Monitoring Employees on Networks: Unethical or Good Business?

The Internet has become an extremely valuable business tool, but it’s also a huge distraction for workers on the job. Employees are wasting valuable company time by surfing inappropriate websites (Facebook, shopping, sports, etc.), sending and re­ceiving personal email, texting to friends, and down­loading videos and music. According to a survey by International Data

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Cellular Systems

Today 81 percent of U.S. adults own mobile phones, and 69 percent own smart­phones (eMarketer, 2018). Mobile is now the leading digital platform, with total activity on smartphones and tablets accounting for two-thirds of digital media time spent, and smartphone apps alone capturing more than half of digital media time (Comscore, 2017). Digital cellular

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Wireless Computer Networks and Internet Access

An array of technologies provides high-speed wireless access to the Internet for PCs and mobile devices. These new high-speed services have extended Internet ac­cess to numerous locations that could not be covered by traditional wired Internet services and have made ubiquitous computing, anywhere, anytime, a reality. 1. Bluetooth Bluetooth is the popular name for

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The Web

The web is the most popular Internet service. It’s a system with universally accepted standards for storing, retrieving, formatting, and displaying informa­tion by using a client/server architecture. Web pages are formatted using hy­pertext, embedded links that connect documents to one another and that also link pages to other objects, such as sound, video, or

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RFID and Wireless Sensor Networks

Mobile technologies are creating new efficiencies and ways of working through­out the enterprise. In addition to the wireless systems we have just described, radio frequency identification systems and wireless sensor networks are having a major impact. 1. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Near Field Communication (NFC) Radio frequency identification (RFID) systems provide a powerful

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Google, Apple, and Facebook Battle for Your Internet Experience

Three Internet titans—Google, Apple, and Facebook—are in an epic struggle to dominate your Internet experience, and caught in the crossfire are search, music, video, and other media along with the devices you use for all of these things. Mobile devices with advanced functionality and ubiq­uitous Internet access are rapidly overtaking tradi­tional desktop machines as

Hackers Target the U.S. Presidential Election: What Happened?

September 2015, Special Agent Adrian Hawkins of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) phoned the Democratic National Committee (DNC) with troubling news about its computer network: At least one DNC com­puter system had been penetrated by hackers linked to the Russian govern­ment. Yared Tamene, the DNC tech-support contractor who fielded the calls, conducted

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Why Systems are Vulnerable

When large amounts of data are stored in electronic form, they are vulnerable to many kinds of threats. Through communications networks, information sys­tems in different locations are interconnected. The potential for unauthorized access or damage is not limited to a single location but can occur at many access points in the network. Figure 8.1

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Malicious Software: Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses, and Spyware

Malicious software programs are referred to as malware and include a variety of threats such as computer viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. (See Table 8.1.) A computer virus is a rogue software program that attaches itself to other software programs or data files to be executed, usually without user knowledge or permission. Most computer

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Hackers and Computer Crime

A hacker is an individual who intends to gain unauthorized access to a com­puter system. Within the hacking community, the term cracker is typically used to denote a hacker with criminal intent, although in the public press, the terms hacker and cracker are used interchangeably. Hackers gain unauthorized access by finding weaknesses in the

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Internal Threats: Employees

We tend to think the security threats to a business originate outside the or­ganization. In fact, company insiders pose serious security problems. Studies have found that user lack of knowledge is the single greatest cause of network security breaches. Many employees forget their passwords to access computer systems or allow coworkers to use them,

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Software Vulnerability

Software errors pose a constant threat to information systems, causing untold losses in productivity and sometimes endangering people who use or depend on systems. Growing complexity and size of software programs, coupled with demands for rapid delivery to markets, have contributed to an increase in soft­ware flaws or vulnerabilities. For example, in February 2017

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Legal and Regulatory Requirements for Electronic Records Management

U.S. government regulations are forcing companies to take security and con­trol more seriously by mandating the protection of data from abuse, exposure, and unauthorized access. Firms face new legal obligations for the retention and storage of electronic records as well as for privacy protection. If you work in the healthcare industry, your firm will

Electronic Evidence and Computer Forensics

Security, control, and electronic records management have become essential for responding to legal actions. Much of the evidence today for stock fraud, embezzlement, theft of company trade secrets, computer crime, and many civil cases is in digital form. In addition to information from printed or typewritten pages, legal cases today increasingly rely on evidence

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What are the components of an organizational framework for security and control?

Even with the best security tools, your information systems won’t be reliable and secure unless you know how and where to deploy them. You’ll need to know where your company is at risk and what controls you must have in place to protect your information systems. You’ll also need to develop a security pol­icy

What are the most important tools and technologies for safeguarding information resources?

Businesses have an array of technologies for protecting their information resources. They include tools for managing user identities, preventing unau­thorized access to systems and data, ensuring system availability, and ensuring software quality. 1. Identity Management and Authentication Midsize and large companies have complex IT infrastructures and many sys­tems, each with its own set of

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How Secure Is the Cloud?

Over the last several years, many companies have altered their IT strategies to shift an increasing share of their applications and data to public-cloud infra­structure and platforms. However, using the public cloud disrupts traditional cybersecurity models that many companies have built up over years. As a re­sult, as companies make use of the public

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How do enterprise systems help businesses achieve operational excellence?

Around the globe, companies are increasingly becoming more connected, both internally and with other companies. If you run a business, you’ll want to be able to react instantaneously when a customer places a large order or when a shipment from a supplier is delayed. You may also want to know the impact of these

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How do supply chain management systems coordinate planning, production, and logistics with suppliers?

If you manage a small firm that makes a few products or sells a few services, chances are you will have a small number of suppliers. You could coordinate your supplier orders and deliveries by using just a telephone and fax machine. But if you manage a firm that produces more complex products and

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How do customer relationship management systems help firms achieve customer intimacy?

You’ve probably heard phrases such as “the customer is always right” or “the cus­tomer comes first.” Today these words ring truer than ever. Because competitive advantage based on an innovative new product or service is often very short lived, companies are realizing that their most enduring competitive strength may be their relationships with their

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