Activity: How Safe am I?

Overview
In this activity you will learn more about two of the most destructive threats to your safety when using ICT
tools: viruses and cybercrime in its many forms.

Content 1
Security Issues
Cybercrime
Cybercrime is any type of criminal activity committed by using computers or the Internet; a computer can
be used to commit the crime or the criminal activity can target a computer. But, just how much of a threat
is it? It is widely accepted and acknowledged that cybercrime is a substantial and growing problem as
criminal techniques become more sophisticated.

Identity Theft
According to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, identity theft means the "unauthorized
collection and use of your personal information, usually for criminal purposes." People who steal your
identity often run up your credit card bills and may take out loans which you become legally responsible
for unless you prove you did not receive the money. Identity thieves may go even father than that and
may commit other cybercrimes after they have stolen your identity. This can become a tremendous
nuisance because people often don't find out their identity has been stolen until months later. There are
many different ways for someone to "steal" your identity so they can pretend to be you and the advances
in technology have made it easy to do.

Fraud
Fraud is theft. It means knowingly taking money from someone without their knowledge or by tricking the
person into giving funds by misrepresentation. Some of the computer-related "scams" recently listed by
Consumer Sentinel, a database maintained by the United States Federal Trade Commission are:

1.

Internet Auction Fraud

2.

Foreign Money Offers

3.

Shop-at-Home/Catalog Sales

4.

Prize/Sweepstakes and Lotteries

5.

Internet Service Provider or Computer Complaints

6.

Work-at-Home Schemes or Business Opportunities

7.

Multi-level Marketing, Pyramid Schemes or Chain Letter Fraud

8.

Fraudulent Internet website promotions (web cramming)

9.

Travel/Vacation/Timeshare fraud

10.

Advance Fee Loans or Credit Protection and Repair Services

11.

Investments/Get-Rich Quick Schemes

12.

Telephone or Pay-per-call solicitation

Phishing
Phishing (pronounced "fishing") happens when criminals send e-mails to lure unsuspecting people into
divulging private financial information like credit card numbers, Internet banking passwords or social
insurance numbers. The criminals often pose as legitimate institutions that many of us have dealings with
or they may ask the person to visit a Web site to update information that the "real" organization already
has. When the person visits the Web site (possibly using the link provided in the e-mail), they are directed
to a Web site that "looks" like the legitimate thing, but the URL may have a subtle difference from the
"real" site. With the assistance of technology it has become very easy for criminals to copy Web page
source code and corporate logos, so many of these phony Web sites look very real. Just like real fishing,
the idea of throwing out a baited line (the e-mail) to see if someone will bite (divulge information) is how
"phishing" got its name.

Cyberstalking
A stalker is a person who follows someone. As you discovered in Activity 5, online activity can be
monitored or "followed" by others. It occasionally leads to actual physical stalking of an individual. Other
terms for cyberstalking include online harassment or online abuse. The simplicity of performing an online
search for a person's name or address (real or e-mail) has made is much easier to find people.

Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying means sending or posting hurtful or nasty text or pictures using the Internet or other digital
communication devices (like cell phones). Some forms of bullying can be considered criminal acts under
the Criminal Code of Canada. According to a Media Awareness Network survey done in 2005, 34 per cent
of Canadian students reported they had been bullied, while 27 per cent of this number were bullied online.
The virtual anonymity, lack of feedback and consequences online have caused young people to be bolder
than they would be in person. The increased occurrence of camera cell phones and instant text
messaging have added a whole new dimension to the "bullying" landscape. Click here to read an article
from the CBC on cyberbullying.

Spoofing
A general definition of spoofing is the impersonation of a person, server or Web site without permission.
Basically, it means pretending to be someone or something you are not. The "impersonator" might do this
by using a false e-mail name, URL or IP address. The person or computer receiving the message
believes it came from a legitimate source, but the forged header information hides the true origin of the
message which may contain a virus or spam.
Did you know that according to a study conducted in 2002, 24% of Canadians had received e-mails that
appeared to come from a financial institution that asked them to verify their input account, password or
personal information; 14% had been the victim of a phishing scam and 15% had their credit cards used
fraudulently.
Source: Ipsos Canada

Content 2
Viruses
The first virus named Elk Cloner appeared in 1982, while the first personal computer virus, named Brain,
appeared in January, 1986. It spread slowly in comparison to today's viruses. When personal computers
were just becoming popular in the 1980's most viruses spread through removable media like floppy disks
which were used for information exchange in the days before networks and Internet usage became
widespread. Through the later 1980s and early 1990s, viruses spread through bulletin board systems and
online software exchanges where shareware and pirated software were exchanged. Macro viruses made
their debut in the mid-1990s. Since the 1990s, viruses have made their appearance in the world of e-mail
and instant messaging. More recently, it seems as though computer viruses are being discussed on a
regular, almost daily, basis, in news reports, at your school or workplace. Having the knowledge to protect
yourself against their threat is essential in our highly "wired" world.
A computer virus is a computer program (or part of one) that is installed on your computer and runs
without your knowledge or approval. It can change other programs on your computer, can send itself to
other computers and is most often destructive in nature because it can overwhelm and waste computer
resources. There are many ways of categorizing or discussing viruses, including looking at their function
and method of spreading or at what they do. Some people break viruses into three groups: general
viruses, worms and trojan horses. All three types of viruses can be considered malware, short for
malicious software.
General Viruses
In very general terms, a virus is an "infection" on your personal computer or on a network. Viruses infect
program files, certain types of data files that have executable content (e.g., macros), and some data files
that don't support executable content (e.g., Adobe PDF files and .JPG image files). The infection travels
from computer to computer, infecting as it goes. Viruses depend on human action to enable them to
spread. Effects can range from mildly annoying, such as the early "pong" to very destructive. Sometimes
the effect does not occur immediately, but is delayed to coincide with a specific date . Sub-categories
include file viruses (a key system file is replaced and can be spread through any disk you insert in your
system), boot sector viruses (hide themselves on your hard drive or floppy disk and infect and infect
your computer memory. Every time the boot sector of the disk is read - can spread to other disks - have
become rarer today because they are easily detectable.) and macroviruses (infect files that support
macros - can spread when an infected file is e-mailed to others.In short, viruses infect other files.
Worms
These are special types of viruses that copy themselves and use up memory. They spread using
computer networks (network worms) or through e-mail (e-mail worms), but cannot attach themselves to
other programs. The infection spreads from computer to computer like a general virus, but worms do not
need a human action to help their spread. A worm's ability to copy itself on your system is the biggest
concern. For example, an e-mail worm might copy itself to everyone in your e-mail address book. Once it
is received by all of your contacts, it duplicates itself and sends out an e-mail to everyone in each other
your contacts' address books as well. Some worms, like the Blaster Worm, even allow others to control
your computer system remotely.
In short, worms make copies of themselves, are malicious in intent and can be devastating in effect.
Trojans
The name "Trojan" comes from the ancient Greek story where soldiers used a wooden horse to trick their
enemies in Troy. After the Trojans brought the horse, which they thought was a peace offering, into their
city gates, soldiers who were hidden inside waited for night, jumped out and let their army into the city to
capture it.
The term "Trojan" indicates that although a program (or what appears to be files from a trusted source)
may appear to be harmless, it might be tricking you into allowing it to "invade" your computer. These
programs are malicious, but cannot reproduce by infecting other files or by making copies of themselves.
The effects of Trojans can range from relatively harmless (changing your desktop) to quite harmful
(deleting files, destroying system information or creating backdoor access to confidential or personal

information on you computer system). There are Trojan programs that can steal passwords or allow
Denial of Service attacks using infected machines.
In short, Trojans perform malicious actions but do not spread to others.

Hoaxes
A virus hoax is a warning sent out that warns people about a new virus threat. They usually encourage
the recipient to send the warning on to everyone they know. The "hoax" part is the fact that no virus
actually exists; the warning e-mail acts like a virus in that is spreads when people send it on to others.
Although they may seem harmless at first, virus hoaxes can actually slow down Internet traffic, fill up email servers, and cost companies time and money. For more information about virus hoaxes, you can visit
the Hoaxbusters webpage.
Mobile Phone Viruses
It was only a matter of time before viruses spread to cell phones and that time has now arrived.
A recent case in Spain started via email. When the user opens the attachment on their PC, the virus
generates a "junk" text message (using a Spanish telecommunications company Web site) which is sent
out to a random phone number. Another case involved a worm, called Cabir, that spreads via Bluetooth,
but was relatively harmless.
Anti-virus software for mobile phones in now available.

Some of the Less Harmful Effects of Viruses:

Drive names can be changed

Harmless messages, warnings or pop-ups can appear on your screen

Some of the More Harmful Effects of Viruses:

Your entire hard drive can be overwritten or wiped out.

A disk can be overwritten.

Software can be damaged or erased.

Files (especially important system files) can be erased.

Your computer can shut down for no reason.

Unwanted applications could be loaded and run.

You can lose your Internet Service Provide (ISP).

Servers can crash.

Your computer may become vulnerable to hackers so that personal data is compromised and is
viewable by others.
Private information may be e-mailed to other computers.

The Internet itself can be flooded and slow down.

Time and resources are wasted trying to prevent or repair virus problems.
The impact of computer viruses has far-reaching financial implications both in our personal lives and in
the business community. And who know how far viruses will spread. Are mp3 players or other wireless
devices the next "frontier" for hackers to explore?
Did you know that according to McAfee, a leader in anti-virus software protection, over 150,000 threats
exist today?
Source: McAfee

Assignment
Discussion
For this assignment you will create a one page report that will include:

a brief explanation/definition of the topic,

the potential for harm or consequences of the criminal or questionable activity,

strategies they can use to protect themselves and your business.

The primary focus of the paper should be business-related, but since your personal safety is also your
concern, you should also address personal safety as well.
Choose one of the following topics:

Viruses

Worms

Trojan Horses

Identity Theft

Fraud - Foreign Money Offers

Fraud - Shop-at-Home/Catalog Sales

Fraud - Prize/Sweepstakes and Lotteries

Fraud - Work-at-Home Schemes or Business Opportunities

Fraud - Multi-level Marketing, Pyramid Schemes or Chain Letter Fraud

Travel/Vacation/Timeshare Fraud

Cyberstalking

Cyberbullying

Hacking

Spam

Spoofing

Phishing

Denial of Service Attacks

Other Cybercrime Issues (This topic must be pre-approved by the instructor and must not
duplicate any other topic listed)

Complete the following assignment and submit your work to your teacher.

Viruses
-