Gatto Against the School Critique Essay

What is boredom? According to John Taylor Gatto, boredom is ruining the modern day society’s schooling. Gatto is convinced that we ourselves is to blame for boredom, and believes everyone should be able to entertain themselves. â€Å"How public education cripples our kids, and why†, written by John Taylor Gatto, is papered with evidences. Even though the literal beauty does not exist in the essay, he starts out blocking all the possible arguments that could be created in the first place by placing evidences in his essay everywhere, unable to criticize on his content, reflection and analysis. Such small concept such as boredom is ruining modern day schooling, according to Gatto. He starts off by how boredom overpowered the teachers and the students. Teachers are tired of students who are unwilling to learn, and students believe that teachers are unenthusiastic to teach. But Gatto believes that, mainly because he was influenced by his grandfather, that state of boredom has to be blamed on oneself, not others. And people who cannot handle the boredom are childish adults. This means that the way school is set up is already wrong. Unmotivated teacher and students in the school means failure to teach, meaning the function of the school is gone. â€Å"If we wanted to we could easily and inexpensively jettison the old, stupid structures and help kids take an education rather than merely receive a schooling †¦ But we don’t do that.† He denounces the current system, and also knows what is needed to be done. It’s true. Many of the teachers are not motivated to teach; it seems that they are waiting for their payday. Students are not motivated also – countless repeats of same concept, set academics – it seems even weird to be motivated. Gatto only uses logic to persuade the audience. All the evidence seems logical, and it seems morally right. Then he asks, â€Å"Do we really need school? I don’t mean education, just forced schooling: six classes a day, five days a week, nine months a year, for twelve years.† This question is actually frequently on topic. The questions are asked by different students every day, and even though it might seem like a legitimate question, He uses this question rhetorically to set up more evidences that shutdowns the argument of his opposite sides. He uses the Greats as an example, such as Twain, Carnegie, Rockefeller and Edison, who never went to high school. And right before, he uses Washington, Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln, who were never part of the school system to prove his argument once again. Then he repeats, in different words, â€Å"What is the purpose of our public school?† And the answer was to become a good citizen, good people, and to be at one’s personal best, according to the cultural traditions. But the school system has been criticized so much by the scholars back in the days. Their argument is that the system of school’s originality is from Prussia, and adopted one of the worst aspects of Prussian culture: â€Å"an educational system deliberately designed to produce mediocre intellects, to hamstring the inner life, to deny students appreciable leadership skills, and to ensure docile and incomplete citizens – all in order to render the populace â€Å"manageable.† This is an extremely controversial statement, but looking at the current society, people are busy feeding themselves more than fighting for what is right or sharing their own opinion about whatever. Then he quotes Inglis, a quite well-known Harvard Professor, claiming â€Å"the purpose of modern schooling is divided six basic functions.† â€Å"1. Adaptive Function – destroys the idea that useful or interesting material should be taught. 2. Integrating function – makes all the children alike as possible. 3. Diagnostic and directive function – determines each student’s proper social role by keeping a cumulative records. 4. Differentiating function – sorted by records and trained to their social role. 5. Selective function – favoritism, even if not meant. 6. Propaedeutic function – always cared, never stood alone.† According to Inglis and Gatto, this is how the school system works right now. The cultural tradition has been completely erased from the school mind, and Gatto uses perfect quote from Inglis to prove it. Even though some might argue that quote of Inglis might not be true, but it is from an influential and popular Harvard Professor, meaning it definitely has values to be looked at. Gatto does not leave space for any weak evidence in his essay. All the evidences and analysis are agreeable, even to people who does not understand completely because everything is logical. All of his evidences can be understood by knowing how the society is currently. At the end of the essay, he describes how people live on. He describes us as â€Å"trained to be employees and consumers,† which is true, in a society dream is only a dream and reality is reality. Overall, Gatto wrote an unarguable essay, and if so someone argues against Gatto, that someone will not have many supporters to breakdown the impact that Gatto left in his essay. Gatto, John Taylor. â€Å"Against School.† Harper’s Sept. 2003: 33-38. Print.

Dealing with Cancer essays

Dealing with Cancer essays During a shower one day you notice a lump that was not otherwise there. The next day you see a doctor. The lump you have identified is diagnosed as cancer. Now you need to figure out what to do. There is no absolute cure for cancer, but there are different ways to treat it. One treatment is the traditional from by seeing a doctor who possibly could use radiation, chemotherapy or other drugs. Another way of treating cancer is with alternative forms of medicine by using acupuncture naturopathic and homeopathic doctors who prescribe more natural forms of healing using a combination of the two. When using the combination of the two treatment techniques, one can receive the full benefit of all available options. The medical profession should acknowledge allowing alternative medicines in conjunction with traditional medicines to ease suffering as well as prolonging the lives of cancer patients. In order to make a decision on a treatment for cancer, one must understand what cancer is and th e current treatments used. Cancer starts when a cell ceases to function properly, mutates and begins to multiply rapidly. A cancer cell has an abnormal chromosome which sends ' the wrong ' message to the other parts of the cell, which causes the cell to grow rapidly as it multiplies. These multiplied cells form a lump called a malignant tumor which is the cancer. "[Cancer] knows no boundaries and plays no favorites; it can be found among people of all races and ages, both rich and poor, black and white, male or female (Fine 9)." Cancer is a very serious disease many people live with. On average " about 1.2 million people are diagnosed with [cancer] every year (Noonan A3)." Cancer is not a contagious disease; it can not be passed form one person to another. Like the statistic from above, imagine the fact that " cancer kills more than 500,000 Americans every year -approximately one person per minute (Noonan A3)." Many people each year are killed by cancer, ye...

The Evolution of the First Tetrapods

The Evolution of the First Tetrapods Its one of the iconic images of evolution: 400 or so million years ago, way back in the prehistoric mists of geologic time, a brave fish crawls laboriously out of the water and onto land, representing the first wave of a vertebrate invasion that leads to dinosaurs, mammals, and human beings. Logically speaking, of course, we dont owe any more thanks to the first tetrapod (Greek for four feet) than we do to the first bacterium or the first sponge, but something about this plucky critter still tugs at our heartstrings. As is so often the case, this romantic image doesnt quite match up with evolutionary reality. Between 350 and 400 million years ago, various prehistoric fish crawled out of the water at various times, making it nearly impossible to identify the direct ancestor of modern vertebrates. In fact, many of the most celebrated early tetrapods had seven or eight digits at the end of each limb and, because modern animals adhere strictly to the five-toed body plan, that means these tetrapods represented an evolutionary dead end from the perspective of the prehistoric amphibians that followed them. Origins The earliest tetrapods evolved from lobe-finned fishes, which differed in important ways from ray-finned fishes. While ray-finned fishes are the most common type of fish in the ocean  today, the only lobe-finned fish on the planet are lungfish and coelacanths, the latter of which were thought to have gone extinct tens of millions of years ago until a live specimen turned up in 1938. The bottom fins of lobe-finned fishes are arranged in pairs and supported by internal bones- the necessary conditions for these fins to evolve into primitive legs. Lobe-finned fishes of the Devonian period were already able to breathe air, when necessary, via spiracles in their skulls. Experts differ about the environmental pressures  that prompted lobe-finned fish to evolve into walking, breathing tetrapods, but one theory is that the shallow lakes and rivers these fish lived in were subject to drought, favoring species that could survive in dry conditions. Another theory has it that the earliest tetrapods were literally chased out of the water by bigger fish- dry land harbored an abundance of insect and plant food, and a marked absence of dangerous predators. Any lobe-finned fish that blundered onto land would have found itself in a veritable paradise. In evolutionary terms, its hard to distinguish between the most advanced lobe-finned fish and the most primitive tetrapods. Three important genera nearer the fish end of the spectrum were Eusthenopteron, Panderichthys, and Osteolopis, which spent all of their time in the water yet had latent tetrapod characteristics. Until recently, these tetrapod ancestors nearly all hailed from fossil deposits in the northern Atlantic, but the discovery of Gogonasus in Australia has put the kibosh on the theory that land-dwelling animals originated in the northern hemisphere. Early Tetrapods and Fishapods Scientists once agreed that the earliest true tetrapods dated from about 385 to 380 million years ago. That has all changed with the recent discovery of tetrapod track marks in Poland that date to 397 million years ago, which would effectively dial back the evolutionary calendar by 12 million years. If confirmed, this discovery will prompt some revision in the evolutionary consensus. As you can see, tetrapod evolution is far from written in stone- tetrapods evolved numerous times, in different places. Still, there are a few early tetrapod species that are regarded as more-or-less definitive by experts. The most important of these is Tiktaalik, which is thought to have been perched midway between the tetrapod-like lobe-finned fishes and the later, true tetrapods. Tiktaalik was blessed with the primitive equivalent of wrists- which may have helped it to prop itself up on its stubby front fins along the edges of shallow lakes- as well as a true neck, providing it with much-needed flexibility and mobility during its quick jaunts onto dry land. Because of its mix of tetrapod and fish characteristics, Tiktaalik is often referred to as a fishapod, a name that is also sometimes applied to advanced lobe-finned fish like Eusthenopteron and Panderichthys. Another important fishapod was Ichthyostega, which lived about five million years after Tiktaalik and achieved similarly respectable sizes- about five feet long and 50 pounds. True Tetrapods Until the recent discovery of Tiktaalik, the most famous of all the early tetrapods was Acanthostega, which dated to about 365 million years ago. This slender creature had relatively well-developed limbs, as well as such fishy features as a lateral sensory line running along the length of its body. Other, similar tetrapods of this general time and place included Hynerpeton, Tulerpeton, and Ventastega. Paleontologists once believed that these late Devonian tetrapods spent significant amounts of their time on dry land, but they are now thought to have been primarily or even totally aquatic, only using their legs and primitive breathing apparatuses when absolutely necessary. The most significant finding about these tetrapods was the number of digits on their front and hind limbs: anywhere from 6 to 8, a strong indication that they couldnt have been the ancestors of later five-toed tetrapods and their mammalian, avian, and reptilian descendants. Romers Gap Theres a 20-million-year-long stretch of time in the early Carboniferous period that has yielded very few vertebrate fossils. Known as Romers Gap, this blank period in the fossil record has been used to support Creationist doubt in the theory of evolution, but it is easily explainable by the fact that fossils only form in very special conditions. Romers Gap particularly affects our knowledge of tetrapod evolution because, when we pick up the story 20 million years later (about 340 million years ago), there is a profusion of tetrapod species that can be grouped into different families, some coming very close to being true amphibians. Among the notable post-gap tetrapods are the tiny Casineria, which had five-toed feet; the eel-like Greererpeton, which may already have de-evolved from its more land-oriented tetrapod ancestors; and the salamander-like Eucritta melanolimnetes, otherwise known as the creature from the Black Lagoon, from Scotland. The diversity of later tetrapods is evidence that a lot must have happened, evolution-wise, during Romers Gap. Fortunately, we have been able to fill in some of the blanks of Romers Gap in recent years. The skeleton of Pederpes was discovered in 1971 and, three decades later, further investigation by tetrapod expert Jennifer Clack dated it smack to the middle of Romers Gap. Significantly, Pederpes had forward-facing feet with five toes and a narrow skull, characteristics seen in later amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. A similar species active during Romers Gap was the large-tailed Whatcheeria, which seems to have spent most of its time in the water.

Article Review Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Article Review - Research Paper Example Choosing this specific forensic discipline is because there are significant flaws in the justice system that needs repair. Many innocent people end up in prisons unfairly. There is no sufficient evidence to put them behind bars. It requires the government to act because they have a duty to protect the citizens. There are cases where inmates commit suicide. It is against the constitution for a person to take away his life. There are people who bear the blame for the suicides of the inmates. The common reason is convicting them for the wrong reason. The government always arrest people who involve themselves in drug abuse. To correct the criminal system, the government should categorise drugs as a national problem rather than a crime. According to (Lozoff, 2013), there are many drug inmates in prisons. The best idea is for the government to consider taking these inmates to a rehabilitation centre. Furthermore, making drugs a health problem is the main solution rather it being a justice problem. According to statistics, 62% of inmates are in prisons because of drug related issues. The drug problem is too complex for the government to tackle. It is common with the rich people. They have the necessary resources to bribe the law enforcers. In the end, the problem will never cease. The government has to find the cause of the drug problem. There are many reasons like poverty, loneliness, level of economy, etc. The government should address these issues. The lawmakers should change the laws concerning drugs. It will clean the justice system becoming efficient. It is important to separate serious offenders from petty offenders. It will create violent scenes in the prisons. Furthermore, it will make the non-violent prisoners turn to be violent. The state allocates resources to correct inmates behaviour. It will be a loss to the taxpayers money if the inmates learn bad behaviour

Political objectives of the principal participants of the 1991 gulf Essay

Political objectives of the principal participants of the 1991 gulf war - Essay Example Iraq was the largest victim as it pertained to achievement of its own objectives, including sanctions which led to significant economic problems in the country, citizen poverty and starvation, and virtually complete isolation from the international community. Kuwait achieved socio-political stability by driving out the massive population of Palestinians in a nation where there has been significant tensions and mistrust between domestic citizens, government and the Palestinians. This essay identifies all victories and detriments to fulfilment of principal partner political objectives as a consequence of the 1991 Gulf War. The 1991 Gulf War encompassed a six week confrontation against Iraq by US-led coalition forces as a response to Iraq’s annexation of Kuwait. In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait which brought rapid condemnation stemming from many member countries of the United Nations who feared that growing economic strength of Iraq would destabilise the balance of power in the Middle East. In total, 34 different nations from around the world joined the joint military operations of the Gulf War or provided economic support for defeating Iraq’s objectives. The United Nations was growing substantially concerned that a Kuwaiti-controlling Iraq which was now threatening and antagonizing Saudi Arabia, a nation with significant geopolitical importance for its international oil supply, would give Saddam Hussein control over nearly all oil reserves in the region. Kuwait represented a strategic environment by which Iraq’s Hussein could strike against Saudi oil fields, which would threaten oil procurement and pricing throughout the developed world. Between 1980 and 1988, one of the longest wars of the 20th Century, Iraq had been at war with Iran which was motivated by border-related disputes. Saudi Arabia, which feared a growing hegemony within Iran, had loaned approximately $26 billion USD to Iraq in an effort to prevent the Shia in Iran from

PMP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

PMP - Essay Example In this marketing plan, I have reflected on my qualifications in the hospitality industry that would advance the industry. I have also discussed my major strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats relating to this field. I have mentioned all the relevant skills and knowledge that I have acquired to ensure optimal success in the industry. If well read, it is work worthy to be acknowledged and appreciated as it clearly reflects all my skills, qualifications and knowledge relevant in the financial sector. I believe that with my expertise and experience, I can be an asset to the tourism industry. Introduction This marketing plan shows all my skills and qualifications relevant in the tourism industry. Tourism is an extremely crucial area in today’s world because of the increasing demand in the industry with many people trading world wide. As a matter of fact, the sector of the tourism in the world is one of most diversified, and this is evidenced by high level of advancement in the various sectors such as hotel, game parks and game reserves, museums, historical sites and archives among others. With this kind of developing world, it then means that people should be always fore sighted, and every time, be innovative so as to come up with more advanced tourist industries. I chose this sector because I have the knowledge and expertise with regard to it and fully familiar with it (Pink 18). In addition, I am passionate and have a lot of interest in the hospitality industry. By having hospitality knowledge, I can work anywhere in the world and advance the industry with my skills and talent. Also the hospitality industry offers flexible working hours and a good pay while still having fun. Business is a major concern today due to the increased trading activities all over the world. Such activities have led to the development of the hospitality which is universal making the largest job provider in the world. In the developed countries like U.S.A, it has created a large number of jobs compared to the developing countries. The quality of living has improved because of the hospitality industry. Also people have started recognizing the essence of the hospitality industry unlike in previous years. Creativity and innovation have really transformed the industry. Also, strong marketing campaigns such as promotions, advertising and public relations have led to the advancement of the hospitality industry. There is the issue of work permit that one should have in order to be legible to work in the tourism industry. Such legibility is an investment and requires capital. Therefore, failure to have it may disqualify you to work in the industry. This is the best chance, for me to venture in tourism filed because I made an application for donation by an international NGO and it promised to fund me after I take my proposal. I can then not pretend and waste this opportunity. I also want to venture now because I had been given out a proposal plan concerning the tourism industry in many processing companies when I orally informed them about my plan. Other companies have also requested me to propose the techniques applied in acquiring the tourism industry and this means a good cash and good experience, as well. Personal mission statement My core values are Integrity, Honesty, Dedication, creativity and Innovation, Efficiency and Effectiveness. My vision is to get the best from the

Benefits of Network Management Tools

Benefits of Network Management Tools 1. Introduction These are the various network management tools used by network manager to verify network connection, monitor network packets, analyse captured packets, troubleshoot network connectively failure, diagnosing network slow performance and identify source of incident in order to make the network available 24 hours seven days a week. 1.1 Benefits of Network Management Tools Network manager benefits from network monitoring tools in so many ways as described below Easy migration from old legacy application to new technologies For example when network administrator is migrating form a legacy IOS based application to LWAPP using Airwave Management Platform software tool for wireless network management, net work administrator is provided with centralized control for Wi-Fi networks where roaming data and information as well as historical data are kept as airwave gives a common platform to manage the devices. This is beneficial to the network manager because it makes it easy for migration from old legacy applications to new technologies and makes it easy to monitor the network usage all the time Quick identification of network or server failure when the server of a portion of the network is down, before users get to notice the failure network administrator receives a warm and rectified the fault and providing the network manager with means of monitoring and providing network availability round-the-clock. Using network-monitoring tool like ipMonitoring with attributes such as such as reporting, user tracking, access point configuration management and rogue AP discovery, network administrator is able to monitor any networked device on the corporate intranet and TCP/IP LAN and receive alerts immediately depending the administrators configuration of receiving alerts; this can be received through alarm, e-mail, or third-party software when a connection fails. Diagnosis and troubleshooting, Network monitor can be used to diagnose why the server computer is not communicating with the clients computers on the network on a local area network, for example network administrator can configure network monitor to capture all the frames on the network, this includes source and destination address of the computer sending and receiving frames, protocols used as well as part of message sent. Net work administrator analyses this information to locate the source of problem on the network and troubleshoots it. Checking for connectivity of a computer online for example using ping command to check if a computer is online helps network manager for example when user calls and said they can logon to networked computer to troubleshoot and diagnose the network manager uses ping to find out if the computer in on the network or not. This is beneficial to the administrator because it helps him to identify where the problem is originating. 1.2 Structure of management information Structure of management information is a network component used in network management which is used in simple network management; its main role is to define set of module identity, object type and notification type. Structure of management information shows how related managed objects such as object names, types of data that can be stored in an object and how its transmission over the network for example action done to retrieve vale of an object with codes 2. Use Datagram Protocol User datagram protocol is a transport layer protocol that is used to send packets to computers in networked environments. User Data Protocol has the following advantages over Transport Control Protocol Connectionless When communicating with two computers on the network, user data protocol doesnt negotiate connection between the two client computers but just transfers data as its received No Connection State User data protocol doesnt maintain and doesnt keep track of any parameters such as buffers sent, congestion control and rate which data is transfer for example when used in server environment, user data protocol is able to support more active clients if a particular application is run over it because it doesnt acknowledge packets being sent or received. Small packet header over head User data protocol has got a smaller header of 8bytes of overhead making it faster in transferring data Unregulated send rate, user data protocol doesnt have congested control mechanism and data is sent at rate, which it has been generated by the application in use for example taking into account the CPU, clock rate at the source of data. 2.1 Applications layer protocol used by User data protocols as Transport layer protocol Domain Name Service Is a database like that converts the computers fully qualified domain name that are easy to be remembers such as www.yahoo.com into IP address such as 201.171.25.0. 6 that are then used by computers to connect/ communicate with each other Steaming multimedia This is the continuous transfer of video, voice and digital data that is received and showed/displayed in real time for example podcast and webcast Routing protocol Routing protocol is used to determine which path to be used to sent/ transmit data packets across a network. 2.2 Reasons why UDP is preferred over TCP Domain Name Service User data protocol is preferred over transport control protocol because its used by DNS for name queries and because the information exchange between UDP and DNS is small in size for example the packet size sent through UDP is not greater than 512 bytes. Streaming multimedia Streaming multimedia its used by UDP because it compresses audio files in to small packets of data that makes it easy to transmit and continuously streaming and transmitting audio files whenever their audio data drops. This doesnt break or cause delay on audio broadcast. The streamed data is sent by the server application to the client application stores the stream data the then displays the data received in real time or playing the voice streamed files as soon as its buffered. Routing protocol On routing protocol, User data protocol is preferred because routing table updates are sent periodically and some of the data is lost a long the way and updates need to be resent so its up to date on network layer which is impossible with transport control protocol 2.3 Controversial use of UPD in multimedia applications The use of user data protocol for streaming multiple media application is controversial because user data protocol doesnt have congestion control which is much needed to prevent the network from going into a state in which less or no work can be done, for example if a users sends high bit rate video are sent without using congestion control, user will be unable to see the video messages because of the packet overflow at the router. 2.4 Adaptive congestion control scheme One scheme that would force the use of adaptive congestion control is real time communication scheme which has building reliability into applications that will force the use of congestion control, for example in mobile application where congestion control is built though the application run over user data protocol, it acknowledges and retransmit packets that get loss during transmission Applications that perform congestion control user the network more efficiently for example with bits rates being controlled, the network will not go into a state where it can not be used 2.5 Advantage of Adaptive congestion scheme Better performance of the network for example in the case of video when small bit are sent and controlled, the performance improves as the bandwidth will be enough to support bit rates It ensures that all packets sent reach destination 3. Exchange between Dhcp Server and Client Computers DHCP Server and Client Computers See Appendix (i) For clients to receive IP addresses from dhcp servers TCP/IP need to be con figured to get IP addressed automatically on the TCP/IP properties dialogue box. Dhcp client computers that are configured to obtain IP address automatically request and receive IP configuration upon booting the client computer. Dhcp clients get IP addresses and other configuration each time the client computers are started and join the network. Dhcp server assigns IP address to a client from a predefines scope for a given duration of time and if that duration expires the IP address is released to the scope and can be assigned to another client but if the duration is longer than the lease time, the client requests for and extension before the lease expires. 3.1 Router and Components A router is a device that connects one or more computer to create a network environment for example a modem. A router has the following major components Input port Is the point is direct connection for physical link and it is the point at which incoming packets enters the port. Input port provides functions such as performing the data link layer encapsulation and encapsulation, a route lookup and sending packets to output port via switching fabric as well as proving quality of service guarantees input port classify the in a predefined service level Output port Output ports stores packets that are forward via the switching fabric and transmits or schedule packets for service on an output link performing both the reverse data link and physical link functionality as done in input port Switching Fabric This connects input ports and output ports Routing processor Executes routing protocols, creates and forward routing tables which is used in packet forwarding and performs management functions within the router. 3.2 Internet Protocol version 4 Internet protocol version 4 is the protocol that is widely in use in most corporate networks and it uses network layer protocol and its used as internetwork layer protocol on the internet 3.3 Internet protocol version 6 Internet protocol version 6 is the update version of internet protocol version 4 with much more address space. Its mostly used on the internet bone in Asian countries. Protocol Structure of an IPV4 header See Appendix (i) Protocol Structure of an IPV6 header See Appendix (iii) Due to the depletion of internet protocol version four and lager routing tables, internet version 4 has been updated to version 6 that provides better security, more address space. This has made internet version 6 more advantageous in some ways as discussed below. Internet protocol version 6 address space 3.4 Advantages of internet version 6 Internet protocol version 6 has got more address space as compared to internet version 6 for example version 6 has got 128-bit address space which allows for flexible creation of multilevel, hierarchical and routing infrastructure which is not that possible with internet protocol version 4 Internet protocol version 6 has got in built security which is standard and mandate, its offered in all implementation and has no changes the application, for example security features such as authentication on packet signing , data encryption and end-to end DHCP, DNS and IPv6 mobility is provided for in security model. 4. Wired Equivalent Privacy WEP is the short term for Wired Equivalent Privacy for a security protocol used in wireless local area network that operates at a data link layer and has a security that can be turned of and on again as defined in 802.11b standards. This standard has been set by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering The main aim of Wireless Equivalent Privacy was to provide security via 802.1wireless network where data is sent from one end point to another. For example Key security features of WEP was meant to offer the following Confidentiality Wireless Equivalent Privacy is used to prevent data transmitted on the network from being eavesdropped by some whom the information is not meant to be communicated. Unauthorised access to wireless network Wireless Equivalent Privacy used to prevent unauthorised access to the network Data integrity, to prevent the alteration of data being transmitted 4.1 Advantages of Wired Equivalent Privacy WEP uses a 2.4 gigahertz radio frequency which provides clear signal for its lower than other frequencies and can travel through wall without affecting frequency. WEP is relatively cost effective for example the cost of a router and Wi-Fi card is normally below  £55 which makes it cost effective for both big corporations, and home users 4.2 Disadvantages of Wireless Equivalent Privacy Static encryption key which is used by all the devices on the network make it very easy for packets to be intercepted and crack what the key is making it very vulnerable to hackers. For example when a router is set up on the network, the encryption used by the router is then used by almost all the device on the network Weak keys made it easier for it to guessed and cracked when used at the access point Initialisation vector in WEP is also ways reused, for example if a user who connects with WEP to access wireless network uses the same key over and over changes, this key can easily be cracked WEP has its algorithms sent in plaintext which makes it a lot easier for key streams to be determined 4.3 Difference between WEP and WPA Wireless Equivalent Privacy standard 802.11 and Wireless Fidelity Protected Access are different in so many ways for example WEP uses 128bit with 24 integrity value, while WPA used 128 bite with a 48 bit integrity value. WPA has features such as Temporarily Key Integrity Protocol which dynamically changes the keys used for encryption while Key in WEP are static and is shared by all device on the network. The combined used of 48bit integrity values and TKIP, AES makes WPA more security strong as compared to WEP. Weak keys made it easier for it to guessed and cracked when used at the access point. Initialisation vector in WEP is also ways reused for example if a user who connects with WEP to access wireless network uses the same key over and over changes, this key can easily be cracked. WEP has its algorithms sent in plaintext which makes it a lot easier for key streams to be determined These weaknesses among others called for a better standard to be adopted which will provide wireless network with better security and this led to the improvement of 802.1 to WPA. 4.4 Wireless Fidelity Protected Access WPA stands for Wireless Fidelity Protected Access for local area network base on the specification of 802.11. This standard was designed to improve on the security weakness of Wired Equivalent Privacy. 4.5 Advantages of WPA WPA provides added authentication features to basic WEP which provides for stronger encryption mechanisms. The added features includes Advanced Encryption standards protocol as used in WPA2, Temporary key Integrity Protocol as used in WPA. When use in windows 2003 environment, WPA provides the strongest wireless security. WPA has back ward compatibility for older applications that use WEP this doesnt call for upgrade. The use of 802.1x Radius servers provides administrators with means of auditing and logging incidents. 4.6 Disadvantages of WPA The set up of the pre-shared key is difficult and it not beneficially to home users with less technical knowledge. It has more over head as compared to WPE. Its incompatible with pre 1998 windows operating systems and doesnt support older firmware. Its major fall is the denial of service attacks which can leave the whole network shutdown due to constant different keys that are generated and interpreted by the network as some kind of attack. 4.7 Comparing WPA and WEP features WPA has enhanced featured that is based on WEP standard. The features in WAP include temporarily key integrity protocol and 802.1 x. This features provides dynamic key integrity and mutual authentication to most wireless local area networks 48-bit initialisation vectors Like Wireless Equivalent Protocol, Temporal Key Integrity Protocol uses the RC4 stream cipher provided by RSA security for frame body decryption and CRC for each frame before transmission but the difference here is that WPA has added feature Temporal Key Integrity Protocol that uses a 48bit initialisation vectors that has reduced the re-use of initialisation vectors. This has brought about data confidentiality. While WEP encryption is based on 128bit with 24 integrity value, which means the keys are of smaller size and integrity value making it easy for hackers to crack the keys as the initialisation vector seeds to WEP algorithm coded, this feature has been enhanced by the 48 bit integrity vector in WPA. Data Encryption When data packets are sent, it encrypted separately with RC4 cipher stream, generated by b4 bit RC4 key, the key consist 24 bit initialisation vector Pre-Packet key Construction and Distribution WPA generates a new encryption key automatically for each client, for example WPA uses unique and different key for each 802.11 frames and avoid the use of same key as in WEP. This automatic key generation makes it impossible for WPA keys to be cracked by hackers While in WEP the same key is shares by all the devices on the network is static which means due it its unchanging nature, its a lot easy for the shared key to be modified Message Integrity codes The use of Michael prevents against attacks and forgeries, WPA uses a secrete 648bite authentication key that will be shared only between the source and destination where during the process of authentication tagging function takes place and message integrity code. For forgeries to be identified, the destination receiver inputs source into verification predicate and creates another tag code and it this both matches then the message is considerers authentic is created to detect bit flipping and changes to the source and destination. Unlike WEP that uses 4 byte integrity check value to the standard payload. The receiving client calculates the integrity check value and if the values do match then there is a chance that frames were not tempered with and in case data Counter mode/ CBC-MAC This is a data confidentiality protocol used for packet authentication and data encryption. For confidentiality for example CCMP uses the advanced encryption standards in counter mode and for encryption and data integrity CCMP deals with Cipher Blocking Chaining Message Authentication Code making this standard more secure as compared to WEP which has got no encryption mode EAP encapsulation over LAN, this is the key standard use n key exchange that is not used in WEP for example this protocol allows for a four way key handshake as well as a group key handshake while in WEP there is only a two way key handshake. The IEEE802.1x as used in WPA2 provided a sure means of authenticating and controlling user traffic to secure networks 5. A Disaster Recovery Plan Is the process of restoring access to the main business applications, data, hardware and software that is required to start the system operational, Disaster Recovery Plan provides information on how to handle information that may be lost or corrupted during the disaster as well as proving team leaders with procedures of restoring information and data. 5.1 Major steps in disaster recovery process Notification procedure This is the action taken by disaster team members as soon as emergency occurs. In the notification stage, systems can be restored functions on a limited basis. For example in a data centre when database team leader receives alert on his/her computer that a file within the database is corrupt, this alert can be sent to the team assessment team either automatically by the system or mailed to the assessment team to analyse the damage Analyse the extent of the damage The analysis of the damaged cause should be done as soon as possible to determine the level of damage to the applications for example if it a power outrage has occurred in the data centre, the analysis should be able to detailed the applications affected, origin of the incident, work areas that have been affected and if there is another source of power to run the database the this can be powered on for example in case there is UPS backup while further investigation in the outrage is carried Activation of the plan Depending on the damage cause by disaster and the out come of analysis, the disaster recovery team can make a decision to activate the plan. For example in the case of data centre if the entire database server is down, the team looks at the possible way that the system can be restored with a minimal time, planning for team communication procedures, then the respective team leaders will notify staff members about and start working on their respective tasks to restore the system as agreed by the team members. Execution stage Recovery process at this stage can be looked at under Sequence of Recover activities and Recovery procedures and depending on what has been defined in the data recovery plan for example in case of ordering database, this can be done manually while recovery process is done Sequence of Recovery activities Recover process should be carried out according the priority of each disaster and level of disaster damage from the results got from the analysis. For example if the database sever is recovered and this is the main critical business system, then this should be restored first before other servers and all the disaster recovery team should carried out the restoration process as in the disaster recovery plan,. If the business has to be transferred to another site then the critical files associated with the service has to be transferred depending on the plan. For example a plan to transport IT equipment and important data files. Recovery process This includes having access to the damaged IT equipment in case of the data centre this could database servers, corrupt files, informing users of the applications, getting backup if its not in house, restoring critical systems such operating systems, SQL database, testing the system before if goes operational and connecting the system on the network and informing uses of the application of the success of the restoration. Rebuilding process Ones the recovery process has been usefully, the disaster team recovery embarks on the process of transferring all the data recovered back to the original system, or may be totally system that can best support the functionality of data service being offered. The disaster recovery team will continue to monitor for any reoccurrence of incidents, make the necessary network and infrastructure connections, bring down the contingency system upon which the application was running and when the all system is stable the data centre staff can be able to use the original system after full restoration of data Update the disaster recovery plan If new procedures are find out during the process of recovery, it‘s updated on the recovery plan documentation which will be used again in case the same disaster occurs again 5.2Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan The IT business continuity and disaster recovery plan for the IT department that I currently work in seeks to deal with the how best to handle emergency in the event of disasters and how best to minimise risk of damage, provide emergency services and recover to normalcy of service operations The Business Continuity Institute defines business continuity planning as â€Å"A holistic management process that identifies potential impacts that threaten an organisation and provides a framework for building resilience with the capability for an effective response that safeguards the interests of its key stakeholders, reputation, brand and value creating activities† 5.3 Aims of Business Continuity Planning Preventing a disaster At the initial planning stage, the critical areas of service operation of Information Technology is identified, for example within the Information Technology department where I work, servers for crucial systems, hot sites and training of the disasters team leaders are laid down. This initial planning stage is carried out with the aim of minimising the impact of disasters on Information technology resources and services; this also ensures that the department is able to recover as fast as possible from a disaster. Continuity The procedure of running a Information services using minimum resources during a disaster, this prevents the organisation from being put out of services both internally and externally. For example running applications for only crucial systems to continue operation while recovery is on the process Recovery The procedures that are required to restore all systems and resources are identified. This helps in bring all the resources and system to full operation, for example backing up data from off site centre. 5.4 Contingency Plan activation The activation of the organisations IT service continuity plan can be started at any time. The decision of activating the plan will be the sole responsibility of Estates and Security department with the assistant of officer in charge and contingency plan can not be started without the instruction being issued by Estates and security department with assistance from the Officer in charge. In case emergency occurs during business working hours, members of disaster recovery team will be gathered and depending on the level and mature or damage the Information technology team will be contacted If the emergency occurs out of business working hours, security is required to call the head of security or his/her deputy who will get in touch with the disaster recovery team with the help of the officer in charge and then the decision to initiate the Information communication technology business continuity plan If the team leaders are not available in the event of the emergency the deputy will take the responsibility and in the event where both the team leader and deputy are not available, next person on the list takes responsibility. 5.5 Emergency Management Team Team leader: Head of information Technology department who is responsible for over seeing all the information system services Deputy team leader: Systems Manager Responsible for all the systems applications such as the servers, back up and liaison between the off sites third party centres Team member: Database Administrator Responsible for; Internal databases and well as internal sites Ensure that a domain account has been set up for the SQL services. The admin backup and standard jobs from SourceSafe InstallationSQL Server 2000 Customise the jobs to ensure that server names and paths are correct Team member: Information Technology Security officer Responsible for the security of the internal sites and well as blocking unsafe sites Team member: Network Engineer Responsible for network connectivity and test our network devices from within our network Run test network script using DOS command Test access to the web services -Use government secure intranet network PC or dial-up PC belonging to web team in OCPD to check connection to all websites -Use nslookup to connect to wb-dns1 internal to the organisation and check that website names can be resolved Test email -An email should be sent to [emailprotected] and echo. These should respond by sending an email back 5.6 Disaster Recovery Plan Is the process of restoring access to the important system data, hardware and software that is required to start the system operational, Disaster Recovery Plan provides information on how to handle information that may be lost or corrupted during the disaster as well as proving team leaders with procedures of restoring information and data. 5.7 The main Objectives of the Information Technology Recovery Team The Recovery Teams main duties/ task are to: Prevent damages to Information Communication Installations Decide the requirements of senior management for other Departmental Recovery Teams and work accordingly to meet the requirements. Carry out tasks that lead to the provision of restoring all Information Communication service to normality as started by the Recovery Team within the disaster constraints or limits. 5.8 Disaster Recovery Team Team leader: Head of Estates and Security Responsible for the safe of the building as well as staff and members of the public Deputy team leader: Site Contractor Responsible for building and central service Team member: Head of security Responsible for staff and public safety 5.9Recovery Site The recovery site will be informed by the Information Technology Departmental recovery team leader and the assistant by Disaster recovery Team in case the team leader is absent. The site is located about 3 miles a way from the organisation, In case of serious incidents, the site can be contacted by information recovery mobile phone. 6. Assumptions With regard to the following case scenarios below, the disaster recovery team can take actions base on case scenario that is relative to the real disaster. Its the organisations policy that when incidents occur, staffs are evacuated from the building and entry to the site is not permitted unless staff members are informed by head of Estates and Security. 6.1 Case Scenarios Building Non-disruptive These case scenarios may include: Disaster in the staff car park not affecting the building Gas licking the building basement Suspicious package found in the public lockers Building is partly destroyed Scenarios in this case may include: Flood affecting the whole building Apart of the sever room that supports site B of the building is partly destroyed A part of fame room in site A where frame cabinets E8a and E8b are located is partly destroyed. IT store room is also partly affected. Building is completely destroyed Scenario in this case is: Server Room on site A of the building including cabinets room E1 and E2 are completely destroyed. 6.2 Building Non-disruptive 6.3 Actions In these case scenarios, all the information technology equipment are not destroyed. The disruption did call for evacuation of staff for healthy and safe issues and as soon as the build is cleared safe, staff members will be allowed in and operations will resume. 6.4 Building is partly destroyed In these case scenarios, some IT equipment are affected partly, it may escalate to a major for example the part destruction of server room in site A and the cabinet room where E8a and E8a may cause staff on this site to loss access to network resources. Here nothing can be done till staff members are not allowed to enter the building. Ones members are allowed in the building, all the equipment in the area affected can the