NTRODUCTION
The Internet has become a fully integrated part of our society, touching many aspects of our business and personal lives. The Internet is so incredibly popular because it enables us to not only quickly access information from sources all over the world, but also transfer information quickly and easily. Businesses were quick in seeing the benefits the Internet would provide their companies. Soon after phrases like “The Web” and “Web Surfing” began to circulate, computers with Internet capabilities became as commonplace as pencils and post-it-notes on employees’ desks. The positive affects the Internet merit, also leave room for the Internet’s negative affects as well. Access to the Internet from an employee’s computer allows that employee to spend time viewing content from non-work related sites. This is in essence what the Internet abuse problem is – spending paid work-time on non-work related activities. Internet abuse problems have become as multitudinous as the ways of dealing with them; only recently have companies started to deal with and recognize these issues. First we will attempt to understand who is affected by the Internet abuse problem; then by looking at the statistics and examples regarding Internet abuse, we can begin understanding the size and consequences of this problem. Finally we will also see what companies and employees are doing about it.
WHO IS INVOLVED?
Those affected by the Internet abuse problem are companies, employees, and the consumer. According to Network Magazine1 companies lose 54 billion dollars a year because of Internet abuse. That is money companies need to make up somehow, through raising prices, decreasing salaries, or some other method of cost reduction. Compani...
... middle of paper ...
...tect companies and their employees from those that would abuse the Internet. Things like standards and guidelines can also be used to ensure that the Internet is used in the right way. What can companies do to help prevent these problems? They can use guidelines and policies to make sure managers and employees understand what is expected of them. What can mangers do? They can make sure that their employees understand the guidelines and policies that their company has put in place. What can employees do? They can strive to uphold standards and guidelines and work with the mindset that they are always being watched. This will make Internet monitoring software unnecessary. One thing is for sure; the Internet is not going anywhere. Because of this, companies, management, and other employees need to ensure that the Internet is used productively and appropriately.
Computer crime has been an issue since the beginning of computers. Wherever there is something good, there is always someone who takes advantage of it. This can be seen in cyber crime, which has been on the rise in recent years. According to the Los Angeles Times, the median cost of computer crime to a company per year has risen from $3.8 million dollars in 2010 to $5.9 million. (Rodriguez, 2011) This suggests that computer crime is becoming an even bigger hazard to companies. A recent example of this was the data breach committed against Target in 2013.
An employer also should restrict an employee’s access to the internet or access to certain web sites, or prohibit the use of personal work computers. As a result, there is no right to claim privacy against your employer for monitoring or restricting your use of the internet. Having an internal regulation could avoid the personal use of a computer in the workplace, the employers are the owners of the computers, and they are also the owners of the data transmitted to and from the computers, regardless of the source. Another reason that justifies the employer's ability to control the use of the computer in the workplace is the security of their internal systems. Computer systems can be vulnerable to viruses and other types of technological problems if employees are downloading information and Internet programs, or other potentially harmful materials. Security can also be a problem in that employees can violate the company's confidentiality rules. By monitoring the use of the personal Internet, employers can prevent employees from being the means of disseminating confidential information about the company to the
Children have an unconditional trust for their parents the moment they are born. This trust is generalized to many adults; however, some seemingly trustworthy adults can be the most dangerous by taking advantage of a child’s innocence. Cruise (2004) states that most children know their perpetrator and feel comfortable in their presence. Breaking such a genuine trust causes lifelong detrimental consequences. Childhood sexual abuse has many definitions, but Collin-Vézina, Daigneault, and Hébert (2013) define it “as any sexual activity perpetrated against a minor by threat, force, intimidation, or manipulation” (p. 7). Despite the form of sexual abuse, children are not developmentally prepared physically or emotionally to see, hear or experience this type of act. Although adults view childhood sexual abuse as a clear violation of boundaries, children may not completely believe it is the perpetrators fault. Children can have a multitude of beliefs such as they deserve the abuse, the abuse it their fault, and that abuse is a way that the perpetrator shows love. Unfortunately, many children do not talk about the abuse, so parents and guardians need to be aware of the warning signs that sexual abuse is possibly occurring.
The internet is an ever increasingly powerful tool for finding everything from entertainment to reference to daily news. When first created, the internet was only a shadow of what it has become. Most people didn't even have a computer, let alone a connection to the internet. In the last decade, however, computers have become more and more affordable, and internet service providers have become far more widespread. According to the World Almanac and Book Of Facts 2001 "By early 2000, more than 300 million people around the world were using the Internet, and it is estimated that by 2005, 1 billion people may be connected" (World Almanac). As with any new, powerful technology, the internet has brought with its positive aspects, a number of new problems which will have to be dealt with in the next several years.
Sometime last year, a software package came available that allows employers to monitor their workers’ Internet usage. It contains a database of about 45,000 web sites that are categorized as productive, neutral, and rates operators based on their browsing. It identifies the most frequent users and the most popular sites, and it’s called Little Brother. There are also programs to search emails and programs to block objectionable websites, beyond installing monitoring software. Your employer can simply go into your hard drive, check your cache to see where you’ve been on the net, and I read your e-mail. Meanwhile most employees are unaware that while at work their activities are being monitored, and this brings about the question “if the use of tracking software and systems ethical”? Legally, little or all employees have little recourse; the most relevant Federal law, is the 1986 Electronic Communications privacy act which prohibits unauthorized interception of various Electronic Communications, including email. This act exempts service providers from its provisions, which is commonly interpreted to include employers who provide e-mail and Internet access. The EPIC in Washington, DC would have required employers at least to notify workers that they were being monitored, but it failed to come to a vote from 1993 to 1995. To most employers, they have a need to protect their business or organizations from such negligent abuse. When an employer uses a software package that sweeps through the office computers and eliminate games workers have installed, few people will feel such an action as an invasion of privacy. Their comfort with this type of intrusions suggests that most of them don’t fault an employer who insists that the...
...hey want, some individuals misuse the internet to make profit. The internet has shown that just about anyone can post what they want in order to make a quick buck. Technological advanced devices and social media networks, such as Facebook exposes explicit images of children in erotic positions that encourage sexual activities. In addition, it displays that anyone that owns advanced technology or has a social networking account, has easy access to see graphic portrayals of minors. Therefore, technological advancements make it possible for any one running child prostitution and pornography to conduct a business. Furthermore, the misuse of the internet permits predators and pedophiles to take advantage of children and cause them to be physically, psychologically, and sexually abused. This leads children to feel worthless, mistrust others, and fearful to ask for help.
According to Internet Live Stats, 40% of the world’s population has access to the internet today. In 1995, this number was less than 1%. The first billion was reached in 2005, the second billion in 2010, and the third billion in 2014. With these overwhelming numbers, it can be presumed that having access to the Internet has never been so easy. In fact, we are so conditioned to this technology that most of our tasks depend on it to be done. Nowadays, most of the school work is done online and when looking for a job a lot of times it is required to be computer savvy. Of course the internet is not all bad, but becoming so dependent on this can surely have severe consequences. CNN released an article evaluating internet addiction. According to this article, “A 2014 study determined that about 16% of 18- to 25-year-olds are involved in compulsive Internet use” (CNN, Adair). Psychologist Catherine Steiner-Adair further explains:
While monitoring has been around for many years, employees think monitoring poses a bigger threat to his or, her privacy in the workplace. Even though it is unde...
Americans’ over-dependence on the internet is causing more harm than good. Technological advancement, coupled with our easy access to virtual life through computers, cell phones, iPods among others has introduced us into a new era of extreme livelihood and lifestyle; we have gradually expanded internet use to do most of our activities of daily living for us. This growing trend in internet obsession has led to increase in online sexual predators, social withdrawal, Internet fraud and health issues. This social stigma if left unchanged will lead to further deterioration in our emotional, physical and social wellbeing. This paper will take the position that our overly use of the Internet has caused more harm than good.
The 90's internet boom gave rise to new ways of writing in through access to cyberspace. What used to be printed or handwritten on physical surfaces such as paper, cardboard, or bulletin boards has changed to 0's and 1's, bits and bytes of digitized information that can be displayed thru the projections of computer screens. Moreover, the internet has made the process of publishing one's works, writing letters, or chatting with one another much easier and convenient for everyone around the globe. The internet became a universal tool, giving much freedom and flexibility to the users; it gave them opportunity to deliver their thoughts with little or no restrictions. Since it's impossible to regulate all cyber-activities, internet users are often unrestricted by the normal laws or authorities that would set boundaries around the various online transactions. More importantly, the fact that a net user can take on different identities in cyberspace brings about several ethical and social issues. These anonymous and unrestrictive characteristics of cyberspace often permite abusive users to easily involve themselves in serious cybercrimes such as cyberstalking, cyber-rape, and cyber-harassment through chatting services, emails, cyber communities, and other online communication.
There are many different forms of abuse and many people do not realize. Verbal abuse is the use of words to attack, hurt or injure someone, or to gain power and control over them, or to persuade someone to believe something that is untrue and harmful. Abuse does not just occur with men to women, though this paper is going to focus on it. Abuse is about control and the fear of losing it. The abuser may fear not being “good enough” and or meeting others expectations. He/she may attempt to make their victim feel and believe similar things about him/her self. Abusers exploit, lie, insult, demean, ignore (the "silent treatment"), manipulate, and control. There are a million ways to abuse, directly and indirectly.
The researcher had gained knowledge about the habit of cyberloafing, and how it affects the employees’ productivity and performance at the workplace and the different deviant behaviors that arise. Cyberloafing refers to be involved in non-work related Internet activities during work hours. This researched helped to sort out negative aspects of cyber loafing at work place, which will help the organization improve their policies to maintain a productive working environment and to limit off or block internet bandwidth in order to prevent cyber loafing which reduces or destroys system
Today, society is affected by the many advances in technology. These advances affect almost every person in the world. One of the prevalent advances in technology was the invention and mass use of the Internet. Today more than ever, people around the world use the Internet to support their personal and business tasks on a daily basis. The Internet is a portal into vast amounts of information concerning almost every aspect of life including education, business, politics, entertainment, social networking, and world security. (idebate.com) Although the Internet has become a key resource in developing the world, the mass use of Internet has highlighted a major problem, privacy and the protection of individual, corporate, and even government security . The argument over whether or not the Internet should be controlled by the government has developed into a controversial issue in almost every country in the world.
Internet addiction is a growing problem with more and more people. The internet is much more accessible to people now than it was just a few years ago. The internet provides people with entertainment, loads of information, and an escape from everyday life, but like anything else, too much a good thing can be addictive. This paper will cover what internet addiction is, warning signs of internet addiction, problems caused by internet addiction, who develops internet addiction, preventing and treating internet addiction, and safety guidelines for internet users.
In Australia, Employers should implement best practice on how to maintain privacy in the workplace in accordance with the privacy standards set out in the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) (Welcome to the Fair Work Ombudsman website. n.d.). Privacy is able to keep our own personal information private and also able to do things without any electronic monitoring in the workplace. Nowadays, many company increased the usage of technology such as internet and email in the workplace. This can create issues in privacy. When employees’ access to web browsing activities during working hours, the employer can be scrutinized it. Employers take this action due to fear lawsuit if employees act in inappropriate ways. Therefore, the best policy is to explain clearly how is appropriate to use email and internet at work and outline what type of use is prohibited in the workplace. Besides that, employer also needs to ensure the employee didn’t disclose or disseminate any important information to the competitors or