Cloud computing is a recent online phenomenon, now utilized by pretty much every agency and business in the United States. While the premises of the plan and system sound promising, it actually holds a lot of security issues and other problems.

We’ll start off with the positives though. Cloud computing is the practice of storing the information in a “cloud” rather than on a hard drive or computer. These clouds usually refer to some place on the Internet. For example, rather than storing all of its clients profiles, passwords, user names, etc. on their personal servers, social networking sites like MySpace or FaceBook could simply save all of the information on the Internet. This eliminates much of the cost of securing and encrypting the information themselves, which allows the site to keep more of its revenue, and possibly add more features as it sees fit. Another thing to consider is the ergonomics of such a system; rather than storing the required information on a huge expanse of many computers, the information and data could be stored on maybe one computer, using about half of the space, as half is directly put to the Internet.

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Being too safe, it seems like a contradictory concept in today’s civilization. How can one be too safe in these days of economic hardship, impending threats of terrorism, and more nuclear firepower than we know what to do with; we could probably blow up the entire galaxy with our combined stockpiles. It has even permeated to the social aspects of our lives: at one point in the idyllic fifties perhaps young kids were allowed to roam free and play parking lot baseball until dinner time, a period of about fifteen minutes where all kids would be scurrying home to avoid missing curfew. This curfew was only imposed because the rest of the family didn’t want to wait on the rambunctious youth while they succulent food got cold; it did not cross their minds that perhaps a child predator would be sweeping the streets once the streetlights illuminated, looking to abduct their kid. These kids did not have cell phones either, the radio and the television were opulent luxuries that not everyone enjoyed, and featured no communication abilities either. These parents relied on and trusted their kids, and the neighborhood or social establishment to run them home before dark. No one knew anything about cell phones, and certainly if anyone did have such a thing, it would not be in the interest of a child to lug the old “brick” around while engaging in the suburban ball games.

These days every child carries a cell phone, and is on call everywhere they go. For what purpose? Society seems to have tried to obfuscate the matter by making a cell phone something important in the cultural zeitgeist; even the old calling features have become obsolete with the new text messaging capabilities of these micro-computers. These devices have cameras installed, music players, you name it, some cell phone has it. This takes away the fear and anxiety that every parent feels, and instead of making the phone seem like a security tool to the naive child, it is now just a hip fashion accessory.

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Most everyone person who has a computer these days (and who doesn’t?) probably is on some type of social networking site. What was once deemed a silly fad that narcissistic children engaged in is now a world wide phenomenon. People use these services to communicate, post pictures, post information, and most importantly, create their own personalized profile. There are a multitude of sites to use also. Most people only commit to one, (MySpace, FaceBook, Xanga, etc.) but some people will have multiple sites to upkeep with multiple sets of friends. While these sites have good intentions of bringing people together and giving them a place to congregate, there are people who spoil it for everyone.

Change IP on Social Networks

First of all, these people wouldn’t be able to spoil it if everyone simply checked their privacy options when they loaded up the site. Just as people click “I accept” blindly on the terms of service agreements, they also overlook their privacy settings. These extra features could allow random people not to send virus filled messages to them, or people who aren’t their friends to access their profile. Oftentimes, even to send a friend request, you must know some personal detail about the person that only a real friend would know. This stops impersonators from pretending to be someone else and making the victim think they are friends. This is all great but useless, no one uses it or even knows it exists.

Also, people need to start reading their terms of service agreements. These are often pretty basic, and just say stuff about no copyright infringement, and other legal stuff, but sometimes they hide insidious information in their banal text. For example, when one logs onto the “Cash For Clunkers” website to try and get some extra money for their old beater cars, in the terms of service agreement neatly packed in where no one can read, is that once logged in, your computer is property of the United States government and can be accessed anytime even after logging off of the site for any information they want. That was something you didn’t want to miss before hitting accept!

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Everyone knows how difficult it can be to find a job. There is so much competition, and so much criteria you have to meet. It is common knowledge and a sad truth that if you don’t have a college degree, you will have trouble finding any job that will make you decent money. In a little while, your Bachelor’s degree might become obsolete! Think of all of the people you have to run up against too; there will always be that one over qualified person who sets the bar so high no other prospective employee can even try and compete. Maybe you are that employee, but somebody below you has connections with the boss and hiring staff, and you get pushed out of a position you really deserved. These problems are especially lucid in today’s society and our rapidly diminishing economy. Jobs are few and far between, and the people who aren’t getting laid off are holding onto their jobs for dear life; there won’t be many places hiring or looking for newcomers to start there.

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When you buy a computer, you get a bunch of stuff thrown in to increase the chances of a sale. The salesman will usually say that you get a free desktop download, free Internet for a year, free virus protection software, and if they are feeling really ambitious and looking for a sale, they will throw in a free printer. It’s no secret that the stuff they throw in isn’t going to be the nicest or the most expensive in any way, but at least you got something free. This stuff, while usually just being a sales incentive, is actually a good way to get yourself started on Internet protection and privacy, but this is where most people make their fatal mistake.

They get home, excitedly unwrap their new computer, install all of the extra stuff the salesman gave them, and boot it up. Laying off to the side of the mess is the virus program, totally uninstalled and neglected. After being online for months and months, checking spam emails, going on MySpace and FaceBook, they notice their new computer starting to slow down. Well, its not quite new anymore they think; perhaps this just happens when you use computers. After drudging around on their slow computer for a while, they finally reach the catharsis; computer crash. After getting a new computer, the salesman urges the user to install the virus software. Finally, giving in, the downtrodden Internet surfer decides to upload the basis virus protection. They surf for many more months, and the computer is fine. One day though, while checking their online banking statements, the user notices his balance has diminished to an infinitesimal amount overnight. After calling his bank, he asserts he wasn’t the one that made this in exorbitant withdrawal. They deactivate his account and set up a sting to catch the crook. After getting him trying to bring out more money from the user’s account, they ask him how he broke in. Simple he answers, this guy had no protection.

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Internet privacy is one of the most important things you can consider. Think about it; people worry about their house being broken into all of the time. Consider a robber, they don’t just stroll up and down a street late at night and pick a house at random from the many on the block; they do their homework. These robbers will plan and scheme for hours, gathering the right people, finding a good target, and doing some reconnaissance on the target in order to find accessible points of entry. We’ve all seen it in heist-movies: the criminals are not haphazard in the way they plan and execute. They will use a variety of ways to find a good point of entry into the house, and there are a variety of ways.

In today’s technological age, everything is done completely on computers. While school, work, and entertainment first come to mind, crime is on that list as well. As was said before, criminals don’t operate like they used to. Think about terrorism for example. While car bombs and other barbaric means of violence are still prevalent, so is the practice of trying to hack into the United States’ computers, to find weak points in our border.

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The government, and how good it is, has always been a point of contention among debaters and politically minded. The government is an instrument of protection, a diplomatic way of associating with other nations, and a way keeping the peace.

There is another side though described by the anti-government group. They would argue that the reason the Puritans broke away from their mother nation of England is because the king was ruling them with an iron fist, and this stifled their happiness. So after escaping, they wrote up the Constitution, which included strict rights the American people are granted upon citizenship or birth. They say that the government tries to take some of these away, in a corrupt greed for power and control over its citizens, just like England did to us many years ago.

While both sides are simply have opinions, they both hold valid points. First of all, it is easy to see that the government’s primary goal is to ensure and protect the safety of its nation’s people. This is evident on the 911 attacks. Even though the nation did everything they could to keep terrorism to a minimum, it turns out that some crucial figures broke through our defenses and hit us where it hurt. Many people lost their lives in the twin tower massacre, and the ripple effect could be felt in every household. Although we were tough on security before, things got even more intense after 911.

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In today’s world of computers, information, and high speed connections, the Internet can be quite an overwhelming place sometimes. Imagine the possibilities; millions of sites, millions of users, millions of opportunities. The Internet is a place of opportunity for business people, relaxation for ordinary citizens, and expression for a social network surfing teenager. Most of the sites that you visit have good intentions and are safe. You can be assured that you will never get a virus from logging onto Google and doing a quick search. There are many other websites that are not so safe though; some are actually dedicated to luring you in with lucrative content, and then stealing your data or simply crashing your computer. With this data, they could steal your identity, find your location in real life, and a host of other bad things. Just from your Internet files, they could find your password to your online banking and go in and make huge withdrawals, and you wouldn’t notice until the huge bill for your tiny bank account at the end of the month. Unfortunately, you may not know they have found your real life location until it is too late. There are ways to avoid these problems though, and you certainly don’t have to succumb to a hacker’s evil methods and tactics.

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The Internet is a place where anonymity is completely necessary. A place where you interact with so many different people from all over world has to be, due to its nature. What makes it even worse is the fact that so much information is flowing from your computer and the rest of the Internet at all times, and much of it is completely unsecured. If you ever see a little yellow lock in the bottom right of your screen, you will see that that site is encrypted. You don’t see that on any site except banking, so you are pretty much unprotected all of the time.

There has always been a negative stigma attached to staying anonymous. Staying anonymous doesn’t mean you have something to hide though, it simply means you care about your safety in the treacherous Internet landscape. Hackers prey on those who are unprotected, and it is easy for them to discern who is and who isn’t. For one, they first check the IP address. If the IP address is showing and not hidden, they will strike. Your IP address is a portal to all aspects of your Internet life, your browsing history, your sensitive information, and even your hard drive. Hackers don’t even need any special technology to see your IP address, it is completely public.

This IP address being public has baffled many for quite some time. It is such a hazard to have public, yet anyone can see it. Thus, the change IP proxy was born. The proxy does as it name suggests; changes your IP. This defeats the privacy problem, it allows you to surf the Internet completely anonymous too.

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Your IP address is like a virtual nametag you wear everywhere you go online. It shows your location, and for the Internet-savvy, can show browsing history and even, (harrowing enough) can give access to your hard drive. As you can see, an IP address isn’t something that just anyone should get a hold of and see. The reasons are numerous and obvious, but here are some major ones why people change their IP address.

1) Bypass IP Bans:
If you have ever logged onto a site in which there are usernames and a forum system where people can put up topics and others comment, you will know they are moderated. These moderators have the power to ban users if they have violated the rules, and sometimes do unjustly; they are only human. They most often block via IP, so every time you log onto the site with your IP address (your nametag; it never changes) they see that it’s you, and reject your access. If you changed your IP address however , through use of an IP changer, you would be allowed to roam and post once more.

2) Conceal Your Location:
As was mentioned before, these IP addresses contain your location, meaning you can be tracked through them. Understandably so, some people are afraid of someone intercepting their Internet activity and possibly finding out where they are from it. Everyone has heard the horror stories of the kids communicating with a stranger online and then getting paid an unexpected visit, but the truth is, they don’t even have to be told the location; it’s right in front of them.

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