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9.7 The principle of confidentiality focuses on protecting an organization’s intellectual
property. The flip side of the issue is ensuring that employees respect the intellectual
property of other organizations. Research the topic of software piracy and write a
report that explains:
a. What software piracy is.
b. How organizations attempt to prevent their employees from engaging in software
piracy.
c. How software piracy violations are discovered.
d. The consequences to both individual employees and to organizations who commit
software piracy.
Solutions will vary. Key points to look for in the report:
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9.8 Practice encryption.
Required:
a. Use your computer operating system’s built-in encryption capability to encrypt a
file.
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You can also encrypt an existing file by right-clicking on its name in a directory list and then
choosing Properties, which brings up this pop-up window:
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Clicking on the Advanced button brings up this dialog box:
Select the box “Encrypt contents to secure data” and follow the directions.
Create another user account on your computer and log in as that user.
In Windows, there are two ways to create new user accounts. One way is to open the
Control Panel and select the option “User Accounts”. This brings up the following
screen:
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Select the “Manage User Accounts” and then click the “Add” button. You will then
be prompted to give a name to your new user account and decide whether it is a
standard user or an account with administrative rights. For purposes of this exercise,
just create a standard user.
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Method 2: Open the Control Panel, choose “Administrative Tools and then select
“Computer Management”:
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Now, click on the “Users” folder in the left pane, and then click on the “Action”
menu item at the top and select the option “New user”:
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Which of the following actions can you perform?
1. Open the file
2. Copy the file to a USB drive.
3. Move the file to a USB drive.
4. Rename the file.
5. Delete the file
ADDITIONAL NOTE TO INSTRUCTORS: Tell students to save the encrypted file in a
shared directory that is accessible to all users who log onto that system. That way, even a
standard user will be able to see the files.
IMPORTANT NOTE TO INSTRUCTORS: Tell students to delete the new user
account that they created to do this problem after they finish the assignment.
b. TrueCrypt is one of several free software programs that can be used to encrypt
files stored on a USB drive. Download and install a copy of TrueCrypt (or
another program recommended by your professor). Use it to encrypt some files
on a USB drive. Compare its functionality to that of the built-in encryption
functionality provided by your computer’s operating system.
9.9 Research the problem of identity theft and write a report that explains:
a. Whether the problem of identity theft is increasing or decreasing
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b. What kind of identity theft protection services or insurance products are
available. Compare and contrast at least two products.
Students should report that the problem of identity theft is increasing. One issue,
however, concerns how identity theft is defined. Some sources include things like
stealing credit card or debit card numbers; others limit identity theft to impersonating
Clicking that link brings you to a page with videos and documents about how to protect
yourself, etc. Particularly interesting is the document “To buy or not to buy: Identity theft
spawns new products and services to help minimize risk.”