Swatch Marketing Stratagy

Competitive analysis It is the vital part of marketing . its purpose is to determine the strengths and weakness of the competitors within the market. Porter’s five forces analysis for swatch can be interpreted as follows, New entrants-Strong brand reorganization and customer loyalty- swatch is a popular brand among customers substitution. But as swatch products are simple, accessible, playful and colorful and different parts coat very low , so swatch can be attacked by new entrants. Substitution – Many brands provide with range of similar styles. everal Chines and Japanese companies manufacture low price watches with similar style or design. -The thread form counterfeit product- some electronic devise can be used to get the time ,like cell phone, iphone or ipod. Buyer power – It is high in this industry simply due to the presence of so many competitors selling the same products. It is only different in price and consumers loyalty. buyer bargaining power depends o n some criterias such -as price – swatch has lower and reasonable price, quality is high , style— color full plastic watch, different design for different occasion .As swatch has lot of competitors so buyer has high bargaining power. Bargaining power of suppliers Swatch watch components are usually made in low labor cost countries with a low to medium quality and they are assembling in Switzerland. So suppler do not have strong influence . so lot of suppliers are involved and bargaining power is low. Overall intensity of rivalry— -intense competition within a very crowded market. Japanese company sicko has a big market in the world with low price and low production cost. Or Chinese watch like have also competitive benefit in the markets.Marketing Strategy Mission Swatch’s mission is to offer low cost, high quality, and accurate watch with synthetic material. Marketing Objectives – Become the creative and innovative leading brand in global market . – Establish strong brand image in the mind of consumers . Financial Objectives – Increasing sales by 2012 to 8 billion. – The Swatch Group’s gross sales grew 14. 4% June 2012 . Segmentation and Targeting Segmentation is to divide a market into distinct groups of buyers with different needs, characteristics of behavior, who might require separate products.They considered some factors such as Geographic: No particular segmentation as Swatch is sold all around the world Demographic: Gender: male and female In 2007, 11. 1% of women bought watches for self, while 9. 3% went to men. 5. 3% of women bought watches for someone else, while 3. 4% went to men. Age: 15-19, 20-24 and 25-34In terms of amount of people who purchased watches during 2007, The first age group accounted for 23. 4%; The second age group occupied 18. 1%; The third age group had 16. 9%. They also making watch for kid. Psychographic: Lifestyle:People that exhibit an urban lifestyle or they are p assionate about fashion and follow new trends, Personality Spontaneous, impulsive, extrovert people, people usually motivated by sentiment and the ones that do not think twice before they buy . Behavioral: Loyalty status: High loyal user pool that is maintained through frequent offering of new designs – Attitude: At least positive attitude to new products. Buyer readiness: Impulsive audience, receptive to buy after a new launch – Occasion/seasonality: There are 2 launches per year in order to follow the trends in the fashion world.Targeting -With low price and high quality, Swatch is targeting to this customer segment that seeks a good and reasonable compromise between price, quality and stylish design. -They focus on working women age rage 24 to 35. It is clear that female purchasing goods for themselves more than male and they take the lead in the whole market. as well as lifestyle, women willing to spend more on themselves. – They also target people base on m arriage status like single and married person who are more established in independent and lifestyle. PositioningTheir high quality but low price makes customers move to multi-ownership across a range of looks and price points. Strategic Options & Strategic Choice Swatch has a strong brand image and customer loyalty. In order to maintain and take advantages of such strengths, Swatch should adopt the market-penetration strategy which means to sell existing products into existing markets with the objectives of securing the dominance of current market and increasing market share from current products. If they cut their products price it may damage the reputation and reduce their profit or if hey develop a new product it might cost much money and time to do market research and product test . Marketing Mix Decision Swatch marketing mix is made of the following four aspects: Product – Customization — to personalize the watch to fit customers taste and make it more unique â₠¬â€œ Special features emphasize more special and limited edition for a youthful, innovative and exciting look. Price – Premium price — to reflect the exclusiveness, limited and high quality of the product; Place -To open duty-free shops in the airports such as Gatwick and Birmingham airport.Promotion They use effective promotion strategy to create new market. – Celebrity endorsement — to invite Leona Lewis and use her image -Advertising — Print and broadcast ads/Posters and leaflets/Billboards – Direct & Interactive marketing — E-mails/mobile messages/ Web sites and – iPhone or iPad apps to watch their new collection and new events. – Sponsorship big sporting events such as the Olympics. -They provided online sales in different countries- London, mala. – To put banner on the Internet such as Face Book To increase brand awareness and standard of retailing capability they set up Tech-Airport Company to display its v ariety brands in air port, know as tax free stores. Like international airport in France. – Omega was the official timekeeper of the Olympic Games in London and also feature in the new James Bond named-SKY FALL. Recent campaigns Following campaigns were recently pushed specifically for swatch watches Color Codes—This collection is a 80s throwback to the swatch watch history. This product is monochromatic but come in multiple colors.Fashion magazine designers are asked to participate in a contest, in and asked to design spreads to promote the product line with the theme â€Å"how do you wear it†. Consumer started voting for the best spread. Additionally facebook campaign in which consumers uploaded pictures of themselves wearing swatch watches, allow a winner to win all 20 color Code watches. There are other campaigns called â€Å"Swatch Snowpass/ access†, â€Å"CreArt† â€Å" Street Club†. Distribution channel—- Swatch group created i ndependent distribution channels , its distributors are spread widely in Europe, Americas , Oceania, ,Asia, Middle East and Africa ..Retailing strategy– Swatch group created several retailing strategies to keep close contact with customers. Monobrand stores connecting with all the fashion shopping centers in the world including Paris Milan and London, New York city and Beijing , Shanghai and Hong Kong in Asia. Tour million boutiques in the world to retail famous brand watches they have. They majority of boutiques are in the Europe, 2007 they opened large tour million boutique in Beijing in China. Some other boutiques are controlled by local country, swatch use those stores to sell their single products.As a result In the first half of 2012 swatch’s sales were up 14% aided by expansion of its distribution and retail network. That why the Group continues to invest heavily in production. Approximately 40% of the investments in this segment go toward the expansion of capac ities, approximately 50% toward new production technologies and new products, and approximately 10% toward the replacement of existing capacities. Global market To lead the golbl market company follow some stratagees– -Must have style -Must be priced competitive -Must be cheap to make -Be durable A technological lead. All those elements enable the swatch to expand business in overseas and attacked customers from countries with different preference and abilities. Manufacturing centers located all over the world mainly Switzerland, German, France , Italy , the U. A , virgin Islands, Thailand, Malaysia and china. Training center—They focus also remains on the further education and training of employees or watchmaker at the various training centers in Switzerland and abroad. There are now five schools located in  (China),   (Malaysia), (Germany), and in Miami  (United States).There is also a partnership arrangement with the British School of Matchmaking  in Manches ter. CUSTOMER Swatch group concentrated emotional value of the customers, 1. INDENTIFY CUSTOEMRS-To identify customer , swatch always carry out extensive research and analyses patterns of consumer, behaviors and life style, Swatch that completely changed the concept of the wrist watch that why watches becomes a fashion accessory first and a watch second. 2. SEGMENTATION- Swatch makes segmentation base on age , gender , personality , lifestyle. 3. CONVY THE NEED OF CUSTORS-emotional value lies into why a particular product is desired or not desired.They recognized that it is important to manufacture goods that will persuade the consumer to purchase particular brand. Consumer’s opinion and consumers find swatch has â€Å"great quality, cool, timeless and durable. For some people swatch watches â€Å"bring back memories† and they are also a great gift or versatile. fashion conscious consumers collects a dozen or more , as swatch are sold as fashion accessories, consumers are encouraged to buy more than one to match with different set of clothes or lifestyles . The average swatch customers in Britain today own three different models.

Bailout tarp in the united states

As the headlines in today’s newspapers all around the world show, there is a global economic slowdown. Economies all over the world are being plunged into what is tentatively being called â€Å"Recession. † While there are those who believe that this is simply an expected trend given the rapid growth of the global economy, it still does not detract from the fact that it is an urgent and pressing problem. In order to address this problem, several governments have issued massive bail-outs and laws designed to manage the system.In line with the principles of Keynesian Economics, it seems that the government is the only player capable of solving this problem. It is this government intervention through the Federal Reserve, led by Ben Bernanke, that is touted as the solution to the country’s, if not the world’s, economic problems. According to most economists, the current bailout scenarios that have been presented are nothing more than prime examples of throwing good money after bad.Instead of tackling the problem head on by implementing sound fiscal and monetary policies, the United States government is bent on revitalizing the economy by allowing massive losers such as the AIG group to continue accumulating losses and patronizing its already proven bad habits. The main strategy here, as employed by Chairman Bernanke, is to pump prime the economy through a mixed strategy of monetary and fiscal policies. It is posited that increasing funding to these â€Å"black hole institutions† will be the key to ending this financial crisis.One of these policies is the voluntary capital purchase program. It is aimed at selling preferred shares of stock to the United States Government on favorable terms that afford the maximum amount of protection to the taxpayer. Another policy that has been implemented is the systematic risk exception under the FDIC Act which grants the FDIC the power to guarantee, on a temporary basis, the senior debt of all F DIC insured institutions. The third policy that has been announced is the increased access to funding for all of the businesses in various sectors of the American economy.The goal of this is to stimulate economic growth on a micro level in order to develop solid economic fundamentals that can help resuscitate the economy. Other steps that the Federal Reserve has taken include the strengthening of capital position and funding ability of American Financial Institutions. These are to be achieved through multilateral agreements such as the reciprocal currency arrangement (Swap Lines) with International Central Banks.Finally, the heralded US $700 billion bailout plan that was recently enacted into law has also been designed to infuse much needed capital into the market and to protect the exposure of several multinational and local financial institutions. While there are indeed real benefits for pump-priming the economy, the more pragmatic approach is to control spending. One of the optio ns available to control this problem is to adjust interest rates in order to prevent capital flight and also encourage more investors to bring in foreign currency. By increasing interest rates the demand for local currency is increased.The reason for this is that only the local currency can be used in transacting business in the country. This means that investors have to convert their foreign currencies into local currency in order to be able to do business transaction in the market. If foreign investors come into the country then there will now be a marked increase in the demand for the local currency thus stabilizing the exchange rate once more. While there is certain economic and political sense in the policies of Bernanke, the herculean task of rehabilitating one of the world’s largest economies cannot be done through the efforts of the Federal Reserve alone.Even employing one or a mix of the strategies would only be preliminary to finding the real solution to the problem . So while current theories show that monetary and fiscal policies may indeed impact inflation and unemployment thus alleviating the economic situation, such is not always the case in certain situations as shown in the example provided. The basics such as solid economic fundamentals must always be considered when looking at the impact of such changes to see if they can really attain the desired effect.

Changes in the Business Environment of Shell and Subsequent Strategy

Changes in the Business Environment of Shell and Subsequent Strategy The main objective of this assignment deals with business environmental changes of â€Å"Shell Company† (Petroleum Company) from last 5 years. PESTEL analysis was applied in the following assignment, in order to present Shell Company’s present status in all aspects and the changes that have taken place in the company. Moreover, the various types of strategies formulated were outlined and discussed. Introduction An organization is an entity that provides goods and services to consumers who need or want them and it does not function in isolation. Therefore, it is imperative to identify and understand all the factors within its environment that could potentially affect it. The environment of a business is normally divided into two categories, the micro environment and the macro environment. Below we shall discuss in details what each category means. Micro-environment: Internal factors like suppliers, competitors and employees are volatile and influence transformation of a business process and often it leads to undermining the current balance within the system. Suppliers: A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. www.overstockuniverse.com http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/A_company%27s_supply_chain_%28en%29.png/300px-A_company%27s_supply_chain_%28en%29.png Company should have a social responsibility towards their suppliers, as they transform the natural resources and raw materials into finished goods which are delivered to the end consumers. They also play a vital role during product shortage. They are the combination of all types of business practice and ethics. www.overstockuniverse.com Customers: A  Client, buyer or purchaser, is usually used to refer to a current or potential buyer or user of the  products  of an individual or  organization, called the  supplier,  seller, or  vendor. Slogans for the Customer: â€Å"the customer is king† or â€Å"the customer is god† or â€Å"the customer is always right. www.rajputbrotherhood.com Competitors: Competition  is a  contest  between individuals, groups, nations, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. Competition arises whenever two or more parties strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Humans compete for  wealth, prestige, and  fame so that they met deep rivalries often arises over the pursuit of. Business is often associated with competition as most companies are in competition with at least one other firm over the same group of customers. Macro-environment: Decision making by managers are influenced by many factors that constitutes the macro environment in a business. The examples for the macro environment are Tax changes, trade barriers, demographic change and government policy changes. http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199296378/01student/additional/page_12.htm The fo llowing factors are: Political factors: Political environment is an unpredictable element which effect specific organizations badly due to instability in government and rules passed by the political parties. Factors like political stability in the country, party in power, ideology of government and foreign policy greatly influence the business in political environment of the country. Example: Indian Government restricted coca-cola sales during late seventies following policy of restricting the growth of multinationals in Indian markets. But coco-cola was allowed after some years under the New Industrial policy of 1991. Under this new policy, government liberalized licensing, imports and exports, inflow of foreign capital and technology on more liberal terms.

Using the criteria outlined in Chapter 15, evaluate the range of Assignment

Using the criteria outlined in Chapter 15, evaluate the range of distribution options available to the cluster of products and services within Thailand - Assignment Example The choice distribution channel for tourism functions to convey marketing communication. These communications assist clients in booking for accommodations, making payment and obtaining various tourism goods and services that the tourists may require. According to Berger (2014), there exists two basic options for contact; a two-way response which conveys information directly between the prospective client and the produce. On the other hand, indirect response is the case when third parties are involved in channeling information to clients, p.275. Indirect marketing involves the use of intermediaries. Experts declare that when intermediaries are used, they facilitate the buying of commodities in advance. In addition, the channel is very efficient when bringing about promotions and discounts. Furthermore, it is significantly important for businesses dealing with tourism products and services to be strategically positioned. It is vital for both micro businesses and large tourism businesses to ensure that their offices are strategically located so as to attract large clientele base. The choice location should ensure a correct system of reservation, effective payment and information system and physical accessibility, Berger (2014,

A Shift in the Balance of Power from the USA to China Essay

A Shift in the Balance of Power from the USA to China - Essay Example This paper illustrates that while China balances precariously between the free market and an edgy military regime, the nation is surfacing as a formidable contender in the economic sector and an impending challenger for technological advantage. From the benchmark of Tiananmen Square in 1989 well into the first tender years of the Twenty-first Century, many in the West continue to view China with unease and distrust. From the appalling crackdown on the visionary expectation of the ardent student protesters some16 years ago to the subsequent repression of all political dissidence, Communist leaders have time and again tended to reassert a blind obeisance to a dogged system of harsh and mechanical one-party rule. Equally alarming is the ostentatious display of military power in response to Taiwanese aspirations for independence over the last two decades, along with the troubling detection of furtive deliveries of military know-how to unstable areas in the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, and South Asia. These measures scarcely serve to improve international confidence in the Chinese bid for a responsible position on the world stage of the new century. Admittedly China has recently begun to evince a new, less menacing and forward-looking stance toward proving itself as a responsible collaborator in global interaction as the nation begins to assume a substantial position in the world economy. By assisting in negotiations on the Korean Peninsula, China, in effect, was able to take advantage of her influence in the region in the service of broader international concerns. Domestically, the Peoples Republic of China has taken steps to free a token number of leading political dissidents in response to Western appeals, and, in diverse rural villages, elections for local leaders have been authorized. Chinese rulers also seem to be dealing moderately with the lately re-annexed regions of Hong Kong and Macau, and so far seem to be restricting intimidation tactics to verbal pos turing and a display of military muscle in response to Taiwanese desires for independence.  

Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Research Paper Example Unfortunately for all of the wonderful personal and societal freedoms that are protected, by the 1st Amendment, its protection also allows some questionable speeches, attitudes, and actions that may be less than deserving of that protection to continue. Some people today feel that certain forms of â€Å"freedom of speech† should be regulated, while others believe that it will only result in censorship and creep into areas where it should not be. However, the protection of freedom of speech is allowing things like bullying and hate crimes to continually slip through the cracks. For this reason it seems only ethical to reform the 1st Amendment to tackle these issues and continue to allow the spirit of freedom of speech to be maintained while making it harder and less legal to cause harm to others under the guise of freedom of speech. HISTORY The 1st Amendment reads â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances† (Michigan States University , 2013). ... When such cases where freedom of speech has been put into question the court must review the situation from a specific perspectives."Content neutrality" refers to the reality that the court cannot be involved in the government limiting the artistic expression of any American, even if that expression may be found objectionable by some viewers or listeners (America Civil Liberties Union, 2006). However, it should be made clear that the 1st Amendment refers to the government and political involvement in an issue’ this does not cover any and all applications of freedom of speech. For example no one is â€Å"consequence free† when they decide that their need for expression influences them to shout â€Å"fire!† in a crowded building when there is not one. Or for things one says at their job. The first Amendment cannot always be used as a means to protect ones employment and to gain a free pass for telling off their boss, arguing with employees, or bad-mouthing the comp any that they work for. The 1st Amendment does not cover private businesses only prevents the government from interfering (Freedman, 2012), DISCUSSION Our founding fathers did not intend that the Amendment would be used by those with ulterior motives to spreads propaganda, hate, and agendas filled with cruel words. They certainly did not think that people should be able to say whatever they feel like saying without any repercussions, after all the founding fathers believed that if another said false words against you could be taken to court and accuse them of slander. It is these instances that many Americans are beginning to believe require government intervention and regulation. While others admit

Meditation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Meditation - Essay Example I kept asking myself what might have been wrong with her. Something within me kept telling me something was amiss. Suddenly, when I heard hoots and brakes’ screeching is when I realized that I was so engrossed in my thoughts and I was almost being ran over. I quickly grabbed my bicycle brakes and came to a sudden halt; almost falling down. It is when I realized I had gone extremely far from home without noticing. I changed my course, and decided to ride back home. Today I meditated on being grateful for my bike. I got the bike as a present from my dad for my exemplary performance in school. I had always wished to own one and every day after school, I would drop off my school bag in my room and rush to Tom’s house, my neighbor and friend, in order to ride his bike. I adore my bike so much. Apart from exercising using it, sometimes I save my parents the pressure of dropping me to school when they are running late for work. Sometimes I wonder what I would do if sometime stole it; I guess I would be sick for a week. When sent on short errands such as buying groceries from the store, my bike usually plays an integral since it enables me take shortest time possible; thus, making my parents proud of me. In case I am stressed or bothered about something, taking a ride in the woods near my home always gives me amazing refreshment. A two-hour ride and I go back home rejuvenated and feeling better. My bike is a gem to me. Today I practiced meditating when taking a shower. A warm shower in the morning is the best way to jumpstart one’s day. While enjoying the warm water hit my back, I reminded what my History teacher told us in class yesterday about respecting and appreciating our parents. I could not help thinking of what I could do without my mum and dad. My thoughts wondered how they are always there for me. They comfort and encourage me every time I am worried about something. They have always provided me with everything I need and sacrificed a lot to take

SIM335 Managing Projects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

SIM335 Managing Projects - Essay Example The direct relationship between the activities was found where ‘Finish to Start’ approach was adopted as per the requirements mentioned before the diagram was to be designed. Determining the total float on the other end means the total amount of time for which the task can be delayed and which does not negatively affect the project whatsoever the conditions are. The formula for the total float is given as follows: Total Float = Late Start – Early Start This means that subtracting the time of the activity which was recorded in case of the early start as well as the late start will provide us the total float that can be recorded in the activities undergoing, but that will not affect the process in negative way. Question 3: The duration of the project as well as the critical path are related to each other in an important sense, i.e. the shortest duration of time that is needed to finish all activities in a task to enhance the efficiency scale. According to the networ k diagram given above, the shortest duration of the project will be 72 days, and therefore that will be defining the critical path. The critical path of the diagram will not be an easy task as the whole task is based on the ES and EF basis except two points, i.e. end of activity 2 and end of activity 8. The critical path will follow the track from A > F > G > H > I > K > L > M > N > O > P > Q. Question 4: The critical path shows it will take 72 days for the task to complete, and that is shortest possible time in which a process can complete. Now if the project will start on 16th January, 2012, on Monday, then it will take 14 weeks and 2 days in the completion of the project. Calculating weeks from the starting date, the project must end on the second day, i.e. Tuesday of the 15th week after the project has started on 16th January. The second day of 15th week becomes Tuesday 1st May, 2012. This will be the earliest date when the project will be completed. Question 5: If activity B de lays for 2 days then that will not make any change in to the final duration of the project, as activity B and F are going on the same time period, rather activity F is going on for 4 more days than the activity B and also activity F is included in the critical path and therefore there will not be any effect on the duration of the project. The delay of 2 days in activity P will straightaway affect the whole duration of the project because it is directly dependent as well as independent activity and any change in duration of this activity will change the duration of the whole project. Therefore, this will result in the delay of 2 days in the duration of project and now it will take total 74 days to complete the project, and it will now finish on Thursday 3 May, 2012. The delay in activity O of 1 day will also follow the same case as was happened in activity P case, but with 1 day delay in the project completion. Therefore the project will now be over on 2nd May, 2012 on Wednesday. Que stion 6: The main limitations in the network diagram are as follows: The toolbar cannot help the elements to be created through the use of dragging and dropping. It is not possible to transfer the elements to the work management view from the

Film Analysis Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Film Analysis - Research Paper Example Mario Puzo’s book was optioned from the first fifty pages written in a unilateral decision by the head of Paramount Studios. Many studio executives and technicians distanced themselves from the idea of making this film because the Kirk Douglas film â€Å"The Brotherhood† had failed so badly in 1970. Coppola saw that flop as an indicator that films based on Italian-Americans should not be cast with non Italian-Americans. â€Å"I liked the idea of starting the movie†¦with, ‘I believe in America,’ because it’s what the whole movie is about,† reflected Francis Ford Coppola. â€Å"It’s saying that our country should be our family in a way, that it should afford us the protection and the honour that, in a strange way, this Mafia family does.† (Hogg) So, Coppola set out to write a movie about a traditional Italian-American family, an organized crime family and the American family; all of these families with common tradition and his tory and, most importantly, the American dream as foundations. Production History Paramount sought Coppola to direct The Godfather based on his Italian heritage. The studio felt the product could be more realistic if someone from those traditions led the project. Considering Coppola was broke and in the process of being evicted, it surprised everyone when he turned down the project because he did not like the novel. (Hogg) George Lucas intervened and Coppola found something he liked: the idea of the metaphoric connection among social, business and national family identity and process. Michael was America. For studio purposes, Coppola needed to insert some gangster film symbols (Manchel 2003), but the theme is family. The first production battle involved setting. The original script was set in the 1960s and 1970s, with hippies. (Hogg) The story was based on 1945-1955 events within the crime family. Coppola fought for and won the additional budget for a period film instead of saving m oney with a contemporary setting. The production budget was quickly increasing from $2 million to $6.8 million. One reason the studio requested Coppola was the director’s thrift in production. The Coppola vision for The Godfather, however, was not inexpensive. Casting proved to be the next production obstacle. Coppola believed other films failed at the box office because moviegoers did not believe Kirk Douglas as an Italian crime boss. Coppola wanted Italian heritage actors. The studio wanted Robert Redford to play Michael. (Hogg) Finally, the studio assigned a crew to film The Godfather. Coppola fired almost everyone because of the corrupt, undermining studio politics among the disorganized and poor teamwork oriented studio employees. The studio thought Coppola would do as instructed since he, superficially, needed the money. The studio was incorrect, but ultimately rewarded for their difficulties with an $86 million gross in the first two months (1972 dollars). Coppola esta blished himself as the auteur director that he dreamed of becoming; however, this dream reduced his capacity to be a writer-director as he originally wanted. (Hogg) Artistic Importance â€Å"Coppola’s The Godfather, Part One is distinguished among other things by the number of scales or levels upon which it operates. In its combination of epic structure and highly individuated family melodrama, it is perhaps the American Film which most closely approximates the nineteenth-century

Free

Freedom Fighters Essay Nelson Mandela was a visionary freedom fighter who brought about the end of an apartheid society and solidified the democratic elections of presidents by majority rule to South Africa. Born in 1918, Mandela’s early introduction to leadership in the Thembu tribe molded his democratic beliefs (Nelson Mandela, 2009). His youth found him exposed to Western culture which ultimately led him to abandon the Thembu culture and relocate to Johannesburg (Nelson Mandela, 2009). It was during his early years in Johannesburg that he explored the many political philosophies that surrounded him. It was also during this time that Mandela began thoughtful observation and contemplation of the struggles of the black men and women in South Africa. Mandela came to the conclusion, â€Å"It was not lack of ability that limited my people, but lack of opportunity† (Sohail, 2005). His profound dissatisfaction with the apartheid society and the oppression of his people eventually led him to join the African National Congress or ANC in 1944 (Nelson Mandela, 2009). In 1948, the Afrikaner dominated National Party established the apartheid customs into law (Sohail, 2005). In response to this the ANC initiated the Campaign for the Defiance of Unjust Laws at the urging of Mandela (Sohail, 2005). This was the turning point for the ANC and the beginning of Mandela’s rise to recognized leader within the ANC. Prior to this campaign the ANC was committed to peaceful negotiations. With Mandela’s convincing they converted to nonviolent protesting with the goal of overthrowing the white minority government and putting an end to the apartheid laws (Nelson Mandela, 2009). These unsuccessful protests were met with violent opposition. It was one such violent encounter that propelled Nelson Mandela and the ANC to adopt violence as a means of protest. In 1960, sixty nine protestors were killed by government police, this act ultimately lead to the development of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) by Nelson Mandela (Nelson Mandela, 2009). The Umkhonto we Sizwe was an offshoot of the ANC whose sole purpose was to engage in violent sabotage of the government. It was Nelson Mandela’s activities within the Umkhonto we Sizwe that ultimately led to his capture and incarc eration. His trial and sentencing captivated a world audience and forced the actions of the South African government into an international spotlight.(Nelson Mandela, 2009). Fully expecting the  death penalty, Mandela rebutted the idea of seeking appeal recognizing the strength of his position in regard to the cause; â€Å"If anything we might serve the cause greater in death as martyrs than we ever could in life† (Sohail, 2005). Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment and solidified his standing as a symbolic embodiment of South African’s fight for freedom (Nelson Mandela, 2009). While incarcerated the violence that Mandela birthed continued to escalate over the years. The world continued to pay attention and the United Nations began supporting sanctions against the South African government (Sohail, 2005). Mandela, aware of the violent chaos, began to contemplate a change in strategy. Recognizing that the movement he began was not vast enough to outright overthrow the existing government he began to consider the possibility of negotiations. At the height of the violence and with increasing international pressure the South Afric an government was ready to negotiate as well. The first of many secret meeting took place in 1988 between President Botha and Nelson Mandela (Nelson Mandela, 2009). While these negotiations failed to produce any compromises they set the precedent for Botha’s successor F.W. de Klerk in 1989. President de Klerk was committed to change and meaningful negotiations. With the help of President de Klerk, Mandela established the foundation on which the ANC and the South African Government would negotiate (Sohail, 2005). President de Klerk overturned several of the apartheid laws and ensured Mandela his freedom. Nelson Mandela, to the celebration of millions, was released on February 11, 1990 (Sohail, 2005). After spending 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk mediated the negotiation of the multiparty Convention for a Democratic South Africa (Nelson Mandela, 2009). The culmination of these negotiations was the Record of Understanding signed by Mandela and de Klerk in 1992 establishing a â€Å"freely elected constitutional assembly† (Nelson Mandela, 2009) and the drafting of a new constitution. The first free democratic elect ions took place on April 27, 1994 (Nelson Mandela, 2009), effectively ending the minority white reign and the apartheid laws. For Mandela’s significant contributions and sacrifices to bring about these social and political changes he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993(Nelson Mandela, 2009). Andrew Jackson was a revolutionist and the 7th President of the United States. It was though this pursuit of the United States presidency  that he changed the political landscape; changing the way presidents were elected and solidifying presidential power. He further initiated significant change with the displacement of the Native Americans westward. (Red Hill Productions, 2007) Andrew Jackson was born 1767 in South Carolina. Orphaned by the Revolutionary War at the age of 15, he quickly developed a reputation of being â€Å"hot tempered and violent† (Red Hill Productions, 2007). Yet at the same time, he maintained a strong work ethic and earned a law degree. He relocated to the frontier lands of Tennessee at the age of 20 to serve as a public prosecutor. It was during this period in his life that he first experienced formal politics. Serving as Tennessee’s first Congressman he quickly became disenchanted with the political scene. Frustrated with ineffective committee meetings and what he saw as far reaching corruption, he returned to Tennessee where he became a superior court judge. (Red Hill Productions, 2007) At the urging of his supporters and amid far reaching popularity, Jackson once again entered politics with a bid for the 1822 presidential race. Andrew Jackson was defeated in 1824 despite winning the popular vote. John Quincy Adams was awarded the presidency at the discretion of the sitting House of Representative (Andrew Jackson, 1997). Empowered by what they saw as a corrupt election process where presidents were decided via the political elite and not the will of the common people, Jackson’s supports organized the first Democratic Party (Red Hill Productions, 2007). United under the Democratic Party the common people led a feverish campaign. This campaign culminated in the electing of Andrew Jackson to the presidency in 1828 (Red Hill Productions, 2007). Recognizing the political power of an organized party the Republican Party was realized later in the decade. Originally dubbed â€Å"the National Whig Party† (Red Hill Productions, 2007), the birth of this party laid the foundation for a two party political system that continues to dominate politics today. During Andrew Jackson’s two term presidency he further enacted political change by redefining the role of President within the government. In juxtaposition with the founding fathers, Jackson saw the role of the President as the leader in gov ernment rather than the Congress (Red Hill Productions, 2007). Being the only position in government to be elected by the vast majority of the common people, Andrew Jackson envisioned the presidential responsibility as to â€Å"serve the good of all people† (Red Hill Productions, 2007). With  this responsibility came great power which Jackson wielded with great efficiency. He invoked his executive power and utilized his veto power vehemently (Red Hill Productions, 2007). With this wide sweeping reform and successful transition of political power to the President, Andrew Jackson is credited with being the first modern President (Red Hill Productions, 2007). While serving as President, Andrew Jackson determined to secure westward expansion of the United States enacted even further political and social change with the Indian Removal Act of 1830 (Red Hill Productions, 2007). Jackson was the catalyst that ultimately concluded with the displacement of the Native Americans east of the Mississippi (Red Hill Productions, 2007). Recognizing the significance of westward expansion for the continued success of the United States, Jackson introduced the Indian Removal Act in a message to Congress in 1830 (Red Hill Productions, 2007). This displacement of the Native Americans wou ld open Native American lands for the white Americans to develop and expand westward. The Indian Removal Act was passed by Congress in 1830 (Red Hill Productions, 2007). Despite the Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Cherokee people, Andrew Jackson moved forward with the Indian Removal Act forcing a westward movement of the Cherokee people (Red Hill Productions, 2007). This westward movement was famously termed â€Å"the Trail of Tears† (Red Hill Productions, 2007). This impacted the Creek and Seminole people as well and effectively solidified the expansion of the white farmers and business entrepreneurs on the land west of the Mississippi for the American people (Red Hill Productions, 2007). Andrew Jackson’s contribution of the establishing of political parties and the expansion of presidential power solidifies his legacy of enacting significant political and social change. These contributions continue to remain the foundation of politics in the United States. His Indian Removal Act was an equally significant example of political and social change that allowed the United States to expand westward. This westward expansion firmly cemen ted the continued success of the United States. References Andrew Jackson. (1997). In Biography Reference Bank. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/delivery?sid=986fb1e9-82c5-4a86-8443-28de1ed235%40sessionmgr112vid=13hid=4208 Nelson Mandela. (2009). In Biography

The Causes And Effects Of Child Abuse

The Causes And Effects Of Child Abuse In a civilized society one would expect the occurrence of child abuse to be nearly non-existent, however the statistics do not support this belief. This paper defined what child abuse is .It also revised the short term and long-term effects of this abuse and the resulting mental, physical and societal issues that arise from early abuse and continue on throughout their childhood. It will bring up the statistical information showing the continued abuse against a child. It is hoped that this research enlighten readers on pertinent facts and information on the causes and effects of this cruel act. The term child abuse covers a wide range of behavior, from actual physical assault to simple neglect of a childs basic needs. Child abuse is also sometimes called child maltreatment. Infants and preschool children are most likely to suffer deliberately inflicted fractures, burns, and bruises. This is known as the battered-child syndrome. Although the extent of child abuse is difficult to measure, it is recognized as a major social problem, especially in industrialized nations. It occurs in all income, racial, religious, and ethnic groups and in urban and rural communities. Studies have shown that most parents who abuse their children were once abused as a child (Funk Wagnalls, 2006). Eight percent of all children abused are emotionally maltreated. Sixteen percent are sexually abused. Twenty-seven percent are physically abused. Fifty-five percent of all children abused are neglected (Child Abuse, 1994).Any type of Child Abuse, carried out for a long period of time, may cause long-term mental damage. Although there are many formal and acceptable definitions of child abuse, the following is offered as a guide for information on child abuse and neglect. Child abuse is the act or series of acts that is described in commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver and results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to child. Most child abuse happens in childs home, with a smaller amount occurring in the organizations, schools or communities they interact with. Abuse of a child is anything that causes inj ury or puts the child in danger of physical injury. Child abuse can be physical, sexual, or emotional. Neglect happens when a parent or responsible caretaker fails to provide adequate supervision, food, clothing, shelter or other basics for a child. Child abuse is any action or lack of which endangers or impairs a childs physical, mental or emotional health and development. As it will be shown in the following presentation .There are many causes of child abuse as well as effects. The most prominent one among the causes is mental illness, as well as psychological problems. The tendency is that people who are not in their right minds, could easily do harm to children, whether intentional or not. Effect of child abuse can be manifested in poor social skills, depression, difficulty in building up relationships in people, low self image, eating disorders, as well as physical disabilities. Child abuse could also lower the self worth of the child who experienced it. Regardless of the type of abuse, if not stopped and having the resultant social and psychological issues dealt with as quickly as possible may result in the vicious cycle of abuse where the abused goes out on their own and then becomes the abuser. Despite all good intentions this cycle of violence can and does occur because it is the only way that an untreated abused individual knows how to deal with stressors in a relationship. In 2007, the United States reported, among all 50 states, 753,357 cases of child mistreatment which is a ratio of 1 out of every 100 children have been reported as being abused in some fashion throughout the year. This abuse ranged from 59% being neglected, 11% being physically abused, and 7.5% sexually abused 4.2% having emotional abuse, and less than 1% being medically mistreated. Of these cases, the abuse was near evenly split between boys and girls, and 79% of the abuse occurred in those under the age of 11, with the most prominent being under the age of 4 (Child Maltreatment, 2007). Statistics are more readily reported within the United States than they are elsewhere throughout the world. However, available data from (World Health Organization [WHO], 2001) shows a global epidemic which is evidenced by: Almost 53,000 children died worldwide in 2002 as a result of homicide Up to 80 to 98% of children suffer physical punishment in their homes, with a third or more experiencing severe physical punishment resulting from the use of implements. 150 million girls and 73 million boys under 18 experienced forced sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual violence during 2002. Between 100 and 140 million girls and women in the world have undergone some form of female genital mutilation/cutting. In sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt and the Sudan, 3 million girls and women are subjected to genital mutilation/cutting every year. Worldwide, approximately 40 million children are subjected to child abuse each year UNICEF estimates that two million children died as a result of armed conflict during a recent 10-year period and that another six million were injured or disabled (Human Right Watch, 2001). Each year, approximately one million more children around the world are introduced into commercial sexual exploitation (Casa Alianza, 2001). Sexual abuse statistics vary between countries and reports, but are consistently alarming: One countrys research indicates that up to 36% of girls and 29% of boys have suffered child sexual abuse; another study reveals up to 46% of girls and 20% of boys have experienced sexual coercion (The 57th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights). We have explored the statistical occurrence of child abuse; next will be the causes that drive one to actually abuse a child. Though all of the causes of child abuse are not known, a significant amount of research points to several factors that put children at risk for abuse. There are many reasons why some people have difficulty meeting the demands of parenthood, including: Immaturity and unrealistic expectations Unmet emotional needs The stresses of child care Economic crisis Domestic violence Lack of parenting knowledge Difficulty in relationships Depression or other mental health problems Drug or alcohol problems Family history of abuse In most case that involve child abuse, the most common reoccurring factors are having a family history of abuse, mental health problems which inhibit proper abilities to cope with different situations and majority of the case involve some type of drug or alcohol use or abuse prior to the incident. In a more disturbing trend, that of child on child abuse, which is defined as a child at least 2 years of age older than the victim has been linked to after effects of a child being abused. This is to say that the abuser is abusing another child because that is what happened to them so they think it is okay or normal since they are mimicking the actions of their abusers. This last point shows why for the most part child abuse and other forms of violence is learned behavior. In new studies they are attempting to show the link in mental development being slowed in those that receive abuse at an early age, compared to those that did not receive abuse. one recent study on a group of monkeys showed that those babies that received mild abuse as an infant grew to later have deficiency of serotonin, the chemical known as the pleasure center of the brain, and as adults, those levels would rise to normal when they would abuse others. With these actions, being learned or brought about due to family, mental, emotional or addiction disorders the course of action is through prevention. The term prevention is typically used to represent activities that stop an action or behavior. It can also be used to represent activities that promote a positive action or behavior. Research has found that successful child abuse interventions must both reduce risk factors and promote protective factors to ensure the well-being of children and families. Protective factors are conditions in families and communities that, when present, increase the health and well-being of children and families. They are attributes that serve as buffers, helping parents who might otherwise be at risk of abusing their children to find resources, supports, or coping strategies that allow them to parent effectively, even under stress. The impact of child maltreatment can be profound. Research shows that child maltreatment is associated with adverse health a nd mental health outcomes in children and families, and those negative effects can last a lifetime. In addition to the impact on the child, child abuse and neglect affect various systems including physical and mental health, law enforcement, judicial and public social services, and nonprofit agencies as they respond to the incident and support the victims. One analysis of the immediate and long-term economic impact of child abuse and neglect suggests that child maltreatment costs the nation as much as $258 million each day, or approximately $94 billion each year (Child Welfare Information Gateway, n.d). Protective factors are conditions in families and communities that, when present, increase the health and well-being of children and families. These attributes serve as buffers, helping parents to find resources, supports, or coping strategies that allow them to parent effectively, even under stress. Research has shown that the following protective factors are linked to a lower incidence of child abuse and neglect. Nurturing and attachment A childs early experience of being nurtured and developing a bond with a caring adult affects all aspects of behavior and development. When parents and children have strong, warm feelings for one another, children develop trust that their parents will provide what they need to thrive, including love, acceptance, positive guidance, and protection. Research shows that babies who receive affection and nurturing from their parents have the best chance of healthy development. A childs relationship with a consistent, caring adult in the early years is associated later in life with better academic grades, healthier behaviors, more positive peer interactions, and an increased ability to cope with stress. Knowledge of parenting and of child and youth development There is extensive research linking healthy child development to effective parenting. Children thrive when parents provide not only affection, but also respectful communication and listening, consistent rules and expectations, and safe opportunities that promote independence. Successful parenting fosters psychological adjustment, helps children succeed in school, encourages curiosity about the world, and motivates children to achieve. Parental resilience Parents, who can cope with the stresses of everyday life, as well an occasional crisis, have resilience; they have the flexibility and inner strength necessary to bounce back when things are not going well. Multiple life stressors, such as a family history of abuse or neglect, health problems, marital conflict, or domestic or community violence-and financial stressors such as unemployment, poverty, and homelessness-may reduce a parents capacity to cope effectively with the typical day-to-day stresses of raising children. Social connections Parents with a social network of emotionally supportive friends, family, and neighbors often find that it is easier to care for their children and themselves. Most parents need people they can call on once in a while when they need a sympathetic listener, advice, or concrete support. Research has shown that parents, who are isolated, with few social connections, are at higher risk for child abuse and neglect. Concrete supports for parents Many factors affect a familys ability to care for their children. Families who can meet their own basic needs for food, clothing, housing, and transportation-and who know how to access essential services such as childcare, health care, and mental health services to address family-specific needs-are better able to ensure the safety and well-being of their children. Partnering with parents to identify and access resources in the community may help prevent the stress that sometimes precipitates child maltreatment. Providing concrete supports may also help prevent the unintended neglect that sometimes occurs when parents are unable to provide for their children. All of these factors along with many others can help decrease the occurrence of child abuse, but for any of it to work the cycle of violence must stop within the home before any child may have any hope for an abuse free society. Child abuse is a topic that has many aspects and issues to discus. There are many causes for this problem that lead to adverse effects on the child and community. Treating this phenomenon needs major governmental, financial, educational, health care givers and social support and awareness. Also strict roles and disciplinary actions should be applied through the governments in order to control this problem. In my point of view the earlier abused children get help, the greater chance they have to heal from their abuse and not perpetuate the cycle. The Causes and Effects of Child Abuse The Causes and Effects of Child Abuse Day by day the safety and well being of some children across the nation are threatened by child abuse and neglect. Child abuse is doing harm to child intentionaly or not provides the essential needs for the child. Abuse child can be in physical, emotional, sexual in form or neglect. Each form has its different characteristics. Causes of child abuse can be parents causes, ecological causes or child problems. Parents causes involves parent who have background of emotional deprivation, unaware of difference between discipline and abuse, and isolated from the community. Teenage or single parent also can harm their children because they lack experience in raising children. Ecological causes which are related the environment surround the child. For example, poverty, overcrowding, substance abuse, and problems in marriage. Child causes include child disability and requirement of special needs. Child abuse has great impact on childs life, damaging a childà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s s elf esteem, ability to have healthy relationships, and ability to function at home, at work and at school. The Causes and Effects of Child Abuse Child abuse is one of the major issues that bring the attention of entire nation. Several organizations formed because it is not just an individual or familial problem. It takes different forms, physical or psychological maltreatment of children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define child abuse as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child (http://www.cdc.gov/violanceprevention/pdf/CM-FactSheet-a.pdf) The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) define child abuse and neglect as any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker who result in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation (What is Child Abuse and Neglect, 2008, para.2). Every year millions of children suffer from different type of child abuse. Most child abuse results from attempt to punish or control the child. Parents try to punish their children when they are doing something wrong and to avoid spoiling the child, but these attempts will increase to produce physical harm to the child. Therefore we have to distinguish between physical discipline and physical abuse. The most common way to distinguish physical punishment from abuse is by the presence or absence of physical injury. It is important to recognize that most parents do not want to beat their children. Virtually all parents feel regret after such an incident and most believe physical punishment is not an effective route to increase compliance, learning or respect for the parent (Durrant, 1996, p.186). In 2001, an estimated 3 million children were reported to state Child Protective Service (CPS) agencies as suspected victim of abuse and neglect. One million children were confirmed victim of maltreatment (physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, medical neglect, psychological abuse, other abuses), with another 4 million involved in referrals to Child Protective Services (National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information, 2003a;2003b). Three fourths of the perpetrators were caregivers, and an additional one tenth were relatives. However, only about one half of the child abuse and neglect report are investigated nationally, and on average only about one-third of the investigation find evidence of child abuse and neglect (Potts Mandleco, 2007, p 1208). Some people believe that the child abused by stringers only, but the truth that the child can be abused by parent, a friend of parent, neighbourhood, or even a family member. This essay paper on the causes and effects of child abuse will include types of child abuse and clinical manifestation can be seen in each type, causes and effects of child abuse. There are four forms of child abuse that is neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse and sexual abuse. The most common form of child abuse is neglect. According to Longman dictionary neglect is pay insufficient attention to, or ignore . It means parents or caregivers fail to provide the important needs for their children. Neglecting the child can be noticed if the child lacks of hygiene, dresses clothes which is dirty, old, and inappropriate for age and weather, frequently absents from school, always sick and no medical assistance provided, malnourished and isolated from others. These signs of neglect are mostly observed by people who are always with close contact to child like the teacher, doctors, nurses and neighbours. They are frequently the ones who notice, suspect and report child neglect. Neglect has three forms which are physical neglect, emotional neglect and educational neglect. Physical neglect is the most abuse noticed among children. Physical neglect can be seen in many ways for example if the parent not provides supervision, repeat shuttling of child from one household to another for a day or week at a time, not providing adequate food for their children, clothes, house, not seeking medical care for a serious health problem or not giving the child his treatment. Emotional neglect includes inattention to childs need of affection and emotional support, expose child to extreme spousal abuse, permitting the child to use drugs and drink alcohol, refuse of medical assistance for child with psychological problems and applying high expectation that is inappropriate for childs age and level of development. Educational neglect can be if the parent refuses to enrol the child in school, failure to provide the essential learning needs and allow frequent absence from school. The second type of child abuse is physical abuse which is the most clear and has a huge physical effect on the child. Physical abuse should always be suspected when there is an injury that cannot be explained, or when the history provided is incongruous with the physical findings or the childs developmental level. Suspicion should also be aroused when the caregiver claims the injury was self-inflected, inflected by a sibling or when there is a delay in seeking medical services (Potts Mandleco,2007, p 1211). There are certain clinical manifestations can be observed in children who are abused physically which is unexplained bruises or welts that appear in various stages of healing often in clustered patterns that reflect the shapes of the articles used to inflict injury, unexplained burns especially on the soles, palms, back, or doughnut-shaped (on buttocks or genitals), unexplained fractures to the skull, nose, or facial structure; multiple or spiral fracture; or dislocations and num erous fracture in various stages of healing and bald patches on the scalp (Ashwill Droske, 1997, p 1287). A third type of child abuse is emotional abuse. Among all different child abuse, emotional abuse is the hardest type to identify. According to American Humane, Emotional abuse of a child is commonly defined as a pattern of behaviour by parents or caregivers that can seriously interfere with a childs cognitive, emotional, psychological, or social development (http://www.americanhumane.org/aboutus/newsroom/fact-sheets/emotional-abuse.html). Emotional abuse occur when parents ignoring and humiliating the child, isolating the child from the family, verbally assaulting the child, threatening the child, rejecting childs value and request, putting higher expectation on the child and exposing the child to family or community violence. The clinical manifestations which can be observed on a child who is emotionally abused are speech problems, lags in physical development, failure to thrive and hyperactive or disruptive behaviour. The last type of child abuse is sexual abuse which is the least frequently reported of child abuse. According to (Potts Mandleco,2007) Sexual abuse is defined as exploitive sexual act(s) imposed on a child who lacks the emotional, cognitive, or maturational development to deal with the actions (Giardino, Brown, Giardino, 2003). Sexual abuse can be in different ways which are pressuring the child to engage in sexual activities, exposing the child genitals, sexual contact with the child, incident exposure of genitals to a child, and physical contact to child genitals. Everybody believes that the girls are more often abused sexually, but the fact that both girls and boys are sexually abused. Studies have shown those sexual abuse victims are usually between 6 and 9 years of age. Ashwill made it clear that children will show some physical signs such as difficulty walking or sitting, torn, stained or bloody underclothing, pain, swelling or itching of genitals, pain on urination, bruises, bleeding or lacerations involving the external genitalia, vagina, or anal area and excessive masturbation (Ashwill Droske, 1997, p 1289). Understanding causes of child abuse is important to address the problem in order to prevent it. Specialists and experts who evaluated a bused childs environment and family background have come out with three causes for child abuse which are parental causes, ecological causes and child problems. Parental causes include parents who are very young and lack of experience of taking care for children are more likely to neglect childs need. For example; teenage parent or single parent never learned the skills necessary for good parenting. Although, parents who suffer many problems and they cannot control their anger which will inflict their children by abusing them physically. On the other hand, parents who were abused when they were children are more likely to abuse their own children too. It is like cycle of violence and abuse. Also, some parents raise their children same the way as they rose even if parents were abused. Some parents not differentiate discipline from abuse which lead to p hysically abuse their children in order to teach them the right things. Parents who physically abuse their spouses can also abuse their children. At same time, parents who suffer from mental disorder, anxiety or depression cannot take right decision for themselves, either for their children. Ecological causes involve abusing drug and alcohol by parents. Parents who are drunk they cannot think properly for the needs of their children. Also they are unrealistic in their behavior which can lead to abuse their children without even feeling that they are doing so. Some studies show that poverty play major role in abusing children. As the parents face financial difficulties, they cannot provide childs need. Also, those parents usually isolated and lack of social support. On the other hand, if couple have problem in their marriage that may inflict their children emotionally. Some parents are aware they are mistreating a child but are unable to stop. Other abusive parents literally hate children or are disgusted by them. The childs need, sloppiness, crying, or dirty diapers are unbearable to the parent. Abusive mothers tend to believe their children are intentionally annoying them. In many cases, troubled parents expect the child to love them and make them happy. When the child cannot meet such unrealistic demands, the parent react with lethal angry. Such parents are more likely to physically abuse their children (Coon, 2004, p 154). Child problems include handicapped children. Caring of child with special needs is difficult and need family and community support. Some parents ignore the needs for the child which lead to abusing childs rights. All types of child abuse regardless the causes; affect the child by some way. The effects of child abuse vary depending on the type of child abuse. Some of these effects are physical and other are emotional or psychological. Studies show that sexual and emotional abuse has the major impact on child. Effects can be classified to short term effects and long term effects. Short term effects can easily detect and the signs of abusing show in short period. For example; wound, burns or fracture that occur after physical abuse, which healed after seeking medical treatment. Child will show some sexual behaviors include sexual play with dolls. Child will be aggressive, fear of parents, fear to go home, and isolated from public. Child will fight to other student in class. Child may have difficulty in speech and cannot express feelings. Child who has been abused by his parent will not trust them to provide physical and emotional needs, which eventually lead to lack of trust to other people in the community. Long term effects are signs that difficult to detect at beginning of abusing incidents and will progress with the developmental process of the child which lead it to occur after long time. Almost it will occur in adult age if child did not seek medical assistance. For example; the adult will have difficulty to establish normal relationships with other. Adult survive from child abuse, can have unexplained signs of fear, anxiety and depression. Adult survivor of sexual abuse can abuse other children which is the cycle of abusing. Also the adult may suffer from sexual transmitted disease. The adult will have difficulty to express feeling, and may turn to substance abuse (alcohol or drugs). The adult may attempt to suicide. To sum up, child abuse is worldwide problem affecting children from birth to 18 years of age. There are different types for child abuse which is neglect, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. There are three main causes for child abuse which is parent causes, ecological causes, and child problems. Based on causes many effects can be observed on the child which affect child emotionally, physically and social development. In my opinion detecting the early signs of abuse will end further harm to child, better chance for recovery, and appropriate treatment will be provided for the child. Since the family is the core of love and care for the child, it is important to bring their attention and highlight the causes and effects of child abuse, so they can play significant role in stopping the matter. Therefore, proper awareness of the community plays an important role in preventing this problem from going further.

Death in Life in Alfred Lord Tennysons Poetry Essay -- Alfred Lord Te

Death in Life in Alfred Lord Tennyson's Poetry Alfred Lord Tennyson, a Victorian poet, used characters from history and mythology for his poetry. Much of his poetry touches upon the subject of death and loneliness. For example, the Lady of Shallot dies when she looks beyond her inner world, Mariana lives in constant sadness over her departed lover, and Tithonus lives forever in an agony worse than death. With a background of melancholia, isolation or anguish Tennyson conveys themes of half-life and death-in-life by the use of uses imagery, symbolism and figures of speech. In the dramatic monologue â€Å"Tithonus,† Tennyson instructs the reader that immortality is not necessarily a desirable thing as Tithonus tries to convince Aurora to make him mortal again. In the poem, Tithonus asks Aurora to grant him immortality, which she does. Although in actual mythology Zeus grants immortality, it is immortality and not eternal youth that Tithonus receives. Therefore, he now â€Å"withers slowly† with a fate worse than death since many jealous gods â€Å"beat me down and marred and waste me.† Tithonus presents the natural cycle of life followed by death by describing how first, â€Å"Man comes† then he â€Å"tills the fields† and finally â€Å"lies beneath†. However, his â€Å"cruel immortality† prevents him from following the same pattern. The rhetorical question, â€Å"Why should a man desire in any way/To vary from the kindly race of man†¦as is most meet for all?† indicates his realization of the absurdity in asking for immortal life. His wish to be immortal like the gods can be interpreted as alluding to Adam and Eve’s desire for the knowledge of God. Anyway, as a â€Å"soft air fans the clouds apart† (personification), Tithonus sees the â€Å"dark world† to which he be... ...cument 1). Mariana lives in her own world, still believing that her lover will come, believing that â€Å"Old faces glimmer’d thro’ the doors,† and confounded by the â€Å"slow clock ticking, and the sound/Which to the wooing wind aloof/The poplar made.† As evident in these three poems, â€Å"Tithonus,† â€Å"Lady of Shallot† and â€Å"Mariana in the Moated Grange,† Tennyson often portrays the world as a sad place. Many times, like in â€Å"Tithonus† and â€Å"Lady of Shallot,† there is a conflict between wishes and desires. Also, Tennyson often uses the outer environment to heighten the emotions experienced by the characters. In short, Tennyson is able to convey his themes of half-life and death-in-life through the use of imagery, symbolism and figures of speech. Bibliography: 1. http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/tennyson 2. http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/tennyson/losillus1.html

My Christian Life Essays -- essays research papers

My Christian Life has been â€Å"pleasurable pain† (I will explain what that refers to in detail later). I was born on June 9, 1984. I was blessed to be in a family of Christian. Therefore, I was destined to become a true follower of Christ. I was baptized on August 12 of that year at St. Rose De Lima. Most people say that from the moment I was blessed, I became a disciple of Jesus, a light bearer, but I believe I was a disciple for my Lord and Savior the moment I was born. I was conceived into a Christian family with a strong Christian background. I thank the Lord to this day for blessing me as He did. As it was when I was born and still to this day, I was brought to Church every Sunday. As an infant and a child, I did not understand the true meaning of this. I thought it was just a day I was force to wear â€Å"uncomfortable† clothes and told to be quite (even though I rarely did). I was like most other children, as are some teenagers, I did not want to go to Church. I would run, play sick or try to do anything I could to not attend Church. For this misunderstanding, I only can credit that to my ignorance of my faith. If you were not dying in my house you was presumed to go to Church even if you was not apart on our family. I remember one instance when I slept by a friend’s house and his family, unfortunately, was not a regular participant in Church (I think I knew this). My mother came and picked me up that morning to go to Church. I remember this moment in my life because it showed how strong my family was and will always be in Faith. As me being a Christian, I was taught in a Catholic School. I attended St. Leo the Great Elementary. There, I learned a broad description of my faith and why my faith entitled me to do and act a certain way. I receive my Holy Communion when I was in First Grade I believe. Even then, I did not really understand the true concept of what I embarked on. For this reason, I â€Å"kind of† go against receiving certain sacraments at a young age. Age is a vital part in the strength of our beliefs (a younger person may be weaker than an older one). How many young Christians â€Å"really† understand what they are doing or even saying? If a person does not understand what they are taking apart of, then why should they be included. Today, a person is read their rights and asked at the end, do you understand all of things that were being said. I believe th... ...er away from me. I felt cheated. Until one day I talk to a friend of the family (we call him Uncle Jessey). He made me understand the cycle of death. After all the classes I have sat through dealing with my faith and all I have learned, nothing could have prepared me for this tragedy. I thank God for my Uncle Jessey kind words and for helping me to overcome my grandmother’s death. Another instance I remember is seeing Coach Deleica and Coach Griff at my grandmother’s funeral. At that moment I felt the true presence of my St. Augustine family. A couple of days ago, I attended my senior trip. When I first got there I was just glad to be out of class but as the day progressed I began to talk to God. I began to hear the music of the Lord. I felt lifted at the end of the day. After I leave Church, I always feel lifted (if I go to the right church). I attend St. Peter Claver Church. St. Peter Claver is a predominant black church. It has a gospel type of choir. Mass is last a minimum of 90 minutes. Without this service I would not be able to go on with life. â€Å"I hope that God will forever keep blessing me and watch over my love ones and friends,† St. Joseph and St. Augustine Pray For Us.

Holmes Is Made Possible By Watson. :: Free Essay Writer

Holmes Is Made Possible By Watson. Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular characters in literature. I read the three stories; ‘The Speckled Band,’ ‘The Engineer’s Thumb’ and ‘The Beryl Coronet.’ I have looked at; how the stories were structured, Dr Watson as the narrator, language used in the stories and the difference between Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes as characters in the stories. Most crime fiction stories are structured in the same way. Sherlock Holmes stories usually employ this structure; the crime is committed, an investigation is launched, a solution is thought up and an explanation is given. This structure is used to build up suspense and keep you guessing what happened until the end, when it is revealed. An example of this is in ‘The Engineer’s Thumb,’ where the crime was reported to Holmes, Holmes then investigated the crime, by making observations and deducing he reveals the solution and finally explains his solution to the characters and readers. Dr Watson is vital in the structure of the stories because he is an eye-witness throughout all the cases. Holmes explains his theories and methods to him, so Watson is in the reader’s position. This is because he obtains information from Holmes and writes it as the narrator for the readers. As the narrator, Watson eye-witnesses the investigations and tells us every development in the cases. Watson also enables Holmes to explain his methods, the explanation to each case and how he solved it. For example where it says in ‘The Speckled Band’, â€Å"There is no mystery, my dear madam†, said he, smiling. â€Å"The left arm of your jacket is splattered with mud in no less than seven places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dig-cart which throws up mud in that way and then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the driver.† Holmes makes a deduction from the fresh mud on her left arm that she had come in a dog-cart. This is achieved by Watson allowing Holmes to convey his method. Every time that Holmes explains something to Watson, another clue is revealed to the reader. He does this by explaining in detail to Watson and the readers in detail. An example of this is in ‘The Engineer’s Thumb,’ â€Å"†¦as fast as the horse could go.† â€Å"One horse?† Interjected Holmes. â€Å"Yes, only one.† â€Å"Did you observe the colour?† â€Å"Yes †¦ It was a chestnut.† Watson makes all this possible, just by narrating ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.’ Holmes and Watson are two very different characters, Holmes is the detective and Watson is his sidekick. This makes Sherlock look

Slave Boy – Creative Writing

Today, my brain is a whirlwind of emotions: memories from my past. A past I would like to forget but can't. I will begin my story, my story, from when I was just six years of age and taken from my family. It feels strange to look over the shores of my native lands, the same land on which I was sold to white men to work as a slave. We the, Africans were seen as an inferior and uncivilised race, enough justification to be enslaved and treated little better than animals.My real name was Nkauwa but they called me Sam. My identity; my family; my culture; my freedom; they took everything from me and changed it. My life would never be the same again. It was Nigerean slave dealers who rounded us up like cattle. The vast majority of us were caught during fighting against other African groups, prisoners of war. The rest were criminals like me, but my only crime was stealing fruit from the market, my punishment? a lifetime of enslavement. Our hands were tied behind our backs with pieces of rough string that stopped the blood from reaching our fingers. Being six at the time I did not understand why women were crying, their shrieks of horror threw me off-balance and I panicked, I did not understand what was going on, nor did I recognise any faces around me. I asked a man behind me why they had brought us here and he told me sadly, † to learn the ways of the white-faced people.† I felt so alone for the first time and I had a feeling I would be alone for a long while. I started to cry. When the ship rose up through the horizon, all commotion stopped at the magnificent yet terrifying sight, I had seen boats but never on that scale before. The silence was tense with apprehension and fear of the unknown. When the ship had anchored, twenty of so rowing boats came to shore, filled with crates of guns, cloths and lead. It was the first time I had seen white flesh, by no means was it to be the last. Time was spent by both parties inspecting each others goods, as if we were merely objects of little value. They looked in our mouths and felt our muscle-span to see if we would be strong efficient workers. The white men showed the slave dealers how to operate thier new weapons and then we were rowed to the ship; little did I know of the conditions that would face me for the ten week voyage of hell. I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received a stench in my nostrils I had never experienced in my life; we were packed so tightly we had just enough room to turn to turn ourselves and I could not stand up without my head touching the ceiling. The air was fetid, it nearly suffocated me. I began to vomit before the ships anchor had even been raised. It was a scene of horror for the worst ten weeks of my life. The conditions and our hunger brought on sickness amongst us, many of whom died. The crew of the ship cleared the dead in the morning and fed us barely edible, meagre meals. The wretched situation was aggravated by the chains and filth we were living in . At some point in the journey the crew must have realised that if they kept us under the deck for the whole journey there would be no slaves left, so they let small groups on the deck every few days. I sobbed to myself most nights but no one comforted me apart from the groans of the dying. At times I wondered to myself, if this is just the journey, what would the destination be like? The suffocating smell brought sharp, stabbing pains upon my lungs. When we were finally taken off the boat, I was almost too weak to move and I felt terrible. Welcome to America! As I was carried off the boat, the wind hit my face like an explosion and my body siezed up with pains shooting through my muscles. We stood in a yard in the docks, suddenly the doors were thrown open and a considerable number of men waving money and rope rushed towards us in a scramble. The men had the ferocity of brutes as they grabbed frantically at us; again I experienced the touching of muscles and inspecting our teeth, precisely as a jockey examines a horse. It is scarcely possible to describe the confusion and fright I felt as a small child. A tall, scruffy man with a long beard and hat grabbed my shoulders and shoved me in a corner with the rest of his chosen purchases, grumbling † This one looks like and investment.† The choas continued as we were led away and put on the back of his horse and cart. The man was swearing and smoking his pipe when in a temper, he whipped the horses into a trot. We were off! I was still adjusting to the change of environment from the ten weeks under deck and my body was in a lot of pain. As we travelled through the hustle and bustle of the Southern town of Missisippi, Louisiana, we entered the rural countryside and after an hour or so we stopped at a large, wooden farmhouse, complete with a mill that was spurting out clouds of white smoke from its chimney into the clear blue sky. Aproaching closer I noticed behind the mill, a small village of huts and a huge open plantation with with cotton plants growing in thick formations. We were escorted off the cart and brought into another yard outside the farm house from where we were called up one by one to enter the house. It was a very nervous wait and I noticed lots of other black workers already in the fields. I had no idea what was going on but when I was called up I knew something terrible was going to happen by the way the man looked at me with a mean and menecing smile which sent shivers down my spine that I can still remember to this day. He walked towards me and grabbed me by my ear and dragged me inside, to a room containing a large fire place with a crackling fire. Next to the fireplace stood an African house servant and in the centre of the room a desk with the tall, bearded man who drove the cart. He stopped writing, looked up at me, poured himself a glass of whiskey and drank it in one go. The man proceeded to talk to the servant in English, and in turn the servant translated it into Nigerean and repeated it to me. â€Å"Your name's Sam, call me boss, you'll work only for me now, pickin' cotton on my plantation, sunrise to sunset.† He paused and then said † If I catch you slacking or even worse, trying to escape, you will be whipped till the skin falls off your back, do you understand, me?† I looked at the man behind the desk blankly, he nodded to the servant who in turn advanced behind me and pinned me to the desk. I desperately tried to wriggle out of his firm grip but, it was useless, the more I struggled the more the boss laughed, he strolled to the fireplace and reached inside to reveal a red-hot branding iron which he used to torment me by holding it close to my face, making beads of sweat form from the heat and from fear. I was begging, pleading for his mercy but he didn't listen, he pushed it hard against my forehead, producing a horrifying hissing noise and the foul smell of burning flesh. It would be a mark that would never leave me, It hurt physically and mentally; to be branded like cattle, an act of pure evil. The pain was unbearable. For days I couldn't concentrate on anything but the burning sensation, it made me violently sick with fever but I was expected to start work straight away. I was given a huge hand woven basket to fill, I watched to learn the correct technique, a fairly simple task; picking the white flowers by twisting the stems on which they form along the main branches. The plants grew in dense lines which were the same height as me, it was very easy to get lost in the endless jungle of the plantation fields. As the day turned into night and there was not enough light to work in we were given a form of corn meal in tin bowls, it had been produced cheaply with few nutrients. I was also issued with new clothing made from very coarse cotton; uncomfortable to wear but much better than the filthy rags I wore on the ship. No shoes were issued, I still walked barefooted, everywhere I went. The new slaves were put into the accommodation of the already over-crowded huts. The tiny wooden, dank huts were set out in rows and contained no sanitation at all. The huts were filthy a perfect breeding ground for disease. They were window-less and smelly, with broken glass, old shoes and rags that littered around the floor. I squeezed into a hut, with ten people, cold and in a place thousands of miles from our homes. I missed my family. I felt the power of death over life , I knew what I had to do, I had to escape. I lay awake for the best part of the night, planning for the best method and timing for my escape. After hours of thought I realised, there was no easy way out and now was as good a time as any other. At this point everyone in my hut was asleep. My heart was racing, I sat up, took a deep breath and opened the creaking, rotting door, I started to run, passing the house, then the gate and then the sign post. I ran like the wind and I didn't slow down. I was running on nothing but the fuel of my anger, the anger I had built up inside me, since the very first moment I was captured. I didn't stop until I felt safe and my lungs were gasping for air. I kept a steady pace up and by the time I reached the town the sun was rising in the East but it was far too early for people to be out and about. As I entered the wharf I remembered the fact I still had no idea how I was to get on a ship heading back to Africa. My heart sank and I slumped down behind some crates and began to cry. I was convinced I would not get any further until†¦. suddenly I heard a voice getting closer, it sounded like two English sailors talking but one had a strong African accent. I tried to stay hidden but they picked up the crate I was behind and spotted me. â€Å"Hey, what you doing ‘ere, Your not supossed to be round ‘ere,† The white sailor said in a gruff voice. The African was quick to notice I had already been branded and must have ran away from my master. He asked me, in Nigerean, my name and what I was doing here. I told them my story and they it turned out we were from the same part of Nigeria and were stopping there on their way back there for some illigitimate trading of tea leaves and tobacco. They were both kind men and disagreed with the principle of slavery, they were quick to take pity on me and put me in an empty crate to hide me until on the ship. The trip back was much more comfortable than before. Although I slept below deck with the crates, I was allowed on deck whenever I wanted. I never went hungry for that ten week trip and rebuilt much of my strength. I showed gratitude for my rescue by doing odd jobs around the boat, usually cooking for the crew or scrubbing the deck. When we reached the main port of Nigeria I was so happy, it was a terrible ordeal for anyone to go through and something I was lucky to survive. The scar on my forehead is a constant reminder and my mental scars will never go away but I learnt many things during that time. I will never again take my freedom for granted and I cherish every moment of life with my family in the place where I truly belong.

The Art of War

Sun-Tzu Wu is the reputed author of the Chinese classic Ping-fa (The Art of War), written approximately 475-221 B. C. Penned at a time when China was divided into six or seven states that often resorted to war with each other in their struggles for supremacy, it is a systematic guide to strategy and tactics for rulers and commanders. In doing business on the Internet during this time of rampant computer viruses and hacker attacks it may be wise for us to follow some of his tactical principles in order to insure the safety of ourselves and our future clients. Know your enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle. In a chilling article entitled Big Brother is Watching Bob Sullivan of MSNBC recounts a tale during a recent visit to London: Only moments after stepping into the Webshack Internet cafe in London†s Soho neighborhood, â€Å"Mark† asked me what I thought of George W. Bush and Al Gore. â€Å"I wouldn†t want Bush running things,† he said. â€Å"Because he can†t run his Web site.† Then he showed me a variety of ways to hack Bush†s Web sites. That was just the beginning of a far-reaching chat during which the group nearly convinced me Big Brother is in fact here in London. â€Å"I don†t know if he can run the free world,† Mark said. â€Å"He can†t keep the Texas banking system computers secure. So-called â€Å"2600† clubs are a kind of hacker â€Å"boy scout† organization – there are local 2600 chapters all around the globe. It is in this environment, and this mindset, that London†s hackers do their work. They do not analyze computer systems and learn how to break them out of spite, or some childish need to destroy: Mark and friends see themselves as merely accumulating knowledge that could be used in self-defense if necessary. They are the citizen†s militia, the Freedom Fighters of the Information Age, trying to stay one step ahead of technology that could one day be turned against them. Jon-K Adams in his treatise entitled Hacker Ideology (aka Hacking Freedom) states that hackers have been called both techno-revolutionaries and heroes of the computer revolution. Hacking â€Å"has become a cultural icon about decentralized power.† But for all that, hackers are reluctant rebels. They prefer to fight with code than with words. And they would rather appear on the net than at a news conference. Status in the hacker world cannot be granted by the general public: it takes a hacker to know and appreciate a hacker. That's part of the hacker's revolutionary reluctance; the other part is the news media's slant toward sensationalism, such as, â€Å"A cyberspace dragnet snared fugitive hacker.† The public tends to think of hacking as synonymous with computer crime, with breaking into computers and stealing and destroying valuable data. As a result of this tabloid mentality, the hacker attempts to fade into the digital world, where he-and it is almost always he-has a place if not a! In his self-conception, the hacker is not a criminal, but rather a â€Å"person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities.† Which means that he is not necessarily a computer geek. The hacker defines himself in terms that extend beyond the computer, as an â€Å"expert or enthusiast of any kind. One might be an astronomy hacker† (Jargon File). So in the broadest sense of his self-conception, the hacker hacks knowledge; he wants to know how things work, and the computer-the prototypical programmable system-simply offers more complexity and possibility, and thus more fascination, than most other things. >From this perspective, hacking appears to be a harmless if nerdish enthusiasm. But at the same time, this seemingly innocent enthusiasm is animated by an ideology that leads to a conflict with civil authority. The hacker is motivated by the belief that the search for knowledge is an end in itself and should be unrestricted. But invariably, when a hacker explores programmable systems, he encounters barriers that bureaucracies impose in the name of security. For the hacker, these security measures become arbitrary limits placed on his exploration, or in cases that often lead to confrontation, they become the focus of further explorations: for the hacker, security measures simply represent a more challenging programmable system. As a result, when a hacker explores such systems, he hacks knowledge, but ideologically he hacks the freedom to access knowledge. Political hackers are another group considering themselves modern freedom fighters. â€Å"Hacktivists† have officially moved from nerdish extremists to become the political protest visionaries of the digital age, a meeting at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London was told on Thursday. Paul Mobbs, an experienced Internet activist and anti-capitalist protestor, will tell attendees that the techniques used by politically minded computer hackers — from jamming corporate networks and sending email viruses to defacing Web sites — has moved into the realm of political campaigning. Mobbs says that the term â€Å"Hacktivism† has been adopted by so many different groups, from peaceful Net campaigners to Internet hate groups, that it is essentially meaningless, but claims that Internet protest is here to stay. â€Å"It has a place, whether people like it or not,† says Mobbs. Steve Mizrach in his 1997 dissertation entitled Is there a Hacker Ethic for 90s Hackers? delves into this subject in great detail. He describes the divergent groups of hackers and explains their modus operandi: I define the computer underground as members of the following six groups. Sometimes I refer to the CU as â€Å"90s hackers† or â€Å"new hackers,† as opposed to old hackers, who are hackers (old sense of the term) from the 60s who subscribed to the original Hacker Ethic.  § Hackers (Crackers, system intruders) – These are people who attempt to penetrate security systems on remote computers. This is the new sense of the term, whereas the old sense of the term simply referred to a person who was capable of creating hacks, or elegant, unusual, and unexpected uses of technology. Typical magazines (both print and online) read by hackers include 2600 and Iron Feather Journal.  § Phreaks (Phone Phreakers, Blue Boxers) – These are people who attempt to use technology to explore and/or control the telephone system. Originally, this involved the use of â€Å"blue boxes† or tone generators, but as the phone company began using digital instead of electro-mechanical switches, the phreaks became more like hackers. Typical magazines read by Phreaks include Phrack, Line Noize, and New Fone Express.  § Virus writers (also, creators of Trojans, worms, logic bombs) – These are people who write code which attempts to a) reproduce itself on other systems without authorization and b) often has a side effect, whether that be to display a message, play a prank, or trash a hard drive. Agents and spiders are essentially ‘benevolent' virii, raising the question of how underground this activity really is. Typical magazines read by Virus writers include 40HEX.  § Pirates – Piracy is sort of a non-technical matter. Originally, it involved breaking copy protection on software, and this activity was called â€Å"cracking.† Nowadays, few software vendors use copy protection, but there are still various minor measures used to prevent the unauthorized duplication of software. Pirates devote themselves to thwarting these things and sharing commercial software freely with their friends. They usually read Pirate Newsletter and Pirate magazine.  § Cypherpunks (cryptoanarchists) – Cypherpunks freely distribute the tools and methods for making use of strong encryption, which is basically unbreakable except by massive supercomputers. Because the NSA and FBI cannot break strong encryption (which is the basis of the PGP or Pretty Good Privacy), programs that employ it are classified as munitions, and distribution of algorithms that make use of it is a felony. Some cryptoanarchists advocate strong encryption as a tool to completely evade the State, by preventing any access whatsoever to financial or personal information. They typically read the Cypherpunks mailing list.  § Anarchists – are committed to distributing illegal (or at least morally suspect) information, including but not limited to data on bombmaking, lockpicking, pornography, drug manufacturing, pirate radio, and cable and satellite TV piracy. In this parlance of the computer underground, anarchists are less likely to advocate the overthrow of government than the simple refusal to obey restrictions on distributing information. They tend to read Cult of the Dead Cow (CDC) and Activist Times Incorporated (ATI).  § Cyberpunk – usually some combination of the above, plus interest in technological self-modification, science fiction of the Neuromancer genre, and interest in hardware hacking and â€Å"street tech.† A youth subculture in its own right, with some overlaps with the â€Å"modern primitive† and â€Å"raver† subcultures. So should we fear these geeky little mischief-makers? The New York Post revealed recently that a busboy allegedly managed to steal millions of dollars from the world†s richest people by stealing their identities and tricking credit agencies and brokerage firms. In his article describing this event Bob Sullivan says, â€Å"Abraham Abdallah, I think, did us all a favor, for he has exposed as a sham the security at the world†s most important financial institutions.† The same two free e-mail addresses were used to request financial transfers for six different wealthy Merrill Lynch clients, according to the Post story. Merrill Lynch didn†t notice? Why would Merrill accept any transfer requests, indeed take any financial communication seriously at all, from a free, obviously unverified anonymous e-mail account? I†m alarmed by the checks and balances that must be in place at big New York brokerage firms. Rather than being a story about a genius who almost got away, this is simply one more story of easy identity theft amid a tidal wave of similar crimes. The Federal Trade Commission has received 40,000 complaints of identity theft since it started keeping track two years ago, but the agency is certain that represents only a fraction of real victims. This is a serious problem, long ignored by the industry. If fact, just last year the credit industry beat back a congressional bill known as The Identity Theft Protection Act, claiming it would be too expensive for them. â€Å"Clearly there has to be more leveling of the playing field. We have to hold banks and credit unions accountable.† Last month the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was again warning electronic-commerce Web sites to patch their Windows-based systems to protect their data against hackers. The FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) has coordinated investigations over the past several months into organized hacker activities targeting e-commerce sites. More than 40 victims in 20 states have been identified in the ongoing investigations, which have included law enforcement agencies outside the United States and private sector officials. The investigations have uncovered several organized hacker groups from Russia, the Ukraine, and elsewhere in Eastern Europe that have penetrated U.S. e-commerce and online banking computer systems by exploiting vulnerabilities in the Windows NT operating system, the statement said. Microsoft has released patches for these vulnerabilities, which can be downloaded from Microsoft's Web site for free. Once the hackers gain access, they download proprietary information, customer databases, and credit card information, according to the FBI. The hackers subsequently contact the company and attempt to extort money by offering to patch the system and by offering to protect the company's systems from exploitation by other hackers. The hackers tell the victim that without their services they cannot guarantee that other hackers will not access their networks and post stolen credit card information and details about the site's security vulnerability on the Internet. If the company does not pay or hire the group for its security services, the threats escalate, the FBI said. Investigators also believe that in some instances the credit card information is being sold to organized crime groups. Defend yourself when you cannot defeat the enemy, and attack the enemy when you can. Scott Culp in a detailed list of security precautions on Microsoft†s Web page suggests that there are ten immutable laws of security. Law #1: If a bad guy can persuade you to run his program on your computer, it's not your computer anymore. It's an unfortunate fact of computer science: when a computer program runs, it will do what it's programmed to do, even if it's programmed to be harmful. When you choose to run a program, you are making a decision to turn over control of your computer to it. That's why it's important to never run, or even download, a program from an untrusted source – and by â€Å"source†, I mean the person who wrote it, not the person who gave it to you. Law #2: If a bad guy can alter the operating system on your computer, it's not your computer anymore. In the end, an operating system is just a series of ones and zeroes that, when interpreted by the processor, cause the machine to do certain things. Change the ones and zeroes, and it will do something different. To understand why, consider that operating system files are among the most trusted ones on the computer, and they generally run with system-level privileges. That is, they can do absolutely anything. Among other things, they're trusted to manage user accounts, handle password changes, and enforce the rules governing who can do what on the computer. If a bad guy can change them, the now-untrustworthy files will do his bidding, and there's no limit to what he can do. He can steal passwords, make himself an administrator on the machine, or add entirely new functions to the operating system. To prevent this type of attack, make sure that the system files (and the registry! , for that matter) are well protected. Law #3: If a bad guy has unrestricted physical access to your computer, it's not your computer anymore. He could mount the ultimate low-tech denial of service attack, and smash your computer with a sledgehammer.  § He could unplug the computer, haul it out of your building, and hold it for ransom.  § He could boot the computer from a floppy disk, and reformat your hard drive. But wait, you say, I've configured the BIOS on my computer to prompt for a password when I turn the power on. No problem – if he can open the case and get his hands on the system hardware, he could just replace the BIOS chips. (Actually, there are even easier ways).  § He could remove the hard drive from your computer, install it into his computer, and read it.  § He could make a duplicate of your hard drive and take it back his lair. Once there, he'd have all the time in the world to conduct brute-force attacks, such as trying every possible logon password. Programs are available to automate this and, given enough time, it's almost certain that he would succeed. Once that happens, Laws #1 and #2 above apply  § He could replace your keyboard with one that contains a radio transmitter. He could then monitor everything you type, including your password. Always make sure that a computer is physically protected in a way that's consistent with its value – and remember that the value of a machine includes not only the value of the hardware itself, but the value of the data on it, and the value of the access to your network that a bad guy could gain. At a minimum, business-critical machines like domain controllers, database servers, and print/file servers should always be in a locked room that only people charged with administration and maintenance can access. But you may want to consider protecting other machines as well, and potentially using additional protective measures. If you travel with a laptop, it's absolutely critical that you protect it. The same features that make laptops great to travel with – small size, light weight, and so forth – also make them easy to steal. There are a variety of locks and alarms available for laptops, and some models let you remove the hard drive and carry it with you. You also can use features like the Encrypting File System in Windows 2000 to mitigate the damage if someone succeeded in stealing the computer. But the only way you can know with 100% certainty that your data is safe and the hardware hasn't been tampered with is to keep the laptop on your person at all times while traveling. Law #4: If you allow a bad guy to upload programs to your web site, it's not your web site any more. This is basically Law #1 in reverse. In that scenario, the bad guy tricks his victim into downloading a harmful program onto his machine and running it. In this one, the bad guy uploads a harmful program to a machine and runs it himself. Although this scenario is a danger anytime you allow strangers to connect to your machine, web sites are involved in the overwhelming majority of these cases. Many people who operate web sites are too hospitable for their own good, and allow visitors to upload programs to the site and run them. As we've seen above, unpleasant things can happen if a bad guy's program can run on your machine. If you run a web site, you need to limit what visitors can do. You should only allow a program on your site if you wrote it yourself, or if you trust the developer who wrote it. But that may not be enough. If your web site is one of several hosted on a shared server, you need to be extra careful. If a bad guy can compromise one of the other sites on the server, it's possible he could extend his control to the server itself, in which case he could control all of the sites on it – including yours. If you're on a shared server, it's important to find out what the server administrator's policies are. Law #5: Weak passwords trump strong security. The purpose of having a logon process is to establish who you are. Once the operating system knows who you are, it can grant or deny requests for system resources appropriately. If a bad guy learns your password, he can log on as you. In fact, as far as the operating system is concerned, he is you. Whatever you can do on the system, he can do as well, because he's you. Maybe he wants to read sensitive information you've stored on your computer, like your email. Maybe you have more privileges on the network than he does, and being you will let him do things he normally couldn't. Or maybe he just wants to do something malicious and blame it on you. In any case, it's worth protecting your credentials. Always use a password – it's amazing how many accounts have blank passwords. And choose a complex one. Don't use your dog's name, your anniversary date, or the name of the local football team. And don't use the word â€Å"password†! Pick a password that has a mix of upper- and lower-case letters, number, punctuation marks, and so forth. Make it as long as possible. And change it often. Once you've picked a strong password, handle it appropriately. Don't write it down. If you absolutely must write it down, at the very least keep it in a safe or a locked drawer – the first thing a bad guy who's hunting for passwords will do is check for a yellow sticky note on the side of your screen, or in the top desk drawer. Don't tell anyone what your password is. Remember what Ben Franklin said: two people can keep a secret, but only if one of them is dead. Finally, consider using something stronger than passwords to identify yourself to the system. Windows 2000, for instance, supports the use of smart cards, which significantly strengthens the identity checking the system can perform. You may also want to consider biometric products like fingerprint and retina scanners. Law #6: A machine is only as secure as the administrator is trustworthy. Every computer must have an administrator: someone who can install software, configure the operating system, add and manage user accounts, establish security policies, and handle all the other management tasks associated with keeping a computer up and running. By definition, these tasks require that he have control over the machine. This puts the administrator in a position of unequalled power. An untrustworthy administrator can negate every other security measure you've taken. He can change the permissions on the machine, modify the system security policies, install malicious software, add bogus users, or do any of a million other things. He can subvert virtually any protective measure in the operating system, because he controls it. Worst of all, he can cover his tracks. If you have an untrustworthy administrator, you have absolutely no security. When hiring a system administrator, recognize the position of trust that administrators occupy, and only hire people who warrant that trust. Call his references, and ask them about his previous work record, especially with regard to any security incidents at previous employers. If appropriate for your organization, you may also consider taking a step that banks and other security-conscious companies do, and require that your administrators pass a complete background check at hiring time, and at periodic intervals afterward. Whatever criteria you select, apply them across the board. Don't give anyone administrative privileges on your network unless they've been vetted – and this includes temporary employees and contractors, too. Next, take steps to help keep honest people honest. Use sign-in/sign-out sheets to track who's been in the server room. (You do have a server room with a locked door, right? If not, re-read Law #3). Implement a â€Å"two person† rule when installing or upgrading software. Diversify management tasks as much as possible, as a way of minimizing how much power any one administrator has. Also, don't use the Administrator account – instead, give each administrator a separate account with administrative privileges, so you can tell who's doing what. Finally, consider taking steps to make it more difficult for a rogue administrator to cover his tracks. For instance, store audit data on write-only media, or house System A's audit data on System B, and make sure that the two systems have different administrators. The more accountable your administrators are, the less likely you are to have problems. Law #7: Encrypted data is only as secure as the decryption key. Suppose you installed the biggest, strongest, most secure lock in the world on your front door, but you put the key under the front door mat. It wouldn't really matter how strong the lock is, would it? The critical factor would be the poor way the key was protected, because if a burglar could find it, he'd have everything he needed to open the lock. Encrypted data works the same way – no matter how strong the cryptoalgorithm is, the data is only as safe as the key that can decrypt it. Many operating systems and cryptographic software products give you an option to store cryptographic keys on the computer. The advantage is convenience – you don't have to handle the key – but it comes at the cost of security. The keys are usually obfuscated (that is, hidden), and some of the obfuscation methods are quite good. But in the end, no matter how well-hidden the key is, if it's on the machine it can be found. It has to be – after all, the software can find it, so a sufficiently-motivated bad guy could find it, too. Whenever possible, use offline storage for keys. If the key is a word or phrase, memorize it. If not, export it to a floppy disk, make a backup copy, and store the copies in separate, secure locations. Law #8: An out of date virus scanner is only marginally better than no virus scanner at all. Virus scanners work by comparing the data on your computer against a collection of virus â€Å"signatures†. Each signature is characteristic of a particular virus, and when the scanner finds data in a file, email, or elsewhere that matches the signature, it concludes that it's found a virus. However, a virus scanner can only scan for the viruses it knows about. It's vital that you keep your virus scanner's signature file up to date, as new viruses are created every day. The problem actually goes a bit deeper than this, though. Typically, a new virus will do the greatest amount of damage during the early stages of its life, precisely because few people will be able to detect it. Once word gets around that a new virus is on the loose and people update their virus signatures, the spread of the virus falls off drastically. The key is to get ahead of the curve, and have updated signature files on your machine before the virus hits. Virtually every maker of anti-virus software provides a way to get free updated signature files from their web site. In fact, many have â€Å"push† services, in which they'll send notification every time a new signature file is released. Use these services. Also, keep the virus scanner itself – that is, the scanning software – updated as well. Virus writers periodically develop new techniques that require that the scanners change how they do their work. Law #9: Absolute anonymity isn't practical, in real life or on the web. All human interaction involves exchanging data of some kind. If someone weaves enough of that data together, they can identify you. Think about all the information that a person can glean in just a short conversation with you. In one glance, they can gauge your height, weight, and approximate age. Your accent will probably tell them what country you're from, and may even tell them what region of the country. If you talk about anything other than the weather, you'll probably tell them something about your family, your interests, where you live, and what you do for a living. It doesn't take long for someone to collect enough information to figure out who you are. If you crave absolute anonymity, your best bet is to live in a cave and shun all human contact. The same thing is true of the Internet. If you visit a web site, the owner can, if he's sufficiently motivated, find out who you are. After all, the ones and zeroes that make up the web session have be able to find their way to the right place, and that place is your computer. There are a lot of measures you can take to disguise the bits, and the more of them you use, the more thoroughly the bits will be disguised. For instance, you could use network address translation to mask your actual IP address, subscribe to an anonymizing service that launders the bits by relaying them from one end of the ether to the other, use a different ISP account for different purposes, surf certain sites only from public kiosks, and so on. All of these make it more difficult to determine who you are, but none of them make it impossible. Do you know for certain who operates the anonymizing service? Maybe it's the same person who owns the web site you just visited! Or what about that innocuous web ! site you visited yesterday, that offered to mail you a free $10 off coupon? Maybe the owner is willing to share information with other web site owners. If so, the second web site owner may be able to correlate the information from the two sites and determine who you are. Does this mean that privacy on the web is a lost cause? Not at all. What it means is that the best way to protect your privacy on the Internet is the same as the way you protect your privacy in normal life – through your behavior. Read the privacy statements on the web sites you visit, and only do business with ones whose practices you agree with. If you're worried about cookies, disable them. Most importantly, avoid indiscriminate web surfing – recognize that just as most cities have a bad side of town that's best avoided, the Internet does too. But if it's complete and total anonymity you want, better start looking for that cave. The Art of War Sun-Tzu Wu is the reputed author of the Chinese classic Ping-fa (The Art of War), written approximately 475-221 B. C. Penned at a time when China was divided into six or seven states that often resorted to war with each other in their struggles for supremacy, it is a systematic guide to strategy and tactics for rulers and commanders. In doing business on the Internet during this time of rampant computer viruses and hacker attacks it may be wise for us to follow some of his tactical principles in order to insure the safety of ourselves and our future clients. Know your enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle. In a chilling article entitled Big Brother is Watching Bob Sullivan of MSNBC recounts a tale during a recent visit to London: Only moments after stepping into the Webshack Internet cafe in London†s Soho neighborhood, â€Å"Mark† asked me what I thought of George W. Bush and Al Gore. â€Å"I wouldn†t want Bush running things,† he said. â€Å"Because he can†t run his Web site.† Then he showed me a variety of ways to hack Bush†s Web sites. That was just the beginning of a far-reaching chat during which the group nearly convinced me Big Brother is in fact here in London. â€Å"I don†t know if he can run the free world,† Mark said. â€Å"He can†t keep the Texas banking system computers secure. So-called â€Å"2600† clubs are a kind of hacker â€Å"boy scout† organization – there are local 2600 chapters all around the globe. It is in this environment, and this mindset, that London†s hackers do their work. They do not analyze computer systems and learn how to break them out of spite, or some childish need to destroy: Mark and friends see themselves as merely accumulating knowledge that could be used in self-defense if necessary. They are the citizen†s militia, the Freedom Fighters of the Information Age, trying to stay one step ahead of technology that could one day be turned against them. Jon-K Adams in his treatise entitled Hacker Ideology (aka Hacking Freedom) states that hackers have been called both techno-revolutionaries and heroes of the computer revolution. Hacking â€Å"has become a cultural icon about decentralized power.† But for all that, hackers are reluctant rebels. They prefer to fight with code than with words. And they would rather appear on the net than at a news conference. Status in the hacker world cannot be granted by the general public: it takes a hacker to know and appreciate a hacker. That's part of the hacker's revolutionary reluctance; the other part is the news media's slant toward sensationalism, such as, â€Å"A cyberspace dragnet snared fugitive hacker.† The public tends to think of hacking as synonymous with computer crime, with breaking into computers and stealing and destroying valuable data. As a result of this tabloid mentality, the hacker attempts to fade into the digital world, where he-and it is almost always he-has a place if not a! In his self-conception, the hacker is not a criminal, but rather a â€Å"person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities.† Which means that he is not necessarily a computer geek. The hacker defines himself in terms that extend beyond the computer, as an â€Å"expert or enthusiast of any kind. One might be an astronomy hacker† (Jargon File). So in the broadest sense of his self-conception, the hacker hacks knowledge; he wants to know how things work, and the computer-the prototypical programmable system-simply offers more complexity and possibility, and thus more fascination, than most other things. >From this perspective, hacking appears to be a harmless if nerdish enthusiasm. But at the same time, this seemingly innocent enthusiasm is animated by an ideology that leads to a conflict with civil authority. The hacker is motivated by the belief that the search for knowledge is an end in itself and should be unrestricted. But invariably, when a hacker explores programmable systems, he encounters barriers that bureaucracies impose in the name of security. For the hacker, these security measures become arbitrary limits placed on his exploration, or in cases that often lead to confrontation, they become the focus of further explorations: for the hacker, security measures simply represent a more challenging programmable system. As a result, when a hacker explores such systems, he hacks knowledge, but ideologically he hacks the freedom to access knowledge. Political hackers are another group considering themselves modern freedom fighters. â€Å"Hacktivists† have officially moved from nerdish extremists to become the political protest visionaries of the digital age, a meeting at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London was told on Thursday. Paul Mobbs, an experienced Internet activist and anti-capitalist protestor, will tell attendees that the techniques used by politically minded computer hackers — from jamming corporate networks and sending email viruses to defacing Web sites — has moved into the realm of political campaigning. Mobbs says that the term â€Å"Hacktivism† has been adopted by so many different groups, from peaceful Net campaigners to Internet hate groups, that it is essentially meaningless, but claims that Internet protest is here to stay. â€Å"It has a place, whether people like it or not,† says Mobbs. Steve Mizrach in his 1997 dissertation entitled Is there a Hacker Ethic for 90s Hackers? delves into this subject in great detail. He describes the divergent groups of hackers and explains their modus operandi: I define the computer underground as members of the following six groups. Sometimes I refer to the CU as â€Å"90s hackers† or â€Å"new hackers,† as opposed to old hackers, who are hackers (old sense of the term) from the 60s who subscribed to the original Hacker Ethic.  § Hackers (Crackers, system intruders) – These are people who attempt to penetrate security systems on remote computers. This is the new sense of the term, whereas the old sense of the term simply referred to a person who was capable of creating hacks, or elegant, unusual, and unexpected uses of technology. Typical magazines (both print and online) read by hackers include 2600 and Iron Feather Journal.  § Phreaks (Phone Phreakers, Blue Boxers) – These are people who attempt to use technology to explore and/or control the telephone system. Originally, this involved the use of â€Å"blue boxes† or tone generators, but as the phone company began using digital instead of electro-mechanical switches, the phreaks became more like hackers. Typical magazines read by Phreaks include Phrack, Line Noize, and New Fone Express.  § Virus writers (also, creators of Trojans, worms, logic bombs) – These are people who write code which attempts to a) reproduce itself on other systems without authorization and b) often has a side effect, whether that be to display a message, play a prank, or trash a hard drive. Agents and spiders are essentially ‘benevolent' virii, raising the question of how underground this activity really is. Typical magazines read by Virus writers include 40HEX.  § Pirates – Piracy is sort of a non-technical matter. Originally, it involved breaking copy protection on software, and this activity was called â€Å"cracking.† Nowadays, few software vendors use copy protection, but there are still various minor measures used to prevent the unauthorized duplication of software. Pirates devote themselves to thwarting these things and sharing commercial software freely with their friends. They usually read Pirate Newsletter and Pirate magazine.  § Cypherpunks (cryptoanarchists) – Cypherpunks freely distribute the tools and methods for making use of strong encryption, which is basically unbreakable except by massive supercomputers. Because the NSA and FBI cannot break strong encryption (which is the basis of the PGP or Pretty Good Privacy), programs that employ it are classified as munitions, and distribution of algorithms that make use of it is a felony. Some cryptoanarchists advocate strong encryption as a tool to completely evade the State, by preventing any access whatsoever to financial or personal information. They typically read the Cypherpunks mailing list.  § Anarchists – are committed to distributing illegal (or at least morally suspect) information, including but not limited to data on bombmaking, lockpicking, pornography, drug manufacturing, pirate radio, and cable and satellite TV piracy. In this parlance of the computer underground, anarchists are less likely to advocate the overthrow of government than the simple refusal to obey restrictions on distributing information. They tend to read Cult of the Dead Cow (CDC) and Activist Times Incorporated (ATI).  § Cyberpunk – usually some combination of the above, plus interest in technological self-modification, science fiction of the Neuromancer genre, and interest in hardware hacking and â€Å"street tech.† A youth subculture in its own right, with some overlaps with the â€Å"modern primitive† and â€Å"raver† subcultures. So should we fear these geeky little mischief-makers? The New York Post revealed recently that a busboy allegedly managed to steal millions of dollars from the world†s richest people by stealing their identities and tricking credit agencies and brokerage firms. In his article describing this event Bob Sullivan says, â€Å"Abraham Abdallah, I think, did us all a favor, for he has exposed as a sham the security at the world†s most important financial institutions.† The same two free e-mail addresses were used to request financial transfers for six different wealthy Merrill Lynch clients, according to the Post story. Merrill Lynch didn†t notice? Why would Merrill accept any transfer requests, indeed take any financial communication seriously at all, from a free, obviously unverified anonymous e-mail account? I†m alarmed by the checks and balances that must be in place at big New York brokerage firms. Rather than being a story about a genius who almost got away, this is simply one more story of easy identity theft amid a tidal wave of similar crimes. The Federal Trade Commission has received 40,000 complaints of identity theft since it started keeping track two years ago, but the agency is certain that represents only a fraction of real victims. This is a serious problem, long ignored by the industry. If fact, just last year the credit industry beat back a congressional bill known as The Identity Theft Protection Act, claiming it would be too expensive for them. â€Å"Clearly there has to be more leveling of the playing field. We have to hold banks and credit unions accountable.† Last month the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was again warning electronic-commerce Web sites to patch their Windows-based systems to protect their data against hackers. The FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) has coordinated investigations over the past several months into organized hacker activities targeting e-commerce sites. More than 40 victims in 20 states have been identified in the ongoing investigations, which have included law enforcement agencies outside the United States and private sector officials. The investigations have uncovered several organized hacker groups from Russia, the Ukraine, and elsewhere in Eastern Europe that have penetrated U.S. e-commerce and online banking computer systems by exploiting vulnerabilities in the Windows NT operating system, the statement said. Microsoft has released patches for these vulnerabilities, which can be downloaded from Microsoft's Web site for free. Once the hackers gain access, they download proprietary information, customer databases, and credit card information, according to the FBI. The hackers subsequently contact the company and attempt to extort money by offering to patch the system and by offering to protect the company's systems from exploitation by other hackers. The hackers tell the victim that without their services they cannot guarantee that other hackers will not access their networks and post stolen credit card information and details about the site's security vulnerability on the Internet. If the company does not pay or hire the group for its security services, the threats escalate, the FBI said. Investigators also believe that in some instances the credit card information is being sold to organized crime groups. Defend yourself when you cannot defeat the enemy, and attack the enemy when you can. Scott Culp in a detailed list of security precautions on Microsoft†s Web page suggests that there are ten immutable laws of security. Law #1: If a bad guy can persuade you to run his program on your computer, it's not your computer anymore. It's an unfortunate fact of computer science: when a computer program runs, it will do what it's programmed to do, even if it's programmed to be harmful. When you choose to run a program, you are making a decision to turn over control of your computer to it. That's why it's important to never run, or even download, a program from an untrusted source – and by â€Å"source†, I mean the person who wrote it, not the person who gave it to you. Law #2: If a bad guy can alter the operating system on your computer, it's not your computer anymore. In the end, an operating system is just a series of ones and zeroes that, when interpreted by the processor, cause the machine to do certain things. Change the ones and zeroes, and it will do something different. To understand why, consider that operating system files are among the most trusted ones on the computer, and they generally run with system-level privileges. That is, they can do absolutely anything. Among other things, they're trusted to manage user accounts, handle password changes, and enforce the rules governing who can do what on the computer. If a bad guy can change them, the now-untrustworthy files will do his bidding, and there's no limit to what he can do. He can steal passwords, make himself an administrator on the machine, or add entirely new functions to the operating system. To prevent this type of attack, make sure that the system files (and the registry! , for that matter) are well protected. Law #3: If a bad guy has unrestricted physical access to your computer, it's not your computer anymore. He could mount the ultimate low-tech denial of service attack, and smash your computer with a sledgehammer.  § He could unplug the computer, haul it out of your building, and hold it for ransom.  § He could boot the computer from a floppy disk, and reformat your hard drive. But wait, you say, I've configured the BIOS on my computer to prompt for a password when I turn the power on. No problem – if he can open the case and get his hands on the system hardware, he could just replace the BIOS chips. (Actually, there are even easier ways).  § He could remove the hard drive from your computer, install it into his computer, and read it.  § He could make a duplicate of your hard drive and take it back his lair. Once there, he'd have all the time in the world to conduct brute-force attacks, such as trying every possible logon password. Programs are available to automate this and, given enough time, it's almost certain that he would succeed. Once that happens, Laws #1 and #2 above apply  § He could replace your keyboard with one that contains a radio transmitter. He could then monitor everything you type, including your password. Always make sure that a computer is physically protected in a way that's consistent with its value – and remember that the value of a machine includes not only the value of the hardware itself, but the value of the data on it, and the value of the access to your network that a bad guy could gain. At a minimum, business-critical machines like domain controllers, database servers, and print/file servers should always be in a locked room that only people charged with administration and maintenance can access. But you may want to consider protecting other machines as well, and potentially using additional protective measures. If you travel with a laptop, it's absolutely critical that you protect it. The same features that make laptops great to travel with – small size, light weight, and so forth – also make them easy to steal. There are a variety of locks and alarms available for laptops, and some models let you remove the hard drive and carry it with you. You also can use features like the Encrypting File System in Windows 2000 to mitigate the damage if someone succeeded in stealing the computer. But the only way you can know with 100% certainty that your data is safe and the hardware hasn't been tampered with is to keep the laptop on your person at all times while traveling. Law #4: If you allow a bad guy to upload programs to your web site, it's not your web site any more. This is basically Law #1 in reverse. In that scenario, the bad guy tricks his victim into downloading a harmful program onto his machine and running it. In this one, the bad guy uploads a harmful program to a machine and runs it himself. Although this scenario is a danger anytime you allow strangers to connect to your machine, web sites are involved in the overwhelming majority of these cases. Many people who operate web sites are too hospitable for their own good, and allow visitors to upload programs to the site and run them. As we've seen above, unpleasant things can happen if a bad guy's program can run on your machine. If you run a web site, you need to limit what visitors can do. You should only allow a program on your site if you wrote it yourself, or if you trust the developer who wrote it. But that may not be enough. If your web site is one of several hosted on a shared server, you need to be extra careful. If a bad guy can compromise one of the other sites on the server, it's possible he could extend his control to the server itself, in which case he could control all of the sites on it – including yours. If you're on a shared server, it's important to find out what the server administrator's policies are. Law #5: Weak passwords trump strong security. The purpose of having a logon process is to establish who you are. Once the operating system knows who you are, it can grant or deny requests for system resources appropriately. If a bad guy learns your password, he can log on as you. In fact, as far as the operating system is concerned, he is you. Whatever you can do on the system, he can do as well, because he's you. Maybe he wants to read sensitive information you've stored on your computer, like your email. Maybe you have more privileges on the network than he does, and being you will let him do things he normally couldn't. Or maybe he just wants to do something malicious and blame it on you. In any case, it's worth protecting your credentials. Always use a password – it's amazing how many accounts have blank passwords. And choose a complex one. Don't use your dog's name, your anniversary date, or the name of the local football team. And don't use the word â€Å"password†! Pick a password that has a mix of upper- and lower-case letters, number, punctuation marks, and so forth. Make it as long as possible. And change it often. Once you've picked a strong password, handle it appropriately. Don't write it down. If you absolutely must write it down, at the very least keep it in a safe or a locked drawer – the first thing a bad guy who's hunting for passwords will do is check for a yellow sticky note on the side of your screen, or in the top desk drawer. Don't tell anyone what your password is. Remember what Ben Franklin said: two people can keep a secret, but only if one of them is dead. Finally, consider using something stronger than passwords to identify yourself to the system. Windows 2000, for instance, supports the use of smart cards, which significantly strengthens the identity checking the system can perform. You may also want to consider biometric products like fingerprint and retina scanners. Law #6: A machine is only as secure as the administrator is trustworthy. Every computer must have an administrator: someone who can install software, configure the operating system, add and manage user accounts, establish security policies, and handle all the other management tasks associated with keeping a computer up and running. By definition, these tasks require that he have control over the machine. This puts the administrator in a position of unequalled power. An untrustworthy administrator can negate every other security measure you've taken. He can change the permissions on the machine, modify the system security policies, install malicious software, add bogus users, or do any of a million other things. He can subvert virtually any protective measure in the operating system, because he controls it. Worst of all, he can cover his tracks. If you have an untrustworthy administrator, you have absolutely no security. When hiring a system administrator, recognize the position of trust that administrators occupy, and only hire people who warrant that trust. Call his references, and ask them about his previous work record, especially with regard to any security incidents at previous employers. If appropriate for your organization, you may also consider taking a step that banks and other security-conscious companies do, and require that your administrators pass a complete background check at hiring time, and at periodic intervals afterward. Whatever criteria you select, apply them across the board. Don't give anyone administrative privileges on your network unless they've been vetted – and this includes temporary employees and contractors, too. Next, take steps to help keep honest people honest. Use sign-in/sign-out sheets to track who's been in the server room. (You do have a server room with a locked door, right? If not, re-read Law #3). Implement a â€Å"two person† rule when installing or upgrading software. Diversify management tasks as much as possible, as a way of minimizing how much power any one administrator has. Also, don't use the Administrator account – instead, give each administrator a separate account with administrative privileges, so you can tell who's doing what. Finally, consider taking steps to make it more difficult for a rogue administrator to cover his tracks. For instance, store audit data on write-only media, or house System A's audit data on System B, and make sure that the two systems have different administrators. The more accountable your administrators are, the less likely you are to have problems. Law #7: Encrypted data is only as secure as the decryption key. Suppose you installed the biggest, strongest, most secure lock in the world on your front door, but you put the key under the front door mat. It wouldn't really matter how strong the lock is, would it? The critical factor would be the poor way the key was protected, because if a burglar could find it, he'd have everything he needed to open the lock. Encrypted data works the same way – no matter how strong the cryptoalgorithm is, the data is only as safe as the key that can decrypt it. Many operating systems and cryptographic software products give you an option to store cryptographic keys on the computer. The advantage is convenience – you don't have to handle the key – but it comes at the cost of security. The keys are usually obfuscated (that is, hidden), and some of the obfuscation methods are quite good. But in the end, no matter how well-hidden the key is, if it's on the machine it can be found. It has to be – after all, the software can find it, so a sufficiently-motivated bad guy could find it, too. Whenever possible, use offline storage for keys. If the key is a word or phrase, memorize it. If not, export it to a floppy disk, make a backup copy, and store the copies in separate, secure locations. Law #8: An out of date virus scanner is only marginally better than no virus scanner at all. Virus scanners work by comparing the data on your computer against a collection of virus â€Å"signatures†. Each signature is characteristic of a particular virus, and when the scanner finds data in a file, email, or elsewhere that matches the signature, it concludes that it's found a virus. However, a virus scanner can only scan for the viruses it knows about. It's vital that you keep your virus scanner's signature file up to date, as new viruses are created every day. The problem actually goes a bit deeper than this, though. Typically, a new virus will do the greatest amount of damage during the early stages of its life, precisely because few people will be able to detect it. Once word gets around that a new virus is on the loose and people update their virus signatures, the spread of the virus falls off drastically. The key is to get ahead of the curve, and have updated signature files on your machine before the virus hits. Virtually every maker of anti-virus software provides a way to get free updated signature files from their web site. In fact, many have â€Å"push† services, in which they'll send notification every time a new signature file is released. Use these services. Also, keep the virus scanner itself – that is, the scanning software – updated as well. Virus writers periodically develop new techniques that require that the scanners change how they do their work. Law #9: Absolute anonymity isn't practical, in real life or on the web. All human interaction involves exchanging data of some kind. If someone weaves enough of that data together, they can identify you. Think about all the information that a person can glean in just a short conversation with you. In one glance, they can gauge your height, weight, and approximate age. Your accent will probably tell them what country you're from, and may even tell them what region of the country. If you talk about anything other than the weather, you'll probably tell them something about your family, your interests, where you live, and what you do for a living. It doesn't take long for someone to collect enough information to figure out who you are. If you crave absolute anonymity, your best bet is to live in a cave and shun all human contact. The same thing is true of the Internet. If you visit a web site, the owner can, if he's sufficiently motivated, find out who you are. After all, the ones and zeroes that make up the web session have be able to find their way to the right place, and that place is your computer. There are a lot of measures you can take to disguise the bits, and the more of them you use, the more thoroughly the bits will be disguised. For instance, you could use network address translation to mask your actual IP address, subscribe to an anonymizing service that launders the bits by relaying them from one end of the ether to the other, use a different ISP account for different purposes, surf certain sites only from public kiosks, and so on. All of these make it more difficult to determine who you are, but none of them make it impossible. Do you know for certain who operates the anonymizing service? Maybe it's the same person who owns the web site you just visited! Or what about that innocuous web ! site you visited yesterday, that offered to mail you a free $10 off coupon? Maybe the owner is willing to share information with other web site owners. If so, the second web site owner may be able to correlate the information from the two sites and determine who you are. Does this mean that privacy on the web is a lost cause? Not at all. What it means is that the best way to protect your privacy on the Internet is the same as the way you protect your privacy in normal life – through your behavior. Read the privacy statements on the web sites you visit, and only do business with ones whose practices you agree with. If you're worried about cookies, disable them. Most importantly, avoid indiscriminate web surfing – recognize that just as most cities have a bad side of town that's best avoided, the Internet does too. But if it's complete and total anonymity you want, better start looking for that cave.