Professor suggests Internet usage risks
The Internet holds a grudge, said Chad Mano, computer science assistant professor, at the Science Unwrapped activity Friday.
Mano was speaking on Internet safety, and gave the warning to everyone that things that you post on the Internet, are there to stay. Mano’s lecture was on the Internet, its history, and how people, especially students, could remain safe on the Internet.
Most people know what the Internet is, and have used it, and this is true of students as well. Mano said that those who develop software and manage security are known as white hats and those who use the Internet to harm others, whether through mockery or causing actual damage, are known as black hats. Mano set out to teach the people attending how they can be safer online through a series of lessons.
The first lesson was “people on the Internet are not always who they seem to be.”
Mano said “parents need to talk to your kids about only communicating with people on the Internet who you know, that you’ve met face to face.”
Mano continued on to a second lesson, citing examples of how posting material on the Internet can cause problems for you in your life. He said the Internet does not forget anything.
“People have lost jobs, people have been kicked out of schools, they’ve lost scholarships, other people’s lives have been ruined,” he said.
This is important because the things you post now may seem innocent, but may come back to haunt you in the future, Mano said.
Mano asked those attending to be careful when posting because it will likely be somewhere in cyberspace forever. Mano then continued into a mini-lesson of sorts. He asked if the audience thought that the things that are happening on the Internet today was the intent of the creators of the original ARPANET.
He said, “Nobody could have predicted that the ARPANET project with its humble beginnings would lead to new ways to torment our society.” Mano then moved onto wireless Internet. He said a wireless network is like a quarterback who shouts out plays. Mano said that like a good quarterback, a wireless network uses codes to protect the information that it sends. Personal networks need to be hidden, and a WPA, WPA2, or TKIP encryption can protect the information that you send.
“Just getting your computer systems to work isn’t good enough, you have to get them to work securely,” Mano said. “Learn all that you can to keep you can to keep yourself safe online.”
After Mano was done speaking there were activities that exhibited work from the computer science department, as well as activities related to the lecture and Internet safety. At one of the booths, Cache County sheriff, Sergeant Paul Todd, handed out booklets with information on how parents can do more to keep their children safe on the Internet. Most people don’t have a lot of experience on how to protect themselves, Todd said, so the information we are providing is simple enough that parents can use it to protect themselves and their families.
“Identity theft has become so common,” Todd said, “that we have formulated an identity theft packet that each of the deputy sheriffs carry when somebody files a complaint we actually hand them this packet with all the information that we’ll need and they’ll need.”
Holly Flann, a high school student attending the event, said that it was interesting to learn about the social aspect of the Internet and the problems that exist, but that she already knew about the more technical side of the Internet.
Science Unwrapped events are generally held on the last Friday of every month at 7 p.m. More information can be found at http://www.usu.edu/unwrapped/. –
randall.henry@aggiemail.usu.edu