Data Security, Intellectual Property, and Green Computing
Data Security Across Organizational Levels
Organizational Level
Confidentiality
Sensitive business information (e.g., financial data, intellectual property) is protected from unauthorized access, both internally and externally, through company policies, access control systems, and encryption protocols.
Integrity
Organizational processes, procedures, and data are protected from unauthorized changes or corruption through data validation, audit trails, and version control.
Availability
Critical business operations and services are available and functioning without interruption, ensured by disaster recovery planning, business continuity plans, and infrastructure redundancy.
Network Level
Confidentiality
Data in transit is protected through methods like VPNs, secure protocols (e.g., HTTPS, SSH), and encryption technologies to prevent interception and unauthorized access.
Integrity
Tampering or alteration of data during network transmission is prevented using mechanisms like hashing and digital signatures.
Availability
Network services (internet, intranet, email, etc.) remain operational and secure from disruptions such as DDoS attacks through network redundancy, load balancing, and proactive monitoring.
Application Level
Confidentiality
Application data, including user credentials and business data, is securely stored and transmitted using secure coding practices, encryption, and secure user authentication.
Integrity
Data processed by the application remains accurate and unaltered through integrity checks, input validation, and logging.
Availability
The application remains accessible and functional, with fault tolerance and resilience against attacks like SQL injection, ensuring service availability.
End-User Level
Confidentiality
Personal and sensitive information on end-user devices is kept private through strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, and device encryption.
Integrity
Data on user devices is protected from corruption through backup systems, malware prevention, and file integrity checks.
Availability
Users can access necessary services and data when needed through regular backups, operational devices, and protection against ransomware.
Intellectual Property Rights
Intellectual property refers to legal rights granted for creative or innovative works, protected through copyright, patent, and trade secret law.
Copyright
Copyright protects authors’ exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, perform, and display their original works.
Patents
A patent grants exclusive rights to an inventor for a novel invention. Utility patents cover functional solutions, while design patents cover ornamental designs.
Trade Secrets
Trade secrets are confidential business information providing a competitive advantage, protected by maintaining secrecy.
Competitive Practices and Legal Issues
Competitive intelligence involves gathering and analyzing information about competitors and market trends.
Trademark infringement occurs when a third party uses a similar trademark without permission, causing consumer confusion.
Cybersquatting involves registering domain names similar to trademarks for profit.
Software Development and Ethical Considerations
Open source code allows users to freely view, modify, and distribute software.
Reverse engineering analyzes a product to understand its workings.
Plagiarism is using someone else’s work without acknowledgment.
Green Computing for Environmental Sustainability
Green computing focuses on environmentally friendly computing practices. Examples include energy-efficient hardware, virtualization, cloud computing, recycling, and power management.