Nicholas Shoemake
ENGL 199-11
Professor Ezell
Sept. 23, 2014
Internet: Blessing or Curse? The internet can be a dangerous place, but users can stay safe by knowing the dangers and knowing what to avoid. You can never trust anyone on the internet. That said, there are plenty of benefits to using the internet, such as researching information and it provides convenient tools for communicating with friends. Many people use it to express themselves in ways that they do not feel comfortable doing in the outside world. This can be a freeing experience, sometimes the feeling is even therapeutic. The attention gained can be quite addictive. The internet provides an unparalleled form of interaction. It is neither exclusively a curse nor a blessing on society, because there are good and bad sides to it, like anything else in the world. As far as blessings go, the internet holds a wealth of knowledge that can be harnessed by anyone. Before the invention of the internet, people only had libraries to use for obtaining information for research. Libraries had a limited stock of physical books. So if you needed something that the library did not have in stock, you had to either travel somewhere else or request a book transfer that usually took several weeks to process and receive. With the internet, you don't ever have to leave your house; you can just look through digital databases or order a book to be delivered to your front door. All of the cumulated knowledge of human society can be accessed through a computer terminal. No longer are there restrictions to gaining knowledge. You can be poor and homeless and still be able to use the internet using the computers at a library or school for free. Knowledge is power and with the internet, anyone can achieve this. Knowing this, schools have integrated the internet into their curriculum for the purpose of engaging students better and keep up with emerging technology. There are dangers that lurk on the internet: people who want to steal your personal information and cyberbullies. They trick unsuspecting users by pretending to be their friends or their banks or anyone users might trust with private and personal information. These techniques fall into the fields of social engineering and computer cracking. Seasoned internet users are well aware of these dangers and know how to counter or avoid these problems. The methods to browse the internet safely are simple and easy to follow: do not give out personal information to anyone online and use malware protection software to prevent viruses and spyware (programs that monitor your actions on your computer). Even if your grandmother or your best friend in the whole wide world asks you for something like your username and/or password, don't tell them and ask yourself why would they need that information in the first place. Do not give out your home address, telephone number, or your current physical location to people you do not truly know in person and definitely do not post any of this publicly online. These guidelines are important for everyone to know and follow, not just children and teenagers. More often than minors, adults are preyed upon for their bank account information. This is often done with phishing. A middle school instructor, named Koby, fell victim to social engineering, a sophisticated phishing scheme. Within a few days after setting up an online auction to sell one of Koby's vehicles, someone purchased the vehicle and paid for the expenses. Koby removed the listing, but noticed that on his account the vehicle he had just sold was listed as up for sale. However, disturbingly, the email address listed as part of his contact information was not his. The email address looked nearly identical to his own and any discrepancy would go unnoticed by most people, but Koby noticed the difference. He tried to email the person, who owned that nearly identical email address, with an offer to purchase the vehicle. He also arranged to transfer payment to this seller, in order to locate the person. With this information, Koby contacted the FBI and the FBI found and apprehended the people responsible for this fraud. These people had gained unauthorized access into Koby's auction account by sending him a phishing email that claimed his account had been compromised, then the email provided a link to a fake login page for the account. Koby had unknowingly provided them all the information they needed to unlawfully access his account, simply by using that fake login page. After that, the criminals had his username and password, then simply logged into his account and changed the contact information. There is a lesson to be learned from this, which is never click on spam or emails from a company you’ve never heard of before, because those could very well be from a made up, fraudulent organization.

Many people have personal blogs, business websites, and use the internet to talk to family and friends. For them, the internet plays an important role in their daily lives. Personal blogs are used to express opinions and interests, and for some the internet is the only outlet in their lives that grant them this freedom of expression. For businesses, the internet connects them to their customers in ways that would be impossible otherwise. Businesses keep track of what their customers are interested in, either through webpage visits or by being connected to their customers through social media and businesses adapt themselves based on the incoming data. As a communication tool, the internet allows people to share photos, for example of vacations, with relatives that live far away. Distant friends and family can still interact closely and maintain strong relationships through the internet. The internet has both dark sides and bright sides in equal measure. Instead of trying to define it as either a blessing or a curse, think of the internet as both a tool to be used and a frontier to traverse. To navigate safely, you need only to learn how to use it to fit your needs and to stay distrustful of anyone you do not know. Once you know what to do and what to avoid, you can harness the power of the internet.