Tag: Information Technology

Oct 10

Negative Effects of Technology on Society

There is no doubt that technology is playing a critical role in developing societies as countries depend on it in all disciplines of life. Countries all over the globe are competing to invent and develop the highest technological devices that can maintain the highest efficiency and accuracy of the work. Starting from 1980s, people started to use technology every day. The use of technology kept rising dramatically that people used it in tiny things. That overuse resulted in many negatives. There are many negative effects of overusing of technology on societies but the three major effects could be health problems, privacy problems and social problems.

One of the negative sides of the rapid use of technology on societies is the health issue. There is no doubt that the technology is getting better and spreading around the world. That led societies to deal with it almost every day to get their work done resulting in many issues. These issues can mainly be divided into two main categories which are mental health problems and physical health problems. First of which is the physical health problem, there are many physical health issues that caused by dealing with technology but the critical ones are weaken the eyesight. People who usually deal with computers for a long periods of time like programmers suffer from blurry vision and eye soreness. According to a research study, people who usually use computers for long terms experience serious issues such as soreness of the eyes and blurring the vision. That can be clearly seen since eyes have to concentrate all the time on the screen that emits dangerous radiations that affects the eyes critically leading the eyes to start dropping tears which can make the eye blurry.… Read the rest

Oct 10

Distributed Data Processing (DDP)

Distributed database system technology is the union of what appear to be two diametrically opposed approaches to data processing: database system and computer network technologies. Database system have taken us from a paradigm of data processing in which each application defined and maintained its own data to one in which the data is defined and administered centrally. This new orientation results in data independence , whereby the application programs are immune to changes in the logical or physical organization of the data. One of the major motivations behind the use of database systems is the desire to integration the operation data of an enterprise and to provide centralized, thus controlled access to that data. The technology of computer networks, on the other hand, promotes a mode of that work that goes against all centralization efforts. At first glance it might be difficult to understand how these two contrasting approaches can possibly be synthesized to produce a technology that is more powerful and more promising than either one alone. The key to this understanding is the realization that the most important objective of the database technology is integration, not centralization. It is important to realize that either one of these terms does not necessarily imply the other. It is possible to achieve integration with centralization and that is exactly what at distributed database technology attempts to achieve.

The term distributed processing is probably the most used term in computer science for last couple of years. It has been used to refer to such diverse system as multiprocessing systems, distributed data processing , and computer networks.… Read the rest

Oct 09

What is Dumpster Diving?

In the world of information technology, dumpster diving is a technique which is used to retrieve information that could be used to carry out a fraudulent activity. Many people throw away their sensitive documents that contain their personal information without destroying them properly that a fraudster can find in trash cans and as a result use this information to commit a fraud. Dumpster diving is not too meant to probing through the trash for noticeable resources like identity numbers or passwords written down on papers. Apparently useless information like a phone list, calendar, or organizational chart can be used to obtain valuable information. Shopping, can easily memorize your details including name, address and the last three numbers of your credit card during the short time it takes you to write a check.

Dumpster Diving in Process

There is another type of computer-related “trash” that we might not consider. In the system itself are files that have been deleted, but that haven’t actually been erased from the system. Computers and users used only to save data, not destroying it, and sometimes some data is saved that shouldn’t be saved. Electronic trashing is easy because of the way that systems typically delete data. Usually, deleting a file, a disk, or a tape doesn’t actually delete data, but simply rewrites a header record. Using MS-DOS, for example, a file can be deleted via the DEL command, however, someone else can retrieve the contents of the file simply by running UNDELETE. System utilities are available that make it easy to retrieve files that may seem to be completely gone.… Read the rest

Oct 07

Social Engineering Attacks

The rise of 21st century marked the transition phase of the most global businesses towards a paperless office environment, where the focus shifted the manual to the computerized form of work culture. But at the same time, change brought a number of threats and menace in terms of one of the biggest issues of the current businesses, the social engineering used among the hackers for cracking techniques that rely more on human weaknesses rather than technology itself. The aim or motive of such attacks was getting access to passwords or other relevant information by tricking people for carrying out illegal or criminal activities. FBI and other security experts hold a firm view that majority of threats originate from the internal working environment or employees who have been granted additional privileges or authorities to company’s information. People who have an urge for power and control over other individuals exhibit the social engineering skills. Computer hacking is the modern form of social engineering and the most hi tech of all. The fundamental problem with online social networking services especially is that there are no criteria or authentication for evidence or proof of an individuals identity, which keeps at stake both our privacy and information.

Social engineering attacks are driven by financial needs where hackers try to obtain confidential information about the users to access accounts. Social engineering is the root cause to ideas behind phishing and pretexting where hackers gain confidence of people who are careless or blindly trust others helping them to take undue advantage.… Read the rest

Oct 04

What is Expert System?

An expert system is an advanced computer application that is implemented for the purpose of providing solutions to complex problems, or to clarify uncertainties through the use of non-algorithmic programs where normally human expertise will be needed. Expert systems are most common in complex problem domain and are considered as widely used alternatives in searching for solutions that requires the existence of specific human expertise. The expert system is also able to justify its provided solutions based on the knowledge and data from past users. Normally expert systems are used in making business marketing strategic decisions, analyzing the performance of real time systems, configuring computers and perform many other functions which normally would require the existence of human expertise.

The difference between an expert system with a normal problem-solving system is that the latter is a system where both programs and data structures are encoded, while for expert system only the data structures are hard-coded and no problem-specific information is encoded in the program structure. Instead, the knowledge of a human expertise is captured and codified in a process known as knowledge engineering. Hence, whenever a particular problem requires the assistance of a certain human expertise to provide a solution, the human expertise which has been codified will be used and processed in order to provide a rational and logical solution. This knowledge-based expert system enables the system to be frequently added with new knowledge and adapt accordingly to meet new requirements from the ever-changing and unpredictable environment.

Components of Expert System

An expert system has many core system components to function and interfaces with individuals of various roles.… Read the rest

Sep 21

Case Study on Information Systems: Integrated Customer Ordering Service at Marks & Spencer

Marks and Spencer is one of the leading retail organizations in UK which sell stylish, quality and great value clothing and home products , also quality food. They are one of the most popular brand among people not only in UK but globally. They have more than 600 stores in UK and constantly increasing many more around the world. It was founded when in 1884, Michael Marks opened a stall at Leeds Kirkgate Market. In 1901, its first registered store was located at Derby street, Manchester. By 1924 they started expanding and the head office moved from Manchester to London. Implementation of new policies and maintenance of services and value kept on adding to the success of Marks and Spencer. In 1998, it became the first retailer to earn a profit of £1 billion. The organisation commonly called as M&S has always followed the principles of Quality, Value, Service, Innovation and Trust since its founded. This is the reason why it has been successful, distinguished and popular among people.

Need of the Information System: Integrated Customer Ordering Service (ICOS)

M&S was facing several backlogs in order processing and complaints were increasing day by day. The company had invested a lot to move ahead in this competitive business environment but was unable to overcome this problem. The need of the hour was to have an customer service ordering information system implemented which can accurately and assuredly keep away these problems which were an obstacle in the success of a great retail organisation.… Read the rest