Assignment #2

A wise man one said “with great power comes great responsibility”. Although this saying originates from the story of Spider man, this saying can be used in many different situations; in this case, to show the power that a person takes into their hands when deciding to use the internet. Like any new invention, the internet is, in many ways, a double-edged sword. People become so used to inputting their information into a machine that they trust, that many forget that they are not the only ones with the ability to view this information. Think about the Christmas season. Very recently people have come to realize that they no longer have to venture out to the stores to buy their loved ones gifts for the holiday season. When people are buying these gifts online, how do you think that they pay for them? They are using their credit cards, and thus, inputting their credit information into a machine, which in turn, sends their information out into computer world. Although many of these businesses make it so that your information stays as secure as possible, this has been how many people have been able to steal other peoples credit card numbers and do a good deal of damage to the owners credit.

Another aspect of the internet that makes for a great deal of problems is harassment. This harassment can range from hate mail all the way to sexual harassment. This offers a huge problem for adults, and is becoming more and more of an issue as children begin to learn to use computer technology at a younger and younger age. Parents need to make sure that they are constantly monitoring everything that their children are doing while on a computer. Children do not realize that giving out any information at all while on a computer could end up with them being abducted. There have been hundreds of cases of people pretending to be younger than they are in order to gain a child’s trust and get them to meet up with them. Although police officials have caught onto this area of crime and have started to do many sting operations to get these individuals off the streets, many people still get away with these crimes. It is the job of the parents to educate their children on the dangers of using technology such as this.

Not only can people steal information from people that put their credit card information onto a website, but some very intelligent people have found a way to break into government agencies and cause very serious problems. Not only could people cause total melt downs for computer servers, but if someone wanted to, they could basically shut down our whole security system and leave us open for attack at any point. Not only are crimes such as this being dealt with, they are being dealt with in an extremely serious manner. People that are caught meddling in any government agencies materials could be sentenced to life in prison.

It is hard to believe that only ten years ago none of these issues would have had to be addressed. However, with all the new technology that is out there today, everyone needs to re-evaluate the decisions that they are making with regards to putting too much information out there for everyone to read. User beware!