliefs that benefits the capitalists. These messages are seen to be transmitted through the cultural institutions such as media, which are controlled by the capitalists to influence the workers. The capitalists creates the dominant values that benefits the powerful and disadvantages the powerless. For instance, the monarch claim their position as god gifted and the religion help supports their point, due to which the working class people are convinced to what have to say since they have faith in their religion. Inequality in capitalist societies still exists and is unfair but they do not recognise it because the capitalists convince them that it is their fault for not achieving what they want. For instance, the capitalists would convince working class by saying the GCSE result of upper class is higher than that of lower class because they have been able to provide private tutors for their children, and it would be their fault if their children got low grade, since they were not able to provide their children with private tutors. Marxist believes that the definition of health and illness and the health and social care services provided to the powerless serve the interests of the powerful dominant classes. The capitalists regard people who do not produce wealth as unhealthy. Marxists believe that doctors are the example of agents that work for capitalists interests rather than those of patients so that they can go to work as soon as possible and provide the capitalists with healthy work force. The government allows the capitalists to make profit from the products that cause health issues, such as alcohol and tobacco. The industries that capitalists establish cause to pollute the atmosphere and produce toxic waste that affect the people and get ill. This approach believes that illness is related to difference in the social class. For instance, poverty-stricken areas have higher levels of illness and have lower life expectancy. According to this approach, the government do no handle this issue as this would make people ill, as this leads this money and the capitalists would make advantage of it. 1. Feminists Feminism is a range of movements and ideologies that work towards goal, which establish and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal and social rights for women. Feminism seeks to establish equal opportunities for women in different sectors like education and employment and supports for equal rights and equality of women. The feminists believe that gender inequality still exists in today’s society. Feminism is a perspective that believes that women are disadvantaged in the society and should have equal rights with the men. The feminists are critical of patriarchy. Patriarchy is a social system where the men hold the power and authority. The women have fought throughout the history for their rights and equality, which caused creation of waves of feminism. The first wave was observed in the mid late 19th century, campaigning for the change in rights for the women in early 20th century. They campaigned for two main strategy; right to vote and right to be educated. In 1928, the women were given the right to vote, but only rich women over 30 who owned property were allowed. The second wave of feminism was observed from 1960s, this lead to the formation of Women’s Rights Movement (WRM) and Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM). These organisations campaigned for right to equal pay act, domestic violence, sex discrimination, employment, violence services, education, family and health & social care. WRM and WLM were successful in achieving their rights for Equal pay Act in (1970), Sex Discrimination Act (1975) and right to be educated and be employed. Due to variation in opinion of causes of gender inequality and solutions to it, there was formation of three types of feminism; liberal feminism, Marxist feminism and radical feminism. Liberal feminism proposed that gender inequality stills exists in the society because of social and cultural attitudes that is gained by the process of socialisation i.e. primary and secondary socialisation. Liberal feminist helped to promote equality through Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Act. Marxist feminism explained that the capitalists to earn profit using women. They would persuade women to buy groceries such as fabric softener, so that they would spend their money and exploit them. Radical feminism explains that the society is ruled by the men, whereas the female are oppressed, exploited and are regarded as second-class citizen. It states that men exploit women by relying on free domestic labour and men may use aggression to control women in the home. Through the gender role socialisation, wo men are convinced to accept female subordination and see motherhood as a key goal in life. The feminist writers have focused male domination in the medical profession and its effects on women. They are concerned with the way in which pregnancy and childbirth have been regarded as a medical issue rather than as natural process. Feminist writers have protested on the way which the medical professions and related pharmaceutical industries have given low priority about development and promotion of male contraceptives. It explains how women had to face medical conditions such as mental health, anxiety and depression using the contraceptives, due to which their position in the society is exploited. Theorist have been concerned about the impact of social inequality on women’s health and dual role of women. 1. Interactionism The founder of interactionism was Max Weber. Interpretivist describe that the society and the social structure are seen as the creation of individuals. Unlike functionalists, they see individuals of the society as actors not as puppets. The individuals have free will and are able to make choices of their own. Unlike in the functionalism, the power come from bottom to up. They believe that the people’s choices or decisions are influenced by how they make sense of social situations. For instance, marriage means different things to different person; an individual whose parents are divorced might have negative definition of marriage, whereas the individual who have grown up in a good family might have positive definition of marriage. The Interpretivist suggests that people make impression on how you perceive symbols, they make impression on what you wear. For instance, people will make assumption that you are smart, just because you wear glasses. These theorists are concerned with the small or micro scale situations rather than the systems, they focus on the individuals in social interaction situations. Interpretivist believe that our identity is based on how we see ourselves or how other sees us. For instance, if a student in the school is praised and us labelled as smart, then he/she might do better his/her studies as this helps to boost their self-esteem. We get influenced by media, friends and family about how we see ourselves. According to Browne labelling refers to â€Å"defining a person or a group in a certain way-as a particular ‘type‘ of person or a group†. According to Interpretivist people are attached to the labelled and it can actually damage some group of people such as disabled people. The person labelled behaves in the same way expected and they have fulfilled the prophecy and lived up to the label. Interactionist believe that health and illness are the product of social construction that affects people’s wellbeing. They believe that disease is socially constructed†. Disease does not exist as a social phenomenon until it is somehow perceived as existing† (Rosenberg 1989). This approach focuses on negotiation between the patients and medical practitioners. For instance, a female patient would feel comfortable to talk to female doctor about her reproductive health rather than a male doctor. They are concerned with labelling and self-image and social interaction differences affected by class, ethnicity and age. Symbolic interactionism is critical of Marxists and Functionalists as Interpretivist look individual as subjective through doctor and patient exchange. The argument here is that illness is a social diagnosis among actors rather than just a matter of physiological malfunction. 1. Postmodernism Postmodernism is an approach in sociology as well as in other subjects, which believes that society is changing rapidly and continuously, which is marked as an uncertainty and the social structure are being replaced by whole range of different and constantly changing social relationships. This theory believes that modern society was developed at around 1750s and has been replaced by the end of 20th century due to massive social change. The Functionalists and the Marxism perspective might be interested in modernity as they thought that if properly understood, societies could be improved. But the postmodernists argue that there is no longer a place in sociology for these type of theory. This theory suggests that the postmodern society has no progress, predictability (norms that people would predict to behave), order and continuity, due to which insecurities and anxiety has been developed in people living in postmodern society as people do not know how to behave and what is expected from others. Order, predictability and continuity are essential as it gives us routine and reassurance that provides us safety and security. Society has changed as it has gone through different industrial revolution or industrialisation, technological advances, urbanisation and secularisation. Industrialisation is the process of going from agricultural economy to heavy industrial/manufacturing economy. Secularisation is the decline of belief in religion due to rise of science whereas urbanisation means movement of people from rural areas to towns and cities. Postmodernists suggests that modern society no longer exists and we live in a postmodern era or in post modernity, where the society is media saturated. Due to the revolution of technology, globalisation has occurred where the world has become a smaller place to live in. The mass media has dominated our lives to the extent that we confuse media images with reality. This theory concludes that people in the postmodern society can have their own form of identities, how they want to see themselves or how they want to define themselves. There is diversity, choices and ‘pick and mix’ culture in this society. There is no imposition on people on how to behave and there is flexibility in the work. Due to fluidity and flexibility in the postmodern society, people might feel insecure and unsafe. 1. Collectivists and New Rights Collectivists Collectivists believes that their goal are more important than the individual goals because they believe that society as a whole has more importance than the individual alone. This theory focuses on the importance of the society and community and gives priority to the group goals than the individual goals. This approach aims to address the inequalities in the society due to different levels of wealth and status in the society. With an aim to sort out the inequalities, welfare state was established to get rid of five giant evils; want (poverty), idleness (unemployment), squalor (poor quality housing) and ignorance (underachievement). Services were made free after these giant evils were identified. To eradicate disease existing in the society, NHS service was established in 1948 to make sure that the people lived healthy life. The basic principle of collectivism is to provide people with education, health and social services for the individuals in the society who cannot afford it through taxes then access on the basis of rights as opposed to the ability to pay. These helped to provide foundation for the Welfare State which is based on the collectivists principle ‘cradle to grave’ or child to old age pension. This approach was adopted by The Labour Party who represented workers which aimed for the redistribution of wealth through taxes. In this policy, the government would cut off taxes from the wealthy people and share it with the poor (shares some ideas with Marxists). Collectivists believes that we have equal rights and the government should administer responsibility for Welfare State. The New Rights criticises the Collectivism as it creates the dependency culture. They point out that people become irresponsible, lazy and don not work as benefits are demotivating for the people. New rights The New Right was popular during 1980s. They are the political movement with a considerable cultural influence that looks at individualism and distrust of the state as controlling and interfering in what is essentially the private world of the individual. They proposed to cut the public spending and cut taxes. They wanted the rich people to have more money to spend money as they choose. The New rights was critical of Collectivists stating that the rising costs to government of the welfare state were preventing the economic growth and the individuals were becoming dependant on the welfare state. The New Rights were critical of public services owned/controlled by the government and they preferred pro private services e.g. education and health care. The New Right is argued to favour ‘the rich’, but they believe that everybody in the society has equal opportunity, so anyone can become rich. E.g. Alan Sugar. They believe that people must be responsible for their own and their family’s welfare and they should not be dependent on the government. The New Rights are completely opposite to Collectivism. The most radical New Rights would abolish the Welfare State. g) Bio-medical and social models Bio medical Model Biomedical model focuses on the physical or biological aspects of disease and illness. The doctors or the health care professionals are associated with the care and treatment of diseases in this model of health. The bio medical model accept a ‘negative’ definition of health. The negative definition of health explains that the individual believes that they have good state of health and wellbeing because they have absence of physical illness, disease, injury, mental stress, free from pain and discomfort. The bio medical model of is dominant model in our society since it is based on objectivity thus this model has influenced or convinced people in the society. This model emphasises on diagnosis and treatment of the individuals separately from their living condition, due to which this model is not holistic approach. The reasons for illness are not at the centre of biomedical model. This model believes that health is a biological normality and describe that having ill health is deviant. This model believes that the disease is caused by identical factors such as germs, genes and accidents. They can be identified by having examination tests like blood, urine, saliva test, X-ray and MRI. They accept that the professionals diagnose disease then treatment is identified and cure is offered to the patient. The professionals views the human body as a machine and see things very clinically and do not really take consideration to people’s feeling. They often promote the view that disease or illness is temporary. This model indicates that we all have equal chance of getting ill and some people get ill due to weak health, whereas some people get ill due to factors such as weak sanitation. It assumes that medical treatment has had the most important impact on improving the health of individual. For instance, the NHS helps in the prolonged and preserves life, but this can be argued as health of an individual had already started to get better due to access to clean water, exercise and diet. The strength of bio medical model of health is that it is based on scientific knowledge and research and has provided many effective treatments for disease and physical condition. The bio medical model of health has be successful to provide many effective cure and treatments for disease throughout the history of humankind. The weakness of biomedical model of health is that the treatments can be expensive and require training or expertise to deliver and this model focuses on the individual and pays insufficient attention to environmental and social factors, which is not a holistic approach. Social Model The social model accepts the positive definition of health. The positive definition of health can be described as the achievement and maintenance of physical fitness and mental stability. This model believes that health is a relative concept and a social construct. For instance, being voluptuous centuries ago was a sign of good health, but today’s day it is regarded as health issue or overweight. This model claims that ill health is caused due to social factors (including environmental factors). For instance people can get ill because of the unhealthy diet they are consuming, poor living condition or pollution. This model is critical of ‘modern’ medicine, which are elements of biomedical model. E.g. Iatrogenisis medicine caused deformity in the baby consumed by pregnant mother eaten for nausea sickness. It argues with the biomedical model saying that illness is not randomly distributed and are critical of the assumption that medical treatments has had the most important impact on improving health. Social model can explain why population level health improvements were achieved when social conditions improved late 19th/early 20th centuries due to the improvement of sanitation and supply of clean water the health of population improved, and argues it was not because free health services was delivered to the people. The strengths of social model of health is that it focuses population health and takes a broad range of factors into account and it is widely used and understood by health care practitioners in developed countries. This model offers board and flexible and inclusive way of understanding health and illness. Whereas the weakness of this model is they do not have a clear way of identifying or classifying health problems and this model cannot explain illness or many mental health problems where there are no physical signs or symptoms, which can be distressing. The social model cannot be used to address an individual’s health problems, especially where emergency care is needed.