ICT Security Issues And Concerns

ICT Security Issues And Concerns ICT security issues and concerns are becoming more prevalent and increasingly complex as the pace of technology implementation continues to accelerate. How this phenomenon has affected the public sector and the private sector in our country. Discuss Each e-government project has its own version of the framework, where elements within the four components may differ according to the individuals agencys business or technical needs. List and explain the function of the components. 1.0 Introduction: ICT is the technology needed for information processing, in general, the use of electronic computers, software applications and communication devices to convert, retrieve, transmit, process, protect and store information from anytime, anywhere. Information and communications technology also known as (ICT) it is the sectors that process information which includes capturing, transmitting, and displaying information using electronic systems. Information communication technology sectors dont stop transforming our everyday life and economy. This sectors Core industries contain: Communications systems contain broadcasting, cable / broadband, telecommunications, and other program that distributes the systems. Computer systems including, network engineering, robotics, electronics, technical support and computer engineering. Software and digital media contains Internet security, web portals, web design, data management, computer animation, simulations, computer games, video games and computer programming. Information communication technology is the technology that needed for information processing such as for the creation, manipulation, storage, retrieval and communication of information. They are of immense value in a world in which there is an information explosion, and where knowledge is complex, ever-changing and cross-disciplinary in nature. Many of the skills of ICT are important aspects of Information Literacy, which relates to the ability to select, organise, analyse and use information effectively. Quick and effective access to information is regarded as essential for everyone in contemporary society; and the ability to construct knowledge from the information gathered has become crucial in Hong Kongs knowledge-based society. Citizens in the 21st century need to understand and be able to use ICT in order to function efficiently in modern society. To maintain the competitiveness of Hong Kong in the world economy, we need to develop interest and nurture talent in our students i n this area. The importance of ICT does not lie in the technology as such, but in its enabling function for access to knowledge and for communication with others. Rapid advances in ICT have continued to drive economic change, restructure businesses, affect education and employment, and contribute significantly to growth and wealth creation. (NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA) 2.0 Answer Question 1: Ways severely harm your businesss effect 2.1 Virus: Computer viruses may be benign and result only in amusement or slight annoyance. The best known examples of such a virus are some versions of the Stoned virus which simply write Your computer is stoned on the monitor. Other viruses are more malignant and malicious, destroying or altering data. Once a virus is active in a host computer, the infection can spread rapidly throughout a network to other systems. A virus may attach itself to other programs and hide in them. Or it may infiltrate the computers operating system. All computer operating systems, (for example, MS- and PCDOS, Unix and Macintosh OS) are vulnerable, some more than others. Viruses enter computer systems from an external software source. Just as flowers are attractive to the bees that pollinate them, virus host programs are deliberately made attractive to victims. Often the attraction will be a new game made available for downloading from a computer bulletin board. Or it may be disguised as an executable file attached to an electronic mail message from a friend or business associate. Aside from viruses, there are other threats to user systems, including: Worm and Logic Bombs. (McAFEE Network Security Management) 2.1.2 Worm: Viruses are far from the only maverick programs that can disrupt a computer system. Worms are constructed to infiltrate genuine data processing programs and destroy or alter the data. Often what people believe is a virus infection is, in fact, a worm program. This is not as serious because worms do not replicate themselves. But the damage caused by a worm attack can be just as serious as a virus, especially if not discovered in time. For example, suppose a worm program instructs a banks computer to transfer funds to an illicit account. The fund transfers may continue even after the worm is destroyed. However, once the worm invasion is discovered, recovery is much easier because there is only a single copy of the worm program to destroy since the replicating ability of the virus is absent. This capability may enable it to re-infect a system several times. A worm is similar to a benign tumour while a virus is like a malignant one. (NC STATE UNIVERSITY) 2.1.3 Logic Bombs: Writing a logic bomb program is similar to creating a Trojan Horse. Both also have about the same ability to damage data, too. Logic bombs include a timing device so it will go off at a particular date and time. The Michelangelo virus is embedded in a logic bomb, for example. Other virus programs often include coding similar to that used in logic bombs, but the bombs can be very destructive on their own, even if they lack the ability of the virus to reproduce. One logic bomb caused major problems in the Los Angeles water departments system. Logic bombs are usually timed to do maximum damage. That means the logic bomb is a favoured device for revenge by disgruntled former employees who can set it to activate after they have left the company. One common trigger occurs when the dismissed employees name is deleted from payroll records. On one occasion, a student left a logic bomb timed to explode and wipe out his universitys records well after he had collected his degree and was long gone. This example illustrates the pernicious nature of logic bombs which can be written literally decades before they explode. (Virus Removal Support) 2.1.4 Phishing: The phishing is a common term for the creation and utilize by criminals of websites and e-mails, created to show people they come from well-known, trusted businesses and legitimate, government agencies and financial institutions attempt to gather personal, sensitive information and financial information. These criminals scam Internet users into disclosing their financial and bank information or other personal data for example passwords and usernames, or into unwittingly downloading malicious computer code onto their computers that can allow the criminals subsequent access to those computers or the users financial accounts. Nowadays most people wont reveal their credit card number, password and bank account to just anyone, extra action need to be taken by the phishers to trick their victims into giving up this information. Most of people trust automatic processes nowadays, believing them to be free from human error. However, many messages claim that a computerized audit or other automated process has revealed that something is amiss with the victims account. The victim is more likely to believe that someone has been trying to break into his account than believe that the computer doing the audit made a mistake. (HowStuffWorks, Inc ) 2.1.5 Pharming Besides, there is another threat called Pharming. Pharming means using technical means to redirect of an individual to an illegitimate entity, typically is Web site. Pharming collects personal information via redirecting Internet domain name of people requested to false Web sites. The sites can collect the information and there may be used to commit fraud and identity theft. For instance, an Internet user wishes to log in to his personal online banking account via the banking website, he/she is not really accessing the banks Web site if he/she was redirected to an illegitimate Web . Static domain name spoofing: A person or entity, normally called Pharmer, who tricks Internet users into inadvertently visiting the pharming Web site with advantage of slight misspellings of the domain names. For instance, a pharmer may use maybnk.com instead of maybank.com to redirect user. (Websense, Inc.) 2.1.6 Hacker: A hacker is someone who experts using electronics or computer systems and professional in programming. Hackers like to learn and explore how computer systems function and finding method to make them do what they do better, or do things they werent intended to do. Hacker is separate in two types which is White Hat and Black Hat: White Hat: These are considered the good guys and computer security experts. White hat hackers do not use their hacking skills to hack other people computer or some illegal purposes. They normally help other users protect from the black hats. Black Hat: These are considered the bad guys and they like to hack into other people computer to steal information such as deface websites, steal credit cards or hack bank. Black hat hackers like to use their hacking skills to do bad things for illegal purposes. A hacker can easily hack in the computer to steal information and look into the private things. The benign hacker is the person who likes to get into his/her own computer and understand how it works. The malicious hacker is the person who likes getting into other peoples systems. The benign hackers wish that the media would stop bad-mouthing all hackers and use the term attacker instead. (Introduction to Ethical Hacking) 3.0 Answer Question 2: E-Government: Terms used in this research are defined in this section to facilitate smooth and clear reading for all categories of readers. Some of the terms defined are e-Government, e-Government value chain and stakeholders, effective e-Government, and efficient e-Government. A number of definitions for e-Government have been offered in existing literature. Many terms such as digital government, inter-networked government (Tapscott, 1995) and government online has been used. The researcher deems all these terms to be synonymous. E-Government in simplest terms can be described as the use of ICT within government to make operations more efficient, improve quality of service and offer an easy access for citizens to government information and services (Kraemer and King, 2003). Kraemer also cited that Senators Lieberman and Thompson defined e-Government as a wayto better use IT advances to achieve greater effectiveness and to provide citizens easy, electronic access to government programs, services and information. (Axelsson, Karin, Linkà ¶ping University) The term e-Government also refers to the planned and coordinated use of ICT to strengthen the core functions of public institutions. Not every computer in use in the public sector amounts to e-Government. When electronic data processing emerged on a more widespread basis, its initial focus was on isolated and targeted modernization efforts in a limited number of key sectors. Today, however, the focus is on the networking of workplaces, administrations, and political institutions as well as on Information and Communications Technology based communication with customers or citizens. This calls for concepts that are geared to integrating the modernization goals and investment planning of various institutions and based on a thorough examination and analysis of service portfolios and the demand for public services. The implementation of e-Government requires strong leadership and a vision. It also requires a comprehensive strategy that is not only benchmarked on global best practices, but also sensitive to existing political and economic conditions and realities. For E-Government to become a reality, governments, in consultation with stakeholders, should follow a common nationwide strategic framework, which articulates the governments vision, targets and milestones, technical approach and standards for e-Government systems. Such a framework should also address information privacy, security, maintenance, and interface standards. (Axelsson, Karin, Linkà ¶ping University) 3.1 Four main components of E-Government: An implementation framework is designed to guide and manage the execution of the E-Government strategy. This framework is an adaptation of Accentures Business Integration Framework and can be broken down into four main components which are Programme Management, Technology, Process, and Strategy. Each E-Government project has its own version of the framework, where elements within the four components may differ according to the individual agencys business or technical needs. 3.1.1 Programme Management: The Program manager of E-Government chooses an initiative to be implemented and establish the strategy and goals that is aimed at accomplishing through this initiative. Next, the government agency that would lead this initiative is identified and agreed upon. The agreement or commitment gained from the chosen agency and governing body, acts as the green-light to go ahead with the implementation. With this, the project committee can begin to assess the policies that are dependent on the initiative. Policy amendments that are possibly required are highlighted. The framework is where all the planning processes are placed. A project plan will be planned and documented by the Program managers. Functional areas that will be targeted are identified. Critical success factors for this initiative are identified in order to maintain a focus on the objective and goals. Policies that were identified to be amended will be planned for according to relevant standards and regulations. New infrastructure that will be required are identified, planned for and scoped. With the policies in place, the program managers would now need to assess whether in-house skills and staffing resources are sufficient. Otherwise, alternatives such as short-term contracting and outsourcing would have to be selected. This is where procurement planning comes into place. (Roslind Kaur) 3.1.2 Technology: Although e-Government is often defined as online government or Internet-based government, many non-Internet based e-Government technologies can be named in this context, including telephone, fax, personal digital assistants (PDA), short messaging service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), and third-generation technology (3G), general packet radio service (GPRS), WiFi, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) and Bluetooth. Other technologies can include closed-circuit television (CCTV), tracking systems, radio-frequency identification (RFID),road traffic management, biometric identification, and regulatory enforcement, smart cards, identity cards, and other communication applications, polling station technology (for non-online e-voting), television and radio-based delivery of government services, online chat, electronic mailing lists and newsgroup, online community facilities, email, and other messaging technologies. Other aspects of technology to be considered in the implementation of e-Government are enablement, interoperability such as the e-Government interoperability framework (e-GIF) and semantic web issues, legacy technology, and implications for software choices (open source or proprietary software, and suitable programming languages). (OOH KIM LEAN) 3.1.3 Process: In contrast to traditional government processes, e-Government is characterized by extensive use of communication technology, the impersonal nature of the online environment and the ease of information can be collected (data-mining), processed and used by multiple parties (Warkentin, Gefen, Pavlou Rose, 2002). However, e-Government has the implicit uncertainty of using an open technological infrastructure for transaction via the newness of the communication medium interact with a government website. This would indirectly increase the spatial and temporal separation between citizens and government; more uncertainty and concern about the reliability of the underlying Internet and related government infrastructure interfaces. As overall these unique differences increase uncertainty and reduce perception of citizen control, imposing a barrier to e-Government adoption. (OOH KIM LEAN) A number of research papers in e-Government were published in recent years to help practitioners to improve government service quality, responsiveness, convenience and accessibility to both citizens in urban and rural area. Their effort can be categorized into few issues: (i) The concept, theories, history, structure, initiatives, policy, key principles, impact, challenges, and development success factors of e-Government; (ii) The technology application, 13knowledge spillover, innovative efforts and approach to facilitate e-Government implementation and evaluation; (iii) Management support or implementation strategies such as framework for managing the lifecycle of transactional e-Government services to facilitating the e-Government services. To provide more intuitive and maintainable lifecycle for electronic tax submission (one of the e-government service to citizens), government must overcome shortcoming happen during the lifecycle such as implicit knowledge, user interaction, code reusability, communication with back-end system, business reengineering required to upgrade to workflow flexibility and resolve security issue (Vassilakis, Laskaridis, Lepouras, Rouvas Georgiadis 2003) (iv) the assessment, measurement of e-Government services provided to public sector and its effects on economic, social benefits of the implementation; (v) key factors affecting acceptance , expectation and usage intention of e-Government services. (OOH KIM LEAN) 3.1.4 Strategy: The process of adopting advanced ICT solutions for the transformation of e-government faces many challenges. Due to the complex nature of these projects and the sheer number of stakeholders involved, effective visualization and management of such initiatives is highly critical but needs to be simple in order to accelerate understanding off and buy in into the framework. However it is important that the framework represent all important aspects of the e-government strategy. That said, despite years of governmental efforts to implement e-government initiatives, there are no commonly established methods and frameworks for the visualization of an overarching e-government strategy. A comprehensive framework needs to account for how the different supporting and impeding forces impacting projects being implemented as a part of such a strategy. Given that such a framework will also have a long lifecycle and encompass a broad scope, the framework also needs to remain applicable regardless of changes in the environment. As most projects go through much iteration of technical and process changes, any changes within the ecosystem should not risk the validity of the strategy framework. Hence the framework needs to be adaptable to changing environments and should be defined in a technology neutral manner. Such an approach will also allow the framework to act as the bridge between decision makers and implementers, thus reducing the mismatch between the expected versus realized outcomes. (Roslind Kaur) 4.0 Conclusion and Recommendation: In my opinion, Information is the life wire of todays business organizations, institutions and industries. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) covers all advanced technologies in manipulating and communicating information. Information is an organized, meaningful and useful interpretation of data. However, Information and Communication Technologies is very important and much of benefit. Viruses are designed to proliferate and propagate. This means each and every contact between your system and any other system is an opportunity for infection. That can include floppy disks and contacts via modem (or other network connection). Be especially careful of users who frequently use a number of different systems outside your company. Hacker is also dangerous to all the computer users, a hacker can easily hack in the computer to steal information and look into the private thing. Governments around the world have pursed e-government programs seeking to electronically govern internal and external operations and to provide coherence between the various administrative government units so that they work to complement and complete each other. However, and despite the fact that many governments have injected substantial investments, most e-government initiatives in our view have not delivered the transformation environment sought from their implementation. This research study was developed to support the United Arab Emirates in pursuing its objective towards e-government transformation. It presented an innovative framework developed from a government practitioners viewpoint and in light of the existing literature in the field. The recommended approach is an amalgamation of learnings from various e-governments initiatives across the globe.

Blackwater USA security

Blackwater Worldwide in the past called Blackwater USA Security-Blackwater is the name for the peat-colored water of the swamp, is the U. S. government has inaudibly hired to maneuver in international war zones and on American soil. The contacts run from deep within the military and intelligence agencies to the upper echelons of the White House. This company that is a self-described private military company founded in 1997 by a man named Erik Prince and Al Clark which is also the same company also referred to as the security contactor or mercenary organization by the international reporters, the founder Erik Prince a former Navy SEAL.Prince attended the Naval Academy, graduated from Hillsdale College, and was an intern in George H. W. Bush's White House. Prince is a major financial supporter of Republican Party causes and candidates emerged from ancestors that was one of the top reservoir rollers of, not only the â€Å"Republican revolution† of the 1990s that brought Newt Ging rich and the Contract with America to authority, but also the growing of what the spiritual accurate or the Christian conventional lobby group. Erik Prince’s family gave the kernel money for Gary Bauer to found the Family Research Council.The founder Erik Prince of the Blackwater USA security is a major bank roller of President Bush, his cronies, and the Christian conservative movement in this nation and in 2002 Blackwater Security Consulting (BSC) was formed. It was one of several private security firms employed following the U. S. invasion of Afghanistan. BSC is one of over 60 private security firms employed during the Iraq War to guard officials and installations, train Iraq's new army and police, and provide other support for occupation forces.Blackwater was also hired during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by the Department of Homeland Security, as well as by private clients, including communications, petrochemical and insurance companies in Overall; the company has r eceived over US$1 billion in government contracts. In administration Blackwater's president Gary Jackson, is also a former Navy SEAL and Cofer Black, the company's current vice chairman, was director of the CIA's Counterterrorist Center (CTC) at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks.He was the United States Department of State coordinator for counterterrorism with the rank of ambassador at large from December 2002 to November 2004. After leaving public service, Black became chairman of the privately owned intelligence gathering company Total Intelligence Solutions, Inc. , as well as vice chairman for Blackwater. Joseph E. Schmitz holds an executive position in Blackwater's holding company, Prince Group. He was previously inspector general of the Department of Defense, an appointment of George W.Bush. Robert Richer was vice president of intelligence until January 2007, when he formed Total Intelligence Solutions. He was formerly the head of the CIA's Near East Division. [20][21] Black is presently senior advisor for counterterrorism and national security issues for the 2008 Presidential election bid of Mitt Romney. Blackwater is based in the U. S. A in the state of North Carolina, where it operates a tactical training facility that it said to be the world's largest.The company trains more than 40,000 people a year, from U. S. A or foreign military and police services, as well as other U. S. A government agencies. The training consists of military offensive and defensive portioning and in smaller scale human resources security. Expertise and modus operandi trained are not limited by U. S. domestic law although we are not yet sure what legal status Blackwater operates in the U. S. and other countries and the fortification of the U. S. extends to Blackwater which is operations globally.Blackwater is the mysterious story of the ascending of a powerful mercenary army, ranging from the blood-soaked streets of Fallujah to rooftop firefights in Najaf to the hurric ane-ravaged US gulf to Washington DC, where Blackwater executives are hailed as new conquerors in the war on terror. Blackwater USA Security has massive of about 6,000 acres of the Great Dismal Swamp acre training facility as part of its headquarters, Moyock in North Carolina (just south of the Virginia border).The firm has additional offices in Baghdad, Iraq, and Kuwait City this is according to The â€Å"About Blackwater† section of its website states: â€Å"Blackwater Training Center which was founded in 1996 to fulfill the anticipated demand for government outsourcing of firearms and related security training. Blackwater has the finest private firearms training facility in the U. S. Blackwater has set a new standard for firearms and security training and is recognized as the industry leader in providing government outsource solutions in training, security, canine services, aviation support services, range construction and steel target equipment.Since its inception howeve r, the main work of Blackwater has been deploying its own mercenary army– recruited from elite U. S. military forces especially from Navy SEALS and Marine Recon, SWAT police forces, and international â€Å"soldiers of fortune. † In February it started training former Chilean commandos–some of whom served under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet–for use in Iraq. Blackwater has trained over 50,000 military and law enforcement personnel and provided solutions to hundreds of satisfied customers.This is an extraordinary delineation by one of America's most exciting young radical correspondents called Jeremy Scahill the undercover journalist in his new book â€Å"Blackwater† talks about The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army where he says that Blackwater is the honored Praetorian Guard for the global war on terror with its own military base. Blackwater is presently the largest of the U. S. State Department's three private sanctuary contra ctors, providing a total of 987 contractors.The correspondent in his book writes that Blackwater mercenary firm vehemently demonstrates the grave jeopardy of outsourcing the government’s cartel on the use of force many of which are U. S. citizens. At least 90 percent of its proceeds come from government contracts, two-thirds of which are no-bid contracts. Blackwater Worldwide is currently contracted by the United States government to provide security services in the Iraq War. In October 2007, Blackwater USA rebranded them as Blackwater Worldwide.Blackwater Worldwide has played a substantial role during the Iraq War, as a contractor for the United States government, especially in 2003; Blackwater received its first high-profile contract when it received a $21 million no-bid contract for guarding the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, L. Paul Bremer. Since June 2004, Blackwater has been paid more than $320 million out of a $1 billion, five-year State Department the fi nancial statement for the Worldwide Personal Protective Service, which protects U. S. officials and some foreign officials in conflict zones. In 2006, Blackwater won the remunerative contract to protect the U.S. embassy in Iraq, which is the largest American embassy in the world. It is anticipated by the Pentagon and company representatives that there are 20,000 to 30,000 armed security contractors working in Iraq. Of the State Department's dependence on private contractors like Blackwater for security purposes, U. S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, told the U. S. Senate: â€Å"There is simply no way at all that the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security could ever have sufficient full-time personnel to staff the security occupation in Iraq. There is no unconventional except through contracts.According to the republicans of early this year 2008, Blackwater USA security will leave the bureau armed and dangerous because Blackwater is the absolutely mesmerizing an explosiv e story of how the Bush Administration has spent hundreds of millions of public dollars edifice a comparable corporate army, an army enthusiastic to grounds it constitutes nothing less than a Republican Guard which is the most imperative and unnerving book about the death throes of U. S. egalitarianism in the estimative coverage about how insane Bush privatization efforts, not an iota is more worrisome than the corporatizing of military struggle forces.Jeremy Scahill admirably exposes a overwhelming example of this baleful scheme, the writer says that the only person interested in the privatization of the military is president Bush due to the advantages that we will gain from keeping the military force in the course of the Iraq fight. This engrossing investigative piece exposing, in shocking detail, a U. S. government-outsourced Frankenstein replete with helicopter gunships may leave you unconvinced. But you better believe it, for it poses a grave and gathering danger to the future of our Republic.According to Ray McGovern, CIA veteran and former intelligence briefer for George H. W. Bush, in this terrorizing and thrillingly written book, Jeremy Scahill initiates us to the shape of things to come, and to the kind of people and conglomerates apt to preside over our lives if we don't do something marvelous about it promptly. According to research from the writer Jeremy Scahill's comprehensive research and reporting elevates the shroud off the ever-tightening relationship between the federal administration and unaccountable private military corporations such as Blackwater USA.This type of mercenary army has no whatsoever reason to have this type of civilian military organization due to its relationship with the US government which is considered to be of intrinsic danger and moral conflicts involved in the using of public funds to engage a clandestine corporation which exists to generate profit to supplement and to supersede the military in its role to endow with for the common defense. Alarming issues leap to mind like a panther springing upon its prey.Moreover the Social Darwinists sitting atop the food chain in the wealthiest, most powerful nation in humanity's history now have access to their own paramilitary force. They can unleash their private army on the unfit when the need arises, whether it be within America's borders or otherwise. New Orleans is a prime example. 150 highly trained Blackwater quasi-military professionals openly armed with assault weapons descended on a tragedy-stricken city. As hurricane victims taking necessities were called â€Å"looters† and shoot to kill orders were in effect, those who value property over people saw to it that their interests were well-protected.Thankfully, Blackwater was there to protect the patrician class from the â€Å"savages† from the Lower Ninth Ward who had the audacity to attempt survival; also Blackwater's global presence includes Iraq, where the murder of four of their employees triggered the US military's revengeful attack on Fallujah in which it committed scandalous war crimes and mayhem against hundreds of Iraqi civilians. Why the four Blackwater contractors were near Fallujah the day of their deaths remains unclear. The mainstream media, Blackwater and the US government claim that they were on security detail shielding a food delivery.However, some suggest that the claims of protecting a food caravan were a ruse to cover the fact that Blackwater employees were completing a military operation. While the facts remain ambiguous, it is certain that the conventional media's description of the Blackwater victims as civilian contractors was significantly inaccurate, this led to the Blackwater's license to operate in Iraq being revoked by the Iraqi Government on September 17, 2007, resulting from a highly contentious incident that occurred the previous day during which seventeen (initially reported as eleven) Iraqis were killed.The fatalities occurre d while a Blackwater Private Security Detail (PSD) was escorting a convoy of U. S. State Department vehicles en route to a meeting in western Baghdad with United States Agency for International Development officials. The US State Department has said that â€Å"innocent life was lost. An anonymous U. S. military official was quoted as saying that Blackwater's guards opened fire without provocation and used excessive force, the incident has sparked at least 5 investigations, with the FBI now saying it will begin a probe.Blackwater helicopters were dispatched to evacuate the Polish ambassador following an insurgent assassination attempt. On October 2, 2007 Erik Prince was subject to a congressional hearing conducted by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform following the controversy related to Blackwater's conduct in Iraq and Afghanistan. Blackwater hired the public relations firm BKSH & Associates Worldwide, a subsidiary of Burson-Marsteller, to help Prince prepare for his testimony at the hearing. Robert Tappan, a former U. S.State Department official who worked for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, was one the executives handling the account. BKSH, a self-described â€Å"bipartisan† headed by Charlie Black, a prominent Republican political strategist and former chief spokesman for the Republican National Committee, and Scott Pastrick, former treasurer of the Democratic National Committee. The case went on until when testifying before Congress came and Prince complained about the lack of remedies his company has to deal with employee misdeeds.When asked why an employee involved in the killing of a vice-presidential guard incident had been â€Å"whisked out of the country† he replied, â€Å"We can't flog him, we can't incarcerate him. Asked by a member of Congress for financial information about his company, Prince declined to provide it. â€Å"We're a private company, and there's a key word there private, he later stated that the company could provide it at a future date if questions were submitted in writing when the term â€Å"mercenaries† was used to describe Blackwater employees, Prince objected, characterizing them instead as â€Å"loyal Americans†.A Committee on Oversight and Government Reform staff report based largely on internal Blackwater e-mail messages and State Department documents, describes Blackwater as â€Å"being staffed with reckless, shoot-first guards who were not always sober and did not always stop to see who or what was hit by their bullets. A staff report compiled by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on behalf of Representative Waxman questioned the cost-effectiveness of using Blackwater forces instead of U.S. troops. Blackwater charges the government $1,222 per day per guard, â€Å"equivalent to $445,000 per year, or six times more than the cost of an equivalent U. S. soldier,† the report alleged, during his testimony on Capitol H ill, Erik Prince disputed this figure, saying that it costs money for the government to train a soldier, to house and feed them, they don't just come prepared to fight. â€Å"That sergeant doesn't show up naked and untrained†, Prince stated.In the wake of Prince's testimony before Congress, the US House passed a bill in October, 2007 that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to prosecution by U. S. courts and Senate Democratic leaders have said they plan to send similar legislation to President Bush as soon as possible. The legal status of Blackwater and other security firms in Iraq is a subject of contention, before he left Iraq; L.Paul Bremer signed â€Å"Order 17† giving all Americans associated with the CPA and the American government immunity from Iraqi law. A July 2007 report from the American Congressional Research Service indicates that the Iraqi government still has no authority over private security firms contracte d by the U. S. government. On October 5, 2007 the State Department announced new rules for Blackwater's armed guards operating in Iraq. Under the new guidelines, State Department security agents will accompany all Blackwater units operating in and around Baghdad.The State Department will also install video surveillance equipment in all Blackwater armored vehicles, and will keep recordings of all radio communications between Blackwater convoys in Iraq and the military and civilian agencies which supervise their activities.Also on September 23, 2007, the Iraqi government said that it expects to refer criminal charges to its courts in connection with a shooting involving Blackwater guards. However, on October 29, 2007, immunity from prosecution was granted by The U. S. State Department, delaying a criminal inquiry into the Sept. 16 deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians. Immediately afterwards, the Iraqi government approved a draft law to end any and all immunity for foreign military co ntractors in Iraq, to overturn Order 17.The U. S. Department of Justice also said any immunity deals offered to Blackwater employees were invalid, as the department that issued them had no authority to do so. Legal specialists say that the U. S. government is unlikely to allow a trial in the Iraqi courts, because there is little confidence that trials would be fair. Contractors accused of crimes abroad could be tried in the United States under either military or civilian law; however, the applicable military law, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, was changed in 2006, and appears to now exempt State Department contractors that provide security escorts for a civilian agency.Prosecution under civilian law would be through the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which allows the extension of federal law to civilians supporting military operations; however, according to the deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s criminal division Robert Litt, try ing a criminal case in federal court would require a secure chain of evidence, with police securing the crime scene immediately, while evidence gathered by Iraqi investigators would be regarded as suspect.To conclude the Backwaters should not have this type of civilian military organization in any part of the world including in the U. S. A because it is too costly especially to the Government of president Bush including the civilians who get to pay a lot to taxes to keep the military running. The innocent people dying all over the world where the mercenary army controls is an abuse of the human rights especially in Iraq, Bagdad and Somalia. References: 1. www. blackwaterusa. com/new/btwarchive. html 2. Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill 2007 by Jeremy Scahill.

Wikipedia

Wisped is a valuable research tool for university students How do I do my research: Online source Firstly, I opened Google Search Engine and printed there the key words: Wisped – valuable – research. Then I used related terms as reliable, credible, source. My next step was to read background information on different sites and look for main ideas and issues being discussed, the terminology is being used. I built my statements: 1) Wisped AND credibility; 2) Value no Wisped; 3)Wisped AND credible OR valuable OR reliable OR trustworthy AND source OR resource.I used the sites of different universities, because I consider them as the most suitable and credible. The main reason why Wisped isn't a valuable research tool is: anyone who wants can post material, and the expertise of the posters is not taken into consideration. How do I do my research: Offline source To start with, I should find some articles on the following topic. First source I found is the article of Thomas Che ney, 2006. â€Å"An empirical examination of Wisteria's credibility,† First Monday, volume 11, number 11 (November), where he states that Wisped hasn't got ‘high' credibility, but it certainly is not ‘low'.His survey shows that 13 percent of Wisteria's articles have errors. Then I searched for another article to have a wider view on this theme. I took a look at the work of Magnums, P. D. , Assistant Professor at the University at Albany, (2008), â€Å"Early response to false claims In Wisped† ; First Monday, 13(9). There he points that Wisped Is a reliable research tool because even If there are some Inaccuracies they are being deleted within 3 hours or less.

Essay about Plagiarism Students Are Not To Blame - 932 Words

Is plagiarism really occurring on college campuses? Should it be considered a serious offense? Do the students who plagiarize know that what they are doing is wrong? These are some of the questions that Edward M. White discusses in his essay â€Å"Student Plagiarism as an Institutional and Social Issue.† Being a professor himself, White sees firsthand the occurrence of cheating on college campuses. He claims that blatant plagiarism â€Å"subverts the very nature of education and reflects some aspects of what is worst in American society† because it is morally wrong (202). The backing for his claim is the fact that plagiarizing is stealing someone else’s words. Thus he warrants that anything morally wrong undermines education and shows†¦show more content†¦Should all students who plagiarize be punished? How do we decide who gets punished? White states that â€Å"even though we must defend ourselves against burglars and muggers, however much we m ay sympathize with whatever caused their behavior, we are not really called on to excuse away their depredations† (202). Likewise, he believes that we should not allow people to steal others’ words without some kind of punishment. I believe that there should be some kind of punishment, but a teacher should not be able to punish a student for plagiarizing, unless the teacher has made sure the child knows how and when to cite things. Every teacher should go over the policy on plagiarism at the beginning of the course instead of expecting the students to have learned the rules. As White states, â€Å"we should all expect that much plagiarism will naturally occur unless we help students understand what all the fuss is about† (203). White is very logical in his thinking that students should not be expected to know things without being taught. With any essay that a person reads, the reader wants to know that he can trust his source. Ethos is the author’s, or piece’s, credibility. One thing that readers might look at is the year the piece was written. Even though this essay was written in 1993, I think the only thing that has changed is that plagiarism has gotten worse. We now have more places to plagiarize from since almost everyone hasShow MoreRelatedAcademic Dishonesty: Applying Technology in Plagiarism1564 Words   |  7 PagesAbstract Academic dishonesty, specifically cheating and plagiarism, recently has increased in popularity. Students often justify unethical academic behavior. Technological innovations, like the cellular telephone, have provided students with new methods of cheating. Plagiarism has also been influenced through technologies, specifically internet companies have emerged that provide unethical solutions to academic assignments. â€Æ' Academic Dishonesty: Applying Technology to Cheat Defined asRead MorePlagiarism Essay957 Words   |  4 Pages Plagiarism, the practice of taking someone elses work or ideas and passing them off as ones own (â€Å"Plagiarism†). Such act is a crime and is not lightly, however what is considered plagiarism is very tricky and if you are not well informed you can easily fall victim to this crime. The most common types of plagiarism are intentional and unintentional plagiarism. Currently both of these types are punished in the same ways such as expulsion or suspension in academic groups. There has been many debateRead MoreThe Internet And Its Effects On The World997 Words   |  4 Pagesthe most benefit out of it are students. Doing assignment has never been easier, for example, Google can help out finding research information that was hard to find in school textbooks. The internet not only gives the student updated information on the certain topic, but it also as well saves them a lot of time. However, even if the internet is there as an amazing tool to help out people, it can come with some problems. Having the power of the internet almost at students’ fingertips is affecting themRead MorePlagiarism Essay776 Words   |  4 PagesPlagiarism regularly makes the headlines and universities are under pressure to tackle the problem decisively. Plagiarism involves using someone else’s words or ideas without acknowledging the source. It can take multiple forms, from cutting and pasting a patchwork of unreferenced texts to buying texts from paper mills. Crucially, it also includes the kinds of writing in which students sloppily pull together various ideas without due attention to academic referencing norms. The problem is thatRead MorePlagiarism And Plagiarism For Academic Integrity995 Words   |  4 Pagesmomentum. Cheating and plagiarism represent unethical academic behaviors against which higher academic institutions have been battling against. Nowadays, plagiarism and cheating tools have been greatly influenced by new technological trends providing students with unethical solutions going against academic integrity. I will now proceed on elaborating on the behavioral characteristics going against academic integrity then, I will highlight the danger associated with plagiarism before finally concludingRead MorePlagiarism And Why It Is Considered Wrong1550 Words   |  7 PagesStudents around the globe have the tendency to resort to copying certain sources as a manner of getting work done quicker and with strong recognition. It is considered human nature for students in the modern day to turn to readily available sources to aid their work. However, they do not understand the concept of plagiarism and why it is considered wrong in the educational world. To build upon this essay, we need to first understand what plagiarism exactly is. Plagiarism is well-defined as makingRead MoreThe Ethical Reasons For Plagiarism1459 Words   |  6 Pages Plagiarism is the process of taking some one else work or ideas and showing it as their own works (Oxford Dictionaries). The purpose of this study is to understand 6 different ethical reasons used by student to overcome with plagiarism and with help of these ethical reason, faculties can bring a solution to stop or prevent plagiarism. Where as unethical behavior can also lead to worries in school or colleges, so there is need to correct it so that it has positive impact on organizational ethicsRead MorePlagiarism And Plagiarism1326 Words   |  6 PagesPlagiarism is when one use another person’s work or ideas without getting his permission. Oxford dictionary (2015) defines plagiarism as â€Å"The practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own†. The word origins, based on Oxford dictionary (2015), is coming from â€Å"the early 17th century, from the Latin word ‘plagiarius’ that means ‘kidnapperâ€℠¢Ã¢â‚¬ . Although the definition can help us understand better what plagiarism is, it is sometimes hard to know where the line crossRead More Plagiarism in the 21st Century Essay1632 Words   |  7 PagesPlagiarism in the 21st Century The problem of plagiarism has haunted the academic world for centuries. Plagiarism is defined as â€Å"taking ideas, passages, etc from an author and presenting them, unacknowledged, as one’s own†.[1] This problem was limited in the past by the lack of materials available to plagiarize, either in libraries, newspapers, magazines, or in academic files of campus organizations. With the birth of the Internet however, the ability to commit fraud through plagiarismRead MoreThe World Association Of Medical Editors1412 Words   |  6 PagesPlagiarism according to oxford dictionary in 1621 was derived from a latin word â€Å"plagiarius† which means â€Å"kidnapper† or abducting .Plagiarism as defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica as â€Å" the act of taking another person’s writing and passing them off as one’s own† without giving credit to the original author (Jawad. F, 2013). The world Association of Medical Editors (WAME) defines plagiarism as â€Å"the use of others published and unpublished ideas or words without attribution or permission and presenting