Ethics and Computer Security Web Assignment

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Assignment - Day 1

Use the "Trail of Destruction: The History of the Virus" link, located to the right. You and your partner, answer the following questions:

1. In what year was the first PC virus created and where did it originate?

2. What was the name of the virus that infected ten percent of all computers on the internet? What organization was formed in response?

3. What did the Melissa virus do in 1999?

4. Has AOL ever been affected by a virus? If so, when did it happen? What did it do?

5. Tell about one time that hackers caused major problems in the world. Be specific about what they did and whose computers were affected.

______________________________

Assignment - Day 2

Instructions:
Using PCWebopedia, locate the following terms and define in your own words. If you cannot locate the word in PCWebopedia, use FreeDictionary.org. After defining, write one sentence with each word. Your sentences should reflect computer knowledge. Note: the definitions should be handwritten on the class handout, however, your sentences may be composed in MS Works or MSWord.

Define:

Antivirus Program
Bomb
Commercial Software (in PCWebopedia, the word, "software" comes up when you key in "commercial software." Use this definition. We will expand the definition in our class discussion.)
Copyright (read definitions from both links and summarize how copyright law affects computer use - 1 or 2 sentences.)
Ethics
Freeware
Hacker
Hoax
Password
Piracy
Public Domain
Shareware
Trojan Horse
Virus
Worm

Technology Issues Related to Computers
(Ethics and Computer Security)

Helpful Links:

Easy to Understand Computer Dictionary
PCWebopedia.com

Trail of Destruction: The History of the Virus
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,13100,00.asp

Learn about Hoaxes
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/HBHoaxInfo.html

Read about how a bank secures their important files
http://www.cert.org/csirts/AFI_case-study.html

Copyright Basics
http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html

Send Questions and Comments to: Diane Walters
Last updated: July 21, 2005