Computers Information Technology
What the Future Looks Like
Recently, I attended the AGM of a Not-For-Profit for which I sit on the governing body. We had the pleasure of Dr Paul Browning (Headmaster of St Paul’s School at Bald Hills) as our guest speaker. Paul talked about the education of our children and what the world for students finishing in 2028 would look like.
A couple of the main things coming out of the talk was that many of the jobs that these students will be entering do not exist today and many of today’s jobs will cease to exist in the future.
Paul’s research indicated that technology will be a driving force in relation to this change. Technology will take the place of current jobs done by people and future work will centre around technology and its capabilities and development.
Listening to Paul’s, at times quite confronting and bit scary words, it raised for me (and others in the room) the question “what is the capability of the legislators and people to keep up with the pace of progression to ensure that society remains ethical in its dealing?”
We have already seen Uber and AirBnb by-pass laws to effect change and while those industries may have needed change, who judges what is acceptable:
- those providing the service and therefore directly benefiting from the change,
- clients who are receiving the benefit;
- Governments and legislators operating under as low an error tolerance that is humanly possible;
- Governments or legislators operating from a social base rather than an economic base; or
- workers who under both the old system or new system are not necessarily better off in the long term.
Just because elements of health care can be automated with “robots”, does this pass the pub test as the best benchmark of health treatment and care?
Whatever your business or industry you cannot ignore change that is happening. But, as a society, how do we answer the most challenging of questions to ensure a sustainable a long-term future – “just because we can – should we?”
COMPUTER VIRUSES 101
Let me start by saying “I like my computer guy, but most of the time I have no idea what he is saying”. It’s like he is talking a foreign language when he asks me about Trojans, Worms and Logic Bombs. Unfortunately, my eyes glass over, my mind starts to wonder and when I think he has paused for a breath, I jump in and say “but you’ve got it all under control don’t you?”
Yes, I am guilty sometimes of not following my own advice. When talking to clients I say you must never give full responsibility of functions of your business to someone else. If your supplier is not reputable, you won’t know and then it may be too late when you find out. Every business owner needs a level of understanding in relation to all functions of their business to ensure they are protected from fraud, negligence and misappropriation.
I was most fortunate to be at the Albany Creek Business Contact’s networking meeting this week to listen to Nathan Dobbins (Core Computers) – yep, my computer guy – speak in very lay terms about computer viruses, what they do and why it is so important to have virus protection on your computer (even if you have to pay for it). Here’s what he had to say.
Nearly one (1) million new malware threats are released every day. After we all got over the shock of this statement, he went on to explain the seven (7) major types of viruses:
- Crimeware
- Macro Viruses
- Trojans
- Worms
- Logic Bombs
- Malware
- PUPs
Crimeware
This software is designed to steal personal information and perform some other illegal operation. In other words, it is a malicious software that causes a crime to be committed. Crimeware facilitates programs and documentation (or “kits”) that enable even non-technical people to set up their own spam, virus or phishing attacks.
Macro Virus
This is a virus written in a macro language and placed within a document. The viruses have to be “run” in order to do things. When the host document is opened and the macro is executed, commands in the macro language do the destruction or the prank.
Trojan
A Trojan is similar to a virus except that it does not replicate itself. Often sneaking in attached to a free game or other supposedly worthwhile utility, the Trojan remains in the computer doing damage or allowing someone from a remote location to take control. Trojans can be programs that look legitimate however, when run may be used to locate password information or make the system vulnerable to future entry or simply destroy the user’s stored software and data.
Worms
Worms (Write Once Read Many) are destructive programs that replicate themselves throughout a computer or across a network (both wired and wireless). Worms can do damage by sheer reproduction taking up internal disk and memory resources. They can also deposit a Trojan.
Logic Bombs
Logic Bombs are programs that destroy data when certain conditions are met. For example, a logic bomb may reformat a hard disk or insert random bits into data files on a certain date or if a particular employee records is missing from an employee database. Many viruses are logic bombs because they deliver their payload after a specific trigger event occurs.
Malware
Malware (MALicious software) is software designed to destroy data, steal information and/or aggravate the user.
PUP
A PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) is an application that is installed along with the desired application to user actually asked for. Also known as a “barnacle”, in most cases, the PUP is spyware, adware or some other unwanted software. What makes the spyware or adware a PUP and not pure Malware is the fact that the end user license agreement does inform the user that the additional program is being installed. Given that most people don’t read the license agreements, the distinction is a subtle one.
Even I can understand this information and am checking computers to ensure sufficient protection.
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