Month: April 2018

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Why Cyberbullying is destroying our children’s lives

I recently received an email from Jane H via the Freedom after the Sharks website after she had read one of my blogs that I wrote on 15th May 2015: “Is cyberbullying really necessary?”

Bullying has been around for decades, even centuries. In fact, the word “Bully” originated during the 1530s. On the contrary, cyberbullying has emerged thanks to the advent of technology. In the 1990s and 2000s, webpages, cellphones, and early social networking sites like MySpace introduced cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying is any form of bullying which takes place online or through smartphones and tablets. Social networking sites, messaging apps, gaming sites and chat rooms such as Facebook, XBox Live, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and other chat rooms can be great fun and a positive experience. But what do you do when things go wrong?

As technology keeps evolving, cyberbullying progressively is getting worse. Different platforms and ways of degrading an individual got easier such as blogging and posting anonymously. Regrettably, this has caused some young people to deteriorate physically and emotionally or even take their own lives. All of these cyberbullying cases have prompted several groups to discuss and find an answer to this conundrum. Some of their solutions conflict with each other, but they are committed to stopping cyberbullying.

Nowadays, people associate social media with negativity, such as cyberbullying or cyberhacking. In actuality, only a small portion of youth is misusing it. Instead of using social media to hurt others, the majority are using it as a way to heal. For example, many teenagers go on YouTube to connect with their peers, find role models, and deal with their emotional and mental health.

The facts are, recently, there has been an increasing trend of “cyberbullying.” “Cyberbullying” entails the harassment of students using social media websites, text messages, emails, and other technology. “Cyberbullying” presents several new and troubling problems for state government, the school systems, parents, and the courts. Most importantly, “cyberbullying” can lead to dire consequences, such as grief-induced suicides. Sadly, this occurs frequently because “cyberbullying” is often aimed at emotionally fragile adolescents. Clearly, such tragic consequences should be prevented.

This video by Trisha Prabhu ‘Rethink before you type’ TEDxTeen conveys her emotions and passionate comments on the subject:

Bullying is a persistent problem for educators and policy leaders across education, particularly with the ubiquity and popularity of social media platforms. The problem has become so embedded in the culture that we now see the appearance of cyberbully laws in many countries against such terror.

Statistics show that Cyberbullying appears to be somewhat less frequent than face-to-face bullying, but the consequences may be even more severe, issues like trauma, depression, anxiety, academic problems and social problems can result from cyberbullying.

Schools have responded by amending anti-bullying codes to include cyberbullying in their social media policies, anyone who makes threats to a child on the internet could be committing a criminal offence. It’s against the law in the UK to use the phone system, which includes the internet, to cause alarm or distress. It could also be against the 1997 Harassment Act.

Many cyberbullies think that bullying others online is funny. Cyber bullies may not realise the consequences for themselves of cyberbullying. The things teens post online now may reflect badly on them later when they apply for college or a job. Cyber bullies can lose their cell phone or online accounts for cyber bullying. Also, cyber bullies and their parents may face legal charges for cyber bullying, and if the cyber bullying was sexual in nature or involved sexting, the results can include being registered as a sex offender.

Teens may think that if they use a fake name they won’t get caught, but there are many ways to track someone who is cyberbullying.
Despite the potential damage of cyber bullying, it is alarmingly common among adolescents and teens. According to Cyberbullying statistics from the i-SAFE foundation:

Over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyberbullying.
• More than 1 in 3 young people have experienced cyberthreats online;
• Over 25 percent of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet;
• Well over half of young people do not tell their parents when cyberbullying occurs.

Further alarming statistics show:
• Around half of teens have been the victims of cyberbullying;
• Only 1 in 10 teens tells a parent if they have been a cyberbully-victim;
• Fewer than 1 in 5 cyberbullying incidents are reported to law enforcement;
• 1 in 10 adolescents or teens have had embarrassing or damaging pictures taken of themselves without their permission, often using cell phone cameras;
• About 1 in 5 teens have posted or sent sexually suggestive or nude pictures of themselves to others;
• Girls are somewhat more likely than boys to be involved in cyberbullying.

The Cyberbullying Research Center also did a series of surveys that found these cyberbullying statistics:
• Over 80 percent of teens use a cell phone regularly, making it the most popular form of technology and a common medium for cyberbullying;
• About half of young people have experienced some form of cyberbullying, and 10 to 20 percent experience it regularly;
• Mean, hurtful comments and spreading rumours are the most common type of cyberbullying;
• Girls are at least as likely as boys to be cyberbullies or their victims;
• Boys are more likely to be threatened by cyberbullies than girls;
• Cyberbullying affects all races;
• Cyberbullying victims are more likely to have low self-esteem and to consider suicide.

There are many types of different technical tools available in the market to support you and keep your children safe online. These vary from VPNs and antivirus software to internet filters and parental controls. Essentially, none of these are really enough to help keep your child safe.

The below link is a useful guide: ‘The Ultimate Parent Guide for Protecting Your Child on the Internet’

In summary, cyberbullying is a serious issue, and like any form of bullying it can have long-term effects on its victims.

As technology continues to become an increasingly large part of our daily lives, and the lives of our children, it is important to recognize the dangers of cyberbullying and to take definite steps to prevent it.

Parents, teachers, and children must work together to prevent cyberbullying and to make the internet a safer place for all. Children should be educated on what to do and who to go to in the event that they encounter a cyberbully.

And parents should encourage schools to update their technology policies to help prevent instances of online bullying. With parents, children, and educators working together we can decrease the instances of cyberbullying and create a safer and more rewarding online environment for all of our children.

As Ellen DeGeneres once said:

‘We focus so much on our differences, and that is creating, I think, a lot of chaos and negativity and bullying in the world. And I think if everybody focused on what we all have in common – which is – we all want to be happy.’

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Exactly what is the future in Technology?

Technology forecasting is a completely unpredictable endeavour. No one wants to be a false prophet with a prediction so immediate that it can be easily proven incorrect in short order, but long-term predictions can be even harder. And yet even though people know predictions can be a waste of time, they still want to know: What’s next? Wishy-washy tech timelines only makes prognostication more difficult, as entrepreneurs and researchers stumble around in the dense fog of developing prototypes, performing clinical trials, courting investors, and other time-consuming steps required for marketable innovation. It’s easy to hit a wall at any point in the process, causing delays or even the termination of a project.

In the year 1820, a person could expect to live less than 35 years, 94% of the global population lived in extreme poverty, and less that 20% of the population was literate. Today, human life expectancy is over 70 years, less that 10% of the global population lives in extreme poverty, and over 80% of people are literate. These improvements are due mainly to advances in technology, beginning in the industrial age and continuing today in the information age.

A very good friend of mine is a global technologist, I brought together in January a very collective group of distinguished individuals for a dinner, I named the dinner ‘the great minds dinner’ This was a great opportunity to stimulate the subject of what technology is working in the world, what is technology is emerging, what technology is not working in the world and more importantly what needs to change in order to accommodate all the prototypes of technology that appear to stay in the lab or on the shelf.

It is clear currently that thought leaders and so-called world futurists on the subject of technology can dish out some exciting and downright scary visions for the future of machines and science that either enhance or replace activities and products near and dear to us.

Being beamed from one location to another by teleportation was supposed to be right around the corner/in our lifetime/just decades away, but it hasn’t become possible yet. Inventions like the VCR that were once high tech — and now aren’t — proved challenging for some: The VCR became obsolete before many of us learned how to program one. And who knew that working with atoms and molecules would become the future of technology? The futurists, of course.

Forecasting the future of technology is for dreamers who hope to innovate better tools — and for the mainstream people who hope to benefit from the new and improved. Many inventions are born in the lab and never make it into the consumer market, while others evolve beyond the pace of putting good regulations on their use.

There are many exciting new technologies that will continue to transform the world and improve human welfare.

Here is a very interesting infographic researched by the National Academy of Sciences from their Smart Things Living Report
(click to expand in new tab):

The world around us is changing. In labs and living rooms around the world, people are creating new technologies and finding new applications for existing and emerging technologies. The products and services available to everyone thus expand exponentially every year. In the next five years, then, you can expect massive growth in what we can do.

Beyond 2018: Dr Michio Kaku on the Future in the Next 5-10-20 Years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Ejxp1tRss

Irrespective of all the possible forecasting in long range planning, I personally believe there are 3 imminent areas in particular will provide important developments in the next 5 years.

1. Augmented Reality Will Explode
Technology mavens have talked for years about virtual reality and the applications available. Augmented reality is related, but allows us to lay the virtual world over the real world. Games like Pokemon Go provide examples of how this works; you use technology to “see” virtual creatures and items in real spaces.

Beyond fun and games, this technology provides a wealth of planning potential. You can drive your car, and arrows will appear on your road, guiding you to the right path. You can create visual representations of organizing tasks, building endeavors, and almost anything else that you want to see before you start working. Manuals will virtually overlay real items to be joined together – everyone will actually be able to construct an Ikea bed. The technology is here; ways to use it are just beginning to emerge.

2. Mobile Apps Will Decline
At the same time, the ubiquitous world of mobile apps will begin to slip back. The ways in which we connect to the world often require us to work through a smartphone or tablet. The mobile app ties us to devices; you have no doubt seen rooms full of people who never make eye contact, only staring at small screens. The cost of developing sophisticated apps and the marketing efforts needed to place your App on the most expensive “real estate” in the world, does not always give a return on investment.

3. The Internet of Things Will Grow Exponentially
Availability and affordability of connected devices grow each year. We connect massive data networks to our homes, vehicles, and personal health monitors already. The ability to connect more devices, appliances, and objects to these networks means companies will know more about those they serve than ever before. Almost any device with electronic components can be configured for the IoT, and in the next five years, more will.

It should be abundantly clear now why analysis of the tech trends shaping the future might seem like science fiction. But researchers from UC-Berkeley to MIT are pulling the present sometimes step by step, sometimes by leaps and bounds into the future.

The next few decades will feel this disruption, often in startling ways. Indeed, while the technical hurdles to advancing these technologies are fascinating, we see people writing about that the ethical and social dimensions of the changes they bring are the most interesting and troubling.

You can clearly see how the allied sciences and complementary developments of these trends will reshape our world, our lives, and our work. Millions will find that the skills they bring to the table simply can’t compete with smart automation. Legions of
drivers, for instance, will soon find themselves unemployable.

And as AI continues to develop in tandem with robotics, the IoT, and big data, even the engineers and scientists who now design these systems will find themselves competing with their creations.

All of these developments I have touched on in this blog will require you to examine closely not only what is possible, but how privacy laws, intellectual property issues and the corporate ecosystems interact with those possibilities. Nevertheless, I am confident that within the lives of your grandchildren, now incurable illnesses will fall to bio, nano, and neurotech. And sure that ignorance will slowly become things children learn about rather than experience first-hand.

Finally, the technology I have discussed really are the shaping things to come, the technologies that will define life for decades.

Are you ready for the future? Ready to embrace the changes that are coming?

As Albert Einstein once said:

“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”

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Guest-blog: Karthik Reddy – Cybercrimes and How to Prevent Them

Some of you may recall I was a Global CMO for a large company that delivers end point protection across mult-platforms and devices, its a true statement that everyone has the right to be free of cybersecurity fears.

There’s no doubt that cybercrime and cybersecurity are hot topics. Indeed, according to Comparitech, global cybercrime damages predicted to cost $6 trillion annually by 2021, it’s important to be in-the-know about the potential threat cybercrime poses, the impact it is having, and what is being done about it.

One of the biggest problems in trying to understand what’s happening in the ever-changing world of cybersecurity is that there is just so much information out there. Not only are the nature of threats constantly evolving, but the responses to them differ across the globe.

Despite an overall decrease in fraud and computer misuse in 2017, the latest UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports show that incidents involving computer misuse and malware against business are way up.

There were 4.7 million incidents of fraud and computer misuse in the 12 months to September 2017, a 15% decrease from the previous year, according to the latest crime figures and this is just for England and Wales.

The latest figures suggest that while consumer-targeted attacks might be falling, as consumer-grade security improves, cyber criminals are now shifting their gaze to the potentially more profitable enterprise sector.

Andy Waterhouse, pre-sales director for Europe at RSA Security, said UK business is facing tougher conditions than ever as cyber attackers chase greater profits.

“In this post-WannaCry world, both consumers and organisations need to do more to assess their data, identify their most valuable assets, and protect these ‘crown jewels’ as best they can through a mix of multi-factor authentication, strong and unique passwords and a greater level of education on cyber skills,” he said.

Today I have the pleasure of introducing another Guest Blogger, Karthik Reddy, who is an accomplished Editor with a demonstrated history of working in the online media industry. Skilled in on-line content creation, WordPress, and editing. Strong media and communication professional with a Master In Business Administration focused in International Business from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University.

Karthik is going to talk to us about the cybercrime and what is needed to prevent them.

As a society, we cherish our right to privacy probably more than anything else. Sharing is great, and we all enjoy it, but there is always that other side, the untold story, the personal, the secret. Now, let’s extrapolate this to a societal level. How many information is out there, purposely being concealed for the sake of greater good, for the sake of our own safety? The number is probably unfathomable. Today, when everything is online, and our lives are intertwined with a world most of us know nothing about, privacy and safety become an issue of epic proportions.

That is why we need to talk about cybercrime and utilize the very best VPNs. However, instead of writing a tract of tedious length, here is an infographic that outlines the most important cybercrime facts all of us should be aware of in 2018.

The internet has opened many doors for us. It shows us a world of possibilities.

Whether it is for fun, business or education, we spend a lot of time online.

We pay our bills, transfer money, order products and post photos of our children.

Remote workers are getting paid online, and travelers buy tickets with just a click.

But the cyberspace holds a lot of secrets.

We may think we are always safe but just think about all of those times you’ve given your personal information on a social media platform or on a forum.

Search engines and social media systems are gathering your personal data in order to present you with the best possible results. They keep track of all your movements and check-ins, and suggest friends on Facebook based on mutual friends and interests.

(original image: cybercrime facts – click on image below to enlarge)

Click to enlarge

Cybercrimes are affecting us all, breaching into our professional and personal lives.

I’m not saying we should stop using the internet, but we should all be aware of the security issues, some of which can be prevented.

It’s an occurrence that mustn’t be ignored.

Using a VPN service can help with hacker attacks and provide you with more privacy. It helps securing data flowing between your PC, mobile phone, and tablet.

Most affected industries are business, healthcare, education, as well as governments and military organizations.

Lately, hackers and frauds have been targeting small businesses because big corporations are regularly working to improve their security. Spending on cyberprotection has risen to 2.5 billion in 2016.

The most common cybercrimes are phishing, spam, and ransomware.

80% of these criminal acts are committed by the tech-savvy young people.

Now, let’s examine some of the most harmful cybercrimes.

– Hacking is an act when someone enters your computer without your knowledge or consent. Hackers can post and act in your name, steal your bank details and infect your computer system with viruses.

– Phishing is a scam that uses people’s naivety to extract credit card passwords and bank statements. Fraudsters create fake websites and email you links full of malware.

– Ransomware is a malware attack that locks access to your files and demands a certain amount of money to give you the access key. The average ransom demand is up to $679. Most antivirus programs can’t even recognize ransomware malware. Your computer devices can get infected by clicking on fake websites, infected email attachments or malicious downloads.

– Botnets, networks of infected computers, send spams and overload websites. They are also used for information theft and pranks.

– Denial-of-service attacks stop computers from working properly. They overload the system causing it to slow down or crash.

– Online identity theft is an impersonation of other people with the purpose of using their finances. These tricksters can take up loans in your name and use your medical benefits.

– Cyberstalking is a relatively new form of cybercrime which involves pursuing someone online. The stalker verbally assaults the victim via email, social media networks, and websites. Children and women are the most common victims of cyberstalking. Paedophiles and other predators keep track of the victims and abuse them mentally.

In order to protect yourself or your ebusiness from becoming a cyberattack victim, follow at least some of these tips.

Most significant perhaps, is to be careful with your email address and usernames. Use a gender-neutral nickname for your online accounts and don’t give your email address to unknown and shady websites or individuals.

It is of the utmost importance not to give your personal data such as address, phone number, social security number and bank details to any online entities.

Never use the same email address for business and personal purposes.

If you have multiple social media accounts and emails, and chances are you do, use different passwords for each one. The passwords should be strong, long and contain letters and numbers.

Make sure to update them regularly.

Also, your personal information on social media should be locked down.

Phishing emails are the most popular way of cybercrimes since they start innocently enough.

Every month there are more than 8,000 reports of phishing scams.

Don’t trust business offers and deals from strange people and websites.

Even clicking on links and opening attachments in these shady emails can be disastrous to your cybersecurity.

Use anti-malware software and a firewall on your computer.

Another good idea is to use a VPN to hide your IP and location. Surf anonymously, and prevent unwanted monitoring.

Last but not the least, educate your children to use the internet safely and responsibly. Make sure they don’t talk to strangers, post photos and give personal information. Let them know to talk to you if they encounter any suspicious offers, cyberbullying or harassment.

Even celebrities aren’t spared from cyberattacks. Emma Watson, Jessica Alba, and Tiger Woods are some of the celebrities whose online accounts have been hacked.

LinkedIn, Yahoo and Target were also cyberattack victims.

Cybercrimes are likely to increase in the following years due to the lack of laws and regulations in some countries. Cybersecurity specialists will continue to fight frauds, but these criminals are protected by being invisible.

If you have any questions for Karthik, please email him on: karthik@bestwebmstertools.com