Marketing Communication Analysis on Apple (Emphasis on Ipod and Iphone)

Marketing Communication Analysis On Apple Name: Bokeny Kornel In this report I will analyse the marketing communication activities of the multinational corporation Apple, with great emphasis on the current top-selling products thereof: the iPhone, and the iPods. I will deal with the iPod and the iPhone, since the marketing communication used to promote these products is the most notable. The report will include several images, so that the reader can experience the products’ design and the corresponding advertisements for each product. Company overview Since the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984 with the 1984 Super Bowl commercial to the more modern ‘Get a Mac' advertisements, Apple has been recognized in the past for its efforts towards effective advertising and marketing for its products, though its advertising has been criticized for the claims of some more recent campaigns, namely 2005 Power Mac advertisements, and iPhone ads in Britain. Apple is an IT company founded in 1975 by Steve Jobs (the current leader), Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company's currently best-known hardware products include Macintosh computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the new iPad. In its early years, Apple only manufactured computers, but for the sake of greater success, it further expanded to the consumer electronics market. It was even called â€Å"Apple Computer, Inc. † for thirty years, but the word â€Å"Computer† on January 9, 2007, to show that the company’s main products are not computers anymore. Now in 2010, Apple is considered to be one of the largest technological corporations in the world by revenue. Apple periodically holds a so-called â€Å"Apple event† where information about new and future products is revealed by Apple’s superiors. The event’s host is usually Steve Jobs. Apple’s computers have their own operating system called the MAC OS, which is fabled for its performance and ease of operation. The iPod is praised for being small but powerful, because of its impressive storage capacity. The iPhone is the present top-selling product, which is a smart phone combined with a portable media device. It is considered to be an epoch-making technical product by many tech-fans. The latest product which is the iPad, is a new type of device, unique on the market. It is a tablet PC, which meant to be somewhere in-between PDA-s and notebooks. The Logo The first Apple logo which designed by Steve Jobs depicts Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} This early logo was almost immediately replaced by the well known rainbow apple (2nd picture) because of marketing communication issues. Jobs insisted the logo to be in colour to humanize the company. The reason for the vivid colours was to transmit positivity to the customers and to represent the fact that the monitor is capable of reproducing images in colour. The Apple logo was designed with a bite so that it would be recognized as an apple rather than a cherry. In 1998, with the series of the new iMac, Apple discontinued the rainbow theme and began to use monochromatic themes, almost identical in shape to its previous rainbow logo. The iPod Apple’s former flagship product the iPod had a unique marketing campaign. The iPod was a mere mp3 player but through the outstanding marketing communication it became a must-have for portable music device fans. The advertisements showed black silhouettes of dancing people with an iPod in their hands, which stood out because of its white colour. The vivid background emphasised the figures even more: {draw:frame} {draw:frame} When the concept of the iPod and its advertisement was first introduced to the heads of Apple, it was laughed at. Later, when the product was released and the advertisement campaign was launched, it proved to be the biggest success in the history of Apple. Of course some people did not see the advertisements or did not react to it in buying the product, but there were other sources of advertisement in Apple’s mind. The iPod began to turn up in music videos, in the hands of famous stars. The increase of demand was immediately palpable after the premier of 50 cents’ music video of the song P. I. M. P. The singer here can be seen listening to a white iPod with white headphones. Although the Apple logo is not visible in the clip, the screen of the device is showed for a couple of seconds, displaying on the top the word â€Å"iPod†. In a few years, Apple has reached considerably big brand recognition, so whenever someone sees the small â€Å"i† at the beginning of the products name, he or she will immediately know that it is an Apple product. Apple is known for using a lot of slogans; the most of these were concerning the iPod. The first models’ slogan was â€Å"1,000 songs in your pocket† (2001). At that time, the iPod had the largest storage capacity on its market. This evolved further, but Apple returned to this slogan because these large numbers always catch potential customers’ eyes. After some years: â€Å"10,000 songs in your pocket† (2004) and in the present: â€Å"Your Top 40,000†³ (2010). Apple also used some creative, humorous slogans such as: â€Å"*Do not eat iPod shuffle† (2005) This Easter egg slogan was attached as a footnote to claim that the iPod shuffle was about the size of a pack of gum. After a lot of complaints about the lack of colour variety, Apple introduced the iPod shuffle in more colours, and a new slogan: â€Å"Put some color on† (2006). {draw:frame} The iPod’s strengths The iPod made a huge impact on the market, not only influencing other portable music devices, but the favourable brand perception had also increased sales of Macintosh computers. The iPod gives the company access to a whole new series of segments that buy into other parts of the Apple brand. The iPod has created a large group of aficionados who will stick to Apple products in the future; this will mean a stable minimum number of buyers to Apple’s future products even if these products are not that successful. Analysts say that the sound quality produced by the iPod is perfect as well. The music files can also be downloaded from iTunes, Apple’s online music store. The downloadable music has created a steady flow of capital for Apple. The iPod’s weaknesses It was reported that the Apple iPod Nano may have a faulty screen. The company has commented that some of its product has screens that break under impact, and the company is replacing all defective items. This is in addition to problems with early iPods that had faulty batteries, whereby the company offered customers free battery cases. The main complaint was that battery life is insufficient. There is pressure on Apple to increase the price of its music download file, from the music industry itself. Many of these companies make more money from iTunes (i. e. downloadable music files) than from their original CD sales. Apple has sold about 22 million iPod digital music players and more than 500 million songs though its iTunes music store. It accounts for 82% (and rising) of all legally downloaded music in the United States. The company is determined, but if it gives in to the music producers, it may be perceived as a commercial weakness. {draw:frame} The iPod’s opportunities The iPod had great opportunities to expand on the market, but consumers now demand more complex products, such as a cell phone combined with the iPod. Since Apple’s IT experts are of the bests, the iPod has a great chance of evolving into a smart phone (which happened 2007, when the iPhone was released, but this will be discussed later). Since music phones are becoming more and more popular, the iPod must adapt to the changing market. According to Steve Jobs the iPod will become smaller and smaller with time. The iPod’s threats As mentioned above, the market of mobile phones and portable music players is merging into one huge market of multi-purpose media devices. If the iPod does not adapt to the situation, it will surely be forgotten, since the demand for music players without any other special capabilities is falling. The huge number of competitors may also hinder the iPod’s success, as other IT companies have innovative ideas as well. The iPhone Observing the success of the iPod, Apple decided to move on. Marketing communication ceased for a period of time, but there were rumours about a new, groundbreaking product. This of course caused a big hype among Apple fans and potential Apple fans as well. In my opinion the information was leaked out on purpose by Apple, to get the attention of the customers. IT turned out, that this new product is a cell phone. Later, the iPhone was officially introduced on one of the â€Å"Apple events†, and the device’s features were reviewed. â€Å"Introducing the iPhone. Apple reinvents the phone†, and â€Å"The internet in your pocket† were the first slogans for the iPhone, which drew even more customers to Apple. On the date when the iPhone was finally released to the public, one kilometre long queues could be seen at Apple stores. The launch was a success, but later some information was revealed about the conditions of using the iPhone. The iPhone was exclusively available on one provider only: AT, and there was a monthly fee to use it. When Steve Jobs was asked about this, he only replied that â€Å"this is the price† which was a really bad step in terms of marketing communication. Many people decided not to buy the product after hearing about the conditions of its usage. In response to this, Apple launched a massive marketing campaign, advertising all over the big cities. {draw:frame} {draw:frame} Due to the the iPhone’s limited availability, hackers and software developers began to work with illegally unlocked devices. After half a year, Apple launched the Appstore in response, to decrease iPhone piracy. The Appstore gave the opportunity to programmers to write their own applications legally for the iPhone, and to publish it in the Appstore, where it will be available for download for a price of course. A new marketing campaign was launched with the slogan: â€Å"There’s an app for that†. With this, Apple tried to persuade customers that the iPhone can indeed do anything. In the television ads, questions were listed like: â€Å"do you want to shop online? †, â€Å"do you want to watch television? † and â€Å"do you want to use messenger? † etc. and the answer to all questions was â€Å"there’s an app for that†. This was a very convincing advertisement in my opinion; this device was like a small computer according to the ads. With the successful marketing communication and the Appstore, sales of the iPhone, began to rise again. Alongside with the Appstore, a new iPhone model was launched, the 3G, which now even had 3G mobile internet alongside Wi-Fi. With time, the Appstore proved to be a huge success; in nine months, the number of downloads has exceeded 1 billion. {draw:frame} As new applications needed more and more power, the two iPhone models seemed to be incapable of handling certain games and software. Customers, especially software developers complained about the lack of a graphical accelerator, and low processor speed. Apple decided to launch a new, third device; the iPhone 3GS. Many people wondered what the â€Å"S† could mean in the device’s name, and it was later stated that it stands for â€Å"super†. The device finally included a graphical chip, and a faster processor. The new iPhone deserved a new slogan, and Apple came up with this: â€Å"Meet the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet† and â€Å"The first phone to beat the iPhone. † The purpose of this slogan in advertisements was to ensure software developers and technically-conscious users that this model is indeed faster and stronger than its predecessors. I personally was not satisfied with the advertisement; I rather wanted a comparison between the new and the older models. When AT made a new contract with Apple, they have decided to cut down prices. Apple began to promote this by a new slogan: â€Å"Twice as fast, for half the price†. It seems that Apple’s marketing team is particularly talented in creating slogans. Switching slogan is always a hard decision in a company, since it might put brand recognition back a bit, but with Apple’s huge brand recognition it is feasible. I personally find these slogans pretty informative, and I especially appreciate those ones that are humorous to some extent. {draw:frame} The iPhone’s strengths The iPhone has several features that add to the strength of the product. These include its unique look and feel accompanied by a mobile operating system. It has phone sensors that work with the multi-touch screen, which is a new patented technology. The iPhone has a really flexible operating system (I even saw a video where someone could run windows 98 on the phone). These new features are presented to a large and loyal user base that Apple has gained over the years. Additionally, marketing was given support from all over the internet, saving the company a huge amount in advertising fees. Finally, the fact that the iPhone is first device in this area of computer phones is one of its greatest strengths. The iPhone’s weaknesses Like every new product, there are is a set of weaknesses. The first iPhone is not a 3G device and will not work in technologically advanced countries such as Japan and Korea. All of their phones are 3G compliant. Several of the iPhone features are also not particularly impressive. These include the fact that it has a subpar camera, standing at about 2 megapixels as well as its memory not being removable. The phone is priced currently around 500 to 600 dollars and most consumers are happy with their current mobile device; essentially, this phone is aiming at the high end consumers. Apple’s choice of distribution channel has also been because only Cingular and Apple stores are allowed to sell iPhones. Finally, its purpose is to be questioned; does the phone fulfil corporate duties or is it just an entertainment system? {draw:frame} The iPhone’s Opportunities There is quite a demand for a better mobile computing experience. The iPhone tries to combine both powerful computing as well as entertainment into one system. People have also noted that the Mac OS applications for desktop can be easily adapted for the iPhone. The emergence of Wi-Fi networks is pushing for there to be visitor fees instead of having a provider lock in users. It is very likely for the device fees and pay-per-view system to take flight, eliminating the month to month subscription fee. {draw:frame} The iPhone’s threats The majority of threats come from other companies including Nokia, Sony, and Google with their respective products. Smart phones are one popular example that stands to compete against the iPhone. The largest competitor according to most users is Google’s Android. It has similar features as the iPhone, but availability is much higher and the phone itself is cheaper. The other big threats are the hackers. Apple suffers great losses because of â€Å"jailbroken† devices (When an iPhone is â€Å"jailbroken†, the user can get any application from the Appstore for free and can run any third party applications). Conclusion In conclusion, Apple offers some very high quality technical products, though at a relatively high price. The company’s marketing communication is working quit well, Apple advertises on all important media intermediaries, including television, the Internet, and on streets as well. At this rate they would have immense promotion costs, but they can lower it by putting emphasis on Internet-advertisements via websites. {draw:frame} {draw:frame} They try to maintain a positive, humanlike image, which ensures customers about the firm’s good intentions. Over the years, they had many slogans, but their brand recognition has only changed in a positive way: it increased. Apple was formerly better known for its notebooks, but after the successes of both the iPod and the iPhone, people identify Apple as the company which produces the best mp3 players and one of the smartest phones on the market. Its music store; iTunes, is nowadays the prime way of distributing music legally in the world. Through the successful marketing communication and the creative advertisements, Apple will most likely gain more market share in the segment of smart phones and maintain its leading position as the best portable music device producer. Bibliography www. wikipedia. org www. apple. com www. szifon. com www. appleinsider. com

Frankenstein or the Monster? (Frankenstein by Mary Shelley) Essay

In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, the main character Victor Frankenstein, becomes obsessed with the notion of bringing a human being to life. The result is the creation of a monster only known to us as ‘the monster’. The monster is hideous, and is therefore rejected by Victor and by society to fend for himself. He soon commits many murders, as a result of his dejection, including Frankenstein’s younger brother, best friend and newly wed wife. He also set up the killing of Justine. Frankenstein created the monster and then rejected him, but it was the monster who actually did the killings, who was to blame. To start off with there are obvious similarities between Frankenstein and his creation, both have been isolated, and both start out with good intentions. However, Frankenstein’s ego conquers his humanity in his search for god-like powers. The monster is nothing but gentle until society rejects him and makes him an outcast on account of his deformities. The monster is more humane than his own creator because his immoral deeds are committed in response to society’s corruption, while Frankenstein’s evil work begins from his own selfishness. Frankenstein and the monster are abandoned by their creators at a young age, Frankenstein is left without his mother after her death, and the monster is rejected by Frankenstein. Frankenstein and the monster are also similar in that they are isolated and outcasts of society. Frankenstein is most likely an outcast when he consumes himself in work and is isolated when the monster kills those he loves, and the monster is obviously isolated as an ugly, deformed outcast of society. Therefore Frankenstein seems less human than the monster, he displays this by deserting the monster, declining to visit his family for two years and by declining to save Justine. Frankenstein starts out with good intentions, he is merely seeking to gain knowledge of natural beliefs. Soon, his greed for god-like power overcomes him and he becomes consumed with the idea of creating life, â€Å"Summer months passed while I was thus engaged, heart and soul, in one pursuit† (32). The monster also starts out with kindness, he tells his creator, â€Å"Believe me, Frankenstein: I was benevolent, my soul glowed with love and humanity: but am I not alone, miserably alone?† (66). However, after society refuses to accept him based on personal appearance, the monster becomes angry. The monster has an overwhelming capacity to love as can be seen in his admiration for the peasants, â€Å"The monster’s thoughts now became more active, and he longed to discover the motives and feelings of these lovely monsters†¦ he thought, that it might be in his power to restore happiness to these deserving people† (77). The monster’s display of care and compassion for the cottagers is more humane than most humans are. He retains the innocence and naive characteristics of a child. The monster’s grasp of human-like qualities allows the reader to possess sympathy for his situation, he is a victim and Frankenstein is to blame. A true monster would, by definition, have no emotions or remorse, while Frankenstein’s creation has a very natural, human desire to be loved and accepted, â€Å"Once the monster falsely hoped to meet with beings, who, pardoning his outward form, would love him for the excellent qualities which he was capable of bringing forth†(154). Another human characteristic that the monster holds is his conscience, as can be seen at the end of the book after Frankenstein dies. The monster tells Walton, â€Å"It is true that I am a wretch. I have murdered the lovely and the helpless, I have strangled the innocent as they slept†¦You hate me, but your abhorrence cannot equal that with which I regard myself† (155). Compassion, fear, desire to be accepted, and guilt are all very human emotions and characteristics that the monster displays. While Frankenstein is consumed in his work, he feels none of the emotions that the monster feels in his first years of life, Victor says of himself, â€Å"Winter, spring, and summer, passed away during my labours, but I did not watch the blossom or the expanding leaves- sights which before always yielded me supreme delight, so deeply was I engrossed in my occupation† (33). Frankenstein is obsessed with holding god-like powers, â€Å"I ceased to fear or to bend before any being less almighty than that which had created and ruled the elements† (78). At several points in the book Victor has the chance to prevent harm being done to others, but each time he is only  concerned with himself. It is ambiguous, but Victor could have warned the family, or gone to protect innocent little William. More obviously, he could have spoken up about the monster and saved the life of Justine. Instead, Frankenstein chooses to let Justine die and wallow in his own guilt, â€Å"Anguish and despair had penetrated into the core of his heart† (57). After the monster’s threat, Victor is concerned only about his own life and fails to see the threat to his bride Elizabeth. Victor is weak in love, he has difficulty expressing his feelings and controlling his impulses, and he is self-cantered. Many contrasts can be made between Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Milton’s Paradise Lost. Victor’s character is paralleled directly with Satan’s, both succumb to selfishness when they fall. Much like Satan, Victor is forced to carry his anguish with him constantly, â€Å"Frankenstein bore a hell within himself which nothing could extinguish† (57). The monster is a portrayal of Eve’s role in Paradise Lost. The monster is persuaded by the behaviour of others to take his fall into wickedness, much like Eve was pushed by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit. Shelley blatantly makes this comparison when Frankenstein gets a first glance of himself in a scene that mirrors Eve’s first look at herself. The monster tells Victor, â€Å"I was terrified when I viewed myself in a transparent pool! At first I stared back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror, and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification† (108). Despite their similarities, Victor and his creation differ greatly. Only after rejection does the monster turn to evil, while Victor acts out of greed. Victor’s self-centred behaviour affects everyone in the novel, he hurts his family’s feelings, he lets th ose that he loves die, and abandons his own creation. Even the monster couldn’t have committed such horrible acts before the effects of society’s rejection. Frankenstein is mainly to blame for what happened in the novel because he created the monster and then rejected it. If he had shown the monster more fatherly care, the monster would have been more kindly disposed towards the human race. We see the monster’s admiration of the human race at first, with  the De Lacey family, but you can imagine how he must have felt, being excluded from any activity in the world involving humans. The fact that it is Frankenstein’s fault is portrayed in the monster’s innocence and naivety early on. The monster however, did refuse to show human qualities in his mass murdering, he showed no guilt until the end of the book, when he realised what he had done. Frankenstein himself had many opportunities to stop what happened in the book, for instance by finishing off the monster’s female companion. He had a chance to stop Justine’s death, but instead wallowed in his own misery. It is clear that although the monster showed huge brutality with little guilt and did actually commit the crimes, Frankenstein is to blame for what happened in the book because he created the monster, rejected him, and failed to stop the events which resulted, although he had a chance.

Should Marijuana be legalized Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Should Marijuana be legalized - Research Paper Example Information about the history of Marijuana in the United States, the reasons behind its listing as a controlled drug, and the political connection to the ban will be discussed in as much detail as possible over the upcoming pages. To begin with, we must acknowledge that Marijuana was not always deemed an illegal substance in the United States. The Hemp plant itself, which is the original form of Marijuana, was widely used in what was then British America as woven fabric, food, incense, and rope. Such was the importance of Marijuana to the development of the country that back in 1619 Jamestown, Virginia declared that all farmers needed to grow Hemp. In fact, the 1850 census of America listed 8, 327 Hemp â€Å"plantations† covering a minimum of 2,000 acres meant for industrial and food purposes. But in the 1900s, the Mexicans began to flow into the United States, taking along with them their habit of smoking Marijuana. It was widely believed that the Mexicans were adversely affected by the plant that they smoked, hence the government ban on the same plant in the country. In a way, it was the method by which America decided to control the actions of the illegal immigrants in the country (Guither, Peter â €Å"Why is Marijuana Illegal?†). In a way, the ban on Marijuana was seen as a way to get rid of the Mexican laborers that entered the country during the great depression. While other states banned the plant believing that it was the cause of the high crime rate in their area (Block, Alan â€Å"Why Marijuana Became Illegal - The Basic Facts). While the aforementioned historical reasons for the ban on Marijuana may have rang true during its era. The reasons as to why Marijuana continues to be banned in the 21st century in some states of America have long shied away from those traditional reasons. These days, the ban is based mostly in scientific and psychological evidence of the prolonged smoking of the plant on

Strategy and Strategic management Research Essay

Strategy and Strategic management Research - Essay Example By embracing Best Practice the industry would gain; There is no single accepted definition of 'strategy' (Price and Newson, 2003, p. 184).5 A 1999 study by Price, McCaffer and Thorpe (cited by Price and Newson, 2003, p. 190) established that the construction industry prefers the definition given by Johnson and Scholes in 1999: "Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long term: which achieves competitive advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a changing environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholder expectations." Chinowsky's (2001, p. 60)6 research into existing models of strategic management, combined with interviews with executives, led him to devolve seven key considerations for executives when attempting to formulate strategic management plans: In 1998 they surveyed the ENR Top 400 Contractors in the United States. Most organisations intended to leverage technological tools and capitalise on greater market knowledge. However the research also found that there was no such emphasis on life-long learning and protecting existing market share from competitors. Critique: In answer to the obvious question: 'Where precisely will a project-focused organisation find time to grapple with 'strategy' Chinowsky and Meredith (... The need to identify, find and pursue new markets; and Improved communications between project teams and peripheral departments. In 1998 they surveyed the ENR Top 400 Contractors in the United States. Most organisations intended to leverage technological tools and capitalise on greater market knowledge. However the research also found that there was no such emphasis on life-long learning and protecting existing market share from competitors. Critique: In answer to the obvious question: 'Where precisely will a project-focused organisation find time to grapple with 'strategy' Chinowsky and Meredith (2001, p. 3) reply that without a strategic plan - which clearly identifies the tasks and evaluation measures to be undertaken at departmental level - this will be a very difficult undertaking. Given that multi-billion dollar organisations are having difficulty grappling with strategy management and strategy planning, what hope for the small employer (1-10 employees), or sole-trader who supplies to larger organisations 3. Strategic Management Process Price and Newson (2003, p184) favour the 'positioning' school of strategic theory, as exemplified by Professor Michael Porter, and look at strategy in terms of process, content and context: Strategy process is defined as the ''manner in which strategies come about'' and is concerned with the how, who, and when of strategy. Strategy content is described as "the product of the strategy process and is the what of strategy". Strategy context is concerned with the "where" of strategy and refers to "the organizational and environmental circumstances under which the strategy process and strategy content are determined". Strategic management process can be broken down into analysis, formation and

Managing a wide range of cultural diversity in the workplace is Essay

Managing a wide range of cultural diversity in the workplace is challenging but not impossible - Essay Example Cultural diversity in work place is difficult to handle, but is manageable. This essay will address the main hurdles in effective management under culturally diverse circumstances and solutions to such problems. Cultural diversity refers to multiculturalism or interaction of individuals from different cultures at one platform. This phenomenon occurs as a result of international migration. People from several diverse cultures and nations migrate to other places usually developed areas for work. This makes management difficult. According to UNESCO (2003) some 175 million people live away from their birth places and this rate was reported to be 200 million by the World Bank in 2009. When individuals from various diverse cultures accumulate in a single organization, the management is faced by following common issues: Where there is cultural diversity, people from different races are provided with several opportunities to interact. An interaction at such a level is sometimes ridden with racial issues that are again quite challenging to manage. In culturally diverse workplaces, sometimes individuals from a contrasting culture fail to absorb or even understand the organizational culture. This is referred to as a cultural shock. Cultural shock leads to negative feelings of helplessness and isolation, usually leading to poor performance at work by the individual. Communication barriers among the co workers due to their diverse cultures also pose a problem in such scenarios and if left un dealt with, can pose serious limitations in the organization’s overall performance. The main issues relating to cultural diversity that might pose a problem for management have been highlighted above. These issues suggest that management of cultural diversity is a difficult task. Now I will discuss how these issues can be dealt with making it possible to manage such a culturally diverse workplace. Cultural diversity can be managed at workplace if certain

Indication of Ability Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Indication of Ability - Speech or Presentation Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that students get one, single day to prove that they understand the necessary concepts of the course material. It doesn’t matter if they might be having an ‘off’ day, or maybe they are coming down with the most recent virus. Schools, even universities, are breeding grounds for viruses and bacteria of all kinds. When one student gets sick, more usually follow.   What about no sleep before the exam? Statistics say that a large number of students get little to no sleep before their exams. Tired brains do not function as well as awake ones, and a certain level of alertness is required in order to complete an exam. How well a student performs throughout the semester sounds like a far better way of deciding who understand the course material and who doesn’t. There is far less stress, which allows the students to act as they normally would. In a study done at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, 128 students were examin ed over a 6-week period. 63 students out of the 128 had special group training sessions to help increase relaxation and reduce stress. At the end of the 6-week period, it was found that the students who received the training had significant reductions in stress and anxiety. The 65 students who did not receive the training had no significant reductions in stress and anxiety. Like everything, there are alternatives and exceptions. Project-based courses are always an option that could be considered as an alternative to exams. The projects can last for the entire semester, giving students plenty of time to do research and put everything together. Because there is such an extended period of time, the stress is minimal, and the learning process continues. There is no cramming or worrying, and the student can actually get the sleep that they need in order to learn in a healthy way.  

Marketing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing - Case Study Example Despite the fact that parking in the street is usually a problem, there is a metered parking behind the store although most customers do not seem to be aware of these parking lot. Throughout its existence, the expansion has brought positive gains but the last expansion did not bring additional sales. This paper will carry out a marketing analysis of Don Martin and this will be organized into three sections. The sections include problems and analysis, alternative analysis and a recommendations section. Problems and Analysis Don Martin Limited has always strived to expand thereby increase sales which would eventually translate to high profitability. To achieve this, the company has made several acquisitions given that initially it only had a total area of 45 meters squared (Grasby et al 379). The expansion has always produced an increase in the sales volumes but about three ago, a store that neighbored that of Don Martin Limited was floated for sales and the company bought it. After th e acquisition, Don Martin Limited brought down the wall separating the two companies and ended up with a large store. However, instead of increased sales; the new acquisition eventually led to losses. The expansion has necessitated the need for more staff members who are now currently twenty six and this has increased the expenditure by the company. In addition, the increased workforce makes it hard for the company to monitor the staff and the business in general thereby leading to loss of some goods. The proprietor of asserts that he is afraid that the company staff may be stealing. Things are further complicated for Don Martin given that he has approximately 500 suppliers which means that he has to spend about seventy five percent of his time. The company buys directly from manufacturers in small quantities which mean that the company cannot advantage economies of scale (Grasby et al 380). The customers coming to Don Martin Limited are trying to cut down on expenses given that the y are cash strapped. The services offered to customers no longer lead to higher customer satisfaction and most of them are ready to do without such services in order to save some money. For instance, previously whenever a customer came to the store of a sport’s equipment; there was a salesperson to help them but currently customer no longer seem to like this service. Despite the low reception of the company’s services by customers, Don Martin believes that such services have always attracted customers to the store. The company is incurring high expenses in maintaining these services where for instance the company has to pay $1,000 for gas not forgetting the pay to truck drivers (Grasby et al 381). Consumer Analysis Segment 1 Segment 2 Segment 3 Who Customers having low income Customers having cars External customers (Customers not living within the city) What These customers are cutting spending given that they low income. These customers require parking when doing the ir shopping These are customers who are not in close proximity to the business. When The company is losing these customers since the last expansion undertaken three years ago. Following the last expansion three years ago, Don Martin has a parking lot The company has been attracting this kind of customers since inception Where The company is facing competition for these customers from nearby stores. The parking lot for the Don Martin is

Auditing and Assurance service Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Auditing and Assurance service - Essay Example However, due to lack of assessing the net realisable value with fair degree of accuracy, firms often stick to using cost as the main method of valuing inventories. For a firm working in Information Technology such as Dynamic Data, the issue of valuing inventories at cost or net realizable values is critical because the industry is highly volatile and dynamic in nature with technology becoming obsolete at much higher speed as compared to other traditional goods. Thus there are different factors which compel firms to use cost as the basis of valuing their inventories and reporting them into their financial statements. As discussed in the case study that there are some news articles which indicate that the technology used in different products by Dynamic Data may be good enough to serve the current needs however, they are adequate enough to meet future demands therefore there are chances that their market value may come down very fast.

Living in the promised land Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Living in the promised land - Essay Example In an interview segment one, Grace Kapuro a physician from Philippines living in America gives a viably different approach to life in America. She alluded that in Philippines she had an easy life compared to the life in America. She claimed that life in America could be described as busy life where one has to do all chores compared to Philippines where she could get house maids. The adjustment in language, foods, dressing and customs as she puts it, was not as easy but was worthwhile. In the career field in Philippines she was a doctor but had to do some academic adjustments to fit if the medical field in America which later became very fulfilling (Luis canjura.segment 1) According to Kapuro the Philams (Philipine Americans) were different from the Philippino immigrants in some aspect of maintaining culture. The immigrants had been able to maintain their culture but the American born Philippines had already been integrated into the American culture. After the adjustments the physician said America is the country filled with milk and honey (Luis canjura.segment 1) Benito Vergara argues that relocating to the United States for their own individual interest is a betrayal to the Philippines because they are only immigrating for their own material success. Grace grabbed the opportunity and struggled the first few years she settled in. Immigrating to America, Grace saw it as an opportunity because she wanted to fulfill her American dream (Luis canjura.segment 2). After settling in America, Grace petitioned for her husband later her father. For the majority of Filipinos, it is true that they immigrate to America for their financial requirements which according to Grace seemed different in the early years of living in America. Homesickness was a common feeling in America, based on the fact that America had own cultures, food, language and the busy life in the city (Vergers, 46). Grace stated that she attended public school where the ratio in the classroom

Robotic Surgery Disposal Essay Example for Free

Robotic Surgery Disposal Essay What is the Environmental Collateral Effects of Minimally Robotic Surgery? Two small studies have looked specifically at differences in communication between laparoscopic and robotic surgery. Both studies found a significant increase in oral communication between the surgeon and the rest of the team in robotic surgery, particularly in relation to the orientation and localization of organs and the manipulation of instruments, with the effect found to be more pronounced in teams that have less experience in robotic surgery. If use of robotic surgery interferes with standard practices of coordination among the OT team, the achievement of seamless, efficient, and timely teamwork may be hampered. It is important to understand any change in communication patterns because of the well-documented relationship between communication and patient safety, with failures in communication and teamwork being identified as key factors in adverse events in the OT. Communication and teamwork around robotic surgery are likely to be influenced by processes associated with the introduction of robotic surgery, such as training and changes in team structure, but equally the integration of robotic surgery in surgical practice may be dependent on the extent to which it is consistent with existing practices for coordination. How is Robotic Surgery Disposal conducted? For robotic surgery to provide the most benefit for patients, it is first necessary to understand the organizational and social factors that support the successful integration of robotic surgery, by which we mean that it becomes embedded into surgical practice, being used routinely and successfully for surgical operations where it offers advantages to the patient. It is also necessary to understand the impacts of robotic surgery on communication, teamwork, and decision making in the OT and how OT teams manage those impacts. Robotic-assisted surgery has evolved over the past two decades with constantly improving technology, assisting surgeons in multiple subspecialty disciplines. Patient positioning requirements can cause significant physiologic effects and may result in many complications. Good communication among team members and knowledge of the nuances of robotic surgery have the potential to improve patient outcomes, increase efficiency,  and reduce surgical and anesthetic comp lications. Robotic surgeries of long duration are associated with both increased risks to patients as well as distinct challenges for care providers As robotic surgery is increasingly utilized, operations with long surgical times may become more common due to increased case complexity and surgeons overcoming the learning curve.

The Power Of The United States In Decline Politics Essay

The Power Of The United States In Decline Politics Essay The United States power and its economic rank in the world are at such a prestige level, as said by McWilliams and Piotrowski after the world war II, the United States, the worlds only economic super power assisted west Germany and Japan in their economic recovery and provided them security(). This above statement just shows us the power of the United States in the economic aspect at their ability in assisting two countries after a war. In other to give a better and more reasonable explanation to this specific question, we have decided to first view the way power is portrayed in politics and more specifically in the global perspective at to this we shall explain the term decline as it concerns the position of power. Power in a political analysis is usually thought of as a relationship which is the ability to influence the behaviour of others or even a nation in a manner not of their choosing (Heywood 2000: 35). As given example by Andrew Heywood he explains that power only appears w hen one person makes another individual to do anything they might not have interest into (Heywood 2000: 35). Likewise from Peter Joyce point of view she sees politics in the form of power to be more of a relationship between two parties in which one has the ability to compel the other to undertake a course of action involuntarily (Peter 2000:7). As we can see power is the central concept of politics and its discipline is the capacity to produce intended effects, It is in short the ability to get what one wants (Thiele, 1997:53). The nature of power is an important matter when it comes to world politics. The form of power which could either be hard power as is evident in the use of force or soft power which is used by a country in achieving its goal by attracting rather than coercing others (McConnell et al 2008: 17). Moving on towards the main term of this is essay which is decline, the author Itzkoff gave an explanation of the term decline in which he stated that decline can be con firmed by any of the criteria that historians have ever used to measure the state and condition of a nation and its people. The fundamental concerns of a decline in a nation which are mostly in a more important position, when looking at this question are politics, economics and military power (itzkoff 1994: 3). With the above definition of the term power and decline, we can see that the United States is not in any way facing the characteristics it shows us in the explanation of the term decline. So with that much being said we can see that the United States is not in any chance declining in power. At the end of the cold war the United States of America became a superpower. Its power and stability just kept on escalating, in 1990s when the cold war came to an end, by that period the United States was reportedly estimated to have about 30 per cent of the global economic output (). If we look at the world order which is in place right now, which constitutes of a remarkable number of democratic countries, we can see that it exhibits the United States principle and advancement, and it was all created and guarded by the United States power in all its economic, political and military dimensions, which means if there is a decline in the United States power, the world order will also decline with it. We belief that even with diminished American power the underlying foundations of the liberal international order will survive and thrive, as the political scientist G. John Ikenberry has argued, is a pleasant illusion. The United States decline, if it is real, will mean a different world f or everyone (). From a book by Thomas Friedman in which it tittles that used to be us. It explains that most of the reviews on the declination of power in the United States are mostly from careless reasoning, on feelings that the United States as a nation has lost its charm, that it has rejected the integrity that brought them such success in the past, that it does not have the will to approach the difficulties that lay ahead of them (). The problem is that the citizens of the United States view other countries whose economic development are now in a much better situation than their own, and seem to gain the enthusiasm that the United States once had, and they now grieve about it. Just as one swallow does not make a spring, so thats why we believe that one recession or even an oppressive economic catastrophe cannot mean that it is the beginning of a massive declination of a great power such as the united States. For example the united states have experienced a continued and a deep economic catastrophe in the 1890s, the 1930s, and the 1970s (). In each situation we can see that in a decade or so, they have comeback and even being in a better position. By the year 1910, the 1940s and the 1980s were all proves of the United States strong influence and global power. With that much being said this essay will now discuss in proving that the United States of America is still at the manifesting of staying a superpower nation. We shall look at the three major aspect of being superpower nation, which includes its economy, their military dimension and finally in politics. With these three aspects we can now prove that United States is not in the decline rather is soaring high. To start with the three major aspects which will be used in this essay to prove that the United States is not declining in power is one of the basic indicators which are the economic aspect. Regardless of the situation the United States been in the previous years, which includes a reduction of business activity and a slow development, the United States ranking in the entire globe has not alternated. The United States share of the worlds gross domestic product (GDP) has held exceptionally stable, not only for ten years but for over forty years. In a record by the year 1969, most of the worlds economic output was generated by the United States (). The United States till date still generate somewhere around a quarter, and it is regarded as not only one of the biggest but also one of the wealthiest economy in the world. Most of this economic background and development started when the collapse of communism occur, the US has achieved maximum influence in international economic affairs at minimum cost. The goal of governing the international economy, in addition to benefits it brings to the United States economic interest, is also to provide an opportunity to promote American values. (Singh 2003: 298). Looking in towards the economic perspective we shall have a glimpsed of how powerful the U.S dollar is. As said by Singh The dollar is the largest traded international currency, is accepted for payment by cooperation worldwide, and held by government and companies in their reserves. All of the worlds trade in oil takes place in U.S dollars, a measure of the currencys dominance and universal acceptability (Singh 2003: 263). An example of how influential the US dollar is when the WTO came to existence it had some financial problems but as stated by Singh, he explains that The global dimension of United States trade policy in the 1990s revolved around the world trade organization (WTO). The road to the creation of the WTO was a rocky one but the United States influence wa s critical, and now the United States has taken the lead in using the WTO as a platform for a new, millennium round of trade liberation talks. The United States operates at the centre of an increasingly elaborate network of countries and institutions that have taken responsibility for the management of globalization. (Singh 2003: 295) One of the reasons some analysts think that the United States power is declining is because we are captivated by how far the Asian countries have conquered over the years. Countries such as China and India have been gradually climbing up the ladder when it comes to global economy. But when you look back in history we could see that all of its economic development was almost entirely at the cost of Japan and Europe and now it is having a share of a decline in its own economy(). Some enthusiast believes that the development of chinas economy might replace the United States position of being a superpower by having the largest economy by approximately the next 20 years. This means that there might be some increase in challenge regarding the economic standard of the United States in the near future. But a nation cannot be measured to be a superpower by only looking at its economical standard. If it was so, then during the 19th century china could have been the predominant power because it had the largest economy but instead some of the European countries were of a higher rank. Thats why this essay will move on onto the next aspect mentioned above which is the military power. This shall help us elaborate that a country cannot be a superpower by just having a good economy. Another major aspect of measuring a nations power is towards its military capacity. When it comes to the United States it has showed us its superiority when it comes to its defence and military capacity. As stated by McKay in his book American politics and society, he said that over the past seven decade the united states had established a standing and working army of about 200,000 or even more, adding to that is its foreign alliances it has backing it up (McKay 2009: 416), which is to be estimated to be around 50 countries with an unrivalled military and diplomatic status and capacity. (McKay 2009: 416) As said recently by the dean of the institute of modern international relations, Dr. Yan Xuetong in which he stated that a military strength underpins hegemony, which means that for a country to be a super power, its military capacity matters too. The United States military capacity as we can see stated above is far more powerful than any other nation. When it comes to the military perspective there has been no decline in its defensive capacity what so ever, well at least not yet. The United States has been estimated to have spent over 500 billion dollars a year on military defence only. This amount is more than what the rest of the super powers spent on defence combined (). The United States managed to do so by only gaining nothing much than 4 per cent of the annual gross domestic product. Even though its a higher percentage than most of the super powers, but when you look back in history and compared it you will see that its lower than the 10 per cent of the gross domestic product that the United States had spent on military operation in the mid-1950s and the 7 per cent it had spent in the late 1980s. This maximum and high expenditure shows the United States absolute strength in military effectiveness. Besides it expenditure on its defence, its air force and American army are accoutred with one of the worlds most radical weapons, and they are fully experienced and well trained in an actual combat (). With that much experience and equipment the united armed forces can demolish any competitor in a head to head war or battle. The American naval power is still the most predominant in every location of the world. By these military and economic standards the United States is in right now, at least, the United States today is not by any chance like Britain circa 1900, when the Britains empires relative decline began to become very visible. It is more like Britain circa 1870, when the empire of Britain was at the peak of its power. It might be possible to imagine a time when this may no longer be the situation, but that moment in the case of United States has not yet appear. The next aspect of this essay is the political aspect. In which we shall discuss the United States influence around the globe. The way the United States has managed to achieve what it wants in the world because of its value. To start with this aspect we have to keep in might the even though the United States is a super power, it does not always get what it wants. When you look at todays thoughts about the United States declining in political influence, you will find out that it is mostly inaugurated from a nostalgic bias. All these bias stated that there was a time the United States could get what it wants at any time. That is why before we start focusing on the United States political influence we have to recognize that the united states past in just a virtual reality. Even though the United States had failed in the past, it did accomplish some very wonderful things in the years of the cold war, and this aspect of the essay will focus on the major creation the united states had managed to accomplish; which include the NATO alliance, the united nations, the Bretton woods economic system and the Marshall plan, and these systems helped the world in both security and economic perspective. The NATO alliance was a defence agreement, in which the United States played an important role in. The policy of NATO was based on only two major principles. Firstly was to keep a substantial military capacity and strength and also a political unity to block any other type of political influence or pressure or any other form of military trying to invade a member state. The last principle was to reduce the tension between west and east through the use of military strength (). They also agreed that any member states that is being attack is an attack on the entire member states. We believe that the United States is very influential in NATO because as we have said before it contains the largest and most skilful armed force in the world. Another view on the United States political influence is in the accomplishment of the United Nations. The united nation was established for the purpose of bringing most of the countries of the world together to work together and for the development of the world and peace. The united nation was based on justice and the well-being of all the citizens ().The united states has so much influence in the united nations because the first main plan for a new world organization started in 1939 by the president of the united states: franklin Roosevelt. So we can see that without the United States influence mot of this wonderful establishment wont have been created.

The Sixties Exposed in Takin it to the Streets and The Dharma Bums Ess

The Sixties Exposed in Takin' it to the Streets and The Dharma Bums      Ã‚   One cannot undertake any study of the 1960s in America without hearing about the struggles for social change. From civil rights to freedom of speech, civil disobedience and nonviolent protest became a central part of the sixties culture, albeit representative of only a small portion of the population. As Mario Savio, a Free Speech Movement (FSM) leader, wrote in an essay in 1964: "The most exciting things going on in America today are movements to change America" ("Takin' it to the Streets," 115). His essay is critical of those that maintain the status quo and oppose change in America. It seems quite obvious that change has occurred as a result of the efforts of this highly vocal minority and few would argue that these changes were not good and just, yet historical perspective allows us to also consider the "flaws" and contradictions of this sixties subculture.    It is rather ironic that a group so dedicated to fighting for societal change could also be part of a resistance to change in other aspects of the same society or could be a part of maintaining the status quo. Savio also stated: "The most crucial problems facing the United States today are the problem of automation and the problem of racial injustice" (113). A group seeking to change America, Savio and the minority he represented seem to be both advocating and resisting change. While fighting for changes in attitudes toward and the treatment of racial minorities, the group also opposed automation. It seems obvious that automation has been a highly instrumental force in changing American society and to oppose automation would seemingly be a definite resistance to change. While opinions... ...n 1968, Reagan condemned student militants, saying: "There has been general incitement against properly constituted law enforcement authorities and general trampling of the will, the rights and freedom of movement of the majority by the organized, militant, and highly vocal minority" ("Takin it to the Streets," 346). It seems rather obvious today that "the great and thoughtful majority of citizens" to which Reagan referred in the same address are not always correct in their beliefs and that the laws that have been created by this majority, as well as the enforcement of such laws are not always just.    Works Cited Biner, Pierre. The Living Theater. Takin' It To The Streets: A Sixties Reader, pp. 288-293. ed. Alexander Bloom and Wini Breines. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Kerouac, Jack. The Dharma Bums. New York: Pengiun Books, 1958.

Frankenstein, Community, and the Individual Essay -- Literary Analysis

Many innovations throughout the modern world have made life significantly easier, safer, of higher quality, and are said to be done for the "greater good of humanity". However, these accomplishments come at a cost, as expressed through the concepts of creation and responsibility that lie at the core of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It is through these concepts that Shelley explores how society has changed during Romanticism and the Industrial Revolution, with lessening importance on shared knowledge and the "public sphere" and more emphasis on individual achievement and identity, leading to a fractured and isolated society. In this paper I argue that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein criticizes the impacts of Industrial Revolution and Romantic era-inspired individualism on the community and individual, using Victor Frankenstein's disruption of the reproductive process and subsequent relationship with his creation as examples of potential negative consequences. To begin our analysis, I will look to how Mary Shelley positions Victor Frankenstein's motivations to create life against natural laws within the ideas of individualism, as Victor can correlate directly to the educated human at the center of Enlightenment, Industrialism, and Romanticism values. With the burgeoning interest in scientific discovery during the Industrial Revolution "transform[ing] British culture" and "changing the world"(Lipking 2065), many concepts of society were also changed, which Shelley looked to explore through Victor's actions. Rooted in the scientifically curious spirit of Industrial England, Victor's attempt to create life can show many examples of how an importance of the individual acquisition of knowledge and accomplishment can disrupt society. Victor's... ...athetic Community In Frankenstein And 'The Structure Of Torture'." Science Fiction Studies 36.2 [108] (2009): 205-216. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 9 May 2012 Hogsette, David S. "Metaphysical Intersections In Frankenstein: Mary Shelley's Theistic Investigation Of Scientific Materialism And Transgressive Autonomy." Christianity And Literature 60.4 (2011): 531-560. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 9 May 2012. Lipking, Lawrence I, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume 1c. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print. Melton, James V. H. The Rise of the Public in Enlightenment Europe. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Print. Stillinger, Jack, Deidre Lynch, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume D. New York, N.Y: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print. .

Beyond Belief

In Deborah Lipstadts’ book Denying the Holocaust, author reveals the rising doubt about the different revelation during the war (specifically Second World War ). The author commences a deterring commission not just by exposing but also by introducing who and what are those that renounce such Holocaust. Admitting that even the tiniest shade of skepticism on the truth about the Holocaust are influenced by some powerful entities are indeed unacceptable. The occurrence of these Holocausts are considered and recognized by some.To some extent, the book is not seeking for an absolution as Lipstadt had said. The academe, the media and the public are gravely vulnerable to lies, and that is why the book serves as a caution to those who want to get into these entities. The book on Holocaust denial was written not just to provide a kind of authority for those who want to cover the truth behind these Holocausts but also to learn more about the skepticism which most people don’t mind asking about. Specifically, the author wrote about the growing Holocaust advocates and its corresponding effects on certain historical events.Up until now though the Second World War is over, the war on the truth behind the Holocausts is just beginnng. The author stresses more about the endeavors to refute the Nazi extermination of the Jews which is one of the crucial messages of it that is being disregarded. The authors’ purpose is to speak to the public through presentation as coherent a manner as probable the history of the beginning of the arguments of the deniers and the argument themselves. Lipstadt began this by introducing the start of the past traditions of revisionists in the 1900s.Then slowly into the current tussle, citing the varying â€Å"segments† of the rebuffed Holocausts plus the truth that the incident that has escalated in extent and strength ever since 1970s. Somehow, whenever an common folk who reads the book will be educated of the true type of these rebuffed Holocausts and be guarded for several indications of the impairing effect wherever. The crucial part of the book entirety is that it arranges a plain clear and familiar guide of how far the deniers have gone on attempting to renounce or clarify away the Nazis mayhem during Second World War.Nazis used preposterous propagandas that up until now, though the Germans had lost in the war, Nazism continues. The Jews were blamed in actual fact for all what the Nazis have done. What the Germans did, which â€Å"any country† would do for its own protection, were provoked by the Jews. Certain accusations were tossed to the Jews, like using the mass media as its main tool in exercising its authority and the media composed mostly of Jews will work together as brothers. That the Jews wanted to have the power over the world’s funds by using the Germany for Israel.Even the Germans themselves find these ideas absurd but still they used it in the war and find beneficial f or them during the war. In order to even out the Nazis violence with every different abuse done, the allied nations were directed by these propagandas. The deniers attempted to reveal that even though Nazis perpetrate crimes opposed to the Jews, they should not be singled out in perpetrating such crimes and for that reason they’re not the ones’ who must be blamed for these crimes ad they do not deserve special punishment at all.There were attempts to minimize the total of Jews killed to a much smaller than six million. Even though the facts are undeniable and the proofs are convincing of the deaths of millions of people in their account and in addition to the admission of Nazis on trial at Nuremberg, Holocaust deniers always find time rebuffing these actuality. The author herself is having hard time pointing out a lot of times all over the book the ambiguity of their assertions; it seems that the main peculiarity of these deniers constantly paying no attention to these presented facts.There are esteemed scholars that are now joining in the crew of defending those who were supposed to be interrogated. The author herself is alarmed by these scholars, because they’re not racist and not even a German in blood and may account for more advocates of Holocausts. The major composition of the book is mainly monographic which share out a great amount of information in a very simple and specific way so that even undergraduate students will easily understand the contents.Though monograph means a singe subject, the book itself does not only showcase a single subject but even broader ones. An absolute definition of the book is somewhat as well restrictive. The authors’ reliability for undertaking the issue is well-establish. Certain facts are supported with historical evidences. It gives more understanding beyond someone’s perspective of the reality of what once has affected the word we are living. . References Gingerich, Charity. 2006. Mon thly Column. Emory University. Leff, Laurel. 2005. The journal of American History. Cambridge University Pres.

Fresh Graduate Employment in Malaysia Essay

According to the 2011 Graduate Tracking Study of the Higher Education Ministry said that they are about 40,000 graduates in the country are still unemployed. The percentage of graduates which are still unemployed was 21 per cent from the public institutions of higher learning, 27 per cent from private intuitions. In addition, The Human Resource Ministry of Malaysia said that there are many graduates are good only in theory and many fresh graduates were unable to meet the expectations of the corporate sector. The concept of employability is general mean that employability refers to a wide range of attributes and competencies that enable the jobs seekers to gain and maintain employment such as, but not limited to the communication skills, logical, analytical and problem solving skills, personality, confidence and integrity, innovation and creativity, flexibility and adaptability and team spirit. Employability skills are not job specific, but are skills which cut involve with all industries and all jobs from entry level to chief executive officer (Sherer and Eadie, 1987). Recently, employer find out that there are a lot of graduates leave universities without the skills, attitude and understanding, all of that are necessary to successfully enter the world of works. One of the factors that causes the current graduates are unable to meet the employers’ expectations is most of the graduates are lacking of soft skills. As can be seen, in Malaysia many graduates that with the excellent degrees cannot get a good job at a popular or highly reputable company. This is because most graduates are lack of soft skills which are required from the employers. From these, the soft skills are very necessary for graduate jobs in the future. In addition, employers believe that universities and colleges have placed too much emphasis on academic achievement compared to the soft skills. Academic qualifications are essential, but the attitudes of graduates are equally, if not more, important to employers. A high grade point average alone does not guarantee the graduates’ employment. The general consensus among Malaysian employers indicates that Malaysian graduates are well trained in their areas of specialization but unfortunately they lack the ‘soft skills’ (Nurita, Shaharudin, Ainon, 2004). The basic requirement from employers expect from the graduates that has motivation which mean graduates have ability to think ‘outside the box’, problem solving skills and communication skills, and an ability to work both as part of a team and independently. Besides that, soft skills’ are cited as a critical deficiency by the employers who lament the inability of entry level applicants. According to the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (2011), 50. 4% of the graduate students were not confident with their soft skills before they graduated. While some of the soft skills can be learnt and assimilated through extracurricular activities, they are not systematically and sufficiently transferred to the graduates. Incorporation of programmes or subjects that emphasize on soft skills and the interest for lifelong learning will benefit the graduates. The second factor that causes the current graduates are unable to meet the employers’ expectations is the graduates are lack of exposure to the real world of work. Most of the graduates are lack of working experience. Employers said that the ‘experience’ is meaning that the graduates have either done community service or have had work for part time jobs in past so that the world of work is not new to them. In recent research from the recruitment company, it indicates that more than a third of the available jobs will be taken by graduates with experience. In addition, The Malaysian Government also conducted a survey on Malaysia graduates and it was discovered that about 30,000 Malaysian Graduates were unemployed due to lack of experience, poor English poor communication skill and because they had pursued studies irrelevant to the market place (Malaysian Today, 2005). In these 20th century, academic performance means less than real world experience when it comes to getting a position at a firm after graduation. Every job opening the graduates come across requires that graduates have experience. Employer needs worker to have working experience, employee with working experience will helps the company to save up the time to train the new employee and the graduates that have experience will have the skills to identify and analyze problems critically. Besides that, the other reason that employer need graduates to have experience is employers need to discriminate between applicants with a very similar academic profile and place increasing emphasis on the value of work experience. Without it, graduates may struggle to complete at the application stage. By completing an internship or part time jobs will provide graduates with the opportunity to acquire and demonstrate these skills at the application and interview stage. The last factor that causes the current graduates are unable to meet the employers’ expectations is the graduates are also lacking of proper career guidance and information. The major element has pointed out by many employers is the unrealistic expectation and demands of the graduates. This is because graduates generally believed their education and skills were sufficient. The universities considered their students to be well prepared for the transition to the workplace. Unfortunately, employers concluded that graduates now are citing unrealistic expectations and demands for higher salaries as examples. Most of the recent graduates are ‘too choosey’ even though they are fresh graduate that lack of working experience (New Straits Times, 2012). Besides that, most graduated won’t spend time checking the company’s background as they are only attracted by a difference in the salary of a few hundred ringgit. Cheah and Tay (2011) argued that employees would be more engaged in their jobs if they are supported by their supervisors and if they are empowered to make decision. Most of the students choose their course based on their friend’s and parent’s advices. They didn’t really found out what should they choose, since the choice of the student might affect their future career. Furthermore, employer expects the graduates to find out their company background before the graduates come for an interview. Job fairs and exhibitions can be held to engage employers and youth. Online community portal to facilitate collaboration for career counselors, students, new graduates and employers can include an interactive website for posting questions and answers, links to the various career guidance tools and manuals, and labor demand or supply statistical reports. In conclusion, there are still graduates are unable to meet the employers’ expectations. It will lead the unemployment rate increase in the country. Government should have plan a way for the formulation of long term strategies to solve the problems occurs. The today’s world of work, employer is increasingly expecting multi skilled and multi tasking employees. Since the job market is competitive that graduates need to do more than just present their background and qualifications. Besides that, graduates may need to apply new skills that will require them to learn and re-learn while on the job. Employers place a premium on graduates who can move between different challenges and who have soft skills with experienced. The most important for the graduates to get a job is self confidence and motivation to meet successfully the challenges of works and of course to survive in the world of works.

Alcoholism and Theme Jake Doesn

The Sun Also Rises Quote Literary Element Commentary can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to ) conflict Jake is trying to explain that you can't find happiness by moving to another place. You have to find happiness within yourself wherever you may be in life. â€Å"l mistrust all frank and simple people, especially when their stories hold together† (12) theme Jake doesn't trust the ones who are upfront and real because he is so used to seeing everyone who is fake. â€Å"This is a good place,† he said. There's a lot of liquor,† I agreed. † (19) characterization From having a hard life, Jake has seem to fallen on alcohol to heal the wounds throughout his life. He is always drinking and being drunk during the story. â€Å"No, I don't like Paris. It's expensive and dirty. † (26) setting Here George explains to Frances how she doesn't like Paris for it is too expensive. Since this book Is placed In the sass's. Everywhere at this time was e xpensive because of WWW â€Å"l was a little drunk.Not drunk in any positive sense but Just enough to be careless. † (29) theme Jake refers to being drunk and he mentions It can be positive. The characters In this kook drink like it essential to living and that it is a great thing. â€Å"He looked a great deal as his compatriot must have looked when he saw the promised land†¦. He had that look of eager. Deserving expectation. † (29) characterization Cohn was looking at Brett because he thought she was absolutely stunning and he had hopes of being with her. â€Å"Couldn't we live together, Brett?Could we Just live together? † â€Å"l don't think so. I'd just trooper you with everybody. † (62) conflict Jake and Brett want to be together but Brett can't live with Sake's disability and she says that she would always cheat on Jake if they did live together. Never fall in love? † â€Å"Always,† said the count. â€Å"l am always In love. † (67) The count says he is always in love, this points out the fact that he is a hopeless romantic and it could also mean he Is not happy with himself so he seeks love to compensate. Friends,† said Mike. â€Å"l had a lot of friends. False friends. Then I had creditors, too. Probably had more creditors than anybody in England. † (141 ) theme Mike has lost all his money from having fake friends. HIS friends were only his friends because of his fortune and wealth. â€Å"Don't you know you're not wanted? † (146) Mike says this to Jake and It shows that Mike Is someone who has no filter on what they say. Whatever he thinks, he says. Under the wine I lost the disgusted feeling and was happy.It seemed they were all such nice people. (150) theme lake uses alcohol to mask his telling an like he wants to believe they are. That his trends aren't nice † ‘Oh, Jake,' Brett said, ‘we could have had such a damned good time together. ‘ ‘Yes,' I sa id. ‘Isn't it pretty to think so? ‘ † (251) conflict Brett and Jake wish that the could be together but they know they can't. If it wasn't for lake's impotence, then they could have a great life together.

Economics Oligopoly

Main economic features of an Oligopoly and key economic theories of price fixing. This part of the coursework aims to identify and explain the main economic features of an Oligopoly and also the key economic theories which influence the price of a product or service. This part deals with the theoretical aspects of Oligopoly and the later part emphasizes on the practical applications of the theories and oligopoly features.According to Pass et al (2000), â€Å"Oligopoly, a type of market structure is characterised by a few firms and many buyers, where the bulk of market supply is in the control of relatively few large firms who in turn sell to many small buyers†. To describe the degree of oligopoly, concentration ratio is often utilized. Concentration ratio is the measure of the market share of the largest four firms in the industry expressed as a percentage. A low concentration ratio suggests a high level of competition and vice versa for.As there are few players dominating the industry, each player or an oligopolist is said or likely to be aware of others course of actions. The decision taken by one player seems to affect the decision taken by others and strategic planning by the firms needs to take into account the likely response of other participants (Wikipedia, 2010). For example, a proper game of chess depends on how well you read your opponent’s moves, similarly in oligopoly; strategies are devised based on the moves of competing market firms.The reason for existence oligopoly as stated by Maunder et al (1991) is for the achievement of economies of scale. Firms tend to reduce their average cost of production by increasing their scale of operation and since the small firms have higher average costs, they tend to go out of business or be absorbed by the larger ones. The features of oligopoly are:- a. Number of Firms:-The very important feature of an oligopoly is the number of firms. Even though there are a large number of firms operating in a particular industry, only a handful of firms hold the major share between them. . Interdependence: – A very distinctive feature of an oligopoly is interdependence. When a very few large firms operate in a particular industry, their activities or strategy cannot be independent of each other. Unlike monopoly, where the monopolist need not worry about the reaction of its rivals as there are none, an oligopolist takes into consideration the possible reactions of all rival firms. For example, a company considering a price reduction of its products may wish to estimate the chances of price reduction by the rival company and hence starting a price war. . Profit Maximization Condition: – The firms in an oligopoly generally agree to co-operate and act as one monopolist as it generates high profits (Begg and Ward 2007). This kind of formal collusive agreement is called a cartel. An oligopoly maximises profits where the marginal revenue equals the marginal cost. This is also know n as profit maximization condition. Price ELASTIC UNIT ELASTIC P MC, AC PROFIT MAXIMIZING OUTPUT O MR Quantity (Source: Begg and Ward 2007) d.Perfect Knowledge: – Oligopolists are said to have a perfect knowledge about their cost and demand functions but a lesser information about other firms (Wikipedia, 2010). e. Entry Barrier: – One of the main important features of oligopoly also is the entry barrier. There are high entry barriers that restrain a new firm from entering a market. For example, the barriers can be the economies of scale, access to expensive and complex technology, lower costs for an established firm, brand loyalty, patented production process and strategic action by incumbent firms etc.The table below gives the market concentration in different industries. As discussed earlier, the large few firms form a cartel and set a price. Once the members of the cartel agree on the price, they compete against each other using non price competition in order to gai n the maximum revenue. There are other various ways in which the firms fix the price. One of them being tacit collusion, where the firms agree on a price set by an established leader. This is also known as dominant firm price leadership as the price setting firm is the dominant firm in the industry.The other way is the barometric firm price leadership, where the price leader is the one whose prices reflect the market conditions in the most stable form (Sloman et al, 2010). To fix prices, the producers must be able to control the market supply. The other forms of price fixing in tacit collusion is average cost pricing, where producers add a certain percentage of profit on top of average costs and price benchmarking, where firms raise the price only up to a benchmark already set.Price fixing is achieved by the competing firms coming together on a platform where they can agree on a common pricing and production strategy thus acting in a manner in which a monopoly operates. This kind of collusion is known as cartelisation. Cartels although banned in many countries, is difficult for the enforcement agencies to gather evidence and penalise the participants. The quantity for the cartel and the individual firm will not be the same as one firm individually will have the scope for further increase in productivity to achieve a situation where the marginal cost equals the marginal revenue.In such cases firms may decide to go ahead with excess supply which can lead to a price war and inconsistent revenues to the industry. Even without overt collusion firms in an oligopoly are able to reach a point of profit maximisation when they behave in a manner reflected in â€Å"Nash Equilibrium† (Begg and Ward 2007). 2B) Direct to Home (DTH) television industry in India acting as an oligopoly. India has a total television population of about 135 million of which about 108 million have an access to cable and satellite television (Plugged in, 2010).The total DTH sub base at the end of first quarter in the year 2010 was 23 million (Dish TV India Ltd, 2010) which was about just 1 million in the year 2006. Indian DTH industry has seen a flurry of activities in the recent years after a monopolistic reign by Dish TV for a couple of years. It is currently in a state of Oligopoly with the top four operators controlling nearly 80% of the total market. The major players in the market are Dish TV by Zee group, TataSky- a joint venture by Tata and Star TV, Big TV by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, Digital TV by Bharati Telemedia and SUN Direct from Sun TV.Since there are only 3 major players in the DTH market, Indian DTH industry is an oligopoly. (Indiadth, 2010) The product offering by the rival firms are more or less similar in nature with little or no product differentiation. Amongst all the players, Sun Direct has essentially remained a regional operator who made a late debut in the national scene. The content or the channels are same with all the operators barring few omissions and additions. The DTH industry market share is as follows. BRAND| MARKET SHARE| Dish TV| 30%|TataSky| 22%| Sun Direct| 25%| Big Tv| 13%| Airtel| 8%| D2H| 2%| (Source: http://www. pluggd. in/dth-industry-in-india-analysis-297/) From the data above we can see that Dish TV, TataSky and Sun Direct together hold the maximum market share with over 75%. (Source: http://www. slideshare. net/) To confirm the oligopoly, we can use the Herfindahl-Hirschman index or the HHI. It measures the size of the firms in relation to the industry and also indicates the amount of competition between them. Mathematically, (Adapted from Pass et al, 2000)Here Si = market share of firm i in the market and N is the number of firms. Hence H = 302 + 222 + 252 + 132 + 82 + 22 H = 2246. With this value of H we can conclude that this industry is an oligopoly. Although there is no indication of an overt collusion in the industry, a closer look at their price plan (fig 1. 1) can lead us to a strategic o r tacit understanding between the players. The market is abuzz with marketing drives to garner market share and the customer is currently loaded with freebies like free installation, free channels and the like.Going by the level of investment and infrastructure the operators need to garner as much subscriber base as possible to be in a profitable proposition. They are however aware of the competition and are refraining from a price war. Such behaviour of the operators is characteristic of a non-price competition in Oligopoly. This is due to the interdependency of firms in the oligopoly and the strategic behaviour can also be referred to the â€Å"Nash Equilibrium† (Begg and Ward 2007). (Source: Slideshare. net/researchonIndia) Brand Name| PricePlan(inINR)/month| Dish TV| 135. 0| TataSky| 150. 00| Sun Direct| 115. 00| Videocon| 136. 00| Fig: 1. 1 (Source: Company websites, 2010) Now as in any oligopoly, it has to be supported by entry barriers, both endogenous and exogenous. T he natural barrier of entry in this particular industry is primarily associated with government licensing and also the intensity of capital investment required. Given that all the DTH operators are already established players in related sectors such as telecom, media it gives them a strategic advantage in terms of distribution and content.For any new entrant it could pose as a strategic entry barrier. Indian DTH market has constantly been attracting different players over the years given the increasing number of television subscribers. Although there have been entry barriers, companies like Videocon along with its cutting edge technology entered into the market in the presence of established players. The cutting edge technology proved to be a barrier breaker. Videocon managed to build television sets with set top boxes which helped it develop its own customer base.References Begg, D. , and Ward, D. (2007). Economics for Business, 2nd edition. Berkshire: McGraw Hill Publication. Chri stopher Pass, Bryan Lowes and Leslie Davies (2000). Economics, 3rd edition. HarperCollins Publishers. DTH, (2010). http://www. pluggd. in/dth-industry-in-india-analysis-297/ [Accessed 21/11/2010] Dish TV, (2010). http://www. dishtv. in/packages. aspx [Accessed 21/11/2010] Indiadth, (2010). http://www. indiadth. in/ [Accessed 22/11/2010] Maunder, P. , Myers, D. , Wall, N. , and Miller, R. L. 1991) Economics Explained, 2nd edition. Collins Educational. Sloman, J. , and Hinde, K. (2007). Economics for business, 4th edition. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Sun Direct, (2010). http://www. sundirect. com/packages. php [Accessed 22/11/2010] Tata Sky, (2010). http://www. tatasky. com/channel-packages. html [Accessed 22/11/2010] Videocon, (2010). http://www. videocond2h. com/wsc/packages. html [Accessed 22/11/2010] Wikipedia, (2010). Oligopoly. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Oligopoly [Accessed 21/11/2010)]

Principles of Information Security, 4th Ed. – Michael E. Whitman Chap 01

Licensed to: CengageBrain User Licensed to: CengageBrain User Principles of Information Security, Fourth Edition Michael E. Whitman and Herbert J. Mattord Vice President Editorial, Career Education & Training Solutions: Dave Garza Director of Learning Solutions: Matthew Kane Executive Editor: Steve Helba Managing Editor: Marah Bellegarde Product Manager: Natalie Pashoukos Development Editor: Lynne Raughley Editorial Assistant: Jennifer Wheaton Vice President Marketing, Career Education & Training Solutions: Jennifer Ann Baker Marketing Director: Deborah S.Yarnell Senior Marketing Manager: Erin Coffin Associate Marketing Manager: Shanna Gibbs Production Manager: Andrew Crouth Content Project Manager: Brooke Greenhouse Senior Art Director: Jack Pendleton Manufacturing Coordinator: Amy Rogers Technical Edit/Quality Assurance: Green Pen Quality Assurance  © 2012 Course Technology, Cengage Learning For more information, contact or find us on the World Wide Web at: www. course. com ALL R IGHTS RESERVED.No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the publisher.For product information and technology assistance, contact us at Cengage Learning Customer & Sales Support, 1-800-354-9706 For permission to use material from this text or product, submit all requests online at cengage. com/permissions Further permission questions can be emailed to [email  protected] comLibrary of Congress Control Number: 2010940654 ISBN-13: 978-1-111-13821-9 ISBN-10: 1-111-13821-4 Course Technology 20 Channel Center Boston, MA 02210 USA Cengage Learning is a leading provider of custo mized learning solutions with office locations around the globe, including Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan. Locate your local office at: international. cengage. com/region. Cengage Learning products are represented in Canada by Nelson Education, Ltd. For your lifelong learning solutions, visit course. cengage. com Purchase any of our products at your local college store or at our preferred online store www. engagebrain. com. Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 14 13 12 11 10 Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it . Licensed to: CengageBrain User hapter 1 Introduction to Information Security Do not figure on opponents not attacking; worry about your own lack of preparation. BOOK OF THE FIVE RINGS For Amy, the day began like any other at the Sequential Label and Supply Company (SLS) help desk. Taking calls and helping office workers with computer problems was not glamorous, but she enjoyed the work; it was challenging and paid well. Some of her friends in the industry worked at bigger companies, some at cutting-edge tech companies, but they all agreed that jobs in information technology were a good way to pay the bills.The phone rang, as it did on average about four times an hour and about 28 times a day. The first call of the day, from a worried user hoping Amy could help him out of a jam, seemed typical. The call display on her monitor gave some of the facts: the user’s name, his phone number, the department in which he worked, where his office was on the company campus, and a list of all the calls he’d made in the past. â€Å"Hi, Bob,† she said. â€Å"Did you get that document formatting problem squared away? † â€Å"Sure did, Amy. Hope we can figure out what’s going on this time. † â€Å"We’ll try, Bob. Tell me about it. † â€Å"Well, my PC is acting weird,† Bob said. When I go to the screen that has my e-mail program running, it doesn’t respond to the mouse or the keyboard. † â€Å"Did you try a reboot yet? † 1 Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageB rain User Chapter 1 â€Å"Sure did. But the window wouldn’t close, and I had to turn it off. After it restarted, I opened the e-mail program, and it’s just like it was before—no response at all. The other stuff is working OK, but really, really slowly. Even my Internet browser is sluggish. † â€Å"OK, Bob. We’ve tried the usual stuff we can do over the phone. Let me open a case, and I’ll dispatch a tech over as soon as possible. † Amy looked up at the LED tally board on the wall at the end of the room. She saw that there were only two technicians dispatched to deskside support at the moment, and since it was the day shift, there were four available. Shouldn’t be long at all, Bob. † She hung up and typed her notes into ISIS, the company’s Information Status and Issues System. She assigned the newly generated case to the deskside dispatch queue, which would page the roving deskside team with the details in just a few minutes. A moment later, Amy looked up to see Charlie Moody, the senior manager of the server administration team, walking briskly down the hall. He was being trailed by three of his senior technicians as he made a beeline from his office to the door of the server room where the company servers were kept in a controlled environment. They all looked worried.Just then, Amy’s screen beeped to alert her of a new e-mail. She glanced down. It beeped again—and again. It started beeping constantly. She clicked on the envelope icon and, after a short delay, the mail window opened. She had 47 new e-mails in her inbox. She opened one from Davey Martinez, an acquaintance from the Accounting Department. The subject line said, â€Å"Wait till you see this. † The message body read, â€Å"Look what this has to say about our managers’ salaries†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Davey often sent her interesting and funny e-mails, and she failed to notice that the file attachment icon was unu sual before she clicked it.Her PC showed the hourglass pointer icon for a second and then the normal pointer reappeared. Nothing happened. She clicked the next e-mail message in the queue. Nothing happened. Her phone rang again. She clicked the ISIS icon on her computer desktop to activate the call management software and activated her headset. â€Å"Hello, Tech Support, how can I help you? † She couldn’t greet the caller by name because ISIS had not responded. â€Å"Hello, this is Erin Williams in receiving. † Amy glanced down at her screen. Still no ISIS.She glanced up to the tally board and was surprised to see the inbound-call-counter tallying up waiting calls like digits on a stopwatch. Amy had never seen so many calls come in at one time. â€Å"Hi, Erin,† Amy said. â€Å"What’s up? † â€Å"Nothing,† Erin answered. â€Å"That’s the problem. † The rest of the call was a replay of Bob’s, except that Amy had to jot notes down on a legal pad. She couldn’t dispatch the deskside support team either. She looked at the tally board. It had gone dark. No numbers at all. Then she saw Charlie running down the hall from the server room. He didn’t look worried anymore. He looked frantic. Amy picked up the phone again.She wanted to check with her supervisor about what to do now. There was no dial tone. Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User Introduction to Information Security 3LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this material, you should be able to: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Define information security Recount the history of computer security, and explain how it evolved into information security Define key terms and critical concepts of information security Enumerate the phases of the security systems development life cycle Describe the information security roles of professionals within an organization 1 Introduction James Anderson, executive consultant at Emagined Security, Inc. , believes information security in an enterprise is a â€Å"well-informed sense of assurance that the information risks and controls are in balance. He is not alone in his perspective. Many information security practitioners recognize that aligning information security needs with business objectives must be the top priority. This chapter’s opening scenario illustrates that the information risks and controls are not in balance at Sequential Label and Supply. Though Amy works in a technical support role and her job is to solve technical problems, it does not occur to her that a malicious software program, like a worm or virus, might be the agent of the company’s current ills.Management also shows signs of confusion and seems to have no idea how to contain this kind of incident. If you were in Amy’s place and were faced with a similar situation, what would you do? How would you react? Would it occur to you that something far more insidious than a technical malfunction was happening at your company? As you explore the chapters of this book and learn more about information security, you will become better able to answer these questions. But before you can begin studying the details of the discipline of information security, you must first know the history and evolution of the field.The History of Information Security The history of information security begins with computer security. The need for computer security—that is, the need to secure physical locations, hardware, and softwa re from threats— arose during World War II when the first mainframes, developed to aid computations for communication code breaking (see Figure 1-1), were put to use. Multiple levels of security were implemented to protect these mainframes and maintain the integrity of their data.Access to sensitive military locations, for example, was controlled by means of badges, keys, and the facial recognition of authorized personnel by security guards. The growing need to maintain national security eventually led to more complex and more technologically sophisticated computer security safeguards. During these early years, information security was a straightforward process composed predominantly of physical security and simple document classification schemes. The primary threats to security were physical theft of equipment, espionage against the products of the systems, and sabotage.One of the first documented security problems that fell outside these categories occurred in the early 196 0s, when a systems administrator was working on an MOTD Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.Licensed to: CengageBrain User 4 Chapter 1 Earlier versions of the German code machine Enigma were ? rst broken by the Poles in the 1930s. The British and Americans managed to break later, more complex versions during World War II. The increasingly complex versions of the Enigma, especially the submarine or Unterseeboot version of the Enigma, caused considerable anguish to Allied forces before ? nally being cracked. The information gained from decrypted transmissions was used to anticipate the actions of German armed forces. Some ask why, if we were reading the Enigma, we did not win the war earlier. One might ask, instead, when, if ever, we would have won the war if we hadn’t read it. †1 Figure 1-1 The Enigma Source: Courtesy of National Security Agency (message of the day) file, and another administrator was editing the password file. A software glitch mixed the two files, and the entire password file was printed on every output file. 2 The 1960s During the Cold War, many more mainframes were brought online to accomplish more complex and sophisticated tasks.It became necessary to enable these mainframes to communicate via a less cumbersome process than mailing magnetic tapes between computer centers. In response to this need, the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) began examining the feasibility of a redundant, networked communications system to support the military’s exchange of information. Larr y Roberts, known as the founder of the Internet, developed the project—which was called ARPANET—from its inception. ARPANET is the predecessor to the Internet (see Figure 1-2 for an excerpt from the ARPANET Program Plan).The 1970s and 80s During the next decade, ARPANET became popular and more widely used, and the potential for its misuse grew. In December of 1973, Robert M. â€Å"Bob† Metcalfe, who is credited Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience.Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User Introduction to Information Security 5 1 Figure 1-2 Development of the ARPANET Program Plan3 Source: Courtesy of Dr. Lawrence Roberts with the development of Ethernet, one of the most popular networking protocols, identified fundamental problems with ARPANET security. Individual remote sites did not have sufficient controls and safeguards to protect data from unauthorized remote users.Other problems abounded: vulnerability of password structure and formats; lack of safety procedures for dial-up connections; and nonexistent user identification and authorization to the system. Phone numbers were widely distributed and openly publicized on the walls of phone booths, giving hackers easy access to ARPANET. Because of the range and frequency of computer security violations and the explosion in the numbers of hosts and users on ARPANET, network security was referred to as network insecurity. In 1978, a famous study entitled â€Å"Protection Analysis: Final Report† was published. It focused on a project undertaken by ARPA to discover the vulnerabilitie s of operating system security. For a timeline that includes this and other seminal studies of computer security, see Table 1-1. The movement toward security that went beyond protecting physical locations began with a single paper sponsored by the Department of Defense, the Rand Report R-609, which attempted to define the multiple controls and mechanisms necessary for the protection of a multilevel computer system.The document was classified for almost ten years, and is now considered to be the paper that started the study of computer security. The security—or lack thereof—of the systems sharing resources inside the Department of Defense was brought to the attention of researchers in the spring and summer of 1967. At that time, systems were being acquired at a rapid rate and securing them was a pressing concern for both the military and defense contractors. Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in pa rt. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User 6 Chapter 1 Date 1968 1973 1975 1978 Documents Maurice Wilkes discusses password security in Time-Sharing Computer Systems.Schell, Downey, and Popek examine the need for additional security in military systems in â€Å"Preliminary Notes on the Design of Secure Military Computer Systems. †5 The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) examines Digital Encryption Standard (DES) in the Federal Register. Bisbey and Hollingworth publish their study â€Å"Protection Analysis: Final Report,† discussing the Protection Analysis project created by ARPA to better understand the vulnerabilities of opera ting system security and examine the possibility of automated vulnerability detection techniques in existing system software. Morris and Thompson author â€Å"Password Security: A Case History,† published in the Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). The paper examines the history of a design for a password security scheme on a remotely accessed, time-sharing system. Dennis Ritchie publishes â€Å"On the Security of UNIX† and â€Å"Protection of Data File Contents,† discussing secure user IDs and secure group IDs, and the problems inherent in the systems. Grampp and Morris write â€Å"UNIX Operating System Security. In this report, the authors examine four â€Å"important handles to computer security†: physical control of premises and computer facilities, management commitment to security objectives, education of employees, and administrative procedures aimed at increased security. 7 Reeds and Weinberger publish â€Å"File Secu rity and the UNIX System Crypt Command. † Their premise was: â€Å"No technique can be secure against wiretapping or its equivalent on the computer. Therefore no technique can be secure against the systems administrator or other privileged users †¦ the naive user has no chance. 8 1979 1979 1984 1984 Table 1-1 Key Dates for Seminal Works in Early Computer Security In June of 1967, the Advanced Research Projects Agency formed a task force to study the process of securing classified information systems. The Task Force was assembled in October of 1967 and met regularly to formulate recommendations, which ultimately became the contents of the Rand Report R-609. 9 The Rand Report R-609 was the first widely recognized published document to identify the role of management and policy issues in computer security.It noted that the wide utilization of networking components in information systems in the military introduced security risks that could not be mitigated by the routine pra ctices then used to secure these systems. 10 This paper signaled a pivotal moment in computer security history—when the scope of computer security expanded significantly from the safety of physical locations and hardware to include the following: Securing the data Limiting random and unauthorized access to that data Involving personnel from multiple levels of the organization in matters pertaining to information securityMULTICS Much of the early research on computer security centered on a system called Multiplexed Information and Computing Service (MULTICS). Although it is now obsolete, MULTICS is noteworthy because it was the first operating system to integrate security into Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience.Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User Introduction to Information Security 7 its core functions. It was a mainframe, time-sharing operating system developed in the mid1960s by a consortium of General Electric (GE), Bell Labs, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In mid-1969, not long after the restructuring of the MULTICS project, several of its developers (Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Rudd Canaday, and Doug McIlro) created a new operating system called UNIX.While the MULTICS system implemented multiple security levels and passwords, the UNIX system did not. Its primary function, text processing, did not require the same level of security as that of its predecessor. In fact, it was not until the early 1970s that even the simplest component of security, the password function, became a component of UNIX. In the late 1970s, the microprocessor brought the personal computer and a new age of computing. The PC became the workhorse of modern computing, thereby moving it out of the data center.This decentralization of data processing systems in the 1980s gave rise to networking—that is, the interconnecting of personal computers and mainframe computers, which enabled the entire computing community to make all their resources work together. 1 The 1990s At the close of the twentieth century, networks of computers became more common, as did the need to connect these networks to each other. This gave rise to the Internet, the first global network of networks. The Internet was made available to the general public in the 1990s, having previously been the domain of government, academia, and dedicated industry professionals.The Internet brought connectivity to virtually all computers that could reach a phone line or an Internet-connected local area network (LAN). After the Internet was commercialized, the tec hnology became pervasive, reaching almost every corner of the globe with an expanding array of uses. Since its inception as a tool for sharing Defense Department information, the Internet has become an interconnection of millions of networks. At first, these connections were based on de facto standards, because industry standards for interconnection of networks did not exist at that time.These de facto standards did little to ensure the security of information though as these precursor technologies were widely adopted and became industry standards, some degree of security was introduced. However, early Internet deployment treated security as a low priority. In fact, many of the problems that plague e-mail on the Internet today are the result of this early lack of security. At that time, when all Internet and e-mail users were (presumably trustworthy) computer scientists, mail server authentication and e-mail encryption did not seem necessary.Early computing approaches relied on secu rity that was built into the physical environment of the data center that housed the computers. As networked computers became the dominant style of computing, the ability to physically secure a networked computer was lost, and the stored information became more exposed to security threats. 2000 to Present Today, the Internet brings millions of unsecured computer networks into continuous communication with each other. The security of each computer’s stored information is now contingent on the level of security of every other computer to which it is connected.Recent years have seen a growing awareness of the need to improve information security, as well as a realization that information security is important to national defense. The growing threat of Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience.Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User 8 Chapter 1 cyber attacks have made governments and companies more aware of the need to defend the computer-controlled control systems of utilities and other critical infrastructure. There is also growing concern about nation-states engaging in information warfare, and the possibility that business and personal information systems could become casualties if they are undefended.What Is Security? In general, security is â€Å"the quality or state of being secure—to be free from danger. †11 In other words, protection against adversaries—from those who would do harm, intentionally or otherwise—is the objective. National security, for example, is a multilayered system that protects the sovereignty of a st ate, its assets, its resources, and its people. Achieving the appropriate level of security for an organization also requires a multifaceted system.A successful organization should have the following multiple layers of security in place to protect its operations: Physical security, to protect physical items, objects, or areas from unauthorized access and misuse Personnel security, to protect the individual or group of individuals who are authorized to access the organization and its operations Operations security, to protect the details of a particular operation or series of activities Communications security, to protect communications media, technology, and content Network security, to protect networking components, connections, and contents Information security, to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information assets, whether in storage, processing, or transmission. It is achieved via the application of policy, education, training and awareness, and techno logy.The Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) defines information security as the protection of information and its critical elements, including the systems and hardware that use, store, and transmit that information. 12 Figure 1-3 shows that information security includes the broad areas of information security management, computer and data security, and network security. The CNSS model of information security evolved from a concept developed by the computer security industry called the C. I. A. triangle. The C. I. A. triangle has been the industry standard for computer security since the development of the mainframe. It is based on the three characteristics of information that give it value to organizations: confidentiality, integrity, and availability.The security of these three characteristics of information is as important today as it has always been, but the C. I. A. triangle model no longer adequately addresses the constantly changing environment. The threats to the c onfidentiality, integrity, and availability of information have evolved into a vast collection of events, including accidental or intentional damage, destruction, theft, unintended or unauthorized modification, or other misuse from human or nonhuman threats. This new environment of many constantly evolving threats has prompted the development of a more robust model that addresses the complexities of the current information security environment.The expanded model consists of a list of critical characteristics of information, which are described in the next Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User Introduction to Information Security 9 1 Information security Figure 1-3 Components of Information SecuritySource: Course Technology/Cengage Learning section. C. I. A. triangle terminology is used in this chapter because of the breadth of material that is based on it. Key Information Security Concepts This book uses a number of terms and concepts that are essential to any discussion of information security. Some of these terms are illustrated in Figure 1-4; all are covered in greater detail in subsequent chapters. Access: A subject or object’s ability to use, manipulate, modify, or affect another subject or object. Authorized users have legal access to a system, whereas hackers have illegal access to a system. Access controls regulate this ability.Asset: The organizational resource that is being protected. An asset can be logical, such as a Web site, information, or data; or an asset can be physical, such as a person, c omputer system, or other tangible object. Assets, and particularly information assets, are the focus of security efforts; they are what those efforts are attempting to protect. Attack: An intentional or unintentional act that can cause damage to or otherwise compromise information and/or the systems that support it. Attacks can be active or passive, intentional or unintentional, and direct or indirect. Someone casually reading sensitive information not intended for his or her use is a passive attack.A hacker attempting to break into an information system is an intentional attack. A lightning strike that causes a fire in a building is an unintentional attack. A direct attack is a hacker using a personal computer to break into a system. An indirect attack is a hacker compromising a system and using it to attack other systems, for example, as part of a botnet (slang for robot network). This group of compromised computers, running software of the attacker’s choosing, can operate autonomously or under the attacker’s direct control to attack systems and steal user information or conduct distributed denial-of-service attacks. Direct attacks originate from the threat itself.Indirect attacks originate from a compromised system or resource that is malfunctioning or working under the control of a threat. Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User 10 Chapter 1 Vulnerability: Buffer overflow in online database Web interfaceThreat: Theft Threat agent: Ima Hacker Exploit: Script from MadHackz Web site Attack: Ima Hacker downloads an exploit from MadHackz web site and then accesses buybay’s Web site. Ima then applies the script which runs and compromises buybay's security controls and steals customer data. These actions cause buybay to experience a loss. Asset: buybay’s customer database Figure 1-4 Information Security Terms Source: Course Technology/Cengage Learning Control, safeguard, or countermeasure: Security mechanisms, policies, or procedures that can successfully counter attacks, reduce risk, resolve vulnerabilities, and otherwise improve the security within an organization.The various levels and types of controls are discussed more fully in the following chapters. Exploit: A technique used to compromise a system. This term can be a verb or a noun. Threat agents may attempt to exploit a system or other information asset by using it illegally for their personal gain. Or, an exploit can be a documented process to take advantage of a vulnerability or exposure, usually in software, that is either inherent in the software or is created by the attacker. Exploits make use of existing software tools or custom-made software components. Exposure: A condition or state of being exposed. In information security, exposure exists when a vulnerability known to an attacker is present.Loss: A single instance of an information asset suffering damage or unintended or unauthorized modification or disclosure. When an organization’s information is stolen, it has suffered a loss. Protection profile or security posture: The entire set of controls and safeguards, including policy, education, training and awareness, and technology, that the Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience.Cen gage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User Introduction to Information Security 11 organization implements (or fails to implement) to protect the asset. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably with the term security program, although the security program often comprises managerial aspects of security, including planning, personnel, and subordinate programs. Risk: The probability that something unwanted will happen. Organizations must minimize risk to match their risk appetite—the quantity and nature of risk the organization is willing to accept.Subjects and objects: A computer can be either the subject of an attack—an agent entity used to conduct the attack—or the object of an attack—the target entity, as shown in Figure 1-5. A computer can be both the subject and object of an attack, when, for example, it is compromised by an attack (object), and is then used to attack other systems (subject). Threat: A category of objects, persons, or other entities that presents a danger to an asset. Threats are always present and can be purposeful or undirected. For example, hackers purposefully threaten unprotected information systems, while severe storms incidentally threaten buildings and their contents. Threat agent: The specific instance or a component of a threat.For example, all hackers in the world present a collective threat, while Kevin Mitnick, who was convicted for hacking into phone systems, is a specific threat agent. Likewise, a lightning strike, hailstorm, or tornado is a threat agent that is part of the threat of severe storms. Vulnerability: A weaknesses or fault in a system or protection mechanism that opens it to attack or damage. Some examples of vulnerabilities are a flaw in a software package, an unprotected system port, and an unlocked door. Some well-known vulnerabilities have been examined, documented, and pu blished; others remain latent (or undiscovered). 1 Critical Characteristics of InformationThe value of information comes from the characteristics it possesses. When a characteristic of information changes, the value of that information either increases, or, more commonly, decreases. Some characteristics affect information’s value to users more than others do. This can depend on circumstances; for example, timeliness of information can be a critical factor, because information loses much or all of its value when it is delivered too late. Though information security professionals and end users share an understanding of the characteristics of subject object Figure 1-5 Computer as the Subject and Object of an Attack Source: Course Technology/Cengage LearningCopyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Edit orial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User 12 Chapter 1 information, tensions can arise when the need to secure the information from threats conflicts with the end users’ need for unhindered access to the information.For instance, end users may perceive a tenth-of-a-second delay in the computation of data to be an unnecessary annoyance. Information security professionals, however, may perceive that tenth of a second as a minor delay that enables an important task, like data encryption. Each critical characteristic of information—that is, the expanded C. I. A. triangle—is defined in the sections below. Availability Availability enables authorized users—persons or computer systems—to access information without interference or obstr uction and to receive it in the required format. Consider, for example, research libraries that require identification before entrance.Librarians protect the contents of the library so that they are available only to authorized patrons. The librarian must accept a patron’s identification before that patron has free access to the book stacks. Once authorized patrons have access to the contents of the stacks, they expect to find the information they need available in a useable format and familiar language, which in this case typically means bound in a book and written in English. Accuracy Information has accuracy when it is free from mistakes or errors and it has the value that the end user expects. If information has been intentionally or unintentionally modified, it is no longer accurate. Consider, for example, a checking account.You assume that the information contained in your checking account is an accurate representation of your finances. Incorrect information in your che cking account can result from external or internal errors. If a bank teller, for instance, mistakenly adds or subtracts too much from your account, the value of the information is changed. Or, you may accidentally enter an incorrect amount into your account register. Either way, an inaccurate bank balance could cause you to make mistakes, such as bouncing a check. Authenticity Authenticity of information is the quality or state of being genuine or original, rather than a reproduction or fabrication.Information is authentic when it is in the same state in which it was created, placed, stored, or transferred. Consider for a moment some common assumptions about e-mail. When you receive e-mail, you assume that a specific individual or group created and transmitted the e-mail—you assume you know the origin of the e-mail. This is not always the case. E-mail spoofing, the act of sending an e-mail message with a modified field, is a problem for many people today, because often the mo dified field is the address of the originator. Spoofing the sender’s address can fool e-mail recipients into thinking that messages are legitimate traffic, thus inducing them to open e-mail they otherwise might not have.Spoofing can also alter data being transmitted across a network, as in the case of user data protocol (UDP) packet spoofing, which can enable the attacker to get access to data stored on computing systems. Another variation on spoofing is phishing, when an attacker attempts to obtain personal or financial information using fraudulent means, most often by posing as another individual or organization. Pretending to be someone you are not is sometimes called pretexting when it is undertaken by law enforcement agents or private investigators. When used in a phishing attack, e-mail spoofing lures victims to a Web server that does not represent the organization it purports to, in an attempt to steal their private data such as account numbers and passwords.The most c ommon variants include posing as a bank or brokerage company, e-commerce organization, or Internet service provider. Even when authorized, pretexting does not always lead to a satisfactory outcome. In 2006, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.Licensed to: CengageBrain User Introduction to Information Security 13 Corporation, Patricia Dunn, authorized contract investigators to use pretexting to â€Å"smokeout† a corporate director suspected of leaking confidential information. The resulting firestorm of negative publicity led to Ms. D unn’s eventual departure from the company. 13 1 Confidentiality Information has confidentiality when it is protected from disclosure or exposure to unauthorized individuals or systems. Confidentiality ensures that only those with the rights and privileges to access information are able to do so. When unauthorized individuals or systems can view information, confidentiality is breached.To protect the confidentiality of information, you can use a number of measures, including the following: Information classification Secure document storage Application of general security policies Education of information custodians and end users Confidentiality, like most of the characteristics of information, is interdependent with other characteristics and is most closely related to the characteristic known as privacy. The relationship between these two characteristics is covered in more detail in Chapter 3, â€Å"Legal and Ethical Issues in Security. † The value of confidentiality of information is especially high when it is personal information about employees, customers, or patients. Individuals who transact with an organization expect that their personal information will remain confidential, whether the organization is a federal agency, such as the Internal Revenue Service, or a business. Problems arise when companies disclose confidential information.Sometimes this disclosure is intentional, but there are times when disclosure of confidential information happens by mistake—for example, when confidential information is mistakenly e-mailed to someone outside the organization rather than to someone inside the organization. Several cases of privacy violation are outlined in Offline: Unintentional Disclosures. Other examples of confidentiality breaches are an employee throwing away a document containing critical information without shredding it, or a hacker who successfully breaks into an internal database of a Web-based organization and steals sensitive information about the clients, such as names, addresses, and credit card numbers.As a consumer, you give up pieces of confidential information in exchange for convenience or value almost daily. By using a â€Å"members only† card at a grocery store, you disclose some of your spending habits. When you fill out an online survey, you exchange pieces of your personal history for access to online privileges. The bits and pieces of your information that you disclose are copied, sold, replicated, distributed, and eventually coalesced into profiles and even complete dossiers of yourself and your life. A similar technique is used in a criminal enterprise called salami theft. A deli worker knows he or she cannot steal an entire salami, but a few slices here or there can be taken home without notice.Eventually the deli worker has stolen a whole salami. In information security, salami theft occurs when an employee steals a few pieces of information at a time, knowing that taking more wou ld be noticed—but eventually the employee gets something complete or useable. Integrity Information has integrity when it is whole, complete, and uncorrupted. The integrity of information is threatened when the information is exposed to corruption, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User 14 Chapter 1 Offline Unintentional Disclosures In February 2005, the data aggregation and brokerage firm ChoicePoint revealed that it had been duped into releasing personal information about 145,000 people to identity thieves during 2004. The perpetr ators used stolen identities to create obstensibly legitimate business entities, which then subscribed to ChoicePoint to acquire the data fraudulently.The company reported that the criminals opened many accounts and recorded personal information on individuals, including names, addresses, and identification numbers. They did so without using any network or computer-based attacks; it was simple fraud. 14 While the the amount of damage has yet to be compiled, the fraud is feared to have allowed the perpetrators to arrange many hundreds of instances of identity theft. The giant pharmaceutical organization Eli Lilly and Co. released the e-mail addresses of 600 patients to one another in 2001. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) denounced this breach of privacy, and information technology industry analysts noted that it was likely to influence the public debate on privacy legislation.The company claimed that the mishap was caused by a programming error that occurred when patients w ho used a specific drug produced by the company signed up for an e-mail service to access support materials provided by the company. About 600 patient addresses were exposed in the mass e-mail. 15 In another incident, the intellectual property of Jerome Stevens Pharmaceuticals, a small prescription drug manufacturer from New York, was compromised when the FDA released documents the company had filed with the agency. It remains unclear whether this was a deliberate act by the FDA or a simple error; but either way, the company’s secrets were posted to a public Web site for several months before being removed. 16 damage, destruction, or other disruption of its authentic state. Corruption can occur while information is being stored or transmitted.Many computer viruses and worms are designed with the explicit purpose of corrupting data. For this reason, a key method for detecting a virus or worm is to look for changes in file integrity as shown by the size of the file. Another key method of assuring information integrity is file hashing, in which a file is read by a special algorithm that uses the value of the bits in the file to compute a single large number called a hash value. The hash value for any combination of bits is unique. If a computer system performs the same hashing algorithm on a file and obtains a different number than the recorded hash value for that file, the file has been compromised and the integrity of the information is lost.Information integrity is the cornerstone of information systems, because information is of no value or use if users cannot verify its integrity. Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User Introduction to Information Security 15File corruption is not necessarily the result of external forces, such as hackers. Noise in the transmission media, for instance, can also cause data to lose its integrity. Transmitting data on a circuit with a low voltage level can alter and corrupt the data. Redundancy bits and check bits can compensate for internal and external threats to the integrity of information. During each transmission, algorithms, hash values, and the error-correcting codes ensure the integrity of the information. Data whose integrity has been compromised is retransmitted. 1 Utility The utility of information is the quality or state of having value for some purpose or end.Information has value when it can serve a purpose. If information is available, but is not in a format meaningful to the end user, it is not useful. For example, to a private citizen U. S. Census data can quickly become overwhelming and difficult to interpret; however, for a politician, U. S. Census data reveals information about the residents in a district, such as their race, gender, and age. This information can help form a politician’s next campaign strategy. Possession The possession of information is the quality or state of ownership or control. Information is said to be in one’s possession if one obtains it, independent of format or other characteristics.While a breach of confidentiality always results in a breach of possession, a breach of possession does not always result in a breach of confidentiality. For example, assume a company stores its critical customer data using an encrypted file system. An employee who has quit decides to take a copy of the tape backups to sell the customer records to the competition. The removal of the tapes from their secure environment is a breach of possession. But, because the data is encrypted, neither the e mployee nor anyone else can read it without the proper decryption methods; therefore, there is no breach of confidentiality. Today, people caught selling company secrets face increasingly stiff fines with the likelihood of jail time.Also, companies are growing more and more reluctant to hire individuals who have demonstrated dishonesty in their past. CNSS Security Model The definition of information security presented in this text is based in part on the CNSS document called the National Training Standard for Information Systems Security Professionals NSTISSI No. 4011. (See www. cnss. gov/Assets/pdf/nstissi_4011. pdf. Since this document was written, the NSTISSC was renamed the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS)— see www. cnss. gov. The library of documents is being renamed as the documents are rewritten. ) This document presents a comprehensive information security model and has become a widely accepted evaluation standard for the security of information systems.T he model, created by John McCumber in 1991, provides a graphical representation of the architectural approach widely used in computer and information security; it is now known as the McCumber Cube. 17 The McCumber Cube in Figure 1-6, shows three dimensions. If extrapolated, the three dimensions of each axis become a 3 3 3 cube with 27 cells representing areas that must be addressed to secure today’s information systems. To ensure system security, each of the 27 areas must be properly addressed during the security process. For example, the intersection between technology, integrity, and storage requires a control or safeguard that addresses the need to use technology to protect the integrity of information while in storage.One such control might be a system for detecting host intrusion that protects the integrity of Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party co ntent may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User 16 Chapter 1 Figure 1-6 The McCumber Cube18 Source: Course Technology/Cengage Learning information by alerting the security administrators to the potential modification of a critical file.What is commonly left out of such a model is the need for guidelines and policies that provide direction for the practices and implementations of technologies. The need for policy is discussed in subsequent chapters of this book. Components of an Information System As shown in Figure 1-7, an information system (IS) is much more than computer hardware; it is the entire set of software, hardware, data, people, procedures, and networks that make possible the use of information r esources in the organization. These six critical components enable information to be input, processed, output, and stored. Each of these IS components has its own strengths and weaknesses, as well as its own characteristics and uses.Each component of the information system also has its own security requirements. Software The software component of the IS comprises applications, operating systems, and assorted command utilities. Software is perhaps the most difficult IS component to secure. The exploitation of errors in software programming accounts for a substantial portion of the attacks on information. The information technology industry is rife with reports warning of holes, bugs, weaknesses, or other fundamental problems in software. In fact, many facets of daily life are affected by buggy software, from smartphones that crash to flawed automotive control computers that lead to recalls.Software carries the lifeblood of information through an organization. Unfortunately, software programs are often created under the constraints of project management, which limit time, cost, and manpower. Information security is all too often implemented as an afterthought, rather than developed as an integral component from the beginning. In this way, software programs become an easy target of accidental or intentional attacks. Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User Introduction to Information Security 17 1 Figure 1-7 Components of an Information System Source: Course Technology/Cengage Learning Hardware Hardware is the physical te chnology that houses and executes the software, stores and transports the data, and provides interfaces for the entry and removal of information from the system. Physical security policies deal with hardware as a physical asset and with the protection of physical assets from harm or theft.Applying the traditional tools of physical security, such as locks and keys, restricts access to and interaction with the hardware components of an information system. Securing the physical location of computers and the computers themselves is important because a breach of physical security can result in a loss of information. Unfortunately, most information systems are built on hardware platforms that cannot guarantee any level of information security if unrestricted access to the hardware is possible. Before September 11, 2001, laptop thefts in airports were common. A two-person team worked to steal a computer as its owner passed it through the conveyor scanning devices.The first perpetrator ente red the security area ahead of an unsuspecting target and quickly went through. Then, the second perpetrator waited behind the target until the target placed his/her computer on the baggage scanner. As the computer was whisked through, the second agent slipped ahead of the victim and entered the metal detector with a substantial collection of keys, coins, and the like, thereby slowing the detection process and allowing the first perpetrator to grab the computer and disappear in a crowded walkway. While the security response to September 11, 2001 did tighten the security process at airports, hardware can still be stolen in airports and other public places.Although laptops and notebook computers are worth a few thousand dollars, the information contained in them can be worth a great deal more to organizations and individuals. Data Data stored, processed, and transmitted by a computer system must be protected. Data is often the most valuable asset possessed by an organization and it is the main target of intentional attacks. Systems developed in recent years are likely to make use of database Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User 18 Chapter 1 management systems. When done properly, this should improve the security of the data and the application. Unfortunately, many system development projects do not make full use of the database management system’s security capabilities, and in some cases the database is implemented in ways that are less secure than traditional file systems. People Though often overlooked in co mputer security considerations, people have always been a threat to information security.Legend has it that around 200 B. C. a great army threatened the security and stability of the Chinese empire. So ferocious were the invaders that the Chinese emperor commanded the construction of a great wall that would defend against the Hun invaders. Around 1275 A. D. , Kublai Khan finally achieved what the Huns had been trying for thousands of years. Initially, the Khan’s army tried to climb over, dig under, and break through the wall. In the end, the Khan simply bribed the gatekeeper—and the rest is history. Whether this event actually occurred or not, the moral of the story is that people can be the weakest link in an organization’s information security program.And unless policy, education and training, awareness, and technology are properly employed to prevent people from accidentally or intentionally damaging or losing information, they will remain the weakest link. S ocial engineering can prey on the tendency to cut corners and the commonplace nature of human error. It can be used to manipulate the actions of people to obtain access information about a system. This topic is discussed in more detail in Chapter 2, â€Å"The Need for Security. † Procedures Another frequently overlooked component of an IS is procedures. Procedures are written instructions for accomplishing a specific task. When an unauthorized user obtains an organization’s procedures, this poses a threat to the integrity of the information.For example, a consultant to a bank learned how to wire funds by using the computer center’s procedures, which were readily available. By taking advantage of a security weakness (lack of authentication), this bank consultant ordered millions of dollars to be transferred by wire to his own account. Lax security procedures caused the loss of over ten million dollars before the situation was corrected. Most organizations distrib ute procedures to their legitimate employees so they can access the information system, but many of these companies often fail to provide proper education on the protection of the procedures. Educating employees about safeguarding procedures is as important as physically securing the information system.After all, procedures are information in their own right. Therefore, knowledge of procedures, as with all critical information, should be disseminated among members of the organization only on a need-to-know basis. Networks The IS component that created much of the need for increased computer and information security is networking. When information systems are connected to each other to form local area networks (LANs), and these LANs are connected to other networks such as the Internet, new security challenges rapidly emerge. The physical technology that enables network functions is becoming more and more accessible to organizations of every size.Applying the traditional tools of phys ical security, such as locks and keys, to restrict access to and interaction with the hardware components of an information system are still important; but when computer systems are networked, this approach is no longer enough. Steps to provide network Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: CengageBrain User Introduction to Information Security 19 security are essential, as is the implementation of alarm and intrusion ystems to make system owners aware of ongoing compromises. 1 Balancing Information Security and Access Even with the best planning and imple mentation, it is impossible to obtain perfect information security. Recall James Anderson