Hackers Catch a Break

When we think or hear of hackers we automatically run for the hills because all we can imagine is our precious personal information being stolen from us and used for evil. Hackers are not looked upon favorably, usually labeled as criminals. They have broken down security walls and created viruses that will drive an average person and the government crazy. There is so much of our personal information in cyberspace that is really just a click away to a professional hacker's fingertips.

Hackers, like any other group of people, have websites or chat forums online where they can speak to other hackers and learn new things as the world of technology advances. In addition there is an annual convention held called Defcon where hackers meet and greet other hackers. The nineteenth Defcon Convention was actually this past weekend in Las Vegas. Attendees pay a $150 cover fee at the door; this is a cash only payment in order to keep all attendees anonymous. The use of nicknames or pseduonyms are commonly used as well to protect a hacker's true identity.

At the convention hackers can meet other people that share their same interests, hear speeches from keynote speakers and participate in code breaking contests. Games where hackers attempt to "crack the code" are used as trial runs by big corporations, even federal agencies, to spot where the security flaws are in their system. There are also workshops that teach hackers how to protect themselves and avoid having their information stolen and to protect themselves from being detected by the government.

The convention is not only attended by hackers. Officers from government agencies have been known to come to these conventions to "recruit" hackers and place them in security positions. Attendance of agents has birthed a game in which hackers attempt to "spot the fed." Government agencies, like the National Security Agency (NSA), recruit hackers for the same purpose as Facebook which is to improve their current security system. Jeff Moss, who's previous hacker pseduonym was Dark Tangent, was the founder of the Defcon conventions. He was later picked up by the Department of Homeland Security's Advisory Council to assist in cyber security.

Facebook is another company recruiting hackers to seek out security flaws in their social networking site. Facebook launched a new "bug bounty program" at the beginning of August where hackers are paid at least $500 to hack into Facebook and then report where the security flaws are. Of course the hackers have to sign a disclosure agreement stating that they will not reveal the sites weak points until they are resolved. Google and Microsoft have also jumped on the banwagon and hired hackers to find flaws as well and for a much higher pay.

Now some may believe hiring a hacker is like putting the gun in the hand of a terrorist. How do we know that they will do the right thing once in the hot seat? Can we put that much trust in a person who has the ability to crash our country's mainframe? I believe with the right background checks, I mean extensive background checks, we can make hackers our ally. Extra precautions should be taken since these hackers were not intended to work in a high security field. Its exactly the opposite, they were trained to break them down. But this may be the help we need to avoid future internet corruption. It may be best to take advice from the eyes of the culprit than to try and figure out what they will do next. Having a hacker on our side is like having a spy, a very good spy. And not all hackers are bad, but just like anything else they do get a bad rap. Some people have the skill to hack but don't and these are the hackers that need recruiting.

Facebook Got Me Fired

How many times have we been warned to be extremely careful about what we write on the Internet, especially on social networking sites. Nowadays employers and college recruiters resort to sites like Facebook and Twitter to investigate someone's personal life, things that we wouldn't otherwise know, before deciding to make them a member of their professional community. There have been many instances in which a person lost an opportunity due to the content posted on their profile or even removed from the position they held.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is a federal agency who acts on behalf of union workers to ensure that their rights as an employee are not violated and that there are no unfair practices by the employer and company. Recently the NLRB began reviewing cases to verify that employees were fired on fair grounds where they were fired due to remarks posted on Facebook. The NLRB guidelines states that a comment would not be in violation if it is concerted activity, or something that would lead to "group action" which includes forming a union or discussing working conditions in hopes of a resolution. Some tend to make the comparison of discussions about work on Facebook to workers congregating at the water cooler discussing work. But if an employee posts a comment and those responding are not co-workers then this would be a violation because the discussion does not lead to possible improvements in the workplace.

In these instances employees are venting their frustrations but they can take it too far. One case involved a bartender who had a conversation with his sister via Facebook referring to his customers as "rednecks" and that he hoped they "choke on glass as they drove home drunk." Since his conversation was not with a co-worker the NLRB ruled it to be a violation and that his dismissal was valid. The memorandum drafted by the NLRB shows the owner of the bar sent his employee a message through Facebook saying "that his services were no longer required," ah what a twist!

It is understandable that an employer would fire a worker if what they say reflects negatively aganist the company thereby hurting its image. Even though you are speaking outside of the workplace it can still have an effect on your position. Comments made on the Internet are usually readily available to the public which can change their perception of a company once read. There are cases which I believe resulted in an unnecessary firing. If an employee continuously bashes a company saying the products sold are worthless crap or if the customer service is horrible then yes that would be grounds for dismissal because it can harm profits. But if the comments are in regard to a fellow co-worker who the employee cannot get along with that has no effect on the company's performance. It really is a personal matter that should be resolved between the two workers.

Here are a more examples of people that were fired because of what they posted on social networking sites.

Facing the Rule Book Down Under

Facebook has done wonders for the media and entertainment worlds. It brings us closer to our friends, family and our favorite actors and musicians. It is something to helps pass the time on those long, boring days. Facebook can also be used as a means for businesses either as promotion or expanding their company to the internet. Facebook is an international phenomenon. Everybody, well almost everybody, wants to be on Facebook. It's the "cool" thing to do that everyone wants to be a part of. Even the more, achem, mature crowd is on Facebook using it to keep in touch with their kids and possibly grandkids. Though Facebook is an attractive vehicle for communication, is it suitable for people of all ages?

There is one issue that is always popping up no matter the subject. And that issue would be how a child is affect by what they experience in their daily lives. Children are the most vulnerable age group and it is the responsibility of adults to protect them. You may believe the elderly are the most vulnerable because they appear to be frail in comparison, but the experience they have gained over the years puts them a step above children. The way a child is raised does have a huge effect on how they conduct themselves as they get older. So there may be a lot of pressure on a parent to assure their child comes out "normal" based on societys' standards. As long as a child is shown the difference of what is acceptable behavior they should turn out "normal."

The internet has many demons but it is also a useful tool when used correctly. As I said Facebook is great way to communicate with people and its fun! But there are a lot of people that take advantage of the freedom that Facebook is offering. It is a known fact that some people use the internet in hurtful ways. To prevent this from happening Mark Zuckerberg and his Facebook team asks its users to be at least thirteen years old to create an account, if not they should ask their parents for permission before setting up an account. Requesting a person's age is supposed to help in filtering what content is deemed age appropriate. But there is no way for Facebook to verify someone's age online, so their methods are not foolproof.

Last week the Australian government discussed taking the initiative to grant parents full access to their child's profile and possibly raise the age requirement to eighteen so that a Facebook account can be created. The following are a few reasons behind precautions that Australia is attempting to instill.

Bloomberg News reported the main reason the Australian government is favors increasing the age limit to eighteen is "over online bullying that led teenagers to commit suicide." In recent years there have been numerous teen suicides as a result of cyber bullying. This is not to say that teens were not bullied when the internet first came out but now there are more ways to taunt children and the suicides have now become more publicized in the news.

Another form of bullying which was not mentioned in the articles is the presence of sexual predators online. Children are seen as easy targets because they are naive and usually very trusting. Children cannot decipher when a person is being genuinely kind or overly creepy. They don't see that it is suspicious for an adult to want to friend a child that they do not know while parents will think an adult would want to cause harm to a child in this instance.

Second, would be the accessibility to inappropriate material. There are group pages and individual profiles that discuss sex, drugs and alcohol in addition to photos displaying lewd acts. Children will see this material and may attempt to act out what they see online. They begin so by taking sexually suggestive photos and posting them online, which in extreme cases can be labeled as child pornography. The sexting epidemic can also be applied here through the use of chats, comments and private messaging. Violence and weapons are another dangerous topic that a child could stumble upon.

Now the above mentioned are valid reasons for wanting to protect children as much as possible on the internet but there are some issues that may arise. First of all how can a person's age be verified through the interent. A child can easily lie about their age in order to set up the account. Facebook states that if they have knowledge that a user is under thirteen years of age Facebook will be delete their page but again how can that be proven. Children can also set up a Facebook page without their parents knowing and unfortunately parents do not have the ability to cancel their youngsters account. Currently parents are not granted any access to their child's account, unless they are their friend can they see the profile but they still cannot make any changes to the profile or settings.

To ban people under eightteen is not the road to take because there are underage people who use the site correctly. It is a fun and educational past-time where users can play games and keep in touch with others that live far away. Facebookers should make use of all the privacy and account settings that are available to them; the less information available to the public the less accessible you make yourself. Facebook needs to create a filtering system in which a parent can set up an account and any information that is intended for the child be first sent to the parent. From there the parent can supervise what information is received and what information they will allow their child access to. In addition to supervision parents need to teach their children to be very careful about what they post online because once its submitted it will remain in cyberspace forever.