17 - Group Project - Safe Practices for Life Online

This was a group project. My group members were Brittney, Alex, and Ray. Brittney did questions 3, 4, 5, and 6. Alex did questions 7, 8, and 10.  I did questions 1, 2, 9, 11, 12, and 13.  

#1 Social Networking Sites

Facebook

Twitter

Tumblr

#2 Consequences of Social Media Misuse
Recently, here at USM, a student posted a threat to other students on a social app called Yik Yak. Yik Yak is supposedly a feed where people can post anonymously to the people in the close vicinity. This student was located by campus police with help from the staff of Yik Yak. He was arrested and charged with a felony offense. This is just one example of possible consequences of posting on social media.

#3 Definitions

sexting - sending (someone) sexually explicit photographs or messages via cell phone.

cramming - the fraudulent practice of adding unauthorized charges to a customer's phone bill.

cookies - a message given to a Web browser by a Web server.

trojan horse - a program designed to breach the security of a computer system while ostensibly performing some innocuous function.

phishing - the activity of defrauding an online account holder of financial information by posing as a legitimate company.

zombie - a computer that a remote attacker has accessed and set up to forward transmissions (including spam and viruses) to other computers on the Internet.

rookit - a set of tools that allow an unauthorised person to take over the use of a computer.

spyware - a program that is downloaded to a person's computer without their consent that retrieves information about that person or their computer use.

#4  Screennames
“Trashmouth,” “IHaveOnePairPants,” “BoogerDude,” and “Pig” are not appropriate screen name choices in general. They are especially not appropriate if you want to be taken seriously in the future as a professional. Your screen name needs to represent you, especially in a professional and tasteful manner. These screen names are inappropriate, unprofessional, and just plain unnecessary.

#5  Screennames
The screen name “InYoFace” might give someone the impression that you think you’re all that and that you feel you are superior to other people, which may make them want to harass you and knock you down a level. The screen name “Badboy2U” might give someone the impression that you think you are untouchable and have the right to act however you want, which may make them want to put you in your place. The screen name “Lookin4Luv” may give people the impression that you’re willing to do anything for love, and they may try to take advantage of you. The screen name “IMAHottie” gives off the vibe that you think you are the hottest thing since sliced bread, and that would make anyone want to knock you down two sizes just to show you that you aren’t as great as you seem to think you are. The screen name “FatMama” may make people think you have children, you’re inappropriate, or all of the above. This doesn’t give off a good impression to anyone, which may lead to harassment. The screen name “suPaFlirt” puts off the vibe that you are willing to flirt with anyone without any standards, which can easily lead to sexual harassment.

#6  Screennames

Tom_Evans34 gives away the man’s first and last name, and possibly his age.

Missy-13 gives away the fact that this is a 13 year old girl.

AndyKarateKid gives away the child’s first name and a hobby of his. Anyone, if they know the location of this child, could find out where he does karate at.

ViolinGurl gives away that this girl plays the violin and potentially plays in the band. This can make her easily accessible to predators.

restlinmatch gives away that this boy is into wrestling and probably plays for his school.

#7 Screennames
Are these appropriate?
i8sushi2 - yes
Soccerstar - yes
Puppygirl1234 - no
KeKe1995 - no
Bookworm - yes
2BorNot2b - yes
Choco-holic - no
CapitlOfens - no
AmrcanIdol2 - yes
BellaIsabella - yes
DarkAngel666 - no
Karla-Love-1996 - no
SimpyMe - yes
gUn4hiRe - no
babyfaceLA - no
Watup? - no

Although many of these screen names are not professional, they are still appropriate. It would depend on the situation and the person who is using this screen name. The screen names that I said “yes” to being appropriate to were unlikely to attract negative attention, were free of bad language, don’t reveal too personal of information, and don’t reveal a name, age, location, or gender.

#8 Appropriate Screennames

schoolteacher101

ilovemydog576

deltaairlines01

# 9  Password score
+2 (a fairly good password, but not great)

#10  Common and Uncommon Reasons Students have their Accounts Broken Into
Most Common - Students give their password to their friends,  who then decide to use it or give it to other who use it.
Least Common -  A password cracking software is used to crack their password.

#11 Drive by Downloads

         Drive by download is a funny name for a serious problem. People can insert coding into seemingly innocent web pages that download malware to your computer without you even noticing. A lot of times, it shows up later claiming to be security software that needs you to pay a subscription fee in order to fix your problem. Even if you pay for the fake security, it does not fix your computer, so you still have the malware problems.

         This is one reason that you should always keep your security software up to date. Most modern security software can keep drive by downloads from happening to your computer. It is also important to know what kind of software is on your computer so that you notice when something unfamiliar pops up. I think it is especially important to keep your computer safe in today’s world of technology driven society. In today’s world, if your computer is jeopardized, you have a serious problem. You may not be able to work or socialize properly until the problem is fixed.  

The article at http://www.ic3.gov/media/2014/141114.aspx describes how recently criminals have been fraudulently “selling” large items such as boats and automobiles over the internet. They post an ad with a picture and a contact number. Then someone sees it and calls. The scammer asks for their email address and tells them why they need to sell their item so quickly (divorce settlement, moving across the country, etc). After they negotiate a price, the scammer sends the customer an email that appears to be from a safe site like ebay, but is really a fake. The customer pays for their nonexistent boat, and then the scammer sends them another “ebay” email with a payment confirmation and anticipated shipping date. The scammer gets the money, but the customer never gets a boat.

#12 Internet Safety Tests

Are You Protecting Your Identity? – mid-level risk

Are You Safe From Financial Fraud Opportunities – low risk

Are You the Lucky Winner of a Sweepstakes or Lottery? – low risk

#13 Article summary