Crime and crime prevention in The Information Age

The information ages has introduced new technology and has increased policing and crime prevention, but sadly, has invented new ways of committing crimes via technology, particularly through computing systems.

Hacking and Identity Theft

There are currently thousands of crimes being committed through the internet. These criminals are using a number of different methods in order to take what they require from the un-expecting members of the general public. There are a several reasons why people commit felony via the internet, but the most common reason being for theft of money. Other reasons being to damage computers by causing viruses, or to attempt impersonating another person by stealing their identity. Theft of money is the most popular misdeed committed through the internet, the reason being it is easiest to do as the number of people buying and selling products is so high, meaning the transfer of credit and debit card details is extremely high. The main reason it’s so easy for criminals to get hold of these details is because members of the public are unaware they are handing their details over to an unsecure website, leaving criminals open to steal details whenever they like.

Many computer criminals will make an attempt to hack large businesses, in the hope they will be able to steal data and important information on a large scale. There was a story back in 2011 about a group of cyber criminals who made an attack on the PlayStation network; they managed to steal millions of pieces of data from PlayStation users. Here is a story that was in the news referring to this story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/sony/9822973/Sony-fined-over-PlayStation-hack.html

If a business’s information is stolen it is bad news for the businesses reputation. It would result in all information having to be collected again; some customers will feel reluctant to do so as they fear their information being stolen again.

Cyber Bullying

Another crime via the internet is cyber bullying. This occurs frequently today, most commonly on social networking sites such as Facebook. However this only tends to occur between the younger generations.

Phishing

Another popular felony via the internet is known as phishing. These criminals spend several hours trying to devise the best possible plan to make you fall into their trap. The most common attempts are done by sending masses of e-mails with links to dangerous and false websites. It is quite simple to tell the difference between a fake and a real website.

Anti-virus

The most efficient method of protection of protection to prevent any harm to your machine is to install anti-virus software; this will protect your system from all viruses, making it possible to check all e-mails including phishing scams if you are unsure how to tell the difference between a fake website and legitimate website.

Home security systems

The first home video security system was invented in 1969; this is when they were purely video surveillance.  However, today home security has evolved to become a system made up of sensors, a control panel and alert mechanism. They were made to alert homeowners of any burglary, property damage by sounding an alarm.

Advantages of home security systems:

·        They can be integrated with fire alarms to do two jobs at once.

·        Some systems alert the emergency line immediately if the alarm is triggered, the household is then phoned to be checked if they’re in any kind of danger.

·        Seeing that a home is fitted with a security system may put of potential criminals.

·        Having a home security system can lower home insurance.

·        Makes home owners feel more comfortable about going away on a holiday.

Disadvantages of home security systems:

·        Emergency service may be contacted for no reason if triggers are set of automatically, therefore wasting their time.

·        Quite expensive to purchase and install.

·        If alarm is ignored or not working a burglary can still occur without much difficulty.

 

CCTV

Another method of crime prevention is CCTV which was introduced in 1994 and stands for ‘closed circuit television’, it is hugely important to the police today. This allows the police to see what’s occurring at a certain location without physically having to be there. CCTV cameras capture footage and transmit it into monitors. These systems are installed into places such as: airports, banks, casinos, car parks, pubs, estates and shopping stores.

In the past it has been said that CCTV does nothing to help with the prevention of crime. But in 2002 but BBC explained how CCTV has help to help who did what crimes, ‘Britain is being a place which is becoming caught on video tape’ quoted the BBC. The average citizen is now being caught on CCTV cameras at least 300 times a day; this shows the CCTV is tracking everyone’s every move. The most commonly places CCTV cameras tend to be found today is in to centre of towns or cities; they have cameras installed above buildings, in shops and many speed cameras around the area. Shop cameras are useful and effective as they catch people who attempt to steal items. Traffic cameras are useful as they control the amount of traffic. Speed cameras ate often found around the area as well, these are to keep people safe from having any accident, and if someone is caught speeding the camera can record an image of the car meaning their personal number plate is caught also, meaning the driver can then be prosecuted for this crime.

 

Facts on crime today:

·        The BBC shows that in April 2012 street theft has increased but the overall crime rate has decreased.

·        Street theft has increased by 10% in England and Wales.

·        Police say the crime rate has fallen 3% since 2010.

Crime mapping

Crime mapping is a method used by the police and law enforcement; it involves plotting the places where crime has occurred on a map. This gives us a visual representation of the crime levels in a particular area to the public.

Advantages of crime mapping:

·         It allows people to area themselves of where in the area there have been high levels of crime.

·        People can monitor the effectiveness of the policing in the area and whether the crime rates are lowering or increasing.

·        Crime map is easy to read as it displays the crime simply in numbers.

·        The online map gives you information about who is on patrol in your area and their contact details.

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Disadvantages of crime mapping:

·        High crime rates in certain areas can cause the pricing of house to drop drastically.

·        People may become scared or very paranoid about the place they live or are visiting.

Fingerprint recognition technology

One method of capturing criminals today is by tracking down their fingerprints, it is proven the most popular and effective method of identifying people who had a connection with a crime scene. As technology is so advanced today, the fingerprints can simply be scanned electronically; a database is then used to find a match within minutes.

Advantages of fingerprint recognition technology:

·        Using scanners instead of paper and ink takes far less time to identify a match.

·        It is an accurate and reliable method of identification.

·        Fingerprint recognition can increase the security of important places or documents.

Disadvantages of fingerprint recognition technology:

·        When a fingertip is cut or burnt it can change, therefore a fingerprint cannot always be useful.

·        Expensive to buy, especially to build an existing system.

·        Fingerprint scanners can produce errors.

Face recognition software
A facial recognition system is a computer application that once installed can automatically identify a person by verifying their face using a digital image or a video frame from a video source. This is done by comparing selected facial features from the image; these features are saved into a facial database.
It is typically used in security systems; it can also be compared to other biometrics such as fingerprint recognition systems.

Crime Prevention and Data Handling

The amount of crime in the information age as well as everyday public occurrences has increased as each year goes by. However, more efficient methods of crime prevention have been introduced. A great example of this being the databases that the police now have access to, they have the ability to store huge amounts of data about anyone in the country. These databases consist of information such as previous convictions, personal information such as name and you fingerprints, if they have been taken.

The police can now filter information about anyone within an instant; this is valuable to them as it saves time. One main advantage of storing data this way is there is no paper needed; meaning a lot less space is needed to store data manually. The police used to have to sort all this information by hand, which took a long time, and made it easy to miss something important.

These databases that the police hold contain such important information, such as custody reports for prisoners which need to stay with the police force and kept private, this is the same for the documents containing information on preparation for court cases. Within the law enforcement, there is a ‘Criminal Justice Extract’, this is a network that allows the police and other organisations to communicate and share documents safely and securely.

It is now possible for crimes to be reported via the internet, it is only suitable for minor crimes to be reported this way, considering major crimes such as murder or emergencies need to act up on immediately. This service is available at http://www.police.uk/.

Police National Computer

The PNC was first introduced in 1974 with the stolen vehicles database; it has now grown to include many things such as wanted or missing people and a missing property database.

Up until 1995 the PNC was largely a data storage warehouse, but technology has advanced so much over the years that it has become purely online based to deal with investigations. The advances in technology allow police to search for criminals and vehicles sometimes using only partial pieces of information such as surname or number plate.

NPIC - National Policing Improvement Agency – this is the website where you can get masses of information on various crimes. http://www.npia.police.uk/en/home.htm

Why is the PNC so useful?
The PNC is a national system and can be accessed 24 hours a day throughout the year; it allows sharing of information through a secure network. This method of sharing information is quick, efficient and provides a useful source of information which is then used as a tool for investigating crimes.

Entertainment In The Information Age

The Digital Revolution, is the change fromanalogue, mechanical and electronic technology to digital technology, this has been taking place since the 1980’s and has continued to advance since.The digital revolution has completely changed the way in which we can entertain ourselves using technology.

Television

What’s the difference between analogue and digital TV?

Digital TV allows you to either you experience top quality television viewing with clear picture quality or else you view nothing, there is no pausing in between pictures or sounds at all. Whereas the old analogue transmission method still provides the picture even if the quality is minimal at times. The picture might have gone fuzzy yet it was still viewable, however with digital TV it will either be viewed or if there happens to be any interference then the picture shall just go blank and the sound will disappear also.

Digital Television

Having digital transmission is no longer scene as a novelty; instead it’s more of a necessity, to most people. The reason digital transmission is so superior today is because it converts sounds and images and stores then in a digital computer data and then transmits them. Then when the digital data is sent to the receiver attached to your television, it then reassembles into the original picture and corresponding sound that were being viewed before; it does this at an extremely quick pace.

Although this does sound like a lot of hassle just to transmit a television, it is much more beneficial than having an out dated analogue television; the main reason being the quality of both the picture and sound is far clearer and you will no longer receive any disturbances. There will be no interferences as the digital tuner attached to the receiver removes any interface from the signals before converting them back to the images and sounds that were playing originally.

Advantages of digital television

The digital television has a user friendly interface, meaning the user can view the listings in advance to notify their selves of what is going to be on television at certain times, rather than having to flip through random channels to find out what's on.

Another benefit of having digital TV is that the transmission can be compressed in order to take up less space. Therefore, resulting in the opportunity of more channels being transmitted over the same cable or air frequency. This is also beneficial for the cable operators who wish to increase their number of channels, they can now do so without having to replace or add any extra cables.

All entertainment is now getting compressed into a smaller space, making it portal, and this making it possible for more digital data to be stored in one place at once.

Disadvantages of digital television

There is one inconvenience with this new technology, this being the television sets do not have the facility to tune to any new digital waves that are available. This problem can only be solved by either buying a new generation television or buying the digital tuner that can be attached to your normal television to provide the same effect.

Digital Radio

What is digital radio?

The term ‘digital radio’ includes broadcasts on a digital audio broadcasting radio (DAB), the internet and listening to the radio using a digital television.

Why is a digital radio better then analogue?

Internet radio now offers more stations than a DAB, including radio stations that aren’t in the area you’re in at that point; international radio stations are also available sometimes. DAB can serve a high quantity of listeners, so it is now known as the main digital radio platform for the future.

It is now possible for DAB/FM radios to stream internet radio, so you can enjoy listening to programs and overseas internet radio stations again and again without having to switch on a computer.

Digital radio offers more advanced features and possibilities for the manufacturer to enhance and develop radio content, analogue radio does not have the option to do so.

Disadvantages of digital radio change over

The change over from analogue to digital has been beneficial for most people as they enjoy the good quality provided. However some people cannot afford to buy a new and improved radio. Therefore the people who can’t afford to buy a digital radio have to then go without any at all as the analogue has been cut off.

Interference

With both analogue and digital radios the same problem of interference still occurs regardless. The only difference being that if signal or reception is limited then a digital radio will cut off completely until reception is gained again. Whereas an analogue radio with just turn fuzzy and make it difficult to hear properly or clearly.

De-fragmentation

Defragmentation is completed using a disc; it describes the process of consolidating fragmented files on your computer's hard drive. Fragmentation happens to a hard disk over a period of time as you save, change, or delete files. These changes that you inflict upon your computer are often stored at a location on the hard disk that's different from the original file.

Over time, both the file and the hard disk itself become fragmented, and your computer slows down as it has to look in many different places to open a file.

Disk Defragmenter is a tool that is designed to rearrange the data on your hard disk, it reunites fragmented files, meaning your computer can run more efficiently in the future.

       

Video and DVD

         

The main change within the film industry has been due to the invention of the DVD player, this is digital, whereas a video played is analogue.  This allows all movies and programs to be compact into a disc; this is a much more efficient and simpler way of viewing a program. DVD players are much preferred over video players as they do not required to be rewound manually when you wish to re start the film, whereas videos do.

The quality of a video player is limited in comparison to a DVD player, when watching a video there is almost always a pause within the viewing, sometimes the sound or picture tends to disappear or go fuzzy for a space of time as there may be a problem with the tape or the signal.

Cinema

Here is a link to a story in the new about how the cinema is advancing over time within the entertainment industry.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4681859.stm

Film

The narrative of any film being produced has changed over the years. From the silent black and white moving picture shows to the advanced screenings that occur today. The introduction of sound and then color had a huge impact on the film industry today; movies have been forced to alter their chronicle structure.

With the increasing popularity of digital filmmaking, motion pictures are going through a reinvention once again; digital technology has altered the traditional formations of the film narrative.  There are stories being told on digital now that were never told on film.

It would appear that movies shot on film and those shot on High Definition video are the same. Narrative is in flux, because filmmakers can do about anything they want; from changing the structure to increasing the level of graphic content.

Music

As the internet is such a recent invention, in the past there never used to be any music available to download. All music used to be played on vinyl’s using a record played many, many years ago. The music industry then came up with stereos and CDs, this is when digital was discovered, and the opportunity was seen to put all music compact into a smaller disc for convenience as well as financial benefits for the music industry.

As years go by, technology is advancing at lightning speed; it is now possible today to access hundreds of music websites, both legal and illegal. Therefore resulting in all music being purchasing or downloaded online, which is the main reason music stores are going out of business and becoming based online.