IT Application Tools in Business 2023 PDF

BANJO A. REYES, RPB, MBA (cand.) IT 101 Year Level/Semester Bachelor of Science in Accountancy/CABEIHM PB Year 2/First Semester Course Description The goal of this course is to present overview of IT Fundamentals and Tools...

BANJO A. REYES, RPB, MBA (cand.) IT 101 Year Level/Semester Bachelor of Science in Accountancy/CABEIHM PB Year 2/First Semester Course Description The goal of this course is to present overview of IT Fundamentals and Tools used in business environment. This includes computer terminology, hardware, software, operating systems and information and application systems. This course will also explore business applications of software, including spreadsheets, databases, presentation graphics, word processing and business-oriented utilization of the internet.  OBJECTIVES 1. Discuss Security Issues: Threats to Computers and Communication Systems 2. Distinguish Security Safeguards: Protecting Computer and Communications 3. Explain Privacy & Surveillance. Name Job Title Threats to Computers and Communication Systems What are some key threats to computers? Internet users just don’t have “street smarts” about online safety, one survey found, and that makes them vulnerable. And another study suggested that while users think they are able to recognize when they are being manipulated, either legally or illegally, in fact they are quite naïve. But there is much that we as individuals can and must do to protect our own security. Security issues go right to the heart of the workability of computer and communications systems. Here we discuss the following threats. Errors and accidents Natural hazards Computer crimes Computer criminals 1. ERRORS & ACCIDENTS What are the kinds of errors and accidents I need to be alert for in computer systems? In general, errors and accidents in computer systems may be classified as human errors, procedural errors, software errors, “dirty data” problems, and electromechanical problems. HUMAN ERRORS Which would you trust—human or computer? If you were a pilot and your plane’s collision-avoidance computer tells you to ascend but a human air-traffic controller tells you to descend, which order would you follow? In 2001, a Russian pilot near the Swiss-German border ignored his computer (against mandatory regulations) and complied with erroneous human orders, resulting in a collision with another plane. Human errors can be of several types. Quite often, when experts speak of the “unintended effects of technology,” what they are referring to are the unexpected things people do with it. Among the ways in which people can complicate the workings of a system are the following: Humans often are not good at assessing their own information needs: For example, many users will acquire a computer and communications system that either is not sophisticated enough or is far more complex than they need. Human emotions affect performance: For example, one frustrating experience with a computer is enough to make some people abandon the whole system. But smashing your keyboard isn’t going to get you any closer to learning how to use it better. Humans act on their perceptions, which may not be fast enough to keep up: In modern information environments, human perceptions are often too slow to keep up with the equipment. Human perception may be affected by information overload, for example, or vagueness about the value of information, as happened when English government workers carelessly lost computer disks containing personal and financial details about 25 million residents worth $2.5 billion on the black market. 29 It may also be affected by unwarranted self-assurance about one’s own abilities, as happens every day when people text on the itty- bitty keyboards of their cellphones in cars hurtling along at 65 miles per hour. PROCEDURAL ERRORS Some spectacular computer failures have occurred because someone didn’t follow procedures. In 1999, the $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter was fed data expressed in pounds, the English unit of force, panel 9.2 Threats to computers and communications systems The Challenges of the Digital Age 463 instead of newtons, the metric unit (about 22% of a pound). As a result, the spacecraft flew too close to the surface of Mars and broke apart. A few years earlier, Nasdaq, the nation’s second-largest stock market, was shut down for 2½ hours by an effort, ironically, to make the computer system more user friendly. Technicians were phasing in new software, adding technical improvements a day at a time. A few days into this process, technicians trying to add more features to the software flooded the data storage capability of the computer system. The result was to delay the opening of the stock market and shorten the trading day. In 2001, a failed software upgrade halted trading on the New York Stock Exchange for an hour and a half. In 2009, a highly confidential document listing U.S. nuclear sites was inadvertently posted on the Government Printing Office’s website. SOFTWARE ERRORS We are forever hearing about “software glitches” or “software bugs.” A software bug is an error in a program that causes it not to work properly. For example, in 2008 experts found a software glitch that would have allowed attackers to gain control of water treatment plants, natural gas pipelines, and other utilities. Also in 2008, patients at Veterans Administration health centers were given incorrect drug doses, were delayed in treatments, and experi enced other medical errors because of software glitches in health records. “DIRTY DATA” PROBLEMS When keyboarding a research paper, you undoubtedly make a few typing errors (which, hopefully, you clean up). So do all the data-entry people around the world who feed a continual stream of raw data into computer systems. A lot of problems are caused by this kind of “dirty data.” Dirty data is incomplete, outdated, or otherwise inaccurate data. A good reason for having a look at your records—credit, medical, school—is so that you can make any corrections to them before they cause you complications. Although databases are a time- saving resource for information seekers, they can also act as catalysts, speeding up and magnifying bad data. ELECTROMECHANICAL PROBLEMS: ARE “NORMAL ACCIDENTS” INEVITABLE? Mechanical systems, such as printers, and electrical systems, such as circuit boards, don’t always work. They may be faultily constructed, get dirty or overheated, wear out, or become damaged in some other way. Two examples: Electrical problems: Power failures (brownouts and blackouts) can shut a system down. Power surges can also burn out equipment. One major area of concern is that as information technology spreads, lightning strikes that once simply made the houselights flicker will now burn out computers, phones, web connections, and servers. Since some areas experience more electrical hits than other areas do, lightning frequency could significantly affect regional economies. Voting machine breakdowns: As examples of how badly information technology can work, we have only to consider failures in voting machines, when printers jammed, servers crashed, and poorly designed touch-screen ballots led voters to make mistakes that invalidated their votes. 2. NATURAL HAZARDS What kind of natural hazards in my area might be a threat to my computer system? Some disasters do not merely lead to temporary system downtime; they can wreck the entire system. Examples are natural hazards. Whatever is harmful to property (and people) is harmful to computers and communications systems. This certainly includes natural disasters: fires, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, and the like. If they inflict damage over a wide area, as have ice storms in eastern Canada or hurricanes in the Gulf Coast states, natural hazards can disable all the electronic systems we take for granted. Without power and communications connections, cellphones, automated teller machines, credit card verifiers, and bank computers are useless. 3. COMPUTER CRIMES What are examples of various crimes involving computers and computer systems? Because of the opening of borders, the growth of low-cost international transportation, and the rise of the internet, crime in general has become globalized, and computer crime is a big part of it. 40 A computer crime can be of two types. (1) It can be an illegal act perpetrated against computers or telecommunications, or (2) it can be the use of computers or telecommunications to accomplish an illegal act. The following are crimes of both types. THEFT OF HARDWARE Hardware theft can range from shoplifting an accessory in a computer store to removing a laptop or cellular phone from someone’s car. Professional criminals may steal shipments of microprocessor chips off a loading dock or even pry cash machines out of shopping-center walls. THEFT OF SOFTWARE Pirated software, is software obtained illegally, as when you make an illegal copy of a commercial video game. This is so commonplace that software makers secretly prowl electronic bulletin boards in search of purloined products and then try to get a court order to shut down the bulletin boards. They also look for organizations that “softlift”—companies, colleges, or other institutions that buy one copy of a program and make copies for many computers. THEFT OF ONLINE MUSIC & MOVIES Many students may feel that illegally downloading music and movies is a victimless crime, but to the entertainment industry it is just plain piracy or theft. THEFT OF TIME & SERVICES The theft of computer time is more common than you might think. Probably the biggest instance is people using their employer’s computer time to play games, do online shopping, or dip into web pornography. Some people even operate sideline businesses. THEFT OF INFORMATION Clearly, information thieves are having a field day. They have infiltrated the files of the Social Security Administration, stolen confidential personal records, and sold the information. On college campuses, they have snooped on or stolen private information such as grades. They have broken into computers of the major credit bureaus and stolen credit information and have then used the information to charge purchases or have resold it to other people. They have plundered the credit card numbers of millions of Americans and sold stolen identity data to conspirators in other countries. INTERNET-RELATED FRAUD Internet or online service fraud is a runaway problem, accounting for 90% of all consumer- fraud complaints to the Federal Trade Commission in 2008. The most common complaints, according to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, were non delivery of merchandise and/or payment (32.9%), internet auction fraud (25.5%), and credit/debit card fraud (9.0%). TAKING OVER YOUR PC: ZOMBIES, BOTNETS, & BLACKMAIL A zombie, or drone, a computer taken over covertly and programmed to respond to instructions sent remotely, often by instant-messaging channels. Botnet, short for “robot network,” a network of computers compromised by means of a Trojan horse that plants instructions within each PC to wait for commands from the person controlling that network. These remote-controlled networks are best detected by the internet access provider, which can block the illicit network connections and help users disinfect their PCs. The zombie computers and botnet are used to launch phishing attacks or send spam messages. They can also be used to launch denial-of-service attacks, perhaps to extort money from the targeted sites in return for halting the attacks. For instance, one cyber-blackmailer threatened to paralyze the servers of a small online-payment processing company unless it sent a $10,000 bank wire—and when the company refused, its servers were bombarded with barrages of data for four days. Blackmail has also been used in conjunction with the theft of credit card numbers or documents. CRIMES OF MALICE: CRASHING ENTIRE SYSTEMS Sometimes criminals are more interested in abusing or vandalizing computers and telecommunications systems than in profiting from them. For example, a student at a Wisconsin campus deliberately and repeatedly shut down a university computer system, destroying final projects for dozens of students; a judge sentenced him to a year’s probation, and he left the campus. 4. COMPUTER CRIMINALS INDIVIDUALS OR SMALL GROUPS These include individuals or members of small groups who use fraudulent email and websites to obtain personal information that can be exploited, either for monetary gain or sometimes simply to show off their power and give them bragging rights with other members of the hacker/ cracker community. EMPLOYEES Workers may use information technology for personal profit or to steal hardware or information to sell. They may also use it to seek revenge for real or imagined wrongs, such as being passed over for promotion; indeed, the disgruntled employee is a principal source of computer crime. OUTSIDE PARTNERS & SUPPLIERS Suppliers and clients may also gain access to a company’s information technology and use it to commit crimes, especially since intranets and extranets have become more commonplace. Partners and vendors also may be the inadvertent source of hacker mischief because their systems may not be as well protected as the larger partner’s networks and computers, and so a third party may penetrate their security. CORPORATE SPIES Competing companies or individuals may break into a company’s computer system to conduct industrial espionage—obtain trade secrets that they can use for competitive advantages. ORGANIZED CRIME Members of organized crime rings not only steal hard ware, software, and data; they also use spam, phishing, and the like to commit identity theft and online fraud. Even street gangs now have their own web sites, most of them perfectly legal, but some of them possibly used as chat rooms for drug distribution. In addition, gangs use computers the way legal businesses do—as business tools—but they use them for illegal purposes, such as keeping track of gambling debts and stolen goods. CYBERWAR FIGHTERS Cyberwarfare, or cyberwar, is the use of computers and the internet to attack an enemy’s information systems. Cyberwar may be conducted on the level of psychological warfare, as has happened in the Middle East, for instance, where Israeli and Palestinian opponents in the Gaza war have used cellphones to warn the other side of impending attacks. Consider This How can you tell if your computer or mobile device is functioning as zombie? _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________  SECURITY: Safeguarding Computers & Communications What are the characteristics of the five components of security? The ongoing dilemma of the Digital Age is balancing convenience against security. Security is a system of safeguards for protecting information technology against disasters, system failures, and unauthorized access that can result in damage or loss. We consider five components of security Deterrents to computer crime Identification and access Encryption Protection of software and data Disaster-recovery plans 1. DETERRENTS TO COMPUTER CRIME What are some ways to deter computer crime? As information technology crime has become more sophisticated, so have the people charged with preventing it and disciplining its outlaws. ENFORCING LAWS Law enforcement agencies regularly cruise online bulletin boards and chat rooms looking for pirated software, stolen trade secrets, child molesters, and child pornography. TOOLS FOR FIGHTING FRAUDULENT & UNAUTHORIZED ONLINE USES Among the tools used to detect fraud are the following: Rule-based-detection software: In this technique, users such as merchants create a “negative file” that states the criteria each transaction must meet. These criteria include not only stolen credit card numbers but also price limits, matches of the cardholder’s billing address and shipping address, and warnings if a large quantity of a single item is ordered. Predictive-statistical-model software: In this technique, tons of data from previous transactions are examined to create mathematical descriptions of what a typical fraudulent transaction is like. The software then rates incoming orders according to a scale of risk based on their resemblance to the fraud profile. Thus, for example, if some thief overhears you giving out your phone company calling-card number and he or she makes 25 calls to a country that you never have occasion to call. Employee internet management (EIM) software: Programs made by Websense, SmartFilter, and Pearl Echo-Suite are used to monitor how much time workers spend on the web and even block access to gambling and porn sites. Internet filtering software: Some employers use special filtering software to block access to pornography, bootleg-music download, and other unwanted internet sites that employees may want to access. Electronic surveillance: Employers use various kinds of electronic surveillance that includes visual and audio monitoring technologies, reading of email and blogs, and recording of keystrokes. Some companies even hire undercover agents to pretend to be coworkers. 2. IDENTIFICATION & ACCESS What are three ways a computer system can verify legitimate right of access? Are you who you say you are? The computer wants to know. There are three ways a computer system can verify that you have legitimate right of access. Some security systems use a mix of these techniques. The systems try to authenticate your identity by determining (1) what you have, (2) what you know, or (3) who you are. WHAT YOU HAVE—CARDS, KEYS, SIGNATURES, & BADGES Credit cards, debit cards, and cash-machine cards all have magnetic strips or built-in computer chips that identify you to the machine. Many require that you display your signature, which may be compared with any future signature you write. Computer rooms are always kept locked, requiring a key. Many people also keep a lock on their personal computers. A computer room may also be guarded by security officers, who may need to see an authorized signature or a badge with your photograph before letting you in. Of course, credit cards, keys, and badges can be lost or stolen. Signatures can be forged. Badges can be counterfeited. WHAT YOU KNOW—PINs & PASSWORDS To gain access to your bank account through an automated teller machine (ATM), you key in your PIN. A PIN (personal identification number) is the security number known only to you that is required to access the system. Telephone credit cards also use a PIN. If you carry either an ATM or a phone card, never carry the PIN written down elsewhere in your wallet (even disguised). As we stated earlier in the book, passwords are special words, codes, or symbols required to access a computer system. Passwords are one of the weakest security links, and most can be easily guessed or stolen. WHO YOU ARE—PHYSICAL TRAITS Some forms of identification can’t be eas ily faked—such as your physical traits. Biometrics is the science of measuring individual body characteristics. Biometric authentication devices authenticate a person’s identity by verifying his or her physical or behavioral characteristics with a digital code stored in a computer system.  3. ENCRYPTION Encryption is the process of altering readable data into unreadable form to prevent unauthorized access, and it is what has given people confidence to do online shopping and banking. Encryption is clearly useful for some organizations, especially those concerned with trade secrets, military matters, and other sensitive data. Protection of Software & Data What are three ways that organizations can protect software and data? Organizations go to tremendous lengths to protect their programs and data. As might be expected, this includes educating employees about making backup disks, protecting against viruses, and so on. Other security procedures include the following: CONTROL OF ACCESS Access to online files is restricted to those who have a legitimate right to access—because they need them to do their jobs. Many organizations have a system of transaction logs for recording all accesses or attempted accesses to data. AUDIT CONTROLS Many networks have audit controls for tracking which programs and servers were used, which files opened, and so on. This creates an audit trail, a record of how a transaction was handled from input through processing and output. PEOPLE CONTROLS Because people are the greatest threat to a computer system, security precautions begin with the screening of job applicants. Résumés are checked to see if people did what they said they did. Another control is to separate employee functions, so that people are not allowed to wander freely into areas not essential to their jobs. Manual and automated controls—input controls, processing controls, and output controls—are used to check if data is handled accurately and completely during the processing cycle. Printouts, printer ribbons, and other waste that may reveal passwords and trade secrets to outsiders are disposed of through shredders or locked trash barrels. 4. DISASTER-RECOVERY PLANS A disaster-recovery plan is a method of restoring information-processing operations that have been halted by destruction or accident. Mainframe computer systems are operated in separate departments by professionals, who tend to have disaster plans. Whereas mainframes are usually backed up, many personal computers, and even entire local area networks, are not, with potentially disastrous consequences. It has been reported that, on average, a company loses as much as 3% of its gross sales within 8 days of a sustained computer outage. A disaster-recovery plan is more than a big fire drill. It includes a list of all business functions and the hardware, software, data, and people that support those functions, as well as arrangements for alternate locations. The disaster recovery plan also includes ways for backing up and storing programs and data in another location, ways of alerting necessary personnel, and training for those personnel. Consider This Why do some websites allow you to use your email address as a user name? _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ Privacy & Surveillance Surveillance, implies an agent who accesses (whether through discovery tools, rules or physical/logistical settings) personal data. Privacy, in contrast, involves a subject who restricts access to personal data through the same means. Privacy is the right of people not to reveal information about themselves. Many people are worried about the loss of their right to privacy—more than 90% of respondents to one survey called online privacy a “really” or “somewhat” important issue—fearing they will lose all control of the personal information being collected and tracked by computers. Data Collectors and Spies The rise of Big Data has led to continuing threats to privacy from three giant sources there are considered as the society’s data collectors and spies: 1. From business organizations 2. From governments, local to national 3. From foreign governments and criminal groups Business & Cyberspying 1. Almost everything we do online is being scooped up and recorded for use by marketers, and it’s difficult to know what parts of our own lives still belong to us.  2. Whatever the impact on your personal privacy, it seems unlikely that you can claim ownership of a lot of data that’s being collected about you. At work, for instance, you basically have no rights. Government & Cyber spying  Governments at all levels spy on their citizens, sometimes encouraged by the law, sometimes in spite of the law, often unknown to us.  Local police, national ID cards, National Security Agency (NSA), FBI, drones, and so on Spying, Hacking, & Cyberwarfare by Foreign Governments & Groups  The world is so interconnected that it is a constant struggle for technology managers to keep us secure against cyber invasions of all sorts.  Governments get involved in cyberwarfare —warfare involving computers and the Internet in which one nation attacks another’s information systems. Chapter Summary  Threats to computers and communication systems includes errors and accidents, natural hazards, computer crimes and computer criminals.  The five components of security to protect computer and communications are the deterrents to computer crime, identification and access, encryption, protection of software and data and disaster-recovery plans.  Data collectors and spies in our society include business organizations, governments and foreign governments and criminal groups. References Using Information Technology 9th Edition (2015) Williams and Sawyer. MacGraw- Hill Education Computer Literacy BASICS 5th Edition, 5E. (2015). Dolores J. Wells. Cengage Learning. Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Information Technology: 9.3 Privacy & Surveillance- Data Collectors & Spies (informationtechnologyfarah.blogspot.com)  Batangas State University The National Engineering University College of Accountancy, Business, Economics and International Hospitality Management IT 101 IT Application Tools in Business Name: _________________________ Date: _____________________ Program/Year/Section: ____________ Score: ____________________ Chapter Activity ICT Security Directions: Analyze the following questions by applying concepts in ICT Security. Briefly explain with at least 5 sentences. 1. Are you comfortable with giving away some of your privacy for increased security? Why or why not? ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ 2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of keeping your browsing history? If you keep your browsing history, how long do you keep it? ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________