Computer Forensics

Copyright Priscilla Oppenheimer

Computer Forensics Homework Three

Civic Engagement

Summary

Help a friend or relative be less vulnerable to Internet hackers, scammers, and spammers. If you can't find a friend to help, you can be your own friend. Write up a description of what you did and any problems you encountered. Consider both cultural and technical problems. For example, did you have a hard time convincing Grandpa that he shouldn’t open e-mail attachments? Did you encounter any computer problems?

Grade

You will be graded on the technical depth and accuracy of your write-up, as well as the clarity. The write-up should specify who you helped, what you did, and any problems you encountered. It should be about a page long, using a 12-point font and double spacing.

Possible Helpful Tasks

The tasks can range from simple to complex. Some of the points are based on the technical depth of your write-up, though, so don’t make your task too simple. If necessary, do some Internet research before you help your friend or relative. On the other hand, if you are short of time or technical expertise, you can get some points for simply talking to your friend or relative about the risks on the Internet and writing that up.

Here are some possible tasks that you can help your friend or relative with:

• Determine if their computer is running firewall software.
• Determine if their computer is running anti-virus software.
• Select, purchase, install, or configure firewall or anti-virus software.
• Determine if the anti-virus software has the latest virus definitions.
• Explain why they need both firewall and anti-virus software.
• Determine if spyware, adware, or some other malware has crept into their computer and whether it is affecting the computer’s performance.
• Help them remove spyware or adware from their computer.
• Help them determine where a phishing or spam e-mail really came from.
• Help them learn to recognize suspicious e-mails.
• Help them understand why they should not send or open e-mail attachments.
• Teach them how to copy and paste text into the body of an e-mail message so that they don’t have to send attachments.
• Help them set up spam filters in their e-mail software.
• Suggest ways they can avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.