Information Security and Privacy for Computing - myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theInformation Security and Privacy for Cloud Computing. Answer: Introduction Information security means guarding information. It involves tools for detecting and preventing any courier threats to all forms of non-digital and digital information(Benbasat, 2010). Information security is concerned with ensuring that all forms of information all guarded against unauthorized access, modification, copying, and disclosure(Benbasat, 2010). Most of organization and governments have set regulations and standards to facilitate information security practices. Information privacy, is concerned with ensuring that information is safeguarded. Information security and privacy issues are critical especially in cloud computing(Aqeel, David Yan, 2016). Cloud computing is a computing trend that uses the internet to provide elastic and scalable information technology enabled capabilities. . Cloud computing is important to any organization and government parastatals as its money, resources and time as compared to on-premises forms of computing(Chunghun Suhyun , 2016). There are many issues that are related to both information security and privacy and every organization should address them in order to secure its data and information(Derek Manky , 2013). Organizations should conduct security audit to examine the ability of their systems to secure their data and information of their stakeholders. Sensors in traffic lights, bus stops, and rubbish bins The government aims at implementing sensors in different areas to facilitate remote control.This process facilitates the implementation of Internet of Things (IoT) in Singapore(Eddolls Matt, 2016). The government has mandated Infocomm Development Authority IDA to facilitate the whole process to ensure it becomes a success. According to IDA data and information collected from the sensors as well as from any other objects with the sensing capabilities will greatly contribute to achieving the smart nation objectives(Khalid, 1996). Implications for privacy of the smart sensor network The Singaporeans are concerned with the loss of their personal information; the people are worried about the black markets where their data can be traded without their consent(Donghee, 2015). People are also concerned with the increased cases of the dark web where all kinds of hacking tools are available; this tool exposes the personal data provided to government authorities(Eddolls Matt, 2016). Hackers can easily tap the personal information from the central repository and use it for their personal gain or expose it to the unauthorized persons or to other countries(Dabbous, 2000). For this reason, the Singaporeans feel that the government should cooperate with relevant international bodies and other countries to ensure that possible threats such as hacking are taken care of. The government want to monitor peoples movement and behavior. The Singaporeans feel a breach of their privacy when the government wants to track and keep records of their movement from one place to another and also their personal behaviors such as smoking habits(Coen-Porisini Sicari , 2015). For these reasons the peoples trust over the smart nation is compromised, they feel that the government need to do a lot to ensure that their personal data is not leaked to unauthorized persons or organizations. The government insists that it is the initiative of every person that will enable the government to achieve control over cybercrime and privacy issues(Dyer Julian, 2012). People should report any data breaches incidents immediately to the relevant authorities so that necessary measures can be undertaken. To strengthen national cyber security, the government of Singapore has engaged in bilateral exchanges and shared information regarding the best practices with other countries such as Fr ance(Donghee, 2015). The government is also key in developing high-class cyber security capabilities to aid the government in fighting possible cybercrimes and threats to personal information. Also, the government has spearheaded the building of strong cybersecurity ecosystems by merging together different institutions and government organizations. Effects on a visitor to Singapore For visitors to Singapore, the smart nation would have both negative and positive impacts on them, the use of sensors among the visitors can monitor their movements while in Singapore, and this then provides the visitors with important information to facilitate that they are secure while moving about in the Singapores cities(Dyer Julian, 2012). The smart sensors could also be used by the government to enhance the security of the visitors and the visitors. By monitoring the visitors, the government agencies can keep them out of harm by deterring them from accessing areas where their personal security could be compromised. Also the government has installed sensors in public housing where visitors stay, therefore, visitors can be guarded when they are in those houses(John Michael , 2017). On the other hand, visitors may feel a lack of privacy; this is because the interconnected sensors and CCTV will be collecting too much of their personal information, sharing that information across the government agencies and storing that information(Eddolls Matt, 2016). Visitors feel that monitoring their movements in the cities, their behavior while in the public housing is a breach of their privacy. Effects on resident of Singapore For the residents of Singapore, they have numerous advantages to count from the smart nation project. First, in housing, most of the public houses are integrated with the sensors(Gajjar Manish , 2017). Residents living in these public houses are monitored and provided with feedback about their behavior, they then use this information to improve their water and electricity usage thus reducing their household costs. Also, the Singaporeans are set to benefit from the Elderly Monitoring System EMS that is used to monitor the activity and the behavior of the elderly people and then sends an alert to the caregiver, the aim of this system is to reduce the burden the old people may have of their family members. Heterogeneous Network The government of Singapore is also committed to providing Wi-Fi hotspots throughout in cities. The aim of this plan is to ensure that everybody is connected to the internet through the use of their mobile phones(John Michael , 2017). This initiative is referred as Heterogeneous Network HetNet. The objective of Infocomm Development Authority IDA is to ensure that everyone remains connected to the internet from when they leave their homes until when they return. To achieve this, the IDA is collaborating with the major Singaporean telecommunication organization who will help to develop the required infrastructure so that people can seamlessly switch between personal mobile data and the public Wi-Fi provided by the government as one moves about in the cities(Lau Yiu Chung, 2015). This plan is mostly spearheaded in the areas with huge human traffic such as in the bus stations, lifts and walkways, the initial trials will enable the providers to determine how much network usage is requir ed, and also work to ensure that the network in uninterrupted when the users switch to video streaming. The main objective of the government is not to provide entertainment to the public but to use technology to provide connectivity through the use of smart devices and apply those initiatives in remote learning and health monitoring as well as in the self-driving vehicles(Dabbous, 2000). Effects on a visitors to Singapore This Heterogeneous Network plan will have the positive impact on the visitors; this is because the system will enhance security across the connected areas, therefore, ensuring security to the visitors. This is because with the HetNet the smart devices of the visitors will roam across all the cities and environments covered with the internet provided by the major internet providers and ensure seamless access to the internet(Gajjar Manish , 2017). Therefore, it is likely that the visitors will enjoy continued connectivity to the internet even when one of the mobile or wireless networks is fluctuating or when the services of one internet provider are completely down. Visitors use the steady internet connectivity to communicate with the necessary agencies when they need help. The government can also remotely monitor the visitors in these networks to guide them when need be or attend to them in the case of emergency(Loukaitou-Sideris, 2006). Also, the government can use visitors data collected in this networks to provide more responsive services to them. Government agencies that are mandated to collect and analyze the visitors data may use the information they gather to improve the service delivery to the visitors(Lau Yiu Chung, 2015). Some of the information that the government may provide to the visitors include country maps to guide them through as well as real time updates that may be necessary to them such as the weather condition forecast, security information and traffic updates and any other information that would ensure that visitors kept up to date current and expected occurrences. Effects on a resident of Singapore The residents of Singapore are also set to benefit from the Heterogeneous Network. This is through government provision of high quality and consistent services to its citizens, HetNet programme is set to improve both data latency and speed across all the different networks to support applications and the services offered to the users, for example, transmission of voice, fax video, and other information among the users could be provided with minimal delays as users seamlessly switch from one network to another. Sufficient high bandwidth could also be provided so that other services such as HD video streaming video calling and could be enjoyed by the users with little or no interruptions at all(Khalid, 1996). Also by harnessing the available networks, the government will increase the wireless capacity thus increasing data speeds, by so doing the government will be able to meet the need for mobile connectivity as well as enhance user experience. The Heterogeneous Network program will also use useful to create business and employment opportunities and also create intellectual property to most of the Singaporeans. Local industries will players such as research institutes will be developed to spearhead developed of innovative solutions which can be used to bridge the existing technological gaps or to develop new business models that are applicable in the technological industries. Such measure will create employment opportunities for most of the youth thus reducing the rate of unemployment(Metheny Matthew, 2017). Also, the government can also use the available public internet to provide important services to its citizens. Such services include; teaching the public about different government initiatives and also conduct health campaigns meant to improve the welfare of the people. Effect of heterogeneous network on sensitive and confidential information Sensitive information on smart devices can be shared across the connected devices without the users' consent when one is connected to the public network. When Heterogeneous Network program is implemented, then it will be difficult to store confidential information in the mobile devices or conduct personal conversations using the devices connected to the public Wi-Fi because that information can easily be unintentionally transmitted to other devices which are connected to the same Wi-Fi(Samani Raj, 2015). That means that Heterogeneous Network project may compromise the privacy of the users. Digital Identity help in maintaining privacy A digital identity is a key approach in facilitating users privacy when on the internet. Digital identity comprises of personal attributes that are used to authenticate users while accessing or when conducting transactions(Moussa Haralambos, 2013). When using the internet, the users identity should be kept as a secret and should always remain anonymous to prevent theft of identities. The importance of keeping identities to be secret is to ensure that we dont compromise our ability to have control over our lives socially, politically and economically in the digital world(Reed, 2006). Everyone should have proper management of their personal data and information to ensure that no identity or information is lost to unauthorized persons. Anytime we create an account or use log in to existing accounts then we should ensure that no bit of personal information such as password or security numbers is left exposed and one should always log out once done conducting services on the internet. To facilitate privacy protection we should be mindful of the extent to which we make our personal information public and how well that information is protected, this also calls for proper management for accounts library and deleting accounts that we no longer use their services. To minimize or completely remove the threats to privacy when on the internet we need effective methods of authenticating that we are the rightful users of our accounts(Kshetri Nir, 2013). Usernames and passwords are no longer effective because hackers can easily break them regardless of how complex they may appear to be. For this reason, most organizations and government agencies are investing use of biometrics and two factor methods of authentication. With these layers in place, it is possible to add layers of security to the existing usernames and passwords. To ensure privacy when using the mobile phone, I would ensure that I create unique attributes that should comprise of alphabetic and numeric characters as well as other special characters. This is important in ensuring that the authentication credential remains complex to reduce possibilities of someone guessing the information(Loukaitou-Sideris, 2006). Also, I would ensure that my credentials information remains exclusively personal so as not leak it to other users. Most importantly I would ensure that am logged out every time am done using the services on the internet. This would help in minimizing the probability of someone else accessing my account using my gadgets or public devices such computers in the cyber caf. Digital identities are also guided by international standards(Reed, 2006). This means that when one completes transactions by giving out their credentials such as the credit card numbers that information is confidential and should not be availed to unauthorized personn el. Therefore, it provides a guarantee to the users that their information is secretly maintained. Digital identities make it difficult for identity theft, and it makes it easier for users to sign in because instead of using passwords or usernames one only provides their phone numbers during login and completes the process using their devices when secret codes are sent to them. Most importantly it places the customer at the center of everything and asks for customer permission every time their identity is invoked, and credentials are passed(Sheetal Sandeep, 2015). This is very different from what most systems approves authentication through the use of passwords and usernames that are unsecured, and the user is not notified when their accounts are accessed. For this reasons, digital identifiers will help in dealing with privacy matters. Steps to ensure Security Privacy of Digital Identity There are different approaches that can be used to protect once digital identity when using the internet. The most basic method is using strong passwords and ensuring that one does not use the same password across multiple accounts. A good password should include alphanumeric characters and special characters(Reed, 2006). One can also use password generators to come up with complex and secure passwords. The advantages of having complex passwords are that they are hard to guess and sometimes they are difficult to hack, also having strong passwords reduces possibilities of brute force attack and they can also overcome word intelligent mechanism that can be used to decode the password. On the other hand use of complex passwords has associated disadvantages, one can easily forget a password that contains uppercase and lowercase, alphanumeric and special characters(Benbasat, 2010). Another approach that can be used to safeguard digital identity is through automatically updating the operating system of the devices. Automatically updating of the operating system ensures real time protection from threats and also ensures one is up to date with the new technology that can guard against stealing of personal data(Seyedmostafa Razilawiti , 2013). However, when operating systems are updated with untrusted versions they can create a security bridge to loss of personal information and also update of an operating system can lead to loss of information if backup copies are not created. When in public internet one should avoid using malicious links in email with an unknown sender, and also one should refrain from accessing cheap pirated music and movies as they come great hidden dangers. The disadvantages of the internet cheap resources are mostly associated with malicious malware which is created with intentions of stealing confidential information such as passwords. Keeping off the cheap resources will ensure security and privacy of the digital identity(Aqeel, David Yan, 2016). Another way that can be used in securing accounts on the internet is through regular changing of passwords, and the username, advantages of changing passwords is that one minimizes instances where one can have shared password with other people this ensure that the security of the account is regularly updated(Sheetal Sandeep, 2015). The disadvantage of this approach is that passwords can easily be forgotten if they are not properly noted or recorded. Another step that can be used in securing privacy and security of the identity is through disabling the location services on the mobile phone or other devices when the location settings are enabled it provides geolocation parameters to all activities conducted on the internet including web browsing, photos, and video posts(Derek Manky , 2013). The advantages of having the location settings active are that one can access services such as map navigation while on the other side it indicates once location to everyone who reads the posted information signaling to them about your specific locations either home or at work. Additionally one may consider using different forms of authentication other than using usernames and passwords, these methods include use of biometrics which provides a seamless method of interacting with internet connected systems without necessarily remembering the complex passwords. Also one can also consider using the multi-factor authentication techniques, this approach uses the attributes known to the users such as a code sent directly to the phone or email of the user(Coen-Porisini Sicari , 2015). The advantages of this method are that it provides high-level security that cannot be easily decoded and that an account cannot be accessed without the consent of the user. The disadvantages of this method are that it is not integrated with many systems therefore not available for many systems. In conclusion, to achieve security and privacy for information and personal data requires more than developing rules and regulations, every user needs to be careful with their activities on the internet. One should safeguard information from unauthorized persons through all possible means and when a security breach is noted it should be reported to necessary authorities to enforce the necessary measures. References Aqeel, S., David, L., Yan, L. (2016). 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