The impact of software

Inappropriate Data Structures

The Year 2000 (Y2K) problem revolved around the industry standards of minimum storage space being used – in the form of 2 digit year representations. This restriction meant that many software product users would not be able to count dates past 1 January, 2000. Many expected that this would result in severe system errors but what happened was…

Computer Malware

Malware is software designed to damage or perform unwanted actions on computer systems. Malware includes but is not restricted to; viruses, Trojan horses and spyware. Due to the constant threat posed by malware, anti-virus, anti-malware and anti-spyware products are used in an attempt to protect systems from harm.

• Viruses are able to replicate and spread upon the execution of seemingly legitimate software.
• Worms attempt to slow a system by installing themselves on hard-disks and then consuming space by replication – often occurs in RAM due to security flaws in OS.
• Trojan horses pose as legitimate software and cause damage upon execution. They are often used to spread malware providing access to the system to another user, generally for botnets (usually a competitor with the intention of spamming and slowing down the competing system – denial of service (DoS) attack).
• Spyware gains the user’s information and provides it to another party, a method regularly used for identity theft.    The damage can be in terms of both finances and reputation.

Reliance on Software

Software plays a major role in communications in current society, as well as in other services such as gas, electricity and water. All motorised transport as well as various government organisations such as banks, Social Security and hospitals rely on software to operate. Should software fail such elements of society would be severely restricted.

Social Networking

A social networking site is an online, virtual community where people share their thoughts and activities with family, friends or those with similar interests. There are some continued concerns regarding social networking – particularly regarding privacy. Due to the encouragement of information sharing (ie through Facebook lingo) there is an increased chance of identity theft and stalking resulting. In addition, it is common for bullying to occur – particularly when young people are involved. While the first social networking site (SixDegrees.com) was first developed in 1997, followed by significant names Friendster in 2002 and MySpace in 2003 (as bought by Murdoch’s News Corporation in 2005), arguably the three major names in the business today are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn – though integration of many is seen as key to success in the environment today.

• Facebook as first developed by Mark Zuckerberg and friends at Harvard University in 2004 (originally titled ‘The Facebook’). As of 2008 it became the largest social networking site in the world in terms of users – a recent 2010 film ‘The Social Network’ goes into more detail regarding its development.
• Twitter as produced in 2006 operates on short 125 character ‘Tweets’ that appeal greatly to mobile devices. Trends are easily viewable through the hashtag system in which it utilises.
• LinkedIn is a more professionally based site in which a chain of contacts evolves so that parties that may never have met may communicate and do business (with the option of doing so privately).

Cyber Safety

Due to the risks involved through the Internet, cyber safety is of significant concern to many parties on a wide range of connected devices. While security software and firewalls attempt to protect the user, it is necessary for self-protection methods to be utilised should the user wish to remain safe. The federal government’s cybersmart.gov.au aims to educate users regarding such practices. These include:

• Location based services.
• Unwanted contact.
• Cyberbullying.
• Online friends.
• Your digital footprint.
• Online purchasing.
• Identity theft.

Information Validation

Due to the relatively unregulated nature of the Internet (achieving a increased degree of freedom of speech), massive amounts of information are available – often without a stated author. This leads to concerns regarding the credibility of such information. Following is a procedure which asks the correct questions to evaluate a source:

• Who is the author? – If it is not a single person,
• Is the information up-to-date?
• Who is the intended author?
• Is the information accurate and unbiased?
• What is the purpose of the information?