If a person has control over any function, it can also be used to control the computer (Week 14)

   Computers have become the most significant technology of recent decades. Every issue can be solved much more efficiently thanks to this tool. Despite the fact that they are very handy, making use of them in quite a safe way should also be a must. Working on the computer in poor conditions may cause some harm even disabilities. Actually, poor conditions are not the only reason for disabilities, they can also be congenital. Not depending on the cause of the disability, working with computers should be easied for those people.

   Now, I would like to present information regarding a tool that empowers the disabled with working on computers. This is Tobii ATI (Tobii Assistive Technology) developed by Tobii Technology. Generally, hands (indeed fingers) are used to control the computers. However, for some people, it is too hard, or even impossible. For this reason, the aforementioned tool which enables to control the computers with eyes has been developed. Thanks to Tobii ATI, people with disabilities have gained notable access to do nearly what they want. The only kind of movement required is moving eyes, not any muscles. Hence, it is the proper tool to work on computers with minimum movement. The company says over 7000 people in the world get the help of Tobii ATI. The Tobii Eye Tracker is equipped with invisible infra-red light. There are also 2 good quality cameras for getting the retina reflection and eyes' corneas. After catching these points, a 3D model of the eyes is made up. So that the point on the computer screen that the user is looking at, and the user's eyes' location in the space become blatant. Through this process, the gadget is provided with the data that where the user is looking at. This is in simple words how Tobii ATI works. Luckily, such tools have been developed and made life easier for those who need minimum physical movement.

REFERENCE:

1. https://www.abilities.com/community/assistive-eye-control.html

2. https://news.softpedia.com/news/Tobii-ATI-C15-Helps-the-Disabled-Communicate-Using-Just-Their-Eyes-179303.shtml   [source of the image]

Comparison of Linux Distributions (Kali vs Debian) (week 13)

   Let's firstly understand what exactly Linux is. Linux is an operating system likewise the others, Windows, macOS, BeOS, and so on. As an operating system, it manages connections between the hardware and software. To apply to every type of user, Linux has many distributions. Time to explore 2 of those famous distributions, Kali and Debian.

    Like the other Linux distributions, Kali Linux is also an open-source operating system. It is Debian-based and mainly created for Security Auditing and Penetration Testing. So, it can be said that this Linux distribution is addressed to security professionals. As it is a powerful OS for fulfilling information security tasks, it has many tools (over 600) included for such reasons. There are a few thousand free software packages contained in Kali Linux's main section. However, there is also a non-free section in Kali that involves non-open source tools. In the case of building a derivative of Kali, and importing these non-free packages from Debian, the license of each non-free package needs to be reviewed individually and most importantly, the imported non-free packages can be redistributed. As expected, the Kali community mostly consists of security specialists and hobbyists. Despite the fact that Kali is a distribution of Linux targeted at Penetration Testing, it only provides particular tools to do it, but nothing like guidelines of those tools' usage or support for penetration testing. However, there are community forums, blogs, channels, and websites to contribute to the users in the manner of using the tools. 

   Now, let's learn about the Debian distribution. As Kali and the other distributions, Debian is also an open-source distribution/ OS. While Kali is dealing with penetration testing, Debian mostly addresses the organizations, developers, and other end-users. The foremost reason for making Debian such a useful OS is stability and security. Moreover, Debian is considered to be a base for the other distributions, for ex. Kali. Debian runs also some other devices like Embedded ones and IoT. It contains a wide range of software packages - 59K for today. Debian is the first distribution of Linux having installed a package management system. Unlike Kali, Debian has a special way of support - Mailing List. Thanks to this feature, users around the world, are able to contact the developers through the mail. Apart from this, forums are also a preferred way of getting support from the developers. Likewise Kali, Debian also provides free redistribution. The licenses should let derived works and modifications. Moreover, the distribution should also be allowed within original software and the same terms.

REFERENCE:

1. Documentation, W. (2022). What is Kali Linux? | Kali Linux Documentation. Retrieved 21 April 2022, from https://www.kali.org/docs/introduction/what-is-kali-linux/

2. Documentation, K. (2022). Kali Linux Open Source Policy | Kali Linux Documentation. Retrieved 21 April 2022, from https://www.kali.org/docs/policy/kali-linux-open-source-policy/

3. Linux, C. (2022). Community and Support | Kali Linux. Retrieved 21 April 2022, from https://www.kali.org/community/

4. Debian -- Reasons to use Debian. (2022). Retrieved 21 April 2022, from https://www.debian.org/intro/why_debian

5. 1.3. What is Debian GNU/Linux?. (2022). Retrieved 21 April 2022, from https://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/amd64/ch01s03.html.en

6. Debian -- Support. (2022). Retrieved 21 April 2022, from https://www.debian.org/support

Hacker Ethic in the Modern World (week 12)

   To be able to elucidate the Hacker Ethic in the Modern World, we first need to explain what Hacker Ethic itself means. The standard philosophy and moral values existing in the hacker community are the Hacker Ethics. Its roots back in the MIT laboratories, in the 1950s. Now it is time to take a look at Hacker Ethics these days.

   Today, Hacker ethics have some values like information freedom, better livelihood thanks to computers, promotion of decentralization, and worth of code. To begin with, the concept of accessing information freely is one of the core stones in Hacker Ethics. It means this is compulsory for a hacker to make their own work accessible to the other hackers. It can also be understood as sharing a hacker's knowledge and experience with others. Personally, I do accept and support this notion. For instance, as IT students we sometimes need to use StackOverflow, which is one most helpful tools for a programmer. I have seen some statements from prominent programmers that they all use StackOverflow on writing codes. So that the aforementioned website in which hackers share their own knowledge is a prime example of why I also think information should be publicly accessible.

   Secondly, since the early ages of computers, it has been believed that they must serve humanity and contribute to making life much easier. Automating unnecessary tasks is a good example of this concept. A piece of code becomes a great power in automation. I think such a handy process is unarguably acceptable by everyone and I also do agree. 

   Another value to consider is the promotion of decentralization. What exactly is meant is creating new tools by hackers. Bitcoin which was built by Satoshi Nakamoto can be considered a foremost example of a contribution to decentralization by hackers. By creating Bitcoin, they reached the authority of banks' recession. It enabled the individuals to manage their own money in a decentralized way. Due to the management of finance in an easier way for the individuals, I believe such a tool is so paramount in the contemporary world. So that this is another case of how hackers helped the world. 

   Finally, the worth of code! I personally consider this value as the most important one. There is said that the hackers must be judged by their code, hacking not any other characteristics like position, age, or sex. It means if your code is better than someone else's, that is all. The quality of the code is the only criteria to evaluate, judge the hackers. Now, some real-life examples. Sometimes, some people are fancied by others. It is common in such cases that the fans do not analyze or consider what the ones they fancy say. They accept them as unarguably true. But, I think it is a mistake. I believe that opinions, the notions should be the only things to be evaluated, not the people saying them. 

   Consequently, I do accept and agree with the values of the Hacker Ethics of today. They are very necessary ideas and mean a lot. 

REFERENCE:

1. What does hacker ethic mean?. (2022). Retrieved 20 April 2022, from https://www.definitions.net/definition/hacker+ethic

  2. The Hacker Ethic: Understanding Programmer Culture - Learn to code in 30 Days. (2022). Retrieved 20 April 2022, from https://learn.onemonth.com/the-hacker-ethic/

3 . Who are the hackers who cracked the iPhone?. (2022). Retrieved 20 April 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37192670 [source of image]

    

Online Censorship and Privacy (week 11)

 While some countries provide freedom in accessing the content on the internet, there are also some countries restricting it. Iceland, Estonia, Canada, and Germany are the leading countries on free internet. But, countries like Cuba, Myanmar, Iran, and Chine are mostly limiting internet freedom. Now, it is time to take a look at the policies of one of the restricted-internet countries - Saudi Arabia.

   According to the data provided by The Guardian, Saudi Arabia is the leading country among the Arabian countries for Internet Censorship. The censored websites mostly involve pornographic and political content. All this censorship is done by an Internet Service located in King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology which is in the capital, Riyadh. There are 2 main ways that censorship is executed; immoral and the one directed by a security committee. The immoral ones are mostly about pornographic content and the citizens are motivated to report such websites to be blocked. Indeed, for the above-mentioned reason, there are hundreds of requests made each day. A student named Madawi Al-Rasheed studying in London has said that her own website has also been blocked in her homeland. She adds, "But it is quite easy to circumvent using proxy servers. The idea is to protect society, but the so-called immoral sites are the most accessed, much more than radical or jihadi ones."

   Now, let's take a closer look at the interesting privacy cases. I would like to emphasize one of my favorite examples - Biometrics. We know that Biometric Security is currently used by most people today. There are some forms of Biometrics like; Fingerprints, Iris, and Face IDs. They are convenient, fast, and have the potential to become quite vulnerable. What would happen if the servers containing our biometric data were subjected to an attack and data leaked out? Our most vulnerable data would be theft and surf on the internet. This is totally unacceptable. So that such data in most cases is preserved in the gadget itself and it is too hard to steal it. But, on 5 August 2019, there has been explored that a Biometric data breach had occurred. It was named as BioStar 2 and caused 1 million people's data breach having a total of 28 million records. Fingerprints, Facial IDs, unencrypted usernames, and passwords are some kinds of data stolen. According to the Security Researchers, the company preserving these data has not been protected and anyone could have stolen it.

REFERENCE:

1. Saudia Arabia leads Arab regimes in internet censorship. (2022). Retrieved 7 April 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jun/30/internet-censorship-arab-regimes

2. Freedom House Index: internet freedom in selected countries 2021 | Statista. (2022). Retrieved 7 April 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/272533/degree-of-internet-freedom-in-selected-countries/

3. Biometric data breach: Database exposes fingerprints and facial recognition data of 1 million people. (2022). Retrieved 7 April 2022, from https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-emerging-threats-biometric-data-breach-database-exposes-fingerprints-and-facial-recognition-data.html

4. [image source] User Privacy or Cyber Sovereignty?. (2022). Retrieved 7 April 2022, from https://freedomhouse.org/report/special-report/2020/user-privacy-or-cyber-sovereignty

“A Fool Gets Beaten Even At Church” (an Estonian Proverb) (week 10)

   Most probably, the concepts, technology, training, and policy that form the basis of the Mitnick formula are the most highlighted сyber defense notions. Studying and providing their proper implantation is vital for any organization and the states. Now, it is time to look at the execution of mentioned conceptions in my country Azerbaijan. 

   According to the report "Azerbaijan CyberSecurity Governance Assessment" provided by the author Ms. Natalia Spinu, 42% of Azerbaijan's PC users have faced cyber threats from hardware components - memory cards and hard drives to software. In the second quarter of 2019 Kaspersky has found 7500 malware and halted 380 000 attempts aimed the users to direct to phishing websites. Unfortunately, from the technological perspective, Azerbaijan has not reached that decent level. Likewise the other developing countries, Azerbaijan is also becoming dependent on the use of ICT applications and services. 

   The first quarter of 2020 has also witnessed Azerbaijan entering the top-10 countries that are exposed to the Ciphering-Trojan Stealing Malware. In the spring of the same year, Azerbaijan has been subjected to attacks that were mainly based on the Energy sector from both the state and private sectors. Sadly, these statistics say that Azerbaijan is being exposed to cyber-attacks and there is a lack of cyber responsibility from the government side. This is also a fact the Azerbaijani government has been developing its IT infrastructure. Since Cyber-security is mandatory for nearly all sectors; administrative, sociological, technical, political, military, and so on, the development of Cyber Defense Infrastructure for a state, especially a developing state like Azerbaijan becomes blatant again. Hopefully, the same report says that the Azerbaijani government is making attempts to develop its Cyber facilities.

   Training well-versed cyber security specialists has been a goal for Azerbaijan in recent years. There are also being opened new Cyber Security faculties at the best IT-taught universities of Azerbaijan. They are mainly targeting training specialists for defending the sectors having special state importance. 

   To sum all up, Azerbaijan has been exposed to a myriad of cyber attacks in recent years and the state is trying to develop its Cyber Defense facilities on policy, training, and technology - the Mitnick formula's elements.

REFERENCE:

https://www.dcaf.ch/sites/default/files/publications/documents/AzerbaijanCybersecurityGovernanceAssessment.pdf

NOTE:

I have looked for some sources, but this is the only one I considered to be the best. That is the reason why there is a source, not more.

Ergonomics Examples (week 9)

    To be able to talk about Ergonomics and its examples, the term Ergonomics needs to be defined. Ergonomics is understood as the optimization of physical hardware to benefit the user's health. Its aimed at reducing physical injuries and musculoskeletal disorders. There are some good and bad examples of Ergonomics. Let's take a quick look at them.

   One of the most known bad Ergonomics examples is "Poor Sitting Posture". It always makes feel more convenient, but indeed it's also too dangerous. As the above-inserted photo clearly demonstrates, the red points become the most vulnerable parts and they get weaker and develop in an undesired way. As time spent on the described position passes, the issues on the joints continue deepening. 

   

The photo above shows how the recommended posture should be. As seems, the spine has to be as straight as possible. This is the neutral spine. Moreover, the knees must be bent at 90 degrees for the most ideal posture. 

   Another example would be the lighting. Insufficient lighting, shadows, and improper colors are some features of poor lighting. They affect productivity, mood, and vision in a negative way. The environment should be arranged in a way that it gets natural light as much as possible. A combination of direct and indirect lights must also be set properly for shadow elimination. 

REFERENCE:

1. https://www.techopedia.com/definition/611/ergonomics

2. https://www.safeopedia.com/definition/50/ergonomics

3. https://ergonomictrends.com/ergonomic-examples-at-workplace/

Depiction of an IT Professional (week 8)

 There is a notable rise in the number of IT specialists throughout all the world and in my country - Azerbaijan as well. But of course, the skills they possess have a greater value than their number. So that it is important to explore how well-versed they are.  

   To begin with, IT education is mostly 4 years and plus a year of English course in best universities in Azerbaijan. As a matter of fact, only a university education cannot make one be ready to work in the IT sector. Hence, most people prefer to go to courses to learn IT. This is also common due to the length of the university education which is longer than in most countries, some people do not go to universities, they just study at IT courses. 

   Most people try to work at the HelpDesk to get real hands-on experience just after they graduate from the university or above mentioned IT courses. In most cases, networking-related fields are their majors. Another great portion of people tries to get an internship, especially in the fields of Software development (Android in most cases). The main source they use is Udemy, Coursera, Edx, and such other online platforms. Thirdly, I would like to mention Frontend Development. There is indeed a great interest in frontend development in Azerbaijan. Despite the fact that there was not that great interest in Cyber Security until recent years, hopefully, this field also became a major in the Azerbaijani sphere to specialize in. 

   Talking about its history, in the 90s and 2000s, most people tried to go abroad to study IT. However, some leading universities in Azerbaijan are now capable of teaching IT in the world standards. They mostly teach software development and networking faculties. Cyber Security has not been included in their curriculums yet. 

   In conclusion, there is a great number of people trying to specialize in IT in Azerbaijan. They use different sources, have various skills, and would like to specialize mostly in the mentioned fields of IT.