Friday, October 11, 2019

Bradley Manning Responsible For the Largest Intelligence Leak in the History of the United States Essay

Bradley Manning Responsible For the Largest Intelligence Leak in the History of the United States (Your Name Here) UMUC CSIA 301 Bradley Manning may be responsible for the largest intelligence leak in the history of the United States . The U.S. Government alleges that Bradley Manning was responsible for leaking classified intelligence, causing it to be published on the internet which make it available to the enemy. The Government has charged Manning with 22 charges under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, UCMJ, to include espionage. If convicted, Manning could face confinement for life or the death penalty . In an interview with Frontline, Adrian Lamo, a convicted hacker, states that Manning contacted him via online chat and confessed that he had leaked hundreds of documents to Julian Assange, the editor of a website called WikiLeaks. Type of Breach Bradley Manning is an example of the most dangerous type of enemy, an insider. Insiders pose one of the greatest security threats. The main aspect that makes insiders such a potent threat is the amount of data they have access to . In an interview with Adrian Lamo, Manning boasted about the amount of information he leaked to WikiLeaks. He claimed to have leaked, â€Å"250,000 State Department diplomatic cables and 500,000 classified field reports from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan† . Being charged with espionage, Bradley Manning is one of the most dangerous types of insiders, because the information he leaked potentially put American lives in danger and caused harm to our nation. Bradley Manning was not driven by the same motivation that drives most people who commit crimes such as the ones that Manning has been accused of. Manning was not motivated by financial gain. He claims that he leaked the information because the information needed to be in public view. He has expressed an extreme dislike for the US Army and the way the US Government conducts its self in the global arena. He claims that he could have sold this information to the Chinese or Russians, but instead chose to give it to  WikiLeaks via Julian Assange . How the Breach Occurred The question arises how Bradley Manning gained access to such a large quantity of intelligence. Since September 11, 2001, the 9/11 Commission has changed the way intelligence agencies handle information sharing. Agencies now share raw intelligence with each other, because it is believed that if that policy had been in place earlier then the tragedy on September 11 could have been avoided. Manning had access to the network know as the Secrete Internet Protocol Router Network, or SIPRNet. SIPRNet is where Manning downloaded most of the information he leaked. Manning was an intelligence analyst. His job was information aggregation. He would analyze large amounts of raw intelligence and form it into smaller, more concise reports . This is not what Manning leaked, he leaked raw intelligence. Some of this raw intelligence was uploaded to WikiLeaks via the internet, however the majority of the data was downloaded onto compact disks. Manning recalls one instance to Lamo about downloading data to a disk labeled Lady Gaga. In an online communication with Lamo, Manning wrote, â€Å"No one had ever taken note of him, and no one did now: ‘everyone just sat at their workstations †¦ watching music videos / car chases / buildings exploding †¦ and writing more stuff to CD/DVD’†. In order to download large amounts of raw relevant data, Manning uploaded data mining software. This software allows one to sort or index files on a computer or network. Then a search for key words will select the information based on desired parameters . Lamo suggests this implicates Julian Assange as a coconspirator in espionage with Manning. He claims that Assange gave Manning the parameters for the information that would be the most useful. If it can be proven that WikiLeaks coached or persuaded Manning to steal classified information then everyone involved can be charged with espionage. WikiLeaks operates under the unique model that all sources are unknown to them and the information they are given is unsolicited. If these two conditions are met, WikiLeaks is not guilty of collusion . The Information Security Triad The primary point of damage to the Information Security Triad by Manning is Confidentiality. By downloading raw intelligence from SIPRNet Manning did  not damage the integrity or the availability of the data. This would have been contrary to his goal. Manning planned to release the information. The information would have been useless if it had been altered or made unavailable, and this could have potentially made it easier for him to get caught. He never planned to get caught. Manning was arrested as a direct result of the online chat conversations he had with Lamo, not from the Army discovering what he had been up to. Technological Improvements that Would Help Prevent Recurrence Some technological improvements that could have prevented Manning from stealing classified information would be to disable USB ports through the BIOS and password protect the BIOS. If computers had CD ROMs not burners then it would not be possible to download any information from a network onto a disk using Department of Defense, DOD, computers. It has not been clearly published how Manning was able to upload data mining software on his computer or on the SIPRNet. These points were brought up in a congressional hearing where Senator Collins brought up the point that the intelligence community was already required to have audit capabilities installed by 2007. This could have helped expose the fact that more than a quarter of a million classified documents were downloaded in less than two months. Role-based access to secure systems is also another possible solution. This would mean that all information of a certain clearance level would not be accessible to everyone with that same clearance. Role-based access would be used in conjunction with the mandatory access control that is currently in place. This would have limited the amount of information that Manning would have had access to . The extent of damage Bradley Manning has done to intelligence sharing or US operations overseas cannot be quantified. The effects are too far reaching and still ongoing. Bradley Manning is still being held in prison awaiting trial. Many are calling Manning a whistle-blower. Whistle blowers release specific information of an embarrassing, illegal or negligent nature to right some wrong. Manning potentially put American lives in danger by releasing vast amounts of data from unnamed sources. Manning was operating on the hacker premise that all information should be free. There are people  that protect our freedom and rely on confidentiality of information to stay alive. Manning is not a whistle-blower or a hero as many online publications would suggest. He is a sad case of an individual given to much responsibility; we can only hope our intelligence community moves forward and not backward as a result of Bradley Manning’s actions. Works Cited Affairs, M. P. (2011, March 3). Manning faces more charges for classified leaks. Retrieved from The Official Home Page of the United States Army: http://www.army.mil/article/52773/ Fishman, S. (2011, July 3). Bradley Manning’s Army of One How a lonely, five-foot-two, gender-questioning soldier became a WikiLeaks hero, a traitor to the U.S., and one of the most unusual revolutionaries in American history. Retrieved from New York News & Features: http://nymag.com/news/features/bradley-manning-2011-7/ INFORMATION SHARING IN THE ERA OF WIKILEAKS: BALANCING SECURITY AND COLLABORATION, S. Hrg. 112-219 (ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION March 10, 2011). Retrieved from http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-112shrg66677/html/CHRG-112shrg66677.htm Lamo, A. (2011, May 24). WikiSecrets. Frontline. PBS. Retrieved from http://video.pbs.org/video/1946795242/ Miles, D. (2012, June 6). News American Forces Press Service. Retrieved from U.S. Department of Defense: http://www.defense.gov/ne ws/newsarticle.aspx?id=116654 Miller, B. H. (2011, September). The Death of Secrecy: Need to Know†¦with. Studies in Intelligence, 55(3), 13-18. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csistudies/studies/vol.-55-no.-3/pdfs/Studies%2055-3%20-7-Oct-2011.pdf Pfleeger, C. P., & Pfleeger, S. L. (2006). Security in Computing (4th Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Prentice Hall PTR. Wendy, G. (2011, April). Aggregation: the hidden risk. Computer Fraud & Security, 2011(4), 18-20. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1016/S1361-3723(11)70043-4 Zetter, K. (2011, April 4). Army: Manning Snuck ‘Data-Mining’ Software Onto Secret Network. Retrieved from Wired: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/04/manning-data-mining/

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Case study: Managing Customer Quality Service Essay

There are number of reasons show the difference of LCV between these two stores. First of all, when people go in a shop, they look for what they want, and then the first important consideration comes up from their mind is the PRICE. Price is the amount of money that charged for a product or service. In reality, people like comparing prices on the same brand of product from different shops to find out which one can meet their budget. In the case study, Laura spends more amount of money in the second newsagent each week is probably because of its price is higher than the other one. However, â€Å"Price alone rarely provides a long-term competitive advantage.† (Jacques Horovitz 1990, p.30) This statement emphasises even if a business sells its products at a lower price, but in the long run, the business may still not compete against the other businesses because today’s customers want more psychological needs rather than cheap price, and they are increasingly difficult to satisfy. This statement also leads to the next point. Lastly, the element that goes after price would be QUALITY SERVICE. Nowadays, the quality of service is usually twice as important as price and it has become a major factor in many purchase decisions. For example, one day I went to a coffee shop to buy a cup of coffee, the assistant kept talking on her phone so I stood there for about three minutes and waited, but she still ignored me, therefore I rather went to Gloria Jeans to buy an expensive cup of coffee instead of standing there and wasting my time. â€Å"Service comes from people, not companies.† (Catherine Devrye 2000, p.8) This statement indicated that service only exists in human experience. If we cannot provide quality service to our existing customers, they may hide from their dissatisfaction with service; but if customers dissatisfied with their first experience are almost always lost customers. So, Laura prefers to go to the second newsagent which may cost more but she paid for what she wanted and it is worth because she can have Chris’s friendly smile and kindly greeting. Thus, the difference in price and the level of service quality in business can lead to a difference in LCV of each store. Q2) How would you rate the level of service provided by the two newsagents? Why?I would give two out of 5 of the service provided by the first newsagent  because in the article it says † The owner never appears to recognise her.†, which indicates that the owner has no interaction or communication with customers and this also shows that he does not concentrate on the service he should provide. Despite, the store has a large range of goods and is well laid out and clean, but the owner doesn’t treasure this as an opportunity to attract more new customers. On the contrary, he provides bad service or even no service to customers which may due to people start leaving his business and work for his competitors. For the new newsagent, I would rate four out of 5 to the service it provides to its customers because the owner, Chris, greeted Laura with a smile and asked if she needs any help. This is a good example of good quality service. â€Å"Service goes beyond friendliness or kindness.† (Jacques Horovitz 1990, p.3) So, by asking questions and listening carefully to the answers can make customers feel that they are not by themselves, they got someone to look after and finally they enjoy going in there. Moreover, Chris understands the concept of treating customers as long-term appreciating asset, will help to build image and trust of her store and hence to attract more new customers and increase their loyalty. Q3) Although Laura shopped at the first newsagent regularly, was she loyal? Do you think the first newsagent confused â€Å"satisfaction† or even â€Å"nowhere else to go† with loyalty? Why is this dangerous for a business? How would you advise the first newsagent to proceed if she is to retain her customer base? In your answer, include a discussion on meeting the psychological needs of customers. Although Laura shopped at the first newsagent regularly but she was not loyal to the business. I think the first newsagent confused the concept of both â€Å"satisfaction† and â€Å"nowhere else to go† with loyalty. Satisfaction is a form of attitude that contributes to customers. â€Å"Customer satisfaction is the ultimate objective of every business: not to supply, not to sell, not to service, but to  satisfy the needs that drive customers to do business.† (Mack Hanan / Peter Karp 1991, xi) Every business needs to generate some level of customer satisfaction in order to increase loyalty. Otherwise, no satisfied customers, it would have no business. Unlike satisfaction, â€Å"loyalty can be defined in term of buying behaviour.† (Jill Griffin 1995, p.31) A loyal customer is the one who makes regular repeat purchases, has a specific bias about what and who to from and generates â€Å"word-of-mouth†. It is dangerous for a business because the owner who might assume the customers keep coming back because he satisfied their wants and they are loyal, but in fact they are nowhere else to go. Besides, if a new and the same type of business opens in the same area, it can be a disaster, new challenge and obstacle to the existing business because people always like to try new things and new businesses always generate attractive promotions to attract new customers such as discounts, join member for free or free gift etc. As a result, it can cause the existing business starts losing its regular customers because of poor customer service or higher price in products. Eventually it leads to a loss in sales and profits, reputation and cost a lot of time to reform and attract new customers. There are many ways to retain customer base in the first newsagent. Firstly, there is a simple way to learn about customer satisfaction in your business which is to conduct a satisfaction survey. A satisfaction survey is an important tool for business to collect customers’ opinions and points of view, and it also gives the insight of what most customers want and expect. Therefore, the questions in the survey need to focus on the various aspects of quality and customer service. Once the survey results are collected, it is necessary to analyse and identify each one of them and finally applies to the newsagent where it is necessary,Secondly, the owner in the first newsagent needs to generate more interactions with her customers because talking to your customers is a good chance to build up their loyalty and understand more about their wants. â€Å"Customers are not loyal to products.†Ã‚  (Mack Hanan / Peter Karp 1991, p.155) Customers are loyal to your service. If you can provide good quality service and satisfy their wants, they can become your loyal customers. Meanwhile, the owner needs to meet customer’s psychological needs such as to greet customers with a smile on your face and ask if they need any help in particular, because some people are scared or shy to ask questions. So that, by asking questions and listening carefully to the answers would make customers feel you understand what they ask for, and you are looking after them in order to satisfy their wants. Lastly, the owner should search for some special touches with her customers regularly such as discounts, longer working hours, join member for free or free gifts. That will help the business to stand out from the crowd because customers always want you to take an extra step to please them. Thus, by conducting a satisfaction survey, meeting customer’s psychological needs and providing special touches with customers will help the first newsagent to retain its customer bas and hence to increase revenue, loyalty and reputation of the newsagent. Q4) What opportunities are there in a newsagency to provide sensational moments of truth?There are number of opportunities to provide sensational moments of truth in a newsagent. The aisles are clear of debris. Customers always receive correct change. Customers wait in a queue less than three minutes. The person at the checkout is efficient. All staffs greet customers with a smile, have a small talk and customise goodbye to customers. Goods that customers want are stocked and attractively displayed.

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

A Job Experience in story form

I am a Reader in English and earn my livelihood by delivering at least 35 lectures a week to undergraduate major degree students.Apart from my daily schedule, I enjoy writing for a reputed Essaywriters Company of United States and dabbling into creative writing along with that. Whatever the case may be, I am keen on taking my classes regularly with much devotion. My seniors are well-established academics. They love me and adore my dedication to this job.But things began to change as and when I earned my PhD from Wisconsin. I began to take Postgraduate classes, 6 in average per week and surprisingly enough I was offered   supervisor-ship by my immediate boss.As I took to guide a PhD student, I began to draw the ire of a spiteful colleague who thought that taking classes might be my forte but not, of course, guiding a PhD scholar. He began to look for my pitfalls. A month ago, when I was coming back from my class, the Dean of the Faculty sent a message to me asking me to meet him aft er the classes. My heart missed a beat or two.  However, I went to his cubicle after my day’s lecture-schedule. I found him engrossed in a book and as I entered he shot me a glance of nonchalance. A fear of some unknown flashed past my mind. He lifted his face from the book he was reading, and said, â€Å"So, Dr. Wilson, how do you feel to interact with the new students?† I hummed and hawed to answer. At last I said, â€Å"I enjoy really, I do.† He resumed, â€Å"Hmm, but I heard that you are neglecting these classes and devoting much time in guiding two PhD scholars.But your appointment in this college entails a regular class-schedule with the undergraduate students.† I could see ulterior motive of my envious, mischievous colleague behind it. And, of course, it was not totally baseless. However, I rejoined in an instant, â€Å" I know, and I never shirk my duties.† He reminded me again of my primary duties and I left his room mutely, feeling a b it enraged.I came straight to my cubicle where I found an undergraduate bursar was waiting for my return. I took up the matter he was in need of clarifying and as he went out, I fished out a pen and a sheaf of loose sheets from my drawer. I went on scribbling, lighting up a cigar and holding it in between my left fore-and mid-fingers—An individual must be aware of his duties first of all. Maybe he is capable enough of accomplishing too many jobs at one go, i.e. putting too many irons in the fire, he must yet be deterred in doing so. After successful completion of his scheduled works if he yet finds time to do that he is at liberty to do so.I stopped, touched my lips with the pen and continued, If he is honest to his profession, he must not any room for any criticism. Yet, if any sneaky colleague comes to cast a spanner in his way, he must not leave any hole unplugged for him to take an opportunity to commit any mischief. He should resolve that duty is his foremost concern. An d after that, he must enrich himself in accomplishing something of his choice. He must be free to choose a work he likes to be engrossed with.  What on earth was I up to? I put out the light and buried my head in my hands , crushed the last butt of the cigar in the ashtray and went on recounting . No doubt, I was deeply hurt by the Dean’s remonstrating attitude. But I was no less surprised by the jealous, denigrating backbiting of my colleague. However, though it is case in point, I must not attack or inflict any harm on him.If a superfluous suavity is maintained , he may not get any wrong signal. And again, he may change his line of action. However, no loophole in work might be allowed.   Later on, I faced no difficulty in smooth-sailing with my work.

Competitive Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Competitive Analysis - Essay Example Macintosh products are hip, edgy, associated with quality, and innovative. Smartphones are defined against the IPhone and tablet computing against the IPad. Millions of consumers wait in anticipation for the next Mac release. But there are cracks in their armor. â€Å"The collective Apple community has been so intoxicated by the iPod, the success of the iTunes Store, MacBook sales, and excellent Mac OS X security that no one is reflecting on the areas where Apple is vulnerable. Perhaps it is unpleasant to think about, but neither do we want to live in a state of denial† (Martallero, 2006). Mac has traditionally had weaknesses in the arena of high performance computing. They are not associated with gaming computing in any way and they hold a small chunk of the personal computer market. They also don't any foothold in the corporate computer market. This is irrelevant to the Samsung Tab's success, of course. They also have weaknesses in the enterprise market. The music market is a very big weakness: Despite the IPod helping save the music industry from serious problems, they still have a goal, to sell music. Samsung could do what the Zune tried to and failed: Make a serious competitor to Macintosh in the music department by making strategic alliances. It is in the music industry's interest not to have to deal with a monopoly power in the field of MP3s, particularly the ITunes store. That having been said, this does mean competing for a share of a pie that piracy is always in danger of shrinking. The entertainment industry is similar: They want to sell electronic versions of their movies. If Samsung gets in on the ground floor in this regard, they will be successful. Dell's new tablet announcement that got leaked is also a serious threat (Cush, 2011). â€Å"The already available Dell Streak and Dell Streak 7 are listed, and according to the leaked "Tablet Roadmap," they will be joined in April by the Gallo Honeycomb tablet. The Opus One and Silver Oak Honey comb tablets will follow in early 2012, just in time for CES† (Cush, 2011). Dell has two major advantages. First: They are the big dogs in the field of personal computing. When it comes to building and selling PCs, laptops and notebooks, they are associated with great success. Millions of customers have a Dell PC with an Intel processor: The two are associated with reliability and value. Samsung, on the other hand, is mostly considered to be a maker of TVs, screens, other ancillary products. It seems likely that, faced with the choice between what looks like a Dell computer that just happens to be a tablet or Samsung's new experiment, many people will choose Dell out of sheer brand name recognition. Second: They hit the ground earlier. They launched already. Samsung is a bit late. But the real competition that Samsung has is the PC and other electronic products. The IPad is competing in the tablet market, which is a small market, against people who already are centered on home or laptop computing. If someone has a desktop computer, they are far less likely to think a tablet computer is a worthwhile investment, but might think it's interesting or want mobile computing. If they already have a laptop, the IPad's arguments for existence as a product become far slimmer indeed. Even some video game systems like the DS, PSP, PS3, Wii and XBox 360 are in a real way competition for the Tab. These systems have so many utilities in terms of playing movies, music and doing other