我要当女子汉I: What should people do if they use the Internet compulsively?
G: One solution is to limit the amount of time they spend online. Have a specific task you are going to do and write that down. Put a clock next to the screen so you can keep track of time. If you find yourself getting over-stimulated by some site, limit your access to it. Ask someone to monitor your use or put the computer in the family room or the living room, where other people can see you. Try to beef up your realtime relationships to compete with your cyberfriendships. If you're shopping too much, go to a store instead. If you can't control your use, you might have to just log off.
Part III Digital McLuhan
Summary:
Marshall McLuhan, a communications expert from Canada, never touched a personal computer. But his research on the media and their effect on people and society remains relevant today. He was the first thinker to really look at television as something that had a serious impact upon our society. Although he was writing about television, an enormous amount of what he said has even more applicability to the Internet age. He said that television was turning the world into a global village. And the notion of village becomes much more meaningful and real in our digital age. He saw a time when everyone would be a publisher with the help of the Xerox machine, and now the web is even expanding and amplifying that.
Tapescript.
I Interviewer L -- Paul Levinson
Marshall McLuhan, a communications expert from Canada, never touched a personal computer. He died in 1979. But his research on the media and their effect on people and society remains relevant today. Paul Levinson, an American high-tech expert knew Professor McLuhan, and discusses his impact in a volume entitled Digital McLuhan: A Guide to the Information Millennium.
I. Mr. Levinson, why is Marshall McLuhan such an important figure?
L. Well, he did his writing in the 1950s,1960s and 1970s. And those decades, of course, were the first years of television. And he was the first thinker to really look at television as something that had a serious impact upon our society. Interestingly, although he was writing about television, an enormous amount of what he said has even more applicability to the Internet age. For example, he said that television was turning the world into a global village. What he meant by that is when everyone watches the same thing on the television screen, that group that's watching that television program is a community of sorts. It's like the people in a village all hearing and seeing the same thing. In contrast, now in the 1990s, as we move into the new millennium, when people communicate on the web, and through the Internet, they are not only doing and hearing and seeing the same thing, they are also participating, communicating among each other. And so, the notion of village becomes much more meaningful and real in our digital age.
I. TV was a... or is a one-way medium, whereas the Internet is a ... is two-way. L.. That's right. There is a crucial difference right there. Most media in the 20th century, in fact all the major media of the 20th century radio, motion pictures, television --were and are like newspapers and books, one-way media. The telephone, which of course was invented in 1876, is a two-way medium. But, it's a two-way personal medium. There is nothing public, or there shouldn't be much public about a telephone conversation. What makes the Internet so different is that it is public but it is also interactive and two-way.
I. Marshall McLuhan saw a time when everyone would be a publisher. He was referring to the Xerox machine, the copying machine. Today, we have the Internet which makes everybody an editor, and ... or makes everybody a
publisher but not an editor. Isn't this a problem when everybody is a publisher but there is no editor around?
L. The traditional value of the editor is to, in some way, stipulate and vouch for the quality of the publication of the production. So yes, there is a concern that when anyone can put anything on a web page, you know, there is no safeguard for the quality. But, on the other hand, and there is always another hand, I think the reason why McLuhan celebrated first the Xerox, allowing every author to be a publisher, and why I'm now so pleased that the web is even expanding and amplifying that, is ... there is also the danger of editors keeping out of the mix things that are good. What the web does is it removes the middle man and allows the creator to communicate directly with his or her audience and on balance I think that's a good thing. There will be more drivel available. But, there'll also be more gems that would otherwise be hidden from public view. Part IV Beware hackers!
1. 75%
2. Juveniles, usually in their late teens to early twenties
3. They do it as a challenge.
4. A former hacker, now a security consultant
5. To fight the holes in the firewall -- the protection device between different security systems
6. Because they can bring expertise that only hackers understand, a holistic perception of computer systems
7. Because they are so in-depth within a system.
8. 90% or 95% effectiveness is better than not having anything at all.
9. A good security policy will protect you from an employment level up to a system administration level.
Tapescript:
H -- Holmes T -- Teresa B -- Bevan
H: Let's talk about how widespread the problem is. Many people think the number of companies or government agencies whose security is breached is small. Is that the case or not?
T: No, I think anybody who has information online ... it's gonna be a huge concern for anybody. Mostly because if you've got information on these websites, anybody can actually get into them. The thing that you need to know is how to be careful. It's kind of like think of it as a security system in a building, let's say. If you have a security guard in the front, you're protected in that area. You need to do that all around the entire circle, let's say, to make sure that your entire information on these websites is completely protected.
H: I ... I read a statistic that said that something like 75 percent of companies online have been hacked, whether they know it or not. Is... is that ... That's huge.
T: That is huge. And, in fact, it can be minor to major. Most of them are usually on the minor scale -- that being, some information getting in. And at this point
in time, a lot of experts are saying that the hackers that are going into these sites are juveniles, usually in their late teens to early twenties. And most times, they're really just doing things as a challenge, as a way to get in, because it's something that they can do.
H: Now, Mathew Bevan, who's a ... who's a former hacker, who became a security consultant. Now ... now, tell us about that. This happens a lot?
T: This ... right now, this is happening a lot. Mostly because these hackers that are young, juvenile children, or teens, as we have said, really know the industry. They know the computer so well, even more so than a lot of the security, you know, computer systems that are already in place. They've really become kind of an asset, or they could be a consultant, as ... as Mathew is, because they really know how they've got into them. And these are the people that a lot of corporations can actually use, because what they're doing is they're fighting the holes in the firewalls which are the protection device between the different security systems -and they're really kinda getting into the loopholes or the niches there. By doing that this is great information that companies can use, because they may know, "Okay, that ... part of that ... our website is not, you know, protected."
H. You were a hacker. And how important is that for you in your current job, which is as a consultant for companies who fear hackers?
B. Well, in my current job, what I can do is bring expertise that perhaps only hackers will actually understand. It's kind of a perception of computer systems, sort of a holistic overview. And sometimes you get people who come from perhaps a sales background, and they move into IT in a company, or, you know, they.., they may just be programmers... turned security experts. I'm not diminishing the expertise that they have, but sometimes there are very tiny things that they can overlook, just because they're so in-depth within a system. H: So, on that same issue then, are you often surprised when you go in and speak with the companies? Are you surprised at how little some of them know about the dangers?
B: Quite horrified. Just recently when I was out in Singapore, there was a ... a company which had just been hacked. Their website had been changed -- mentioning no names -- but they told me that they weren't going to install a firewall because they didn't work. And I thought, well, at least something like a 90- 95 percent effectiveness of keeping people out surely is better than not having anything in there. I tried my best to explain to them, but sometimes these words fall on deaf ears.
H. The question is, what is the best way to convince non-technical managers of the importance to invest in effective information security technologies?
B: One of the good ways that you can do is, obviously, what people do is show them statistics. Now people get blinded by statistics, and they can be manipulated to a certain advantage. However, just show people maybe a trawl around the Internet: show them some of the hacker sites, some of the security sites which are available. Show them exactly the information that you can find
and how it's pertinent to your own company. Security management isn't just about what hardware and software you have installed. It's all about policy management as well. If you have a good security policy covering all aspects of your company, then this will protect you from employment level up to, obviously, a system administration level.
Questions:
1. How many companies online have been hacked?
