Self Initiated Post: Lulzsec

In the past few weeks, numerous articles have been published, regarding major corporations being hacked and having large amounts of user information stolen and has gotten much attention. Many of these hackings have been done by the same group of hackers, LulzSec. I hope that after reading this post, people would have a clearer view of what they are and what we should be aware of about them.

Lulzsec is a grey hat group of hackers who claim responsibility for the recent hackings that have been occuring. The group Lulzsec usually commit these hackings for the "Lulz"(LOLs) which essentially means that they are doing this just for fun. It may seem that they are simply a group of irresponsible pranksters who find joy in committing such destructive acts, evidenced by the fact that they just released the emails and passwords of more than 62000 people.( http://gizmodo.com/5812545/find-out-if-your-passwords-were-leaked-by-lulzsec-right-here ) and only exist to bring sadness to the cyber world. They are also extremely hard to catch as they commit all their acts through the safety of their computer, probably using encryption technologies to make it hard for the police/government to trace their location and identity. It is also quite likely that the group comprises of several hundred members, making it such that even if one or two members are caught, the group will still function as per normal and continue with their heinous acts.

However, I strongly feel that what they are doing can serve as a blessing in disguise for many of us. Firstly, LulzSec can serve as a wake up call for many of us. They let us know that much of our online information isn't always as safe as we have thought, and it makes us wonder how safe exactly the web is. It serves as a warning to us, making us become more vigilant online users and becoming less prone to being hacked and having valuable information stolen. Lulzsec also states that the methods they use to hack into the corporations are not complicated and could be easily guarded against by the companies if they used proper security technologies, and that the companies that we trust our personal info with aren't as secure as many people have thought. The scariest part is that any group of hackers who had wanted to gain information would probably used similar techniques to LulzSec and obtain much information online, the only difference being that they do not announce to everyone their illegal acts unlike LulzSec. These groups secretly being in possession of so much of our confidential data for months would be an extremely frightening thing, but it is entirely possible. This is the kind of event that we should fear, and is the kind of awareness that LulzSec is raising in us. Therefore, it can be concluded that Lulzsec does have certain things it can teach us about the online the world and may be a blessing in disguise for many of us. Also, it is also quite probable that after LulzSec's hackings, many companies will step up their game and employ better technologies to guard our personal data, a definite plus for all of us.

The next generation of people

The next generation of Singaporeans are not comparable to the previous generations, in terms of moral values, determination, and mindset of the world. Many adults think this way as they look at their offspring, the people that are bound to replace them. Why do so many people think this way about the new generation?

The simple answer to this question is that the times have changed. Many things, such as the way we live our life has changed a lot in the recent few years due to the rapid and inevitable advance of technology. Compared to 30-50 years ago, it is now much easier to do many things, such as moving from one place to another, doing daily chores, or accessing information. For example, in the past one would have to go to a library and read through thick books to look for the information they require, the process taking one to two hours usually. However, nowadays, one simply has to turn on their desktop/ laptop, access the internet with the click of a button and bam! All the info they require is available on the screen, saving much time and allowing for convenience.

This also means that people do not have to work as much to get what they want, as many chores(laundry, transportation, etc.) nowadays are easily done with little to no effort at all. This will cause many people to become much more lazy as they feel that everything should be easy and convenient for them, changing their mindset as well. Thus, the change in times in a large factor in why the new generation is seen to be more lazy.