Preparing for and Responding to Ransomware

With the financial returns on ransomware growing north of a $1 billion for cybercriminals, IBM anticipates it and other extortion schemes will continue to grow. Both businesses and consumers can take some steps to help defend themselves from ransomware. IBM X-Force experts recommend the following tips to protect yourself and your business:

Be Vigilant: If an email looks too good to be true, it probably is. Be cautious when opening attachments and clicking links.

Backup Your Data: Plan and maintain regular backup routines. Ensure that backups are secure, and not constantly connected or mapped to the live network. Test your backups regularly to verify their integrity and usability in case of emergency.

Disable Macros: Document macros have been a common infection vector for ransomware in 2016. Macros from email and documents should be disabled by default to avoid infection.

Patch and Purge: Maintain regular software updates for all devices, including operating systems and apps. Update any software you use often and delete applications you rarely access.

 

28.Read experts predictions about future of cybersecurity. Discuss in pairs which prediction is the most feasible one. Are there any statements that you disagree with?

1) The proliferation of IoT and digitization into our day to day life, everyone and everything will become a potential target (like watches, mobile devices, television, kitchen appliances, etc) in the coming future.

2) Ransomware will remain a major and rapidly growing threat. Attacks will get more personal as cyber extortionists will devise new ways to target victims.

3) The automotive industry will face vehicle cyber attacks. The various electrical components in a vehicle are connected by means of an internal network and if hackers gain access to a peripheral electronic control unit, they could take complete control of safety critical components such as engines or brakes.

4) AI, machine learning along with big data will work in sync to form a powerful technology stack to help businesses identify and reduce bottlenecks in their cyber security plans to battle ever-evolving attacks in digital world.

5) The consultancy Frost and Sullivan estimates, worldwide by 2020, there will be 1.5 million more security jobs than skilled people to fill them. So, cybersecurity is likely to decrease.

29. Discuss in a small group which cybercrimes are the gravest (the most serious ones), offer an appropriate punishment and ways to prevent this crime. Present your ideas to the class.

Crime	Punishment	Ways to prevent it

 

30. Statistics. Ask one of the following questions to all the members of your group. Present the results of your poll.

1. Find out how many people in a group have been victims of cyber criminals? Which crimes?

2. Find out how many people in a group have ever committed a cybercrime? Which crimes?

3. Find out how many people in a group suppose that cyber security problem will get worse? Why?

4. Find out how many people in a group suppose that cyber security problem will be solved in the coming future? How?

5. Find out how many people in a group is going to work in cyber security? Which sphere?

6. Find out how many people in a group want to legalize cyber piracy? Why?

7. Find out how many people in a group are concerned about their data security and update their antivirus regularly? How often?

8. Find out how many people in a group think that governments have the right to censor materials on the Internet?

31. Surf the Internet to find out the information about the latest cybercrimes. Get prepared with a short story about this crime (7-10 sentences). Describe: when the crime was committed, who committed it, what the punishment was.

UNIT 13

NEW HORIZONS IN IT & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

1. Read about tech innovations expected in the nearest future.

To predict future isn’t an easy task, but every year many lists containing technological innovations are published. Some of them dealing with IT and communications are listed below:

1. Reality Technologies: Augmented Reality

2. Internet of Things

3. Big Data

4. Artificial Intelligence

5. Quantum Computer

 

2. Explain which of the technological innovations you find the most interesting one?

3. Look through the texts 1-5 and find short descriptions/ definitions of every technology listed above.

4. Find the meanings of unknown words in the dictionary. Use the online dictionaries www.multitran.ru or www.context.reverso.net

Part I. TEXT

5. Read and translate the text:

TEXT 1. Reality Technologies: Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality can be described as an enhanced version of reality where live direct or indirect views of physical real-world environments are augmented with superimposed computer-generated images over a user's view of the real-world, thus enhancing one’s current perception of reality. The origin of the word augmented is augment, which means to add or enhance something. In the case of Augmented Reality (also called AR), graphics, sounds, and touch feedback are added into our natural world to create an enhanced user experience.

Unlike virtual reality, which requires you to inhabit an entirely virtual environment, augmented reality uses your existing natural environment and simply overlays virtual information on top of it. As both virtual and real worlds harmoniously coexist, users of augmented reality experience a new and improved natural world where virtual information is used as a tool to provide assistance in everyday activities.

Applications of augmented reality can be as simple as a text-notification or as complicated as an instruction on how to perform a life-threatening surgical procedure. They can highlight certain features, enhance understandings, and provide accessible and timely data. Cell phones apps and business applications by companies using augmented reality are a few of the many applications driving augmented reality application development.

Augmented realities can be displayed on a wide variety of displays, from screens and monitors, to handheld devices or glasses. Google Glass and other head-up displays (HUD) put augmented reality directly onto your face, usually in the form of glasses. Handheld devices employ small displays that fit in users hands, including smartphones and tablets. As reality technologies continue to advance, augmented reality devices will gradually require less hardware and start being applied to things like contact lenses and virtual retinal displays.

Sensors and cameras are known to be key components to Augmented Reality devices. Sensors are usually on the outside of the augmented reality device, and gather a user's real world interactions and communicate them to be processed and interpreted. Cameras are also located on the outside of the device, and visually scan to collect data about the surrounding area.

Augmented reality devices are basically mini-supercomputers packed into tiny wearable devices. These devices require significant computer processing power and utilize many of the same components that our smartphones do. These components include a CPU, a GPU, flash memory, RAM, Bluetooth/WiFi microchip, GPS microchip, and more. Advanced augmented reality devices, such as the Microsoft Hololens utilize an accelerometer (to measure the speed in which your head is moving), a gyroscope (to measure the tilt and orientation of your head), and a magnetometer (to function as a compass and figure out which direction your head is pointing) to provide for truly immersive experience.

Reality applications are practically limitless in terms of applicability and have the ability to play a vital role in all aspects of life. These reality technologies will change the way we consume information and entertainment, communicate, express and share creativity, and conduct business. Cases where this revolutionary technology is currently being applied to include aviation for flight training and pilot assistance, business to increase workplace productivity, communication, design, education, surgery, entertainment, gaming, and more.

 

6. Read and translate the text:

TEXT 2. Internet of Things

Internet of Things (IoT) is defined as the interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data. The Internet of Things refers to the ever-growing network of physical objects that feature an IP address for Internet connectivity, and the communication that occurs between these objects and other Internet-enabled devices and systems.

 The Internet of Things is a difficult concept to define precisely. In fact, there are many different groups that have defined the term, although its initial use has been attributed to Kevin Ashton, an expert on digital innovation. Each definition shares the idea that the first version of the Internet was about data created by people, while the next version is about data created by things. In 1999, Ashton said it best in this quote from an article in the RFID Journal: "If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things - using data they gathered without any help from us - we would be able to track and count everything, and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost. We would know when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling, and whether they were fresh or past their best”.

Although the concept wasn't named until 1999, the Internet of Things has been in development for decades. The first Internet appliance, for example, was a Coke machine at Carnegie Melon University in the early 1980s. The programmers could connect to the machine over the Internet, check the status of the machine and determine whether or not there would be a cold drink awaiting them, should they decide to make the trip down to the machine.

The Internet of Things extends Internet connectivity beyond traditional devices like desktop and laptop computers, smartphones and tablets to a diverse range of devices and everyday things that utilize embedded technology to communicate and interact with the external environment, all via the Internet. Examples of objects that can fall into the scope of Internet of Things include connected security systems, thermostats, cars, electronic appliances and lights in household and commercial environments, alarm clocks, speaker systems, vending machines and more. As far as the reach of the Internet of Things, there are more than 12 billion devices that can currently connect to the Internet, and researchers at IDC estimate that by 2020 there will be 26 times more connected things than people.

IoT is a computing concept that describes a future where everyday physical objects will be connected to the Internet and be able to identify themselves to other devices. The term is closely identified with RFID as the method of communication, although it also may include other sensor technologies, wireless technologies or QR codes. The IoT is significant because an object that can represent itself digitally becomes something greater than the object by itself. No longer does the object relate just to you, but is now connected to surrounding objects and database data. When many objects act in unison, they are known as having "ambient intelligence." Most of us think about being connected in terms of computers, tablets and smartphones. IoT describes a world where just about anything can be connected and communicate in an intelligent fashion. In other words, with the Internet of Things, the physical world is becoming one big information system.

Internet of Things (IoT) is a scenario in which objects, animals or people are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. IoT has evolved from the convergence of wireless technologies, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and the Internet. A thing, in the Internet of Things, can be a person with a heart monitor implant, a farm animal with a biochip transponder, an automobile that has built-in sensors to alert the driver when tire pressure is low or any other natural or man-made object that can be assigned an IP address and provided with the ability to transfer data over a network. So far, the Internet of Things has been most closely associated with machine-to-machine (M2M) communication in manufacturing and power, oil and gas utilities. Products built with M2M communication capabilities are often referred to as being smart.

The Internet of Things has long been talked about amongst tech insiders as the next big innovation in home technology. In recent years, IoT has begun carve a niche for itself in everyday life with the growing adoption of systems like Google’s Home and Amazon’s Alexa. These devices will continue to integrate more aspects of the home into one harmonious system by utilizing the internet, allowing a user to control anything from the air conditioning to their security via voice command and a small personal assistant. Apple has announced its plans to roll out the HomePod this year and Samsung is reportedly working on their Bixby technology in order to compete with the success of the Google and Amazon systems. You can expect that one of these devices will be simplifying life in your home and the homes around you by 2020.

 

7. Read and translate the text: