BIT 4604

• Five V’s of Big Data:

  • Volume: All the numbers, e.g., Walmart handles over 1 million transactions per hour
  • Velocity: How fast data is being added, e.g., clickstreams, ads, machine to machine processes
  • Variety: What’s in the data, not just numbers, includes strings, dates, and different types like Google Maps directions and restaurant reviews
  • Veracity: Focuses on the quality, authenticity, and validity of the data
  • Value: Considers what an organization gains from retaining or acquiring the data
• Algorithms are a process or a set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer
• Examples of algorithms include:

  • Getting a drink of water: checking if thirsty, having a water bottle, or finding a fountain outside
  • Making a recipe
  • Doing laundry by sorting it
• Security in computing is based on the CIA triad:

  • Confidentiality: prevents sensitive information from getting into the wrong hands
  • Integrity: maintains the consistency, accuracy, and trustworthiness of data
  • Availability: ensures information is there and accessible when needed
• Economics in computing involves the financial aspects of organizations
• Ethics in computing focuses on ensuring actions are done ethically and morally
• Privacy in computing relates to consumers' personal preferences
• Data brokers monitor people on websites, measure their actions, and compile traits to sell to other companies for targeted advertising
• Data brokers buy, aggregate, and sell data from various sources
• Algorithms in online shopping show different prices based on user data, with popular items staying competitive and others potentially escalating in cost
• FIPS (Fair Information Practices) principles include:

  • Collection Limitation: personal information collection should be limited, obtained lawfully and fairly, with individual consent
  • Data Quality Purpose Specification: data quality should meet specific standards
  • Security Safeguards: personal data should be protected by reasonable security measures against risks like loss or unauthorized access
  • Use Limitation: personal data should not be disclosed or used for purposes other than specified
  • Purpose Specification: the purpose for collecting personal data should be specified at the time of collection
  • Openness: there should be a policy of openness about personal data practices
  • Accountability: data controllers should be accountable for complying with data protection measures
• • Individual Participation: individuals have the right to access their data, challenge denials, and request data erasure, rectification, completion, or amendment
• Anonymization involves removing identifying information to achieve high identity protection
• Deanonymization is the process of looking at data sets that have been anonymized and identifying a person linked to the data
• Threat types in data security include External and Internal threats
• Privacy Paradox: People say they care a lot about their data but don't behave like it
• Facebook Contagion Study:

  • Facebook used users' data and manipulated the feed of positive or negative posts
  • People tend to feel positive when their friends post positive stuff
  • Controversial study done without consent, showing how Facebook can manipulate people's emotions
• Ransomware is a type of malware that blocks access to a user's data by encrypting it
• The hacker is the only one with the key and demands payment for the data to be returned
• Defenses against Ransomware:

  • Backups
  • Encryption
• Ransomware mitigation methods include:

  • Technical Controls
  • Training (User action)
  • Managerial and organizational controls
  • Legal Mechanism
• Technical controls in Information Technology Security include:

  • Access controls (Authentication, Authorization, Credentialing)
  • Encryption to protect data integrity
  • Anti-malware measures such as Firewalls, Intrusion Detection Systems, Intrusion Protection Systems, and Anti-virus software
• Encryption is encoding messages in a way that only authorized parties can read it
• Encryption converts original information, called plain text, into a difficult to interpret form called ciphertext
• Tools of Securing Data Managerial:

  • Training
  • Minimizing access to sensitive data and systems
  • Oversight and Compliance
  • Breach Notification and Management
  • Ethical Standards for Security Professionals
• Utilitarianism focuses on outcomes, where the "utility" of a policy is measured by its tendency to promote the "good"
• Deontology is a category of ethical theories primarily concerned with adherence to certain rules or duties where consequences do not matter, but intention is relevant
• In deontology, individuals act in a certain way only if they act for the right reasons
• Virtue Ethics states that the goal of life is well-being (happiness) and the means to attain it is by acquiring a virtuous character
• Types of laws include:

  • State laws
  • Federal laws
  • International laws
• Federal Laws COPPA (The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) give parents control of data or information collected or retained on their children
• COPPA applies to children under the age of 13 and is directed toward any site or service that collects information on children
• HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, enacted in 1996 and updated in 2003
• FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) is a federal law (20 U.S.C. § 1232 (g)) that protects the confidentiality of student educational records and the individual student’s right to privacy