Scrapbook 4 -CST 373

U.S. Financial Crime Fighters Eye Overseas Virtual Currency Platforms

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-senate-moneylaundering/u-s-financial-crime-fighters-eye-overseas-virtual-currency-platforms-official-idUSKBN1F62NM

Summary:
The US has announced recently that it will begin seriously investigating virtual currency platforms, even if they are located in foreign countries. The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which has already been combating money laundering utilizing cryptocurrency, will now spread its net much farther in the hopes of curbing many of the illegal activities which are being funded by cryptocurrencies. Already the Treasury has taken action against one of the largest Bitcoin platforms online, BTC-e exchange, which is located overseas. As American federal authorities begin cracking down on cryptocurrencies, other nations look to also regulate this wild online movement.

The reason this article was chosen:
This article was chosen as the current fluctuations in the cryptocurrency market has spread light on this relatively new system of payment. With some of its more appealing aspects, such as anonymity during transactions, its ability to be used for malicious purposes has been well established. The question arises if and should governments begin taking action to combat the illegal activities that are being funded through the use of cryptocurrencies, and in this particular case, should said governments be able to prosecute people and companies abroad using the system? As we discussed earlier in our text this week, the lines between the virtual and real world begin to blur as even some of our most basic institutions, such as currencies, become completely virtual.

Credibility of sources:
Reuters is a well-known and long standing news organization of good repute.

Ethical implications:
As cryptocurrencies become more and more relevant to the world, will these budding ways to deal transactions become more normalized or will its use by darker elements result in government crackdowns on its use? With its ability to be used anonymously and its track record of use in illegal transactions should governments step in and attempt to stem this growing movement, and if yes, can they?

Scrapbook 3 - CST 373

https://globalvoices.org/2017/12/29/from-internet-blackouts-to-violent-attacks-south-asia-saw-new-threats-to-free-expression-online-in-2017/

From Internet Blackouts to Violent Attacks, South Asia Saw New Threats to Free Expression Online in 2017

Summary:
This article covers ways in which South Asian regimes have been cracking down on internet usage when it threatens their positions From such things as censoring media, to threatening journalists and bloggers, these states have been attacking freedom of expression for many individuals for going against the grain. India and Pakistan have been known to even cause full internet blackouts as well as partial ones, where mobile service is disconnected, in order to cut off people from communicating in troubled regions. This stops any ability for would-be demonstrators to communicate, either amongst themselves for organizational purposes or to the outside world to broadcast their conditions. While there is some hope in the future as civil rights groups combat these actions, it is possible to see more of these kinds of actions in the coming years.
The reason this article was chosen:
This article was chosen as this week we read and discussed the benefits of anonymity on the internet in making a positive difference in the world. Stating controversial statements may cause backlash and repercussions against one if those beliefs were aired publicly, by utilizing the internet’s capacity for anonymity one can safely and freely express their unpopular, but sometimes necessary, statements. When the government seems unable to curtail the use of anonymous profiles for messaging it seems that they will instead turn to outright blackouts of internet usage in order to cut off any dissent.
Credibility of sources:
Global Voices is a reporting site that attempts to translate and distribute stories from around the globe that may otherwise be repressed or not widely disseminated. They aim to make a positive impact by connecting and empowering people around the globe.
Ethical implications:
The censorship and threats used against the peoples of South Asia violates their ability to express their own, sometimes dissenting, opinions. Though there are some ways to work around these violations of the individual's right to freedom of expression, such as using VPNs to avoid tracking, actions such as government enforced internet blackouts are difficult, if not impossible, to circumvent.

Scrapbook 2 - CST 373

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/12/27/16822736/apple-battery-slowdown-iphone-6-6s-se-lawsuit

Summary:
Apple recently admitted to throttling some of the older phone’s performance when the battery has degraded with time. Company representatives claim that they are trying to decrease the chances of the phone shutting down randomly to protect its electronic parts. However, they previously had not told anyone that they were throttling the performance of their older phone models. Because of this at least five different lawsuits have recently been filed stating that people believed their phones had naturally degraded and purchased newer and more expensive models. Those suing Apple believe that the company was purposefully throttling the older models not to save the phone due to battery degradation, but instead to convince users to purchase new phones, which are much more expensive than buying new batteries.
The reason this article was chosen:
I found this article interesting as the issue that arose, whether it is necessary for Apple to inform its customers of its throttling of older products or how to fix it, brings up an interesting ethical dilemma.
Credibility of sources:
The verge is a relatively new multimedia site for news and information. Their interview with Apple is what initially broke this story and this particular article is a follow up to the backlash it created.
Ethical implications:
Is it ok for companies to purposefully throttle the performance of their older models without telling their customers? While controlling the phone’s performance in order to make the product last longer seems admirable, not informing the customer of the diminishing performance, or the solution, installing a new battery, seems unethical.

Scarpbook 1 - CST 373

https://www.news.virginia.edu/content/cool-or-creepy-human-implanted-microchips-are-here

Summary:

A company based out of Wisconsin has begun allowing employees to have RFID implants placed inside their arm to make tasks at work easier to accomplish. With this and subsequent implants the individual’s privacy may become even more compromised as aspects such as location, purchases, time spent in specific areas, and who someone is spending time with can all become logged and monitored.

The reason this article was chosen:

This article was chosen due to the issues involving monitoring and privacy, primarily in the workplace, as discussed in the chapter.

Credibility of its sources:

University of Virginia is a reliable academic source.

Ethical implications:

While the implants may cause ones’ more mundane tasks to become more easily accomplished, is the possibility to be monitored worth the afforded comfort? As this technology progresses it is not unreasonable to think that a person’s location, proximity to other implanted users, health vitals, purchases, and more could all be monitored. Would it be ok for either a business or government agency to implement these implants in order to track individuals, and to what extent should they be allowed to?

Module 7 - CST 311

This week we began our exploration of both the link layer as well as network security. It was very interesting to look into the operation of the link layer, which lies partly in software and partly in hardware. It was quite interesting to listen through the lecture on network security, and the chapter 8 assignment was a little tricky but very informative. The lab this week focused on Ethernet and ARP which were quite interesting to see in action. I am looking forward to the final week and will continue to prepare for the final this weekend.

Module 6 - CST 311

This week was quite interesting as we continued our foray into the networking layer. I really enjoyed the lab this week where we worked with ICMP messages to check targets on the other side of the world. I repeatedly was unable to reach the provided University in Hong Kong and so used a University centered in Tokyo instead for the first half of the lab. It was quite interesting to learn about the Algorithms used in routing and to practice using them on a very small scale in the assignment. There was one things I found confusing in the quiz this week with the fragmentation of the IPv6 addresses as I thought fragmentation was possible as long as it was done in the ends of the system, I will continue to research this in my spare time this week. I look forward to the last few weeks and the final exam.

CST 311 - Module 5

This week we began our foray into the Network layer. It was very interesting to cover the difference between routing and forwarding and seeing how a router accomplishes its forwarding process. I found Longest Prefix matching to be quite interesting and it was fun to work in binary for a few of the questions this week. I found it somewhat surprising that it only took 20 jumps with the traceroute to reach the school in India. The lab this week was also quite fun and it was interesting to see the DHCP process in action.