In the recent times, the need to enhance national security has become one of the key challenges for most governments globally. Esoteric (2011) candidly indicates that the main role of any government is to promote the overall welfare of its citizens. With the emergence of new technology, such as web 2.0 applications, it has become hard for many governments to fulfill this role, thus forcing them to develop policies, which in most cases violate the privacy of the citizens. While the term “privacy” cannot be cited in the United States Constitution, it has become crucial for citizens to give most of their privacies in order to maintain and enhance the country’s security.
However, the extent to which the U.S. citizens and non–citizens should give up privacy for national security should be well defined. Savage (2010) argues that while security may be more important than privacy (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs), there is a need for the U.S. Government to come-up with legislations indicating the extents to which they can interfere with individual privacy. In a broader sense, the term nation security includes both external and internal security. External security entails enacting of legal legislations to fight against wider attacks and terrorisms, such as the 9/11 attacks. Based on this argument, it is important to treat both the U.S. citizens and non-citizens equally with regard to privacy.
As indicated above, in the U.S., the trade-off between national security and privacy has remained a challenge over the years. However, there are some factors which allow less privacy in favor of national security. For instance, in the U.S., the intelligence agencies may read emails or listen all private conversations (wiretapping) of suspects. Bank accounts can also be investigated, especially for drug cartels, in order to establish how money enters and leaves their accounts (Solove, 2011).
The need for business to innovate has remained one of the crucial aspects, which enhances the short and long-term sustainability of the firm. As witnessed in 2008, during the global financial crises, most of the firms which collapsed were those having a low rate of innovations, thus being unable to deal with the sudden market changes. Waverman (2011) candidly indicates that businesses innovate due to various reasons. One of the main factors is to enhance competitive advantage in the new as well as existing markets. Businesses may also innovate to effectively comply with emerging regulatory requirements and reduce the overheads associated with compliance, among other notable aspects.
However, as indicated by Hill (2011), the ability of a firm to innovate is enormously affected by the industry specific as well as international regulations, especially for multinational organizations. There are four notable types of innovations, which may be greatly hindered by industry specific or international regulations. These include product innovation, process innovation, marketing innovation and organizational innovation. For instance, regulation of marketing methods may affect innovation in such areas as product placement, packaging or product design, pricing or product promotion. While all of us agree with the need to regulate businesses to create a level playing field, this has highly hindered innovation.
Hill (2011) argues that the level of playing field will make firms operating in the similar field to compete with other firms with honesty, while at the same time protecting the consumers. Pryce (2008) argues that government regulations have the biggest impact on innovation. For instance, in the U.S., the anti-piracy bills, recently introduced by the Congress, will have an enormous effect on the technological companies, such as Google, Inc. and Microsoft, among others. International and industry specific regulations, such as un-dumping laws, have also hindered innovation in small and emerging companies.
The hottest internet threats are currently targeting mainly non-literate users, as compared to literate ones. A study conducted by Oxford University over the internet users clearly shows that illiterate people have a higher curiosity about the internet; therefore, opportunistic hackers can exploit this chance by hacking users’ vital information (Dutton et al, 2003). The study shows that the majority of non-illiterate users who are at high risk of being involved into cyber crime are of the elder age. This factor is contributed by various reasons; for example, many elderly people who have access to computer are ignorant of hacking, thus it is so easy for any hacker to trick them; and they are also wealthy, so they do not mind opening suspicious emails or sending money, whenever they are tricked to get prices by hackers (Wallace, 2001).
Additionally, due to ignorance of non-literate users, they normally create a weak password that makes it easier for a hacker to crack it, hence explore user information. Apart from the elderly users, there are emerging non-literate users from the younger generation. In most cases, the illiterate young generation users tend to involve themselves into lottery games, which are hosted by hackers. When a user comes across a viral advert that grant a huge amount of win or prices, he/she becomes inquisitive, but when the user clicks the viral advert, the malware, botnets or any other malicious software used by hackers starts installing into the user PC unknowingly. Afterward, the clandestinely malicious software begins to correct non-literate information and sends it to the main server, the hacker PC.
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On the other hand, apart from non-literate users being exposed to higher risk, the literate people also find themselves into hot water when it comes to cyber crime. When a hacker is aiming at literate user, the tricks applied are trickier; thus, it is very hard for the user to distinguish if it is a scam or genuine. In this case, hackers use malicious software, like Trajan horses, zombies and worms, among others. For example, a zombie, which is a quiescent program, can perform its duty remotely and attack other computers. Ironically, this malicious software does not harm the mother computer, or the computer on which it has been installed, rather it damages other computers. Therefore, if a hacker uses this software, it can cause harm to both literate and non-literate users. Another example is the use of worms programs, which can duplicate and spread very fast via internet. If a person receives a forwarded email from a friend, he/she will definitely open it, thus creating a road that permits hackers to perform their ‘polluting duties’. Thus, both literate and illiterate users are at high risk of experiencing identity theft; although the study from the Oxford University shows that non-literate users are more exposed to cyber crimes as compared to literate ones.
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To assist non-literate users from being exposed to cyber crime when performing their activities over the internet, such as shopping at a brick and mortar establishment, law agencies and governments have come up with a new technology that aims at halting cyber crime (Bacharach & Gambetta, 2001). For example, in the U.S., the FBI has established a special investigation team that keeps on monitoring cyber activities. This special team advises the public on how to shop safely on the internet and reports any suspicious emails or software. In addition, there are special units for reporting cyber crimes in every police department in all the states of the U.S. Once these special units are provided with information about a cyber crime, they commence tracking down hackers and publishing suspicious websites and emails to warn the public. However, if there is an insider hacker in tracking and recording technologies, then this will increase the cases of cyber crimes, especially among non-literate users who are easier to trick. In addition, in case of a system failure, hackers can exploit this opportunity to the fullest by attacking non-literate users (Wallace, 2001).