MODULE 1.

ICT: An Introduction
You wake up in the morning and search for your smartphone to read messages and check for
Facebook updates. As you go out of your room, you see your father watching news from your flat-
screen television. You also see your younger sister watching a video she downloaded into her tablet.
Your mother, meanwhile, is preparing a meal using a recipe she just saw in Youtube. When you
arrive in school, you see almost everyone busy with their smartphones, either playing a newly
downloaded online game or updating their blogs. You, along with almost everyone around you, are
drawn towards a thing or two in today's technological trends.
 
It is important to stay updated with knowledge of the trends we are going along with, especially given
that we are dealing with gadgets and electronic tools throughout our lives. To be able to do that, we
must know which specific tool to use to assist us in gathering this information. These tools may come
as a hardware device or simply an application sitting in your desktop or laptop computers. As for
software, we also need to know how to use some of the advanced applications since we are dealing
with them most of the time either as a student or as a professional. For example, you need to
finish your homework using your spreadsheet (e.g., Microsoft Excel), but you are having a hard time
determining the formula to use to obtain the correct result. One more instance is when you do your
research for your thesis using online resources; however, it is already taking you hours searching for
the the article you need.
 
ICT is an acronym  for Information and Communications Technology.  A good way to think about
ICT is to consider the use of technology, which enables individuals, businesses and organizations to
use digital information. ICT covers any product that will store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit or receive
information electronically in a digital form. This covers areas under education, banking, healthcare,
government, business, and so many branches that we can think of. 1

Figure 1. Tools covered under ICT2

 
This subject will assist you in learning about the current trends in ICT, basic ICT terms and
descriptions that you encounter but are unaware of, and how to use common tools and applications.
The following test will allow the teachers to check your strong and weak points about the topic.
 
1
http://www.tutor2u.net/business/reference/what-is-ict  (Links to an external site.)
2
http://www.unescobkk.org/education/ict/online-resources/technologies/what-is-ict/
1.1 Current State of ICT Technologies
Technology nowadays is mostly influenced by Internet access that is always under constant change
due to the changing needs of consumers. The following represents the timeline of the web
representation from Web 1.0 up until 3.0.
 
Timeline and Definition
 

 Web 1.0 is considered the foundation of web technology. The objective of Web 1.0 was to provide
access to the Web itself, making the people to view and read the information. The key areas of interest
centered on protocols such as HTTP, open standard markup languages such as HTML and XML, Internet
access through ISPs, the first Web browsers, Web development platforms and tools, Web-centric software
languages such as Java and Javascript, the creation of Web sites, the commercialization of the Web and
Web business models, and the growth of key portals on the Web.

 The infancy of Web 1.0 is the purpose of the birth of Web 2.0, known as the second generation of
Internet-based services. Most of the Internet navigators are now able to perform modification of
information, and interact with one another to share ideas and knowledge. This became the advent of social
networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies — that emphasize online collaboration and
sharing among users. The purpose of this was to make sure that the site accessed by an Internet user is
interactive. Another trend that has been a major factor in Web 2.0 is the emergence of the mobile Internet
and mobile devices (including camera phones) as a major new platform driving the adoption and growth of
the Web.

 Web 3.0, the supposed third generation of Internet-based technological innovations, is referred to
as ‘the intelligent Web’. At this instance, usage of semantic web, microformats, natural language search,
data-mining, machine learning, recommendation agents, and artificial intelligence technologies — which
emphasize machine-facilitated understanding of information in order to provide a more productive and
intuitive user experience, became very common.

1.1.1 Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is the current state of online technology as it compares with the early days of the Web,
characterized by greater user interactivity and collaboration, more pervasive network connectivity and
enhanced communication channels.
One of the most significant differences between Web 2.0 and the traditional World Wide
Web (WWW, retroactively referred to as Web 1.0) is greater collaboration among Internet users,
content providers and enterprises. Originally, data were posted on Web sites, and users simply
viewed or downloaded the content. Increasingly, users have more input into the nature and scope of
Web content and, in some cases, exert real-time control over it. 1
The social nature of Web 2.0 is another major difference between it and the original, static Web.
Increasingly, websites enable community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration.
Types of social media sites and applications include forums, microblogging, social networking, social
bookmarking, social curation, and wikis.
1.1.1.1 Elements and Tools of Web 2.0
Elements of Web 2.0

 Online database with adjustable content: There are websites that allow users to store
information which can be retrieved at a later time. These sites also enable users to contribute,
collaborate and edit site content. A good example of this is a wiki, which allows anyone to view
and even modify information on the site.
 The increasing prevalence of Software as a Service (SaaS), web apps and cloud computing
rather than locally-installed programs and services.
 Mobile computing, also known as nomadicity, the trend toward users connecting from
wherever they may be. This trend is enabled by the proliferation of smartphones, tablets and other
mobile devices in conjunction with readily accessible Wi-Fi networks.
 Mash-ups: Web pages or applications that integrate complementary elements from two or
more sources.
 Social networking: The practice of expanding the number of one's business and/or social
contacts by making connections through individuals.
 Crowdfunding or Crowdsourcing: Collaborative efforts based on the ability to reach large
numbers of participants and their collective resources
 User-generated content (UGC): Writing, images, audio and video content - among other
possibilities - made freely available online by the individuals who create it.
 Unified communications (UC): The integration of multiple forms of call and multimedia/cross-
media message-management functions controlled by an individual user for both business and
social purposes.
 Social curation: The collaborative sharing of content organized around one or more particular
themes or topics. Social content curation sites include Reddit, Digg, Pinterest and Instagram.

 
Web 2.0 tools

 Social media are Web 2.0 tools allowing people to interact with one another exchange
information, career interests, ideas, and pictures/videos in virtual communities and networks. A
more detailed discussion of this is illustrated on Module 1.1.3.

 Social bookmarking is a user-defined taxonomy system for bookmarks. Such a taxonomy is

sometimes called a folksonomy and the bookmarks are referred to as tags. Unlike storing
bookmarks in a folder on your computer, tagged pages are stored on the Web and can be
accessed from any computer.

This technology lets users organize their access to the web sites by storing the preferred sites that
have been recently accessed, and then maybe accessed later on. Web sites dedicated to social
bookmarking, such as Flickr and del.icio.us, provide users with a place to store, categorize, annotate
and share favorite Web pages and files.
Unlike file sharing, social bookmarking does not save the resources themselves, merely bookmarks
that reference them, i.e., a link to the bookmarked page. Descriptions may be added to these
bookmarks in the form of metadata, so users may understand the content of the resource without first
needing to download it for themselves. 
 Table 1.1.1.1a List of Social bookmarking sites and their Description 1

 A Podcast is basically just an audio (or video) file. What distinguishes a podcast from other
types of audio on the Internet is that a “podcaster” can solicit subscriptions from listeners, so that
when new podcasts are released, they are automatically delivered, or fed, to a subscriber's
computer or mobile device. Usually, the podcast features an audio show with new episodes that
are fed to your computer either sporadically or at planned intervals, such as daily or weekly. This
format encourages listeners to “subscribe.” 2 Common podcast applications include iTunes which
can be used only for iOS devices, and Spotify, an application focusing on streaming service
(streaming media is multimedia which allows a media file to be played before the entire file has
been temporarily been transmitted.)
 Educational tools. There are two types of educational tools under Web 2.0. Electronic
portfolios (also referred to as ePortfolios or Webfolios) are gaining recognition as a valuable tool
for learners. It is practically a storage medium for individuals who wish to store learned
information. Learning Management Systems (LMS), however, is faculty-centered type of
application that is focused on providing tools for students to learn and be assessed with. LMS is
owned by the institution to where it is currently being implemented while the ePortfolio is owned
by the learner. As it is more popular and common today, LMS will be discussed further and will be
the main topic on Module 1.1.4.1.

Name Link Description

BibSonomy is a system for sharing bookmarks

BibSonomy http://www.bibsonomy.org/
and lists of literature.

CiteULike is a web service which allows users

CiteULike http://www.citeulike.org/ to save and share citations to academic
papers.

The site was bought by Avos Systems on April

Delicious http://del.icio.us 27, 2011 though was operated by Yahoo! until
July 2011

Digg is a news aggregator with an editorially

Digg http://digg.com/
driven front page

Designed to bookmark web pages and

Diigo http://www.diigo.com/
highlight key points for reference. Free.

Google
https://www.google.com/bookmarks Bookmarking service by Google
Bookmarks

Collaborative bookmark exploration and

Pearltrees http://pearltrees.com/ curation tool organized and presented like a
mind map.

Pinboard http://pinboard.in/ Pinboard can automatically import your links

and tweets from a number of outside services.
The archive feature saves a local copy of
everything you bookmark in case the original
page goes offline, and offers full-text search.
 Currently 11 USD annual fee, with an optional
25 USD fee for archiving.

Pinterest is a web and mobile application

Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/ company that offers a visual discovery,
collection, sharing, and storage tool.

Users submit content in the form of either a

Reddit https://www.reddit.com/ link or a text ("self") post. Links and content
can be voted on.

StumbleUpon is a discovery engine that finds

StumbleUpon https://www.stumbleupon.com/
and recommends web content to its users.

We Heart It is an image-based social network

We Heart It http://weheartit.com/
for inspiring images

Syncs bookmarks (folders & sub-folders) and

profiles across different browsers and
Xmarks http://www.xmarks.com/ platforms. Includes sharing option and
possibility to access bookmarks via web-
based-interface.

1.1.1.2 The History of Web 2.0

The foundational components of Web 2.0 are the advances enabled by Ajax and other applications
such as RSS and Eclipse and the user empowerment that they support. 1
Darcy DiNucci, an information architecture consultant, coined the term “Web 2.0" in her 1999 article,
"Fragmented Future”, indicating that the Web will be known to be a "transport mechanism, the ether
through which interactivity happens. Darcy foresaw that the Web will be seen not only on personal
computer units but in TV sets, car dashboards, mobile phones, and hand-held game machines as
well. This was mostly observed when Palm Inc. started introducing their well known product -
personal digital assistant, with Web access capability.
Tim O'Reilly is generally credited for popularizing the term, following a conference dealing with next-
generation Web concepts and issues held by O'Reilly Media and MediaLive International in 2004.
O'Reilly Media has subsequently been energetic about trying to copyright "Web 2.0" and holds an
annual conference of the same name.
Tim O'Reilly and Dale Dougherty had a brief discussion to confer the changes experienced from
Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, as summarized in Table 1.1.1.2a. For instance,  the website for Encyclopedia
Britannica online was popular before; most of the researchers tend to gather information from this
site. In the new era, the attention of researchers are now focused on Wikipedia, as information are
mostly updated by end users themselves. 
 

 Table 1.1.1.2a Transition from Web 1.0 to 2.02

 Web 1.0 Web 2.0
DoubleClick Google AdSense
Ofoto Flickr
Akamai BitTorrent
mp3.com Napster
Britannica Online Wikipedia
personal websites blogging
evite upcoming.org and EVDB
domain name speculation search engine optimization
page views cost per click
screen scraping web services
publishing participation
content management
wikis
systems
directories (taxonomy) tagging ("folksonomy")
stickiness syndication

1.1.1.3 Web 2.0 Technologies

 
Most of the technologies used in delivering Web 2.0 are rich Web technologies, such as the list given
below:
 

 Adobe Flash

This is the plug-in on browsers used for delivering high-impact, rich Web content. Designs, animation,
and application user interfaces are deployed immediately across all browsers and platforms,
attracting and engaging users with a rich Web experience. 1

 Microsoft Silverlight

Silverlight is a powerful development tool for engaging on interactive user experiences for Web and
mobile applications similar with Adobe Flash. This tool is a free plug-in that is based under the .NET
framework and compatible with multiple browsers, devices and operating systems. 2 It is different with
Adobe Flash in terms of animation model used, compression formats, file size, platform capability,
and so forth.

 JavaScript

JavaScript is the programming language of HTML and the Web used to define the behavior of web
pages.3 An instance of this is a new window being displayed after clicking an image, text shown in
marquee mode (string of text displayed moving from left to right and vice versa), or a control being in
and out of visibility. A more simple library used by programmers, which is jquery, is also used to ease
up the content of code as it is already commercially free and available.

 Torrent

Web 2.0 applications are often based on the decentralized download methodology that made torrent
sites successful. A torrent is also a server, sharing the workload and making heavily demanded
content more accessible that it would be in the centralized model where demand can lead to
overwhelmed servers and pages. The media file is being downloaded from a swarm of distributed
servers simultaneously instead of one centralized server, which makes it faster to download.
All peers (downloaders and uploaders) may come and go, allowing the pieces to still be available for
downloading, not like when you are directly downloading the file. Once done, a peer may still continue
to upload, making him a seeder. The higher the number of seeders, the faster it is to download the
file.
 
Other Technological Innovations of Web 2.0
Manufacturing 2.0
The integration of Web 2.0 communication and collaboration applications into traditional
manufacturing practices and processes has been dubbed Manufacturing 2.0. Manufacturing 2.0 takes
typical Web 2.0 apps and services and incorporates them into every stage of development and
production. The use of these technologies and tools facilitates greater collaboration and sharing and
referencing of information in a business, ideally leading to better thought out design and more
efficient production.4

Figure 1.1.1.3a Graph of the Degree of Contract Manufacturing over the Manufacturing Complexity 5
 
Enterprise 2.0
Similarly, the inclusion of Web 2.0 technologies into an enterprise’s business processes, intranet and
extranet is sometimes referred to as Enterprise 2.0 (E2.0). Most enterprise 2.0 followers use a
combination of blogs, social networking and social collaborative tools as well as free, paid and
homegrown technologies.
The image below displays the full capability of E2.0. The applications and blogospheres (set of blogs
collectively connected within an online community) are interacting with tehe enterprise unit to provide
better social and financial assistance.
 
Figure 1.1.1.3b Collaboration of Web 2.0 tools with an enterprise 6
 
 
Web 2.0 suicide
So synonymous with Web 2.0 is social networking that the deletion of one’s social networking
presences throughout the Internet is referred to as Web 2.0 suicide. There are web applications
designed to facilitate the process, such as the free service Web 2.0 suicide machine. The application
attempts to purge user info on some of the most common social networking presence points:
Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter before adding the user to the Social Network Suiciders
group on Facebook and signing them out.4
 

1.1.2 The future of Web 2.0: Web 3.0

Web enthusiasts believe that the Web 2.0 is just one phase that transformed World Wide Web into a
newer and more established phase they call Web 3.0, also known as the Semantic Web.
 
Tim Berners-Lee, founder of WWW, suggested that the Web can still be improved as a whole in a
more intuitive manner to serve the needs of the Internet users better. Berners-Lee noticed that users
are unable to clearly choose the site that they need as multiple ones are being shown and indexed
after entering the keywords in the search engine. He then suggests developers and authors, singly or
in collaboration, to utilize self-descriptions to inform users of all suggested sites to lessen
users' struggle in searching for the correct information. Web 3.0 will involve the publishing of web
resources in languages intended for data (such as XML, RDF, OWL and XHTML) to supplement them
with metadata that will allow software to analyze, classify and deliver content for more personal
relevance. The Semantic Annotations for Web Services group at W3C is defining the specifications
for the Web 3.0.
 
The evolution of Web 1.0 to 2.0 up until 3.0 which is where we are now is discussed in the link below.
Click the image to play the video clip.

1.1.2.1 Web 3.0 Expanded Definition

There are actually several major technology trends that are about to reach a new level of maturity at
the same time. The simultaneous maturity of these trends is mutually reinforcing, and collectively
driving the third-generation Web. From this broader perspective, Web 3.0 might be defined as a third-
generation Web enabled by the convergence of several key emerging technology trends 1:
Ubiquitous Connectivity

 Broadband adoption
 Mobile Internet access
 Mobile devices

Network Computing

 Software-as-a-service business models

 Web services interoperability
 Distributed computing (P2P, grid computing, hosted “cloud computing” server farms such as Amazon
S3)

Open Technologies

 Open APIs and protocols

 Open data formats
 Open-source software platforms
 Open data (Creative Commons, Open Data License, etc.)

Open Identity

 Open identity (OpenID)

 Open reputation
 Portable identity and personal data (for example, the ability to port your user account and search
history from one service to another)

The Intelligent Web

 Semantic Web technologies (RDF, OWL, SWRL, SPARQL, Semantic application platforms, and
statement-based datastores such as triplestores, tuplestores and associative databases)
 Distributed databases — or what I call “The World Wide Database” (wide-area distributed database
interoperability enabled by Semantic Web technologies)

Intelligent applications (natural language processing, machine learning, machine reasoning,

autonomous agents)
 

1.1.2.2 Ubiquitous Computing

The model of Web 3.0’s machine-classified, data sharing world creates a basis for ubiquitous
computing. Ubiquitous computing, also known as pervasive computing, is a scenario in which
embedded processing in everyday objects enables intercommunication and unobtrusive data sharing
throughout the user’s environment. The concept overlaps with that of the Internet of Things (IoT), in
which almost any entity or object imaginable can be outfitted with a unique identifier (UID) and the
ability to exchange data automatically. A modest example of this concept is a fridge that sends a
grocery list to one’s smartphone.

Figure 1.1.2.2a Elements of Ubiquitous Systems1

 
The following defines clearly the elements involved in a pervasive computing system:

 Information Context Aware

The ability to collect, metricize , monitor and platform machine to machine M2M, machine to
human M2H telemetry across a wide range of structured, semi-structured and unstructured data
 Situation Context Aware
The ability to create new physical and virtual environments with intelligence information an
process context from the level large to the very small.
 Internet of Things 
The ability to multiplex and multiplicity of entities, assets and services spacing beyond the
computing sphere into many other metasystems in social, commercial, organizational, biological
and sustainability system

Pervasive computing relies on the convergence of wireless technologies, advanced electronics and

the Internet. The goal of researchers working in pervasive computing is to create smart products that
communicate unobtrusively. The products are connected to the Internet and the data they generate is
easily available.  
 
1
http://markskilton.blogspot.com/2012/06/ubiquitous-computing-developing-new.html  (Links to an
external site.)
2
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Web-20-or-Web-2 (Links to an external site.)
 
 

1.1.2.3 More Intelligent Web

The threshold of the third-generation Web will have been crossed in 2007. At this juncture, the focus
of innovation will start to shift back from front-end improvements towards back-end infrastructure level
upgrades to the Web. This cycle will continue for five to ten years, and will result in making the Web
more connected, more open, and more intelligent. It will transform the Web from a network of
separately siloed applications and content repositories to a more seamless and interoperable whole.
Because the focus of the third-generation Web is quite different from that of Web 2.0, this new
generation of the Web probably does deserve its own name. In keeping with the naming convention
established by labeling the second generation of the Web as Web 2.0, this third-generation of the
Web could be called Web 3.0.
Technological Convergence
Technological convergence is the tendency that as technology changes, different technological
systems sometimes evolve toward performing similar tasks. There are three common types of
technological convergence:

 Digital convergence refers to the convergence of four industries into one conglomerate, ITTCE
(Information Technologies, Telecommunication, Consumer Electronics, and Entertainment). Previously
separate technologies such as voice (and telephony features), data (and productivity applications), and
video can now share resources and interact with each other synergistically. This is a way where new
technological devices are being produced which are based from previous technologies performing the
same tasks with advanced features.1
 Figure 1.1.2.3a Timeline Illustrating the Technological Convergence for Cinema/TV, Telephone,
Interface, computer, and games2

 Telecommunications convergence, or network convergence, is the term used to describe

emerging telecommunications technologies, and network architecture used to migrate multiple
communications services into a single network. Specifically this involves the converging of
previously distinct media such as telephony and data communications into common interfaces on
single devices, such as most smart phones can make phone calls and search the web. 3

 Figure 1.1.2.3b Network Convergence for Voice, Data, and Video to create a new technology 4

 Media convergence, in this instance, is defined as the interlinking of computing and other
information technologies, media content, and communication networks that have arisen as the
result of the evolution and popularization of the Internet as well as the activities, products and
services that have emerged in the digital media space. Many experts view this as simply being the
tip of the iceberg, as all facets of institutional activity and social life such as business, government,
art, journalism, health, and education are increasingly being carried out in these digital media
spaces across a growing network of information and communication technology devices. 5
 Figure 1.1.2.3c Illustration of Media Convergence Involving Smart phones and Laptop Units to
access media sites6
 Convergent services, such as VoIP, IPTV, Smart TV, and others, tend to replace the older
technologies and thus can disrupt markets. IP-based convergence is inevitable and will result
in new service and new demand in the market.
 When the old technology converges into the public-owned common, IP based services
become access-independent or less dependent. The old service is access-dependent.

1.1.3 Social and Assistive Media

Social Media
Social media is merely a collection of communication channels accessed through the Web
and mobile applications with the purpose of allowing users to interact, collaborate, and
exchange information, interests, ideas, and any visual representation with another user in a Web-
based community.

Types of social media

Websites and applications dedicated to forums, microblogging, social networking, social
bookmarking, social curation, and wikis are among the different types of social media.

 Microblogging is a web service, which allows the subscriber to broadcast short messages to other
subscribers of the service. This is a type of blog that lets users publish short text updates, the posts of
which are termed microposts. Microposts can be made public on a Web site and/or distributed to a private
group of subscribers.

Social networking sites, like Facebook, also use a microblogging feature in profiles. On Facebook,
this is called "Status Updates". Bloggers can usually use a number of service for the updates
including instant messaging, e-mail, or Twitter. 

Primary Content Ad-

Service Owner Launched Software license Multilingual
service license free

Faceboo
Facebook, Inc. 2004-02 social network proprietary own TOS Yes No
k
 Primary Content Ad-
Service Owner Launched Software license Multilingual
service license free

Google+ Google, Inc. 2011-06 social network proprietary own TOS Yes No

Status Net, Apache v2

identi.ca 2008-07 micro-blogging CC-BY 3.0 Yes Yes
Inc. (pump.io)

Tout Tout 2010-04 micro-blogging proprietary own TOS Yes Yes

Twitter Twitter, Inc. 2006-08 micro-blogging proprietary own TOS Yes No

Yammer Yammer, Inc. 2008-09 micro-blogging proprietary own TOS Yes Yes

 Table 1.1.3a List of Sites offering microblogging services 1

 

o Social curation is collaborative online sharing of content organized around by an individual or

number of people within the community.  An alternate term, “content aggregation,” is sometimes
proposed to mitigate how other discriminators disagree of the term curation as it is originally meant for
the ones used in the field of arts. Among the oldest social curation sites are Digg and Reddit. Both of
those sites allow users to suggest links to articles and allow other readers to give approval – on Digg,
for example, by clicking a “thumbs up” icon. Higher approval ratings mean that a story will appear more
prominently. Pinterest, on the other hand, is dedicated to images. 

o Wikis are content management systems that provide collaborative modification of its content
and structure directly from the web browser. Coined from a Hawaiian term which means quick, a wiki is
run using wiki software, otherwise known as a wiki engine. In a typical wiki, text is written using a
simplified markup language (known as "wiki markup"), and often edited with the help of a rich-text
editor.

There are at least tens of thousands of other wikis in use, both public and private, including wikis
functioning as knowledge management resources, notetaking tools, community websites and
intranets. Ward Cunningham developed the first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as
"the simplest online database that could possibly work". The encyclopedia project Wikipedia is by far
the most popular wiki-based website as of today, and is in fact one of the most widely viewed sites of
any kind of the world, having been ranked in the top ten since 2007. The table below shows a list of
other wikis and the notes signifying the functions of these sites. 2
 

Name Focus Notes License

Initially pre-populated with information

AboutUs.c about many different websites.
Internet directory GFDL and CC BY-SA
om Uses MediaWiki software, but now largely
with Ruby on Rails

Sustainable development,
Appropedi English, French,
including appropriate technology merging CC BY-SA 3.0
a German, Spanish
with several other wikis

Baidu Encyclopedic/Chine A Chinese encyclopedia Copyrighted

Name Focus Notes License

Baike se

Baike.com  Largest Chinese wiki. Social networking

Encyclopedic Copyrighted
(互动百科) features. Chinese language only

Base de Encyclopedic/Spani A Spanish language encyclopedia, with

Copyrighted/Other
datos sh own wiki software.

Originally in Dutch, with English version.

Collectors specific for comics, coins,
stamps, trading cards, board games,
Catawiki Catalogues
model cars, model trains, bank notes,
books, watches, Disney memorabilia,
clocks and other.

GNU Free
non-profit
Connectip funded and maintained by Meyer Memorial Documentation License
organizations and f
edia Trust. Runs on Wagn and a Creative
oundations
Commons License

Choral
Public Public Domain, CPDL
A wiki library of free typeset musical
Domain Music Licence, C.C. Licences,
scores
Library (C Copyrighted (free use)
PDL)

Multilingual— Environmental sustainability merging with

Ekopedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Encyclopedic Appropedia.

Encyclope
dia of
Mathematics CC BY-SA 3.0
Mathemati
cs

Family
History Genealogy Reference information and research
CC BY-SA 3.0 US
Research research guidance. In 11 languages.
Wiki

Familypedi
Genealogy Family trees and history CC BY-SA
a

A Creative Commons structured wiki about

Foodista.c Reference—Food
foods, recipes, and other culinary CC-BY
om and Cooking
information.

Dedicated to the creation of a

Galaxiki Fictional galaxy GFDL[15]
fictional galaxy
Name Focus Notes License

Gardenolo Meant as a "complete plant and garden Creative Commons

Gardening
gy.org wiki encyclopedia" Attribution ShareAlike

GCpedia Government Internal Government of Canada Wiki

GeoName A geographical database that links specific

Places
s names with unique features

Three non-accessible wikis running on

Government—
Intellipedia networks that link the U.S. intelligence
Intelligence
community

Internation
al Music
A wiki library of public domain musical
Score Music GFDL
scores
Library
Project

A multi-lingual academic encyclopedia,
JurisPedia Government—Law including Arabic, Chinese, English, French, CC-NC
German and Spanish

Mostly copyrighted. CC
LyricWiki Music—Lyrics A listing of lyrics by album BY-SA for minority of
content.

database of 1000 biological databases and over 800

BioLicense and MetaBa
MetaBase biological 'web services', more than 50 'user-
se:Copyrights
databases contributed' databases

A white nationalist and extreme right-wing

Metapedia Encyclopedia unknown
online encyclopedia.

Misc—Business Allows people and enterprises to write

MyWikiBiz GFDL and other[23]
directory about themselves

Uses GPS, aerial photography and other

OpenStree
Places—Maps free sources of images to create a map of ODbL 1.0
tMap
the world

OpenWet Promotes sharing and dissemination of

Science—Biology CC BY-SA
Ware knowledge related to biological research

PCGaming Games—Video Attempts to provide fixes and information

CC NC-SA 3.0
Wiki games on all PC games

PlanetMat
Misc—Mathematics Free wiki-style mathematical encyclopedia
h

RationalWi Encyclopedic Information and articles are written from CC-BY-SA 3.0
Name Focus Notes License

a liberal and secular point of view as a
ki
response to Conservapedia

Computers—RISC Hosts C programming resources and

riscos.info cc-by 2.5
OS projects

Written exclusively by professionals

Scholarpe
Encyclopedic focusing on their field of expertise; subject Copyrighted
dia
to peer review

Words in different A social learning network built around

TermWiki
languages terms and questions in 75 languages.

A social networking site dedicated to

Travellers
Places—Travel sharing stories and recommendations CC BY-SA 3.0
point
about travel

A rapid reference for practical point-of-care Creative Commons

clinical knowledge with a popular linked Attribution-
Emergency
WikEM point-of-care phone application. Intended NonCommercial-
Medicine
for clinicians only and not directly for NoDerivatives 4.0
patients. International License

WikiAnswe
General knowledge Compiles answers to questions posed Copyrighted
rs

The project aims to create high-quality,

WikiArt Art, paintings complete and well-structured online public domain artworks
repository of fine art.

Wikibooks General—textbooks A Wikimedia project CC BY-SA/other

WikiEduca Open educational Open educational resources which anyone

CC BY-SA and CC-BY
tor resources may use, adapt, and share

wikiHow How-to articles A wiki how-to manual CC-by-nc-sa 3.0

Combines Google Maps with a wiki system

WikiMapia Places—Map for polygonally defined areas; currently CC by-nc-sa[44]
supports 35 languages

Wikimedia Misc—Electronic A repository of free electronic media;

CC BY-SA and other
Commons media a Wikimedia project

Collaborative news service, a Wikimedia

Wikinews General—News CC-BY
project

Multilingual Wikimedia project that
Wikipedia Encyclopedic CC BY-SA
uses MediaWiki
Name Focus Notes License

Reference—
Wikiquote A quote repository; a Wikimedia project CC BY-SA
Quotations

An online encyclopedia focusing on Shi'a,

the second major denomination in Islam. It
WikiShia Shi'a Islam has articles in 8 languages. Farsi has the Unknown
most number of articles which is more than
3500.[46]

Places—Great Gazetteer and interactive map of Great

Wikishire CC BY-SA 3.0
Britain and Ireland Britain and Ireland

Reference— A digital library of free content textual

Wikisource CC BY-SA
Primary sources sources; a Wikimedia project

Wikispecie
Science—Biology A directory of species; a Wikimedia project GFDL and CC BY-SA
s

A travel guide using Wikimedia's software,

but unconnected to the Wikimedia
Wikitravel Places—Travel CC BY-SA 3.0
Foundation (which hosts Wikivoyage). 20
supported languages

A free global family
WikiTree Genealogy tree using MediaWiki software, but Unknown[51]
unconnected to the Wikimedia Foundation.

Supports free learning communities,

General—Self-
Wikiversity projects, materials, and learners; CC BY-SA 3.0
directed learning
a Wikimedia project

Wikivoyag A multilingual travel guide of the Wikimedia

Places—Travel CC BY-SA 3.0
e Foundation.

Computer
WikiWikiW programming,
World's oldest wiki (began circa 1995) GPL
eb specifically design
patterns

Multilingual
Wiktionary An online dictionary; a Wikimedia project CC BY-SA 3.0
dictionary

Table 1.1.3c List of Wikis and their Functions3

 
Prominent Examples of Social Media Sites
The sites below are the usual media sites that are commonly visited by online community.
Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows registered users to create profiles,
upload photos and video, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues.
According to statistics from the Nielsen Group, Internet users within the United States spend more
 time on Facebook than any other website.

Twitter is a free microblogging service that allows registered members to broadcast short posts called
tweets. Twitter members can broadcast tweets and follow other users' tweets by using multiple
platforms and devices.

Google+ (pronounced Google plus) is Google's social networking project, designed to replicate the
way people interact offline more closely than is the case in other social networking services. The
project’s slogan is “Real-life sharing rethought for the web.”

Wikipedia is a free, open content online encyclopedia created through the collaborative effort of a
community of users known as Wikipedians. Anyone registered on the site can create an article for
publication; registration is not required to edit articles. Wikipedia was founded in January of 2001.

LinkedIn is a social networking site designed specifically for the business community. The goal of the
site is to allow registered members to establish and document networks of people they know and trust
professionally.

Pinterest is a social curation website for sharing and categorizing images found online. Pinterest
requires brief descriptions but the main focus of the site is visual. Clicking on an image will take you to
the original source, so, for example, if you click on a picture of a pair of shoes, you might be taken to a
site where you can purchase them. An image of blueberry pancakes might take you to the recipe; a
picture of a whimsical birdhouse might take you to the instructions.

 
Assistive Media
Assistive media is an Internet-based audio reading service for people with reading impairments. This
opens unique avenue of accessibility for said individuals with visual, cognitive, and communication
disabilities. History dates back 1996 when David Erdody researched the availability of accessible
audio-based reading materials for his father Kenneth Harmon Erdody who is suffering from diabetic
retinopathy. Soon after, he discovered that less than 5% of U.S. publications were provided in an
alternative audio format.
 
There is an existing site that allows one to access some of the available recordings (Click here  (Links
to an external site.)to access the site). The service offered by this site is open and free of charge, and
there is no need for anyone to sign up to download the data. There is also no verification needed if
the user is under reading disability.

1.1.4 Educational Technology

Research findings show that ICT can lead to improved student learning and better teaching methods.
It has proven effective in contributing to universal access to education, equity in education, the
delivery of quality learning and teaching, teachers’ professional development and more efficient
education management, governance and administration.
Advantages of ICT for education

1. Through the use of ICT tools, mentors may be able to use images that will allow memory retention and
boost of interest ensuring students' comprehension
2. Through the use of ICT tools, mentors may be able to explain complicated instructions and be able to
easily access resources to knowledge being imparted to the students.
3. Through the use of ICT tools, mentors may be able to create an environment making the modules
enjoyable, which could improve student attendance and concentration.

Disadvantages of ICT for education

1. The tools should be made available during the class. It would be a burden for the whole class if they will
be unable to access the resources needed due to slow connection, loss of internet bandwidth, or sudden
power outage.
2. The tools are expensive to afford - desktop/laptop units, licensed software, routers/switches, LAN
cables, and so many more cost more than markers, whiteboards and board eraser.
3. Teachers should have a broad experience and knowledge when it comes to ICT tools usage.

 
The succeeding modules describe and discuss ICT tools focusing on education.

1.1.4.1 Learning Management Systems

Learning Management System (LMS) is the most common option/format for teaching online. Click t

Learning Management System functions solely as an online classroom where professors can:

 discuss modules online,

 upload reading materials,
 play educational videos and audio files,
 carry out learning activities,
 make announcements,
 assess and grade student work.

LMSs store and deliver materials developed in a variety of different formats — everything from MS
Office documents to videos and third-party applications. They support synchronous (at the same
time) and asynchronous (not at the same time) interactions between faculty and students and
students and students. Online learning management systems can be hosted locally (i.e., kept on a
server physically located at an educational institution) or remotely, “in the cloud” wherein the LMS
company (Moodle Rooms or a Moodle partner, Desire to Learn, or Blackboard) manages all server-
related issues. Wherever they reside, LMSs demand high-speed connectivity and strong bandwidth. 1

 Essentially all LMSs have “standard” or typical and uniform features, including:

 Analytics (with varying degrees of quality)

 Apps
 Assignment submission
 Discussion forum
 File upload/ download capacity
 Grading
 Instant messages
 Online calendar
 Online news and announcement (institution and course level)
 Online quiz
 Wiki
 Widgets that allow connections to social media

Figure 1.1.4a Sample Screenshot of a Collaboration Tool for LMS

 Here is a quick overview of some of these tools:

 Discussion Pages

The discussion pages allow the instructor to confer modules that are related to the topic to be taught
for the specific class hours. They are very useful for answering general questions of the whole class,
allowing students to 'meet,' or having a group dissertation on a topic presented by the
instructor. Some LMS's include an online board that the professor can use to write something about
the topic that the students can view online.

 Chat Rooms

Chat rooms are great for office hours. Students know that they can drop in at a certain time and find
their instructor there. Like live office hours, sometimes no one shows, but those who do can get an
immediate answer to a question, and they make another connection to their instructor.

 Threaded Discussions

These are discussions that allow a user to follow a thread/theme. This is found to be more useful in
small classes than in large classes. It is useful for those who are unable to join a discussion within the
provided time frame, or for some discussions that are found to be broad and may be discussed in a
very long span of time.

 Group Pages

Group pages are areas where students can communicate with a sub-set of classmates, can share
files, and can work collaboratively. Normally the professor has to set the groups up, giving access to
the proper students. They then have a private discussion section, a group e-mail, and a private file-
sharing space. These are very useful for setting up collaborative projects in online classes.

 Online Tests

Students may take the exams online with an allotted timeframe to complete it. The teachers may set
when the test can be taken, so they may decide if the exam should be answered either within the
school premise or within their homes. The exam types may be multiple choice, true or false,
identification, or even essay type of exams. Except for those that needs the analysis of the teachers,
most exams can be checked immediately by the system given that the teacher sets the
corresponding answers for each problem. The students may already see their scores and the correct
answers after taking the test.

 Grade book

Teachers may get for the students' grade without having to create a spreadsheet file using the LMS
as the computation of the final grade based from the scores of the students' quizzes and
appropriate formula to be used is embedded in the system. 
 
LMSs serve many functions, but it is best to think of them as a repository or vehicle for learning, not
the learning itself. LMSs lack functionality in the most critical areas of teaching—content and
instruction. An LMS does not teach an online course—the instructor does that through the LMS. And
LMSs do not support content creation and their functionality is usually limited.  Rather, the professor
with an instructional designer, or an instructional designer,  designs content, using separate,
dedicated content authoring software, and places content in the LMS and runs classes, discussions,
quizzes through the LMS.
Each LMS has its strength and weaknesses and there are far too many to discuss here. If cost is an
issue, Moodle and Sakai (especially the latter for universities) are
free.  D2L (formerly Desire2Learn, now Brightspace) has great analytics, a nice drag-and-drop
interface and very strong customer service. Acatar has a beautiful interface, is designed for flipped
learning, and is grounded in a strong pedagogical framework. Blackboard has history and
presence. Canvas is quite popular with universities for its look-and-feel, ability to customize and
simple navigation structure.
Since they are so similar, the biggest factors in considering LMS are (not in order):

 Cost
 Ease of use
 The LMSs (and company’s) maturity and presence (a long-established record and a presence
in the region)
 Appearance (look and feel)
 The ability to integrate with existing Student Information Systems (SIS)/Education Information
Management Systems (EMIS)
 Suite of supports (hosting the course, course design, help with upgrades, etc.)
 Special features (e.g., Blackboard’s suite of applications; Moodle’s filtering system; D2L’s
portfolio feature)

 
MOOCs—Massively Open Online Courses—can be considered LMSs, just writ large, for thousands
or hundreds of thousands of learners. One really nice feature of MOOCs that more and more LMS
designers are copying (for example, Acatar) is the really clean user interface and simple navigation
structure of a MOOC. 

1.1.4.2 Social Media and Peer-to-Peer

Platforms
Because Facebook is the most popular site on the World Wide Web (one of every seven minutes
spent online is on Facebook), free social media networks can be an alternative to an LMS. Edmodo,
for example, is a free educational social networking application. This type of application is used as an
alternative to LMSs by universities and Ministries of Educations and schools all over the world
because of the following reasons:

 Cost: It is free and available to everyone as long as one is connected to the Internet.
 Educational focus: Educational social networking apps are designed for teachers and students and
online learning. It does not have or promote commercial content.
 Less bandwidth intensive: It supports low-bandwidth communications so students and instructors can
carry on synchronous (real-time or live) and asynchronous (delayed) conversations without the need for a
lot of bandwidth. Additionally, students or instructors with smart phones can access the Edmodo app
and/or access the course via their phones, versus a computer.
 Serves as an online classroom: Edmodo makes for an excellent course site, allowing for readings to
be housed in a library, the formation of small groups, discussions to be archived, third-party apps, and
posting of photos and videos.
 Familiar and easy to use: Edmodo mimics Facebook in use and structure and should thus require
very little training to use. It mimics an application with which, many instructors and students are familiar.

 
There are other options in this space, everything from VoiceThread to Twitter chats to online learning
communities, like Classroom 2.0 (not technically social media) or Peer2Peer University to blogs (like
this one). If the idea is to have learners teaching each other in an open environment (versus the
traditional instructor in the “walled garden” of an LMS), option 2 may be a good way to go.
To be able to have a glance at what a social networking can be used as an online educational tool,
click the image below to see the features and functionality of Edmodo.

1.1.4.3 Conferencing Applications

Online Meeting
One alternative to the standard online course (via an LMS) or a social networking site is an online
conferencing system that allows for webinars (seminars conducted via the web) and online meetings.
Web conferences mimic the traditional lecture one finds in university or classroom--the instructor can
lecture, share notes or a presentation and students can even virtually raise their hands and ask
questions/communicate through voice or chat. The danger is that, unless university faculty are highly
creative and determined to be different, this can really promote very instructor-lead, lecture-based
instruction without any formal hands-on or simple practical application. 1
 
Figure 1.1.4.3a Example of Web Conferencing2
Like LMSs, there are numerous online meeting/conferencing systems to choose from--Adobe
Connect and Webex are two popular commercial ones. There are free options like join.me or even
Skype or Google hangouts. Commercial options are pretty standard in that they allow you to do
videoconferencing, share a desktop; dial in with a phone; hold live chats; integrate landline audio
conferencing; conduct polling; share files; have unlimited webinars per month; archive webinars; and
all provide technical support.  All are similar too in that they increase in price as you add more
participants. The big difference seems to be price and the complexity of what you will want to do.
 

Two-way Audio

A final option is to use two-way video for one-to-one coaching and tutoring (for example, Skype or
Google Hangouts. This is an extraordinarily powerful form of online learning because it can provide
intensive one-to-one (or one-to-many) instruction and support and make e-learning less impersonal
and more “face-based.” And of course, seeing someone and talking with them one-on-one is so
essential to developing rapport—and when online learners develop a rapport with their online
instructor they are more likely to persist in an online course of study.
1
https://elearningindustry.com/choosing-online-learning-platform-makes-sense

1.2 Online Safety, Security, Ethics and

Etiquette
Almost all people surf the web to check their blogs and emails, download songs and videos, watch
video clips, and so many other online activities. According to July 2016 statistics, there are already
3.4 BIllion Internet users worldwide. 1 This means that there are so many people who are into
browsing over the Internet worldwide. These users are prone to certain attacks, may it be one that
cause damage or hacks your system to gather essential information.
 

Year Internet Users Penetration World Non-Users 1Y User

(% of Pop) Population (Internetless) Change

2016* 3,424,971,237 46.1 % 7,432,663,275 4,007,692,038 7.5 %

Table 1.2a Number of Internet Users over the Total World Population as of July 2016 1
 
Your Online and Offline Identify
As more time is spent online, your identity, both online and offline, can affect your life. Your offline
identity is the person who your friends and family interact with on a daily basis at home, at school, or
work. They know your personal information, such as your name, age, or where you live. Your online
identity is who you are in cyberspace. Your online identity is how you present yourself to others
online. This online identity should only reveal a limited amount of information about you. However,
due to limited knowledge of what is happening around, most people neglect to consider securing the
information via online.
Your online identity can also be considered as an actively constructed presentation of oneself.
Although some people choose to use their real names online, some Internet users prefer to be
anonymous, identifying themselves by means of pseudonyms, which reveal varying amounts of
personally identifiable information. An online identity may even be determined by a user's relationship
to a certain social group they are a part of online. Some can even be deceptive about their identity.
In some online contexts, including Internet forums, online chats, and massively multiplayer online
role-playing games (MMORPGs), users can represent themselves visually by choosing an avatar, an
icon-sized graphic image. Avatars are one-way users express their online identity. Through
interaction with other users, an established online identity acquires a reputation, which enables other
users to decide whether the identity is worthy of trust. Online identities are associated with users
through authentication, which typically requires registration and logging in. Some websites also use
the user's IP address or tracking cookies to identify users. 2
A part of ICT learning is to make sure that individuals are aware of the online security threats and all
possible measures to combat and prevent such attacks. The succeeding modules will be able to
assist the students in such learning.
 

1.2.1 Your Online Data

Data and Information
Any information about you can be considered your data. This personal information can uniquely
identify you as an individual. This data includes photos and messages that you exchange with your
family and friends online. Other Information, such as name, social security number, date and place of
birth, or mother‘s maiden name, is known by you and used to identify you. The following are some of
the areas that involve your identification:
 

 Medical Records - Information provided to you by your doctor, including physical and mental health,
prescription and other personal information that may not be medically related, is considered your electronic
health records (EHRs). Besides your medical history and personal information, the EHR may also include
information about your family. Clinical data like heart rates, blood pressures, and blood sugar levels that
may be stored via under a cloud platform is also considered a part of your medical record

Figure 1.2.1a Sample medical record containing personal information about the patient
 

 Education Records - Your grades and test scores, your attendance, courses taken, awards
and degrees rewarded, and any disciplinary reports may be in your education record. This record
may also include contact information, health and immunization records, and special education
records including individualized education programs (IEPs).

Figure 1.2.1b Sample Educational Record containing the grades of the sample student for the entire
school year
 

 Employment and Financial Records - Your financial record may include information about your
income and expenditures. Tax records could include paycheck stubs, credit card statements, your
credit rating and other banking information. Your employment information can include your past
employment and your performance.

Figure 1.2.1c Sample template to contain information to be filled up by an employee

 
 
Types of Organizational Data
Traditional Data
Corporate data include personnel information, intellectual properties, and financial data. Personnel
information include application materials, payroll, offer letters, employee agreements, and any
information used in making employment decisions. Intellectual property, such as patents, trademarks
and new product plans, allows a business to gain economic advantage over its competitors. This
intellectual property can be considered a trade secret; losing this information can be disastrous for the
future of the company. The financial data, such as income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow
statements of a company gives insight into the health of the company.
Internet of Things and Big Data
With the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), there is a lot more data to manage and secure.
IoT is a large network of physical objects, such as sensors and equipment that extend beyond the
traditional computer network. All these connections, plus the fact that we have expanded storage
capacity and storage services through the Cloud and virtualization, lead to the exponential growth of
data. This data has created a new area of interest in technology and business called “Big Data". With
the velocity, volume, and variety of data generated by the IoT and the daily operations of business,
the confidentiality, integrity and availability of this data is vital to the survival of the organization.

1.2.2 Online Security Threats and

Attacks
Malicious programs
We have been hearing worms, viruses, and Trojan horses, but we cannot usually distinguish one
from the other. Most of the time, we even treat all malicious programs as viruses as this is the most
common term people know; the terms are used interchangeably when they function unlikely from the
other. Whatever their differences are, all of them are critical threats that can certainly damage our
PC's or laptops.
 
Sources of threats
The following are the usual sources of threats and malware penetration:

 visiting sites that contains drive-by attack codes. A drive-by attack is a way where an exploit is being
made which allows an attacker to gather information from the user or embedding a malware into the
system as he is accessing the site. These sites may be accessed via an advertisement or a link sent to the
via user
 downloading malicious software disguised as keygens, cracks, and patches
 downloading files via peer-to-peer networks (for example, torrents).
 downloading attachments from emails sent especially from unknown sources
 replying to emails involving your credentials such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, and
few other things
 installing software applications with bugs, glitches and vulnerabilities
 plugging in removable media containing malicious programs

 
Common Effects of Malware
Damage from malware varies from causing minor irritation (such as browser popup ads), to stealing
confidential information or money, destroying data, and compromising and/or entirely disabling
systems and networks. The following specifically enumerates the list of possible effects of malware
attacks1:

 slowing down your operating system, your Internet speed or the speed of your applications.
 unexpected pop-ups appearing on the system; sometimes, they come bundled with other
concealed malware threats, and which could be more destructive for our systems.
 system crashes frequently or BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) is experienced regularly.
 physical disk continues to exhibit excessive activity even when you don’t use it and there is no
program or download running at that moment, this could be the right time to check your system for
malware.
 running out of hard disk space; there are a number of malicious software which use various
methods to fill up all the available space in the hard drive and cause it to crash.
 high network activity is being observed even there is no current connection in the Internet.
 new homepage, new toolbars or unwanted websites being accessed without going there
manually using your browsers.
 programs automatically open and close without user intervention and unusual messages seen
in the during or after the booting process
 system suddenly shuts down for no reason
 security solution is disabled - your antivirus update is disabled or the antivirus software itself
does not work
 strange messages sent from your blogs or emails to your peers via applications in your system that you
do not have any control of.

Figure 1.2.2a Sample screenshot of BSOD

 

Classes of Malicious Software

The classes of malicious software are described below 2:
 
1. Viruses
A computer virus is a type of malware that propagates by inserting a copy of itself into and becoming
part of another program. It spreads from one computer to another, leaving infections as it travels.
Almost all viruses are attached to an executable file, which means the virus may exist on a system
but will not be active or able to spread until a user runs or opens the malicious host file or program.
When the host code is executed, the viral code is executed as well. Normally, the host program keeps
functioning after it is infected by the virus. However, some viruses overwrite other programs with
copies of themselves, which destroys the host program altogether. 
 
2. Worms
Computer worms are similar to viruses in that they replicate functional copies of themselves and can
cause the same type of damage. In contrast to viruses, which require the spreading of an infected
host file, worms are standalone software and do not require a host program or human help to
propagate. A worm enters a computer through a vulnerability in the system and takes advantage of
file-transport or information-transport features on the system, allowing it to travel unaided.
 
3. Trojans
A Trojan horse is another type of malware which functioned the same way as it was named: history
foretells that the Greeks gave a huge wooden horse to their foes, the Trojans; after the horse was
within the walls of their city, Greek soldiers came out of the hollow horse belly and they were able to
capture Troy.
It is a harmful piece of software that looks legitimate. Users are typically tricked into loading and
executing it on their systems. After it is activated, it can achieve any number of attacks on the host,
from irritating the user (popping up windows or changing desktops) to damaging the host (deleting
files, stealing data, or activating and spreading other malware, such as viruses). Trojans are also
known to create back doors to give malicious users access to the system (a back door is an
undocumented way of accessing a system, bypassing the normal authentication mechanisms). 
Unlike viruses and worms, Trojans do not reproduce by infecting other files nor do they self-replicate.
Trojans must spread through user interaction such as opening an e-mail attachment or downloading
and running a file from the Internet.
 
4.  Bots

"Bot" is derived from the word "robot" and is an automated process that interacts with other network
services. Bots often automate tasks and provide information or services that would otherwise be
conducted by a human being. A typical use of bots is to gather information (such as web crawlers), or
interact automatically with instant messaging (IM), Internet Relay Chat (IRC), or other web interfaces.
They may also be used to interact dynamically with websites.
Bots can be used for either good or malicious intent. A malicious bot is self-propagating malware
designed to infect a host and connect back to a central server or servers that act as a command and
control (C&C) center for an entire network of compromised devices, or "botnet." With a botnet,
attackers can launch broad-based, "remote-control," flood-type attacks against their target(s). In
addition to the worm-like ability to self-propagate, bots can include the ability to log keystrokes, gather
passwords, capture and analyze packets, gather financial information, launch DoS attacks, relay
spam, and open back doors on the infected host.
 
Phishing
Phishing is the act of sending an email to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate
enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for
identity theft.
Phishing email will typically direct the user to visit a website where they are asked to update personal
information, such as a password, credit card, social security, or bank account numbers, that the
legitimate organization already has. The website, however, is bogus and will capture and steal any
information the user enters on the page.
The word is a used as a homophone to fishing due to the similarity of using a bait in an attempt to
catch a victim. Communications purporting to be from popular social web sites, auction sites, banks,
online payment processors or IT administrators are commonly used to lure unsuspecting victims.
Phishing emails may contain links to websites that are infected with malware. Phishing is typically
carried out by email spoofing or instant messaging, and it often directs users to enter details at a fake
website whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one. Phishing is an example of
social engineering techniques used to deceive users, and exploits the poor usability of current web
security technologies.3 
 
Examples of Phishing Scams
2003 saw the proliferation of a phishing scam in which users received emails supposedly from eBay
claiming that the user's account was about to be suspended unless he clicked on the provided email
link and updated the credit card information that the genuine eBay already had. Because it is
relatively simple to make a website look like a legitimate organization's site by mimicking the HTML
code, the scam counted on people being tricked into thinking they were actually being contacted by
eBay and were subsequently going to eBay's site to update their account information. 3 

1.2.3 Cybersecurity
 
What is Cybersecurity?
The connected electronic information network has become an integral part of our daily lives. All types
of organizations, such as medical, financial, and education institutions, use this network to operate
effectively. They utilize the network by collecting, processing, storing, and sharing vast amounts of
digital information. As more digital information is gathered and shared, the protection of this
information is becoming even more vital to our national security and economic stability.
Cybersecurity is the ongoing effort to protect these networked systems and all of the data from
unauthorized use or harm. On a personal level, you need to safeguard your identity, your data, and
your computing devices. At the corporate level, it is everyone’s responsibility to protect the
organization’s reputation, data, and customers. At the state level, national security, and the safety
and well-being of the citizens are at stake.
 
Cyber threats
Your online credentials are valuable. These credentials give the thieves access to your accounts,
which in turn will give them access to the money you store in your accounts. A criminal could also
take advantage of your relationships. They could access your online accounts and your reputation to
trick you into wiring money to your friends or family. This trick which is coined as social
engineering allows criminal to send messages stating that your family or friends need you to wire
them money so they can get home from abroad after losing their wallets. This technique is also used
by these criminals to manipulate people into making them think they are closed friends, but they
actually have hidden intentions behind this.
The criminals are very imaginative when they are trying to trick you into giving them money. They do
not just steal your money; they could also steal your identity and ruin your life.
 
There are two types of security threats. Attacks originating from within an organization or from outside
of the organization is known as an internal threat. An internal user, such as an employee or contract
partner, can accidentally or intentionally mishandle confidential data, threaten the operations of
internal servers or network infrastructure devices, facilitate outside attacks by connecting infected
USB media into the corporate computer system, accidentally invite malware onto the network through
malicious email or websites. When the mentioned attacks is done from the outside the facility, this is
considered to be an external threats. Internal threats also have the potential to cause greater damage
than external threats, because internal users have direct access to the building and its infrastructure
devices. Employees also have knowledge of the corporate network, its resources, and its confidential
data, as well as different levels of user or administrative privileges.
 
Types of Attackers
Attackers are individuals or groups who attempt to exploit vulnerability for personal or financial gain.
Attackers are interested in everything, from credit cards to product designs and anything with value.
Amateurs – These people are sometimes called Script Kiddies. They are usually attackers with little
or no skill, often using existing tools or instructions found on the Internet to launch attacks. Some of
them are just curious, while others are trying to demonstrate their skills and cause harm. They may
be using basic tools, but the results can still be devastating.
Hackers – This group of attackers break into computers or networks to gain access. Depending on
the intent of the break-in, these attackers are classified as white, gray, or black hats. The white hat
attackers break into networks or computer systems to discover weaknesses so that the security of
these systems can be improved. These break-ins are done with prior permission and any results are
reported back to the owner. On the other hand, black hat attackers take advantage of any
vulnerability for illegal personal, financial or political gain. Gray hat attackers are somewhere between
white and black hat attackers. The gray hat attackers may find a vulnerability in a system. Gray hat
hackers may report the vulnerability to the owners of the system if that action coincides with their
agenda. Some gray hat hackers publish the facts about the vulnerability on the Internet so that other
attackers can exploit it.
Organized Hackers – These hackers include organizations of cyber criminals, hacktivists, terrorists,
and state-sponsored hackers. Cyber criminals are usually groups of professional criminals focused on
control, power, and wealth. The criminals are highly sophisticated and organized, and they may even
provide cybercrime as a service to other criminals. Hacktivists make political statements to create
awareness to issues that are important to them. State-sponsored attackers gather intelligence or
commit sabotage on behalf of their government. These attackers are usually highly trained and well-
funded, and their attacks are focused on specific goals that are beneficial to their government.
 
The Consequences of a Security Breach
To protect an organization from every possible cyberattack is not feasible, for a few reasons. The
expertise necessary to set up and maintain the secure network can be expensive. Attackers will
always continue to find new ways to target networks. Eventually, an advanced and targeted
cyberattack will succeed. The priority will then be how quickly your security team can respond to the
attack to minimize the loss of data, downtime, and revenue.
By now you know that anything posted online can live online forever, even if you were able to erase
all the copies in your possession. If your servers were hacked, the confidential personnel information
could be made public. A hacker (or hacking group) may vandalize the company website by posting
untrue information and ruin the company’s reputation that took years to build. The hackers can also
take down the company website causing the company to lose revenue. If the website is down for
longer periods of time, the company may appear unreliable and possibly lose credibility. If the
company website or network has been breached, this could lead to leaked confidential documents,
revealed trade secrets, and stolen intellectual property. The loss of all this information may impede
company growth and expansion.
The monetary cost of a breach is much higher than just replacing any lost or stolen devices, investing
in existing security and strengthening the building’s physical security. The company may be
responsible for contacting all the affected customers about the breach and may have to be prepared
for litigation. With all this turmoil, employees may choose to leave the company. The company may
need to focus less on growing and more on repairing its reputation.
 
Legal Issues in Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity professionals must have the same skills as hackers, especially black hat hackers, in
order to protect against attacks. One difference between a hacker and a cybersecurity professional is
that the cybersecurity professional must work within legal boundaries.
Personal Legal Issues
You do not even have to be an employee to be subject to cybersecurity laws. In your private life, you
may have the opportunity and skills to hack another person’s computer or network. There is an old
saying, “Just because you can does not mean you should.” Keep this in mind. Most hackers leave
tracks, whether they know it or not, and these tracks can be followed back to the hacker.
Cybersecurity professionals develop many skills which can be used for good or evil. Those who use
their skills within the legal system, to protect infrastructure, networks, and privacy are always in high
demand.
Corporate Legal Issues
Most countries have some cybersecurity laws in place. They may have to do with critical
infrastructure, networks, and corporate and individual privacy. Businesses are required to abide by
these laws.
In some cases, if you break cybersecurity laws while doing your job, it is the company that may be
punished and you could lose your job. In other cases, you could be prosecuted, fined, and possibly
sentenced.
In general, if you are confused about whether an action or behavior might be illegal, assume that it is
illegal and do not do it. Your company may have a legal department or someone in the human
resources department who can answer your questions before you do something illegal.
International Law and Cybersecurity
The area of cybersecurity law is much newer than cybersecurity itself. As mentioned before, most
countries have some laws in place, and there will be more laws to come.
International cybersecurity law is still quite new. The International Multilateral Partnership Against
Cyber Threats (IMPACT) is the first, international public-private partnership that is focused on cyber
threats. IMPACT is a global partnership of world governments, industries, and academia dedicated to
improving global capabilities when dealing with cyber threats.
 
What is Cyberwarfare?
Cyberspace has become another important dimension of warfare, where nations can carry out
conflicts without the clashes of traditional troops and machines. This allows countries with minimal
military presence to be as strong as other nations in cyberspace. Cyberwarfare is an Internet-based
conflict that involves the penetration of computer systems and networks of other nations. These
attackers have the resources and expertise to launch massive Internet-based attacks against other
nations to cause damage or disrupt services, such as shutting down a power grid.
An example of a state-sponsored attack involved the Stuxnet malware that was designed to damage
Iran’s nuclear enrichment plant. Stuxnet malware did not hijack targeted computers to steal
information. It was designed to damage physical equipment that was controlled by computers, and
used modular coding that was programmed to perform a specific task within the malware. It used
stolen digital certificates so the attack appeared legitimate to the system.
 

Figure 1.2.2.b Stuxnet attack which disrupted Iran's centrifuge for uranium enrichment

Click the following link  (Links to an external site.)to lead you to a video about Stuxnet attack.
 
The main purpose of cyberwarfare is to gain advantage over adversaries, whether they are nations or
competitors.
A nation can continuously invade other nation’s infrastructure, steal defense secrets, and gather
information about technology to narrow the gaps in its industries and military. Besides industrial and
militaristic espionage, cyberwar can sabotage the infrastructure of other nations and cost lives in the
targeted nations. For example, an attack can cause the following:

 disrupt the power grid of a major city.

 traffic would be disrupted
 the exchange of goods and services is halted
 patients cannot get the care needed in emergency situations.
 access to the Internet may also be disrupted.
Furthermore, compromised sensitive data can give the attackers the ability to blackmail personnel
within the government. The information may allow an attacker to pretend to be an authorized user to
access sensitive information or equipment.
If the government cannot defend against the cyberattacks, the citizens may lose confidence in the
government’s ability to protect them. Cyberwarfare can destabilize a nation, disrupt commerce, and
affect the citizens’ faith in their government without ever physically invading the targeted nation.
 
Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability
Confidentiality, integrity and availability, known as the CIA triad is a guideline for information security
for an organization. Confidentiality ensures the privacy of data by restricting access through
authentication encryption. Integrity assures that the information is accurate and trustworthy.
Availability ensures that the information is accessible to authorized people.

Figure 1.2.2a CIA Triad as guideline for securing your information

 
Confidentiality
Another term for confidentiality would be privacy. Company policies should restrict access to the
information to authorized personnel and ensure that only those authorized individuals view this data.
The data may be compartmentalized according to the security or sensitivity level of the information.
For example, a Java program developer should not have to access to the personal information of all
employees. Furthermore, employees should receive training to understand the best practices in
safeguarding sensitive information to protect themselves and the company from attacks. Methods to
ensure confidentiality include data encryption, username ID and password, two factor authentication,
and minimizing exposure of sensitive information.
Integrity
Integrity is accuracy, consistency, and trustworthiness of the data during its entire life cycle. Data
must be unaltered during transit and is not changed by unauthorized entities. File permissions and
user access control can prevent unauthorized access. Version control can be used to prevent
accidental changes by authorized users. Backups must be available to restore any corrupted data,
and checksum hashing can be used to verify integrity of the data during transfer.
A checksum is used to verify the integrity of files, or strings of characters, after they have been
transferred from one device to another across your local network or the Internet. Checksums are
calculated with hash functions. Some of the common checksums are MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, and
SHA-512. A hash function uses a mathematical algorithm to transform the data into fixed-length value
that represents the data. The hashed value is simply there for comparison. From the hashed value,
the original data cannot be retrieved directly. For example, if you forgot your password, your
password cannot be recovered from the hashed value. The password must be reset.
Availability
Availability is best ensured by rigorously maintaining all hardware, performing hardware repairs
immediately when needed and maintaining a correctly functioning operating system environment that
is free of software conflicts. It’s also important to keep current with all necessary system upgrades.
Providing adequate communication bandwidth and preventing the occurrence of bottlenecks are
equally important. Redundancy, failover, RAID even high-availability clusters can mitigate serious
consequences when hardware issues do occur. Fast and adaptive disaster recovery is essential for
the worst case scenarios; that capacity is reliant on the existence of a comprehensive disaster
recovery plan (DRP). Safeguards against data loss or interruptions in connections must include
unpredictable events such as natural disasters and fire. To prevent data loss from such occurrences,
a backup copy may be stored in a geographically-isolated location, perhaps even in a fireproof,
waterproof safe. Extra security equipment or software such as firewalls and proxy servers can guard
against downtime and unreachable data due to malicious actions such as denial-of-service (DoS)
attacks and network intrusions.
 
1.2.4 Fighting against security threats
Best Practices for Combating Malware Threats
One should always secure their system from malware attacks. The following steps are
recommendations for cybersecurity. 

 Ensure that your operating system is up to date. This means that you must regularly apply the most
recent patches and fixes that is recommended by the OS vendor.
 Install an anti-virus software in your PC's. Also, assure that they are always updated. This can
prevent threats like viruses, Trojan horses and malwares from causing damage into your system. The
installed software should be email to scan e-mail and files as they are downloaded from the Internet or
transferred from external media.
 Firewall should always be enabled. A firewall is a set of related programs, located at a network
gateway server, that protects the resources of a private network from users from other networks.1
 Assure that the file to be downloaded is safe. Emails usually have attached files which may tend to
be unsafe as it may contain viruses and Trojan horses. Assure that your mailing site has anti-virus
extensions enabled. In addition, download attachments only from known trusted senders (and at least
verify from the sender if he has really sent an email or not).
 Be cautious accepting or agreeing to prompts. When prompted to install any program or add-on,
make sure to read and understand the agreement before clicking on the Ok button. If you do not
understand the agreement or feel it is not necessary to install the program, cancel or close the
window. Additionally, when installing any program, watch for any check box that asks if it's ok to install a
third-party program, toolbar, etc. These are never required and often cause more issues than good. Leave
these boxes unchecked.

 
 
Points to Ponder to Secure your Own Data
Your personal data can be accessed anywhere. It is up to you how you secure this information from
the cyber attackers. No one is safe from these threats, so it is up to you to secure your data and
perform appropriate measures to assure safety and security. Remember that the information may be
used against you in any way an attacker can, so precautions must be put into consideration.

 Use browsers in a private manner, especially when surfing in an internet cafe or using others
laptops/desktops. Other browsers term this as InPrivate browsing or incognito mode. This mode allows the
system not to store any information entered by the user while using the browser. All of the input values will
totally be erased once the user closes the browser. However, keep in mind that browser needs to be
closed after using it; its feature will be meaningless if the device is left opened while you are still logged in.
 You should take care when choosing a username or alias for your online identity. The username
should not include any personal information. It should be something appropriate and respectful. This
username should not lead strangers to think you are an easy target for cybercrimes or unwanted attention.
 Choose your passwords wisely. As much as possible, choose a password with a combination of
uppercase, lowercase, numeric, and special characters. Never use passwords that will include any
personal information like your birthday or full name. In addition, never store them in a way that is
accessible by anyone.
 Be careful when sharing documents, pictures, and other online resources via blogs or
emails.Once files are downloaded from a public computer shop, make sure that the files are removed from
the system before leaving your terminal.
 Be aware of shoulder surfing. This is an act of looking "past your shoulder" anything that you are
typing from the keyboard or on your cellular phones and tablets without you noticing.
 Verify data is encrypted. When sending confidential information over the Internet, such as
usernames, passwords, or credit card numbers, only send it securely. To verify this, look for a small lock in
the bottom right corner of your browser window or next to the address bar. If visible, this lock should also
be in the locked position and not unlocked. We also suggest making sure the URL begins with https. While
the lock is in the locked position, data is encrypted, which helps anyone from understanding the data if it's
intercepted. When no lock is visible or in the unlocked position, all information is plaintext and could be
read if intercepted. If a web page is not secure, such as an online forum, use a password you wouldn't use
with protected sites, such as your online banking website.
 Be aware of social engineering. This is a psychological manipulation of people into tricking other
people until the victim divulge into sharing confidential information.
 Use two-factor authentication if it is available. Two-factor authentication adds additional protection
by requiring an additional step in verifying a login. Typically with two-factor authentication, after verifying
 your password, if the service does not recognize your computer, it sends your phone a text message with a
verification code. If someone had your password but did not have your phone, even with a valid password,
they cannot access your account.
 When connecting via Wi-Fi, log on to a secure network using WEP or WPA; this may prevent
nearby users from intercepting and reading information that has been sent to and from your PC.

1.2.5 Netiquette and Internet Chat

Rooms
Netiquette, a colloquial term for network etiquette or Internet etiquette, is a set of social conventions
that facilitate interaction over networks. Interaction may be in the form of:
 

1. Email

Electronic mail (e-mail) is a common way of communicating formally with people as you are able to
put in your message to whom the message is for (it may be an individual or a group of people), a
summary of the message in the Subject field, and some critical information of the sender. When
composing an email, you usually fill up the following components:
* To: field: the main recipient of the message; it may contain more than one email addresses
* CC: field: this means carbon copy. This may include email addresses that you wish to have the
copy of the mail that you are going to send but are not your direct recipients.
* BCC: field: this means blind carbon copy. This is the same with CC field except that this hides the
details of this recipient from the others who will receive this email. This means that the recipients from
the To: and CC: fields will not know that the recipient from the BCC: has received the same email.
* Subject: This portion should contain a brief detail of what the message is all about and is
considered the title of the email.
* Body: This contains the message of the sender.
* Signature: This is seen at the bottom portion of the email and contains information about the
sender - Job Title, Work Address, Contact Number, and many others, to name a few.
 
  2.  Chat rooms
This is the quickest way of sending a message to the recipient and are usually embedded in most
blog sites. It also shows the status of the receiver which will give you a hint if he is available to read
the message or not. The receiver may reply immediately to the message as though he/she is
conversing with the other in a telephone.
 
  3.  Usenet
Usenet is a bulletin-type of service containing  newsgroups where the users can post messages and
these posted messages are distributed via Usenet servers. The messages posted will last only for a
limited amount of time known as retention time. Usenet users currently logged in may be able to see
and reply to any of the posts given the same channel. Some Usenet providers also allow users to
upload/download files from the site.
 
Like the network itself, these developing norms remain in a state of flux and vary from community to
community.The points most strongly emphasized about netiquette often include:

 using simple electronic signatures; this can be done in the settings of the mailing site.
 avoiding multiposting, cross-posting, off-topic posting, hijacking a discussion thread, and other
techniques used to minimize the effort required to read a post or a thread.
 use of unabbreviated English while users of instant messaging protocols like SMS occasionally
encourage just the opposite, bolstering use of SMS language. However, many online communities frown
upon this practice.
 avoid flamewars and spam
 avoid typing in all caps or grossly enlarging script for emphasis, which is considered to be the
equivalent of shouting or yelling.
 Other commonly shared points, such as remembering that one's posts are (or can easily be made)
public, are generally intuitively understood by publishers of Web pages and posters to Usenet, although
this rule is somewhat flexible depending on the environment. On more private protocols, however, such as
e-mail and SMS, some users take the privacy of their posts for granted. One-on-one communications, such
as private messages on chat forums and direct SMSs, may be considered more private than other such
protocols, but infamous breaches surround even these relatively private media.
 Beyond matters of basic courtesy and privacy, e-mail syntax (defined by RFC 2822) allows for different
types of recipients. The primary recipient, defined by the To: line, can reasonably be expected to respond,
but recipients of carbon copies cannot be, although they still might. Likewise, misuse of the CC: functions
in lieu of traditional mailing lists can result in serious technical issues.

 
Core Rules of Etiquette
Rule 1: Remember the Human
Rule 2: Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life
Rule 3: Know where you are in cyberspace
Rule 4: Respect other people's time and bandwidth
Rule 5: Make yourself look good online
Rule 6: Share expert knowledge
Rule 7: Help keep flame wars under control
Rule 8: Respect other people's privacy
Rule 9: Don't abuse your power
Rule 10: Be forgiving of other people's mistakes

1.3 Contextualized Online Search and

Research Skills
When your teacher asks you to do your homework and you cannot find the answers from your
textbooks, you resort to doing your research. This activity may involve either, if not all, of the
following: looking for the needed articles from your school library, from references bought from school
supply stores, or surfing the Internet.
Research is an integral part of students' life in creating presentations, solving scientific problems, and
searching for the definition of an unknown term, but there's more to these activities than what the
students usually do. For professionals and academicians, a research assists them in developing new
theories, proposing a new solution to an existing problem, or analyzing historical information to
determine the origins of a certain person, object or an event.
 
The easiest way for students to perform their research is to do it online. The following six strategies
can help online students produce stronger research 1.

1. Contact a librarian before getting stuck sifting through piles of online information: A 2016 Project
Information Literacy found that only 9 percent of respondents cited librarians as a go-to learning source,
while 88 percent said they relied mainly on search engines. Many university library websites have a
librarian chat feature and other ways to remotely contact a librarian. Reaching out at the beginning of a
project to clarify the topic, research questions, methodologies and best potential sources will make the
research process and project better.
2. Consider that when in doubt, it's wiser to over-cite sources than risk plagiarism: Many learning
management systems employ plagiarism detection features that flag suspicious language for the instructor
to further investigate. It’s best to provide citations or quote phrases taken from Internet sources; online
students can use free plagiarism checkers such as PlagScan or Turnitin to ensure an assignment
complies.

3. Use Google and Wikipedia at the beginning of a research process, not the end: The first few
pages of search engine results are generally the most popular and commercial information sources, which
aren't necessarily the most scholarly or authoritative. It's best to think of Wikipedia as a table of contents of
popular sources about an idea rather than the single most definitive source. The links at the bottom of a
Wikipedia entry are useful jumping-off points.

4. Don't think that the Web is your only source of information: Online students can access premium
databases that are not available to the public such as ProQuest, EBSCO, JSTOR, Naxos and Elsevier.
These databases contain electronic access to published journals, magazines, newspapers, books, reports,
documents, dissertations, image collections, films, videos, curated archives and audio recordings. The
difference between searching these collections and the entire web is that these sources are peer-reviewed
and under copyright, and do not contain commercial results.

5. Understand the professor's expectations for citation format: Before using a scholarly reference
citation tool such as CiteULike, Zotero, or BibDesk, understand that a professor's requirements may differ
from the default settings in these tools.

6. Understand why professors still assign research projects: Research isn't busy work or an outdated
vestige of higher education. Research and the information literacy needed to produce it remain sought-
after job skills. Online students must be able to accurately search and source scholarly information,
evaluate it, contextualize it; think, speak, and write critically about it; and synthesize it to inform opinions
and drive good decisions. Graduates who have honed these abilities will quickly rise as the most valued in
the workplace. If these skills aren't being developed, then the online student is missing something.

 
As online students absorb new knowledge, competencies and skills in pursuit of a degree or
certificate, sifting through the copious amounts of useful and useless information should be viewed as
a special skill in need of development. Seeking the online assistance of research and reference
librarians is an essential practice, and online students must work to develop healthy information-
seeking and scholarly citation habits.
 

1.3.1 Search Engines

Search engines are programs that browse documents for specified keywords and returns a list of the
documents where the keywords were found. A search engine is really a general class of programs;
however, the term is often used to specifically describe systems like Google, Bing and Yahoo! Search
that enable users to search for documents on the World Wide Web.
Web Search Engines
Typically, Web search engines work by sending out a spider to fetch as many documents as possible.
Another program, called an indexer, then reads these documents and creates an index based on the
words contained in each document. Each search engine uses a proprietary algorithm to create its
indices such that, ideally, only meaningful results are returned for each query.
As many website owners rely on search engines to send traffic to their website, and entire industry
has grown around the idea of optimizing Web content to improve your placement in search engine
results.
Common Types of Search Engines

In addition to Web search engines other common types of search engines include the following:

 Local (or offline) Search Engine: Designed to be used for offline PC, CDROM or LAN searching
usage.
 Metasearch Engine: A search engine that queries other search engines and then combines the results
that are received from all.
 Blog Search Engine: A search engine for the blogosphere. Blog search engines only index and
provide search results from blogs (Web logs).

 
 
Google is the world's most popular search engine, with a market share of 67.49 percent as of
September, 2015. Bing comes in at second place.
The world's most popular search engines are:
Search
Market share in September 2015
engine

Google 69.24%  

Bing 12.26%  

Yahoo! 9.19%  

Baidu 6.48%  

AOL 1.11%  

Ask 0.24%  

Lycos 0.00%

1.3.2 How to Search the Internet

The following are steps you need to consider in searching for a word or phrase in the Internet:

1. Select a search engine. At the top of any page on your computer, type the phrase “search engines”
into the Search Bar to attain access to several different internet sites that specifically aid in searching.
2. Type in whatever you want to search on the allotted text box.
3. Choose a few of the most specific or relevant keywords or phrases to describe your topic. Utilize
synonyms. Generally, capitalization and punctuation are not needed. Search engines usually disregard
minor words such as "the, and, to, etc.
1. If you are to search for a series of words, the results given to you include web pages where
these words are present. If you wish to be specific with the sequence of the words as you type them,
enclose the words inside double quotes.
2. Look for the advanced options of the site you are using if you wish to have a Verbatim search or
if you wish to restrict your search according to some points like dates and mostly viewed links.
4. Click Search or press the Enter key on your keyboard.
5. Assess your results. Search through your list of web pages to pinpoint information. Click the links of
the sites shown to you. Of course, you must be careful in choosing as some may lead you to cyber threats
mentioned before.