School of Engineering and Applied Science Department of Computer Science CSci 1030 -- Technology and Society http://www.seas.gwu.edu/~mfeldman/csci1030/summer11 Prof. Michael B. Feldman, course instructor mfeldman@gwu.edu

The Social Impact Analysis Project on Identity Theft -- 32-point grade contribution, due in Stages

Every year, the term project in this course considers the social impact of a technological issue that is "hot" that year. We've covered Internet for all, electronic health records, election technologies, the RealID Act, and so on. Each topic was chosen to study a technology-society interaction that's "close to home" and directly affects large numbers of Americans.

2011 Topic: Identity Theft

For 2011 we're going to look at Identity Theft. Merriam Webster online defines it thusly:

"the illegal use of someone else's personal information (as a Social Security number) in order to obtain money or credit"

and wikipedia says

Identity theft is a form of fraud or cheating of another person's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name. The victim of identity theft (here meaning the person whose identity has been assumed by the identity thief) can suffer adverse consequences if he or she is held accountable for the perpetrator's actions. Organizations and individuals who are duped or defrauded by the identity thief can also suffer adverse consequences and losses, and to that extent are also victims.

The term identity theft was coined in 1964 and is actually a misnomer, since it is not literally possible to steal an identity as such - more accurate terms would be identity fraud or impersonation or identity cloning but identity theft has become commonplace.

Recent Occurrences (two of many examples)

Now we quote briefly from an April 2011, article in Wired while similar stories were all over the media:

The PlayStation maker said it believes hackers now have access to customers’ vital information, including names, birthdates, physical and e-mail addresses, and PlayStation Network/Qriocity passwords, logins, handles and online IDs.

Even closer to home: in February 2011, the following notice was circulated to GW e-mail users, and posted on http://helpdesk.gwu.edu:

***TECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Phishing Scam! WARNING!***

WARNING: An email phishing scam is currently circulating GW email addresses disguised as official correspondence from The George Washington University, including the GW logo, titled "Your Gwu Email Suspension Notification...."

Please note that the Division of Information Technology (IT) is actively taking steps to address the recent increase in phishing attempts. In the near future we will be enabling account lockouts for excessive failed login attempts in an effort to better defend the security of your account.

This is a reminder that you should NEVER reply to email messages asking for personal information, even if it is security related. No such e-mail will EVER come from GW or the Division of Information Technology help desk asking users to reply with information such as NetID, password, birth date, social security number, GWid number, etc.

• A comprehensive introduction to the whole problem is at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Be sure to view the video there. (Full diclosure: Betsy Broder is a family friend...)
• Another good Federal website is OnGuard Online, sponsored by several agencies: the FTC, SEC, Postal Service, Commerce Dept., Homeland Security, etc.

In this course we're interested in the overall impact on society of ID Theft, including public perception. Your assignment is to research the topic as individuals, discuss it as a class, and design a survey to examine public attitudes about the subject. I'll assign each student will be assigned to one of several groups; each group will develop its own survey, and deploy it on Google docs website. You will collate and analyze the data, and each group will write a report of its findings. ONE final project paper per group is expected.

Project Stages

Because of the compressed course schedule, this project must progress at the rate of one stage per week! Sorry about the fast pace, but this is the only way to get it done in 6 weeks overall!

Week 2 -- Research report (8 points, due Sunday, 5/29): Each student will gain some background in the subject and write an individual report (approximately 1000-2000 of your own words) that will discuss the overall subject as you've learned about it. This is the only individual phase of the project -- it's an individual deliverable because I want to ensure that all students learn as much as they can about the subject before jumping into the group work.

The Blackboard Discussions area for this course has a forum you can use to discuss the subject, suggest references, and so on. You're encouraged to use the forum for discussion, but your actual research report must be your own work.

Week 4 -- Survey Instruments due and deployed (due Sunday, 6/12): Each group will deploy its survey on Google docs. Be sure you recruit as many as you can of your own family, friends, etc. to take your survey! :)

Week 5 -- Preliminary Report on Survey Results (8 points, due Sunday, 6/19): Each group will collate, examine, and analyze its survey data and submit a report providing preliminary results. As in the draft, one member of each group will submit the report via Blackboard; all members of a given group will receive the same score (out of 8 points).

Week 6 -- Final Social Impact Analysis Report (8 points, due SATURDAY, 6/25. NOT Sunday -- Saturday is the last day of class!): Each group will write a report based upon the data that contains an abstract, introduction to the subject, discussion of the research protocol, presentation of the findings, conclusions and bibliography. Once afain, one member in each group will submit the group's report.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

• All assignments for this course must be completed under the George Washington University Code for Academic Integrity. Read the section there on plagiarism!
  
• You may use the Internet as a source of information, but others' work must be acknowledged! A quotation from the Internet is just like a quotation from a book, and be written in quotation marks, with a citation (in-line or footnote) to the URL of the site you used.
  
• If you include material from other sources, including the Internet, in your own work, and fail to cite your sources properly, you are risking an Academic Integrity charge of plagiarism!