Saturday, October 10, 2009

The Digital World and Security







The new age reality that plagues our generation is compacted in every digital device known to mankind. Digitization has replaced tradition; classes can be held online via webcams, movies can now be seen in the palm of our hands and hundreds of files which once needed many filing cabinets are easily stored on a device the size of your finger. This is the reality in which we live, and everyone from four to one hundred and four years of age is moving with the ever changing trends of the rapidly growing digital world.

The digital world has made our lives easy, by having information and entertainment at our finger tips. However, it has also given us its share of problems from systems crashing to the very frightening identity theft. Has the digital age eased our day to day troubles by replacing them with lifetime horrors?


Living a fair distance from school I’m privileged to experience the task of commuting, which allows me to observe the practices of the variety of people that make up our country. One particular practice that is recurrent is one also practiced by myself, and one many can relate to. Immediately after boarding a vehicle I take out my iPod and block out the world around. This action is one practiced by every teen or young adult in society today. Last week I travelled with two cousins and a friend we occupied the entire back seat of a 24 seat maxi-taxi, and all four travelled to Port of Spain from Sangre Grande in our own world via iPod entertainment. This said practice caused the untimely death of a young man last week. He was stabbed during a robbery in which a teenager stole his cell-phone.

The lifetime horrors caused by the very popular digital world via which you read this article does not always end with DEATH, instead it leaves many in DEBT.

For many, the creation of online banking was a blessing; no more long lines, traffic and risk of being robbed. However, this blessing has left many others wishing they had stood in line instead, with their bag of money. Identity thieves and online hackers have replaced the ordinary bandit that prowls outside banks, instead these master minds crawl through your internet usage like “spiders” searching for “cookies”.

A recent report from the security firm Finjan highlighted how a Ukrainian gang stole 300,000 euros in 22 days via a Trojan virus which they released on the internet.

So…How safe is the digital era? Are we better off with information at our finger tips?

Or should we “bring back the ole time days”?



11 comments:

  1. you make very interesting points on the disadvantages of digitalization, espeacially the one about blocking yourself out from the world by using your ipod instead of socializing (i can relate to this point, seeing that i do this every weekday morning on my way to school instead of bonding with my sister). i think that people should not close themselves out totally from technology but use it in moderation instead. An example of someone who uses technology more than i would reccomend is my old teacher who used an ipod everytime he was not cheating and sent our grades and homework via the internet. when their computer broke down, it created a variety of problems for the class (not to mention students with no internet access)

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  2. sorry. cheating should be replaced with TEACHING!!

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  3. very interesting article...it really shows us how technology has evolved over the years.
    You are right...seeing that i spend more time vegging out on my ipod than i do talking to my dad. But, you must also look at the positive side of technology, such as the complex world of modern medicine, which saves peoples' lives and literally works miracles all the time . Computers too, allow us to keep in touch with the world, connecting the globe by a thick web of mass communication. I mean...look at it...can you seriously live without a computer??

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  4. Brilliant information, well collated. Good to see that the present New Generation is sensitized to such an atrocious act of privacy and are not merely lemmings, eager to be fed what ever is put in front ones faces. To question is a good thing, to ensure you get answers when it concerns your privacy even better. Read carefully before you click is what I get from it all. Do we allow others to control our movements or do we take charge, even if it means being 'un-popular'? Brilliant work Media Callaloo. Keep it coming. I'm posting this to...guess where...better use it for some kind of informative use.

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  5. Good day all, thank you for the comments. We are pleased to know that our entries have served the purpose of informing you about the dangers that lurk on the ever famous Web.
    Please look for more Media spice in the coming week.
    ps. we would like to be able to address our guests so please comment via a name, or user ID.
    Thank You

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  6. vandana mohit13/10/09 8:17 AM

    Hard core information here!Well done!Many of us try to deny that modernization or new technology does not control us.But your example of the ipod shows it all.This is so since we have our own choice,for example we don't want to listen to the music the maxi driver is playing but we prefer to switch on our ipod to listen to the music we WANT.Hence it is very difficult to turn back to the old days since life is now much easier with these devices.However, at the same time we must be very carefull........

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  7. this is so true...many people nowadays cannot leave home without their cell phones, laptops, PDA's or some other type of electronic device to keep them in the loop .....if this happens they feel disconnected from the rest of the world . Every second, someone, somewhere, is logging on to the internet, either checking emails, doing research, or simply keeping in touch with friends and other loved ones...nice video..very informative.

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  8. Very informative, opened my eyes to a lot of stuff I wont imagine ever happening online, I am aware to these facts now so I am protected from the forces out there, but there are s lot of peopl out there who don't kno and are vulnerble to attacks from predetors and others!

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  9. I think this is what our youths especially, need to be aware off. They are too suseptible to easiest cool comment and forget that they often don't know who is on the other side of the computer - the devil himself hummm!!!

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  10. very informative, your article identifies how our lives have change to total dependence on gadgets, no longer we write on personal stationery and keep letters from our love ones. Oh how i feel the need to write. do we still have post offices?

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  11. i guess because the human mind yerns to know the unknown is why people feel that they should do certain things

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