Chapter 8 Article: Fake security software scammers jump on Conficker

The article I chose warns consumers about the risk involved with downloading software even if it is supposed to be helping you get rid of malware on your computer. This article specifically talks about a worm called Conficker that has recently infected 3 to 10 million PCs worldwide. “Those controlling Conficker have yet to use it for malicious purposes, but the vast number of machines that are infected means the botnet could be capable of devastating denial-of-service attacks, spam campaigns or widespread data theft.” (Kirk, 2009)

Since the worm has gotten into so many users computers and is potentially very dangerous all who know they are infected are looking to get rid of the worm which brings up the main issue in the article; hackers trying to make a quick buck or infect more PCs through fake security software. Hackers have been getting into Google’s search engine and creating websites full of search terms that lead these unsuspecting and Conficker infected PC users to software they think will eliminate the worm from their machine but realize once they pay for the downloadable software that it does not get rid of the problem and now not only are their computers infected but they are out around $40. The article goes on to say that the fake software will ask the user to download software to scan for the worm. When the scan occurs and the fake software discovers a worm is not present on the user’s computer it prompts the user to actually download the worm. The user will do this willingly because on their side the software has told them that they are infected.

This article ties in perfectly with chapter 8 and its emphasis on computer user’s vulnerability. The chapter warns about the dangers and capabilities hackers posses and teaches ways to avoid being so susceptible to malware. In this case Conficker got into computers by taking advantage of flaws in Microsoft Windows server services or by brute force through weak passwords. After reading the chapter and knowing the dangers of these threats we can set stronger passwords and also not be so quick to download from an unreliable source.

The more I learn in this class the more weary I become of using technologies and having my personal information available to people through these portals however if we take the right precautions as chapter 8 directs us to we may be a bit better off. The only way to completely protect ourselves from these types of attacks is to take out the technologies in our lives altogether, however it is in no way realistic. I barely even talk on the phone at my office. Everything is done via e-mail and I love it because it is so convenient and efficient. We do though need to be aware of risks and take proper steps to prevent them in our future.

Kirk, Jeremy. (March 31, 2009). Fake security software scammers jump on Conficker.
Retrieved April 24, 2009, from http://www.infoworld.com/d/security-central/fake-

security-software-scammers-jump-conficker-469?page=0,1

Google Chapter 7

Google Case Study Questions

2. Google’s main source of competitive advantage is its unique IT infrastructure that allows it to evaluate a pages importance based on the external links to it and also scan websites and record a summary of their content very quickly and inexpensively. The way that this IT infrastructure has been put together and kept secret has allowed users to find exactly what they are looking for in an instant which keeps them coming back to the site and has grown the site to the enormous superpower that it is today holding nearly 50% of all Web searches. Since they are so big another advantage that Google has is gaining advertisers who pay to be on their site. The advertisers know how many hits Google gets each day and that their product will be seen which keeps making Google the majority of its revenues.

3. Google does face some challenges that are brought up in this case. After introducing cost-per-click (CPC) advertising pricing in 2002 Google had problems with hackers who were committing click fraud in order to raise the price of a companies marketing. The CPC technology charges a company for every time its ad is clicked. Management is mostly responsible for this problem because they are refusing to take full responsibility for business’ under this sort of attack however they are taking technological steps in order to track the click fraud and stop it before it gets out of control. Another challenge that Google faces is the looming threat of Microsoft. Microsoft may be able to jump ahead Google with ability to facilitate context-aware searches and “deep Web” searches. I think the solution to this problem is for Google to continue to expand their applications to do more things that Microsoft now offers. The only way to gain this context-aware search advantage is to get on everyone’s computer as their main processor. This will be up to the technology department as well as marketing to get people to switch over some of their processes to Google instead of traditionally Microsoft by providing newer and more user friendly applications.

5. In the future I think Google will still be very successful and hold about the same
Amount of Web searches it does now, if no changes are made. If changes are made and new applications come out then I think it is safe to say that they will continue to gain users and increase in size and searches. Google has the very crucial competitive advantage called brand recognition. Google has become part of our culture and is even used as a verb, “I Googled her”. With that kind of recognition in our culture I think it will be hard to Google to be easily forgotten or pushed out of the market it started.

Chapter 6 Article: Powerful database will help companies shop for new sites

The article I chose this week is about a community of real estate businesses in Michigan that are setting up a much needed database to enable customers to search properties online. They used to have a website available that was state supported and now that it has been cancelled the businesses are taking things into their own hands.

“The whole concept is to make it as easy as possible for someone seeking property, whether it's commercial, retail or industrial," said Greg LaMarr, marketing coordinator for Saginaw Future Inc. The article really touches on how important it is to have accessible databases that are user friendly. The software that is used for this database is from GIS Planning, Inc. GIS is a designer of web-based geographic information which his perfect for operating this particular real estate system. The software allows customers to set up certain criteria in the form of filters and then quickly search all of the potential matches they have pre-selected. Reports can also be run and e-mailed to potential buyers from this new database. In the article it was stated that this type of process would have taken days to complete looking at houses and sending out reports, now it can be a quick as minutes.

In chapter 6 we learned about how the organization of a databases and their relevance to customers needs can really effect how successful an organization can be. Most of the chapter talked in larger scale about companies with hundreds of thousands of pieces of data that all had to be organized into one central program. I liked this article because it shows that even if you are a smaller company or group of companies, databases are still a very important part of making the operation run smoothly. This article shows the smaller scaled size of database setup and management.

I am moving in two weeks and since I am a college student with no extra money to spend on a real estate agent I had to look for places to live on my own. Without databases set up on the internet this task would have been incredibly daunting. I was lucky to have found many sites that were set up in the Ventura County area. I was able to put in my price point, number of bedrooms and baths and area I was interested in. The computer did all the work for me. The databases even had pictures of the places so that I could prescreen before I even had to drive out and take a look. No matter how big or small the organization if they are user friendly and have accurate data they will be much more successful than a company that does not have a well thought out and put together database.

Works cited

English, Eric. (April 16, 2009). Powerful database will help companies shop for new
sites. Retrieved April 17, 2009, from http://www.mlive.com/business/mid-michigan/index.ssf/2009/04/powerful_database_will_help_co.html

Merrill Lynch Chapter 5

Merrill Lynch Case Study Questions

1. Merrill Lynch needed to update its IT infrastructure in order to continuing being competitive in the market. Merrill Lynch was operating on an IBM mainframe that ran about 23,000 programs in order to process 80 million daily online transactions. They were not wed based so their actual clients did not easy have access to their portfolios or tools to work with them. In order to stay competitive Merrill Lynch had to figure out how to make the most out of its mainframe but at the same time incorporate internet access to client profiles.

3. Jim Crew who is the head of database infrastructure at Merrill Lynch approached web services development in an unconventional way. At first he thought about purchasing a service-oriented architecture (SOA) which on the surface seemed much easily than building their own since they could rely on the vendor’s knowledge of the system. However Crew soon realized that the system was not compatible with the programmers at Merrill Lynch and he did not want them to have to learn new tools since it could potentially take a year and cost the company about $80 million to complete the transition. Crew then decided to copy the mainframe into Oracle, Sybase or SQL Server database which were compatible with server-based application but caused errors having to do with space issues. Crew finally decided to use XML tags which are used to describe data. XML worked and was able to effectively connect the mainframe to the internet. The programming team was challenged to cut costs more by adhering to criteria that would not allow the new mainframe/internet system to become complex. The programmers used Assembly Language which was used in the 1950’ and rarely used today to reduce errors in translation. I think this new system gave Merrill Lynch the advantage of cutting costs where they would have otherwise been spent, creating a whole new system that was more user friendly to the Merrill Lynch programming team and creating a competitive advantage and something to be desired by other companies in the same market. The disadvantages were that there were a couple of trials and errors that could have been avoided if they would have just bought an SOA to begin with. Overall I feel that the decision that was made was the correct one because it worked best with the company and had the least clashing qualities in comparison to the other options that were available.

4. I think it was both a good and bad idea for Merrill Lynch to sell off its successful technology initiatives. It was good because they were able to make a profit from the sale of the technology. On the other hand it was a bad decision because it may have hindered their competitive edge. The technology also may be selling for much more money then Merrill Lynch originally sold for in which case they should have held onto the technology, done more research on how much it was really worth, and then bargained for a larger selling cost.

Chapter 4 Article: Putting Patient Privacy in Peril?

The topic I chose is from an article written on April 6^th, 2009 in Business Week titled Putting Patient Privacy in Peril. This article talks about medical history in electronic form and patient privacy. Since 2003 hospital staff at UCLA medical facilities have inappropriately viewed over 1,000 people’s medical records. Most of the people whose records are being viewed and in some cases even sold to the press for large amounts of monetary compensation are celebrities. By 2014 with a new stimulus bill in place to financially encourage the medical sector it is hoped that all medical records in America will be digitalized which may lead to a further breach in privacy. "Our recovery plan will invest in electronic health records and new technology that will reduce errors, bring down costs, ensure privacy, and save lives," President Barack Obama told members of Congress on Feb. 24.

Right now certain sectors of government such as the Food and Drug Administration are already legally able to view any U.S. citizens medical records. The main goal of digitalizing medical information is to allow doctors to share health information among each other easily in order to better treat patients. The main worry that U.S. citizens have is that if insurance companies are able to get their hands on this information they may be able to discriminate against someone for their medical history or even discriminate against someone’s child who may have the genetics to inherit a certain condition. Under the new law customers would be able to ask that their medical information not be shared however this would only be a valid request if they pay for their treatment out of pocket in full which the majority of Americans are not able to do

In chapter four we read about information technology and privacy issues pertaining to information being so readily available in technological form. This article reminded me of chapter four because if all medical records were electronic there would be a higher risk of people hacking into the system and viewing records as well as hospitals and other medical facilities selling the sensitive information to make profit without the regard for patients and their privacy. Though there are benefits to this new plan, which will allow doctors to easily and quickly view many medical records with a click of the mouse it may cause more harm then help if information is being compromised and gets into the wrong hands.

Works Cited

King, Rachael. (April 6, 2009). Putting Patient Privacy in Perill. Retrieved April 12, 2009, fromhttp://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2009/tc2009046_128156.htm

Blockbuster vs. Netflix Chapter 3

Blockbuster vs. Netflix Case Study Questions

1. Blockbuster’s original business model was to be a traditional brick and mortar video rental store; however with the new entry of Netflix in 1998, an online movie rental establishment Blockbuster soon realized their business model needed some revamping. Between 2003 and 2004 Netflix’s market share went from 2% to 7%. Blockbuster took note of this rapidly growing competition and decided to make some major changes to their business model.

Millions of dollars were dedicated towards the information technology department in order for Blockbuster to establish their own online subscription service. They came in with competitive pricing compared to Netflix and also kept all of their brick and mortar stores in tact which they thought would give them an advantage in regards to having many stores nationwide allowing cheaper shipping of movies to and from different nationwide locations.

After a year of this online subscription service reviews of Blockbuster’s changes still could not stand up to the success that Netflix was experiencing. Carl Icahn soon took advantage of Blockbuster’s low stock price and bought 9% of the stocks allowing him a seat on the board of directors. He thought that the new initiatives were took expensive, including the “no more late fees” that brought Blockbuster’s previous $250 to $300 million annual late fee revenue to a screeching halt. Blockbuster’s CEO, John Antico still believes that the only way for Blockbuster to expand its market share is to maintain and improve their online rental system.

3. Blockbuster is trying to regain their ground in a market that is changing rapidly. I think that they have made the right move by investing millions of dollars into their information technology department because now they are able to compete at the online subscription level just as Netflix does. They still do need some improvements in their system and also need to consider what the future holds for their market.

Blockbuster is essentially playing catch up with Netflix and with that comes problems for the company. They were forced to get rid of their late fee policy quickly to retain customers that may have otherwise turned to Netflix however I do not think they accounted for the loss of $250 to $300 million in late fee revenue per year. They also have a user interface that is not well recognized by customers which is causing them less growth. Going into these changes I think Blockbuster should have considered taking more time and investing more money into the information technology side of the new business model which would have helped them achieve sustainability for the long run. They should have also taken into consideration the new wave of technology hitting the market which is video on demand. They should research this new technology and attempt to develop faster video downloads as well as converting software that can easily burn computer downloaded videos to DVD allowing the customer greater viewing variety. In order to gain some of the funds that would allow them to conduct this research I think they should sell off a percentage of their brick and mortar stores. It is not going to be necessary to have thousands of stores nationwide when the market is rapidly moving towards online rentals.

4. Netflix is a very successful online video rental establishment. When entering the market it catered to customers desire for convenience by doing away with late fees, letting a customer keep a video as long as they desire and mailing videos right to the customer doing away with traveling to a crowded video rental store. They also used information technology to keep track of video rentals, ship and track videos without ever needed an actually store front. The plan was very well thought out and worked; Netflix gained a large market share quickly forcing Blockbuster and other competing traditional video stores to scramble for new and innovative ideas that would retain customers. According to Kagan Research LLC, revenue from online video rentals reached $522 million in 2004 and is projected to reach $3 billion by 2009. Netflix was able to look at the market, hear what the customers wanted and deliver.