Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday, I am posting this week’s lecture and weekly writing assignment early.
After watching this week’s lecture and continuing your teamwork on the Analytical Research Report, each student should individually write a memo (TO, FROM, DATE, and SUBJECT: Research Project Update) that describes that individual’s work and responsibilities for researching and writing on the project and copy-and-paste any writing (including quotes that you might discuss) into your memo. Post your memo as a comment to this Weekly Writing Assignment post. Again, this is an individual assignment that demonstrates what each team member is responsible for working on their team’s project.
To: Prof. Ellis
From: Mamadou Sakho
Date: November 24, 2021
Subject: Delegated work
The portion of my groupâs work delegated to me is to talk about how to prevent cyber-attacks and why it is important to prevent them. Cyber-attacks are calculated attacks initiated by malicious hackers intended to do harm to peoplesâ or companies or government computers or network systems. Along this process, several things happen such as theft of personal information, medical information, personal assets/financial, etc. These attacks are sometimes enabled by governments in order to attack another government or in reply to an attack. The result of these attacks can be devastated. For example, when a personâs valuable information is stolen, that person can be blackmailed. In order to get back the stolen information, the person has to pay the ransom, or his/her information is sold to the black market. It could be even worse when infrastructures such as hospitals or nuclear sites are targeted because it could result in a lot of lives being lost. For example, if a hospitalâs power is turned off, people may die, and electrical materials may be destructed. For these reasons and other similar reasons, cyber-attacks are to be taken seriously and invested in the fight against them. Anti-virus is good in fighting cyber-attacks but there are several steps to be taken prior such as having qualified personnel to deal with upcoming threats in addition to having anti-virus software.
Work Progress:
Cyber-attacks are complex issues that the world is facing which require diverse measures to counter them. These measures involve a combination of political and technological responses. Since cyber-attacks are a global issue that every nation is facing, it requires a global solution. Therefore, the first measure to prevent cyber-attack is to find develop a liaison between governments on this issue. This agreement needs to happen between the private and public sectors. Importance of sharing information across entities and governments is important because cybercriminals have the tendency of working alone or in a small group which can be easier to identify. It is also significant in curving the threat of cyber-attacks through planning on how to deal with cyber threats. For example, the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime reaches an agreement on criminal activities in cyberspace. Another example within the United Statesâ response to prevent cyber-attacks is the creation of information sharing and analysis organizations, strengthening information and analysis centers, and managing the response to cyber-attacks under the Obama administration [6]. The vulnerability to cyber-attack varies across different organizations. Sectors such as banking, firms, aviation, and utilities are a direct line of attacks which means that they should be developing countermeasures like monitoring of accounts because the attack on one sector can easily spill on the others. The second measure is to create a link or communication channel through which information can be shared rapidly in a simplified way which helps stop the spread of malware, speedily detects oncoming threats, and ease the attribution process [6]. Moreover, it is of utmost importance to have an equipped human capital that can develop, understand, and take appropriate measures to respond to upcoming threats.
Reference:
[6] Henry, S., & Brantly, A. F. (2018). Countering the Cyber Threat. The Cyber Defense Review, 3(1), 47â56. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26427375
TO: Prof. Ellis
FROM: Edwin Baez
DATE: 12/06/2021
SUBJECT: Delegated Work
For my group, we collectively came up with topics within our general topic and we all decided on 4 topics to write about. After all four topics were established we each chose which topic we wanted to dive into. For my role, I will be researching how the global pandemic and high demand has led to shortages in the manufacturing industry derived from the shortage of chips and microchips. My research will be based on the cause of the chip shortage, and insight on whats going on with companies and their status now with the pandemic going on. here are some references that i have picked out so far.
In a time where the world was taken by surprise, and time seemed to stop and have all of us wondering what came after, a profound and seemingly lasting effect would be left on our worldâs situations. Everyoneâs lives were impacted physically, mentally and last but not least, financially. As we saw ourselves in the midst of a pandemic, everyone made sure to do the best they could to not contract the deadly virus. This caused a lockdown that sent a ripple effect throughout the world and itâs various industries. Our economic structure was being tested and some industries have not been able to fully recover just yet.
A pivotal market that has yet to recover from the long lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the Chip industry. Only a short while after the lockdown began, manufacturers had to halt the production and distribution of Chips/Microchips, meaning whatever stores had available was all that was left at the time. This affected major companies and their products, such as computer parts manufacturers and probably the one that took the biggest hit was automobile manufacturers.
When the lockdown began and we were in the middle of the pandemic, we all had massive amounts of time on our hands. During this time was when I decided to fulfil my dream of building my own computer and I definitely was not the only one who had the same idea. Luckily I was able to purchase all my computer parts for their retail price since I did it very early, but I recognized a trend: not many parts up for sale, a lot of people looking to buy parts. Since manufacturers weâre not producing any new parts, the market became inflated and price for parts skyrocketed to prices that donât match the value at all. The graphics card I had purchased for $300 is now worth close to $700 and that’s considering if you have the chance to find one. A computer that would have been built with $1,300 is now worth double the price due to the shortage in microchips used to build all the parts necessary.
References:
[1] âNow, chip shortage threatens industry; Growing auto output is taxing the supply.â Automotive News, vol. 95, no. 6964, 14 Dec. 2020, p. 0001. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A645315690/AONE?u=cuny_nytc&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=6294833b. Accessed 6 Dec. 2021.
[2] âChip shortage stings Japanâs agile industry.â Automotive News, vol. 95, no. 6992, 28 June 2021, p. 0003. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A667059570/AONE?u=cuny_nytc&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=e1719eef. Accessed 6 Dec. 2021.
[3] S. Venkatesan, âCouncil Post: Why the global chip shortage is lasting so long and why it will have a positive end,â Forbes, 17-Nov-2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/11/17/why-the-global-chip-shortage-is-lasting-so-long-and-why-it-will-have-a-positive-end/?sh=1bfab2ad153b. [Accessed: 07-Dec-2021].
TO: Prof. Ellis
FROM: Gani Graceni
DATE: 12/07/2021
SUBJECT: Research project update
Our group had a virtual meeting where we discussed and were able to break down the main topic of our project. Based on the number of the participants we decided to have 4 sub topics so each can choose one and elaborate based on reading and research. For our group the main topic is IC chips and processors shortage and as a sub section I have been delegated to work on the reasons why the chips are shorted and how the inactivity in the industrial sector creates delays and shortages to manufacturing processes. This sub section will takes a big role on our project as a whole and will keep me busy with some research on this worldwide technological issue that almost all industries have in common. I have utilized some sources that will be listed on the reference section below.
The Covid-19 pandemic and various infection control measures have made a great impact on the global integrated circuit companies causing the âIC chip shortageâ [1]. The tech world is suffering a lack of its main components and itâs getting harder and harder to push them to the manufacturers that deliver to various costumers around the globe. Pandemic is a key reason why the chip shortage is happening but this research points out some other related reasons why chips are shorted. There are reasons like the demand for chips. The demand for chips has been significantly increasing. [2]. Covid-19 or not the manufacturers keep improving their product and that means more automation. The automated and latest device products need more IC chips and better performing processors. The high demand from various industries makes it harder for the IC chip industry to keep up with production especially at these pandemic times. Another main which is an effect of the Covid-19 pandemic is the inactivity of these IC chip production facilities [3]. This inactivity based on the lack of workers and supervisors of these facilities and equipment due to having been infected with the virus or by taking measures to not be present at the job. Even though the chip production is mostly automated the facilities still need the workforce to be present so the processes are completed. The completion of the production cannot happen without going through all the stages. There is more to the list which covers why there is a chip shortage such as the international control and cooperation. Being that the chip production and transport to manufacturers is a long industry chain the mother production companies should cooperate to strengthen and overcome this challenge. This will lead to solving the chip shortage issue earlier and taking the right measurements to prevent the lack of the chips in long term.
Wu, Xiling, Caihua Zhang, and Wei Du. âAn Analysis on the Crisis of âChips Shortageâ in Automobile Industry ââBased on the Double Influence of COVID-19 and Trade Friction.â Journal of physics. Conference series 1971.1 (2021): 12100â. Web.
âAsia Trade Brief: The Global Chip Shortage.â Country Report: Singapore (2021): n. pag. Print.
Shen, Yuelin, and Sean P Willems. âModeling Sourcing Strategies to Mitigate Part Obsolescence.â European journal of operational research 236.2 (2014): 522â533. Web.
To: Prof. Ellis
From: Rosario Garcia
Date: November 24, 2021
Subject: Research project update
Our group had a zoom meeting and talk about who do what and separate in sections. The main topic is revolved around cyberattack.
The specific attack that happens during the covid-19 pandemic:
During the covid-19 pandemic not only the virus attack that happen in global but also a lot of cyberattacks start to increase during the pandemic. Now in time that people, companies, businesses, shortage of material. Technology now in day needs to understand how to protect files, personal computer, prevent cyberattacks and malicious virus, malware, virus. In general, understand to protect your pc or computer with cybersecurity. During the pandemic, there how been also large amount phishing and ransomware.
[5] âProtect Your Business Online.â Common Cyber Security Measures, https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/common-cyber-security-measures.
To: Professor Ellis
From: Ducquon Hinds
Date: December 21, 2021
Subject: Research Project Update
Our group had a zoom meeting and we finalized the decision on our topic increased cyberattacks during the covid-19 pandemic. We split our research paper into 6 sub topics and every individual was assigned to write approximately 800 words on that topic. The topic that I was given was who/what places were affected by cyberattacks during the covid-19 pandemic.
Draft:
It is obvious that cybersecurity is a serious concern, particularly in these challenging moments. Due to the Covid-19 epidemic, many company owners, enterprises, and organizations have turned to digital solutions to protect their firms’ long-term viability. However, many firms overlook the hazards and consequences of cybersecurity assaults while using digital solutions. According to studies, most business owners only take action to combat cybersecurity assaults after being personally affected by them. While some organizations may be fortunate, in serious circumstances, the data that has been stolen can have a significant impact on the organization and its consumers, causing the firm to be unable to continue operations. To avoid occurrences like the one described above, we believe that preventative measures should be implemented from the front end to the back end of every process. Every firm should have its own security policy, acquire security equipment or software, hire security specialists such as ethical hackers to undertake penetration testing, and only enable administrators to edit and access sensitive data.