Darren Young Young 1
Rebecca McKanna
English 106
April 29, 2015
Imagine a world consumed and overrun by technology. Driverless cars, wireless electricity, 3D
printing, hover boards, smart homes, smartphones smarter than their users, you name it. Everything in
your life featured at least one of many technological advancements. I’m sure the reactions would vary
between those in love with the idea of turning their life into something seen off of the 1962 animated
sitcom “The Jetsons”, and those in fear of the nightmare seen in the 2004 “science fiction” film “I,
Robot” becoming a reality, without a Will Smith to save us. Now I know you may be thinking, these were
just fictional situations created for the entertainment and enjoyment of the public and the thought of either
happening is crazy to say the least. However, I would argue that the creation and implementation of
technology takes the idea of worse case and best case scenario into mind, i.e. “The Jetsons” vs “I, Robot”.
How do we find the balance between creating a world where technology makes our lives a breeze without
making it a nightmare at the same time? The answer is security, more specifically, cyber security.
My interest in cyber security evolved from my desire to find ways to master technology and use it
to make tasks for organizations and individuals more efficient and less time consuming. As I dove deeper
into my research of information technology is that you can only advance in technology as far as your
security can protect. Everything technical needs security, otherwise it is only a matter of time before a
system fails and all of its users are affected drastically. For users this could mean loss of personal
information, privacy, and trust; for companies this could mean a loss of reputation, business, and most
importantly, money. Today, it appears as those companies and individuals are fighting a losing battle as
the number of hacks or breaches into “protected” systems are rising. While some technological advocates
even say that network security has become useless and expensive in protecting information from hackers
today, I would argue that the majority of hacker attacks could be stopped by understanding hackers,
educating employees, and an increasing the budget and focus to security branches.
To fully understand the concept of network security, I thought it was first appropriate to research
what a network is, what it does, and how it is used. A network is easily defined as a system of
interconnected computers that make information easier to access and maintain among network users.
Computer networks have evolved dramatically as the years have gone by and more specifically new ways
to manipulate networks have revealed new uses of computer networks. The passing of instant messages,
emails, video calls, and nearly all forms of technical communication are possible because of networks.
Also, computer networks have the ability to enable users to connect to various hardware simultaneously
and remotely, which makes the use of many pieces of technology possible, more user–friendly, and
convenient to operate. Likewise, networks can be used to share files and software or operating programs
remotely. These are just a few of the many ways networks are used but the common theme in these forms
of use as well as other is the concept of transferring and managing information stored somewhere in the
form of technology. Networks today have enabled us to do a lot more than the original purpose; however,
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