Problems+and+Solutions+E

﻿ ‍ ** ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍Identified Problems and Solutions‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ **

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Web social networks are places where users are willing to supply valuable information about them themselves and that happens to constitute the biggest weakness when it comes to the matter of security. The problem lives on the fact that the average user’s profile contains information about her/his home address, her/his pet’s name, where she/he went to school, her/his mother’s maiden name and other family details and this is just the type of information that many online confidential services such as online banking and e-mail providers request for their security checks and not only that, there is also the fact that this is the very same same type of questions that the user is required to answer in order to recover a lost password. Therefore, Identity theft, privacy invasion, and scams are among the most common security problems that one can be exposed to with the use of online social networks. In the 2010 web site security statistics report by WhiteHat Security (the leading provider of website risk management solutions in the U.S.), Mr, Jaremiah Grossman the founder and chief of technology officer of this company said "currently, Clickjackin attacks targeting social networks, more specifically Facebook, are rampant". Additionally, the data supporting this statement (shown below) shows that social networks are the forth biggest online sector with seroius security vulnerabilities. ======

In 2009 in an article called “//Social Networking Sites: Safety Tips for Tweens and Teens”// The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency published a comprehensive list of tips to keep us save from online predators and the rest of this paragraph represents summary of those tips. Nobody will be able to protect the user better than the user himself and the first measure that any user can take it to limit the amount of valuable information that he/she posts in this websites. Next, is the use of protecting software such as firewall because software of such nature will often prevent the user from entering sites that would expose the user to viruses and other threads. And last but not least in our list of solutions comes the Internet police. Every online crime as well as suspicious online activity should be immediately reported at IC3.gov which is the website for the Internet Crime Complaint Center for the FBI and by registering complaints at this site the user is assisting the government in their attempt to curtail internet crimes.

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 High productivity is among the key ingredients for the success of any company or organization and online social network may jeopardize the chances of success as stated by the communication and research analyst at GFI David Kelleher .If every employee in a 50-strong workforce spent 30 minutes on a social networking site every day for a year, this company could have a catastrophic loss in hours of productivity of exactly 6,500 hours (Keheller, 2009). Now, if we multiply this number by 12.5(representing the company’s average pay /hour) it works out that this company just lost 81,250.00 dollars in one year alone. If we go even further and multiply that for the number of companies and organizations in this country we would see the direct impact that it would have on both the productivity and economy annually.In addition, there comes the fact that according to a study conducted by Nielsenwire (a company specialized in media analytics), high social media users spend on average 180 minutes per day digesting e-mail messages which is quite shocking news to people like Jon Gibs, the vice president of Nielsenwire who was believed that the study would generate different results. The following graph illustrates this findings in detail. ======

The article “//5 Problems With Social Networks”//, (Keheller, 2009)discusses that the three most advised solutions to this problem include, restricting access, educating and training staff as well as setting security and usage policy.Kehellerexplains that access restriction is possible via a web filtering software which gives administrators the ability to implement time-based access to these web sites. This means that the employer is able configure a time frame (such as during lunch breaks) in which the employees will have the ability to access these websites. But, even that does not guarantee the total fix for the problem since they the workers are still retaining the ability to go into this networks through their hand held devices, such as cell phones, PDAs and tablets. So one of the best ways to attempt to stop this problem is to educate and train staff (Keheller, 2009). In this case, it is essential that employees understand that their non-work related browsing can infect their work machine as well as their working network causing severe security issues for the organization that they work for. Finally, we are still left with the option of setting security and usage policies so that the organization can have the employees sign a policy banning online social networking during work hours and making them aware that all web activity is permanently monitored and that failure to comply with the rules should result in immediate contract contract termination due to disciplinary action (Keheller, 2009).

==Problem 3: T‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍eenagers fall Victims of Pedophiles, Cyber Bullying and Harassment.‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ ==

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Teenagers are also at risk for identity theft for using online social network sites however, the risks for them do not stop there. On these websites teens are perfect targets of harassment, sexual advances and cyber bullying. New research conducted by the Pew Internet Project suggests that the American teenagers from ages 12 to 17 using the internet represent a solid 93% and 55% of those teens use web based social networks. In most cases we are faced with the fact that teens bully and harass other teens. In other words, the same scenario that we are used to seeing in the high school campuses has taken a bigger dimension by crossing the web frontiers. Among the most common forms of online bullying and harassment are the following: ======

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This activity usually affects the victims by causing huge emotional distress which then takes its part in bringing instability to other areas of their lives. ======

 Cyber Bullying Statistic based on the 2004 isafe survey on 1,500 students nationwide grades 4 to 8 reveal that 42% of kids have been bullied while online and that 1 in 4 have had it happen more than once, 35% of kids have been threatened online and Nearly 1 in 5 have had it happen more than once. 21% of kids have received mean or threatening e-mail or other messages, 58% of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online. More than 4 out of 10 say it has happened more than once, 53% of kids admit having said something mean or hurtful to another person online. More than 1 in 3 have done it more than once and that 58% have not told their parents or an adult about something mean or hurtful that happened to them online.

The statistics above are supported by the graphics that follow:

(The graphs above were retrieved from [|www.isafe.com])

Sharon Hurley Hall, web content writing consultant and professional blogger who is the author of the article “//Problems With Social Networking and Teens”,// uses her article the spread the following tips that have the potential to avoid the problem:The first thing that should be done is to educate these teens on the dangers that they are exposed to and also educate them on basic social networking safety practices such as not giving personal info to people that they don’t know, not assuming that people are who they claim to be, immediately ending any communication that makes them uncomfortable and reporting it to a parent. Another thing that is vital in order to avoid that a situation of this nature escalades or takes new frontiers is to encourage them not to try to deal with a situation of this nature on their own. The key is to always report it to a parent, teacher and even to the police is necessary (Hall, 2010).

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Next we will be talking about ethics involved in online social networking

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