Hacking: Who's at fault?

When an account gets hacked, there are two parties who could get blamed: the website or the user. So who's fault is it? On one side, the user is responsible for choosing his/her password and what networks s/he decides to use. However, when an account gets hacked, the user wants to be the victim and therefore blames the website. In this situation, it's probably not in the website's best interest to turn around and place all the blame on the user. In part, these incidents should worry the website because it means unfriendly parties can gain access to it. Perhaps it is best for both parties to be at fault. The user for picking an easy password and the website for allowing them to. There's one simple solution that can help limit the extent of this problem: BE SMART! The best way to keep unwanted people away is to make it difficult for them to get in. So, users, choose a secure password; websites, make your users pick strong passwords and maybe even require two forms of authentication. If both parties take responsibility for the security of their account(s), it will only be that much more secure.

The Cuckoo's Egg

If you want to catch a bad guy, keep detailed notes and, by all means, don't let him catch you. These were words to live by for Cliff Stoll, author of the The Cuckoo's Egg, a novel-like nonfiction story about his hunt for a computer hacker. While an interesting life story, Stoll's experience brought into the lime light an interesting problem of the growing technological world of the late 20th century. Cyber security. Specifically, password security.

In order to be useful, computers need to come equipped with preregistered accounts and passwords. When they first log on, consumers should override these passwords or delete the accounts. In The Cuckoo's Egg,  many organizations didn't bother, which left their computers open to the hacker to come and go as he pleased. These computers, in turn, were connected to other susceptible computers through various networks. As result, the hacker could access thousands of computers around the world. He could then access personal accounts by matching words from an encrypted dictionary to encrypted passwords in the  password file. Because many people used normal words since they're easy to remember, their computer was now open to the hacker. If measures had been taken to enforce good passwords for all accounts, the networks would've been more secure.

This reiterates what has become increasingly important today: password strength. There are analyzers out there that will evaluate the strength of your password. So remember, if you don't want to give hacker's easy access to your network and/or computer, choose good passwords. Don't use your dog's name. Don't use your name. For heaven's sake, don't use the account name. Instead, choose something funky and throw in a couple numbers. You could even randomly generate a string of numbers and letters. Having a strong password isn't difficult or time consuming but it will make your cyber life more secure.

Journey to Computer Science

As a freshman in college, I had no idea what I wanted to major in. All I knew for certain was that I did not want to end up in a "boring" major, like mathematics or engineering. I wanted something fun and creative. After more than a year debating, I finally decided to major in Computer Science with an Animation Emphasis. It sounded like the perfect major to integrate my analytical mind with the side of me that wanted a little creativity. Two years passed without much difficultly but also with no real enthusiasm. Then something happened that would change my life forever. I interned with Family Search. That experience solidified something I had started to realize--software development is fun! It requires creativity and is extremely gratifying. I didn't need the emphasis for this major to be fun. After that experience, I became excited about my future in software development and the opportunities it could provide. I don't know why it took so long to come to this realization or why more women aren't choosing to enter this field. All I know for sure is that computer science will offer me some exciting opportunities and has turned out to be the perfect career choice for me.

Evolution of Photography

Photography was born over 150 years ago. Since then, it's evolved from silver plates requiring TEN minutes of exposure to hand held cameras and, eventually, to tiny lenses in cell phones. Even now, new photography advancements are being developed. It's amazing how easily we can capture meaningful moments of our lives and instantly share them with family and friends. The continual advancement of photographic technology allows everyone to preserve memories with the touch of a button. However, it's easy to get carried away in the abundance of opportunity and not think about the consequences. If we aren't careful, we might become so focused on capturing the perfect photo that we forget to enjoy the actual experience. Just remember, photography should be used to preserve memories--not replace them.