Jasmine’s Blog

One popular mobile app is TikTok. TikTok is a “social media app that allows users to create, watch, and share videos shot on mobile devices or webcams.”(D’Souza, 2023). Commonly with young people, TikTok is used as a place to get information. However, it’s recommended to take some of that information with a grain of salt. TikTok is targeted to young adults and about 40% of users are between the ages 18 and 24 (D’Souza, 2023).  Although TikTok is a owned by a Chinese technology firm, it’s main demographic is from the United States.

TikTok creators generate revenue through the creator fund. The creator fund gives creators an opportunity to earn money from their content. Anyone can’t just apply for the creator fund, TikTok creators have to meet a certain criteria. In order to qualify a creator must be based in the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain or Italy, be at least 18, have at least 10,000 followers, have at least 100,000 videos vies in the last 30 days, and have an account that follows TikTok community guidelines and terms of service (TikTok, 2021). The amount of money creators can make are determined by views and engagement. Their is no set amount that creators will make and because engagement fluctuates, so will the funds earned. In order to get the most out of TikTok, new users should follow hastags that interest them. If a creator is trying to get the most out of TikTok they should use hashtags, use trending sounds, and post consistently.

Another popular mobile app is Spotify. Spotify is “a digital music, podcast, and video service that gives you access to millions of songs and other content from creators all over the world.”(Spotify, n.d.). Spotify gives you the opportunity to discover new music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Spotify is targeted to anyone who enjoys music, hardcore music enthusiasts and casual listeners. However, Spotify’s main audience is between the ages of 18 and 24. And, most likely because of Spotify’s Family discount plan, 63% of Spotify’s total visitors in January, 2023, were families of 3 or more (Larkin, 2023).

Spotify has two types of royalties artist can earn, Recording royalties and Publishing royalties. Recording royalties is “the money that’s owed to rightsholders for recording streamed on Spotify, which is paid to artists through the licensor that delivered the music.”(Spotify for artists, n.d.). Publishing royalties is “The money owed to songwriters or owners of a composition.” (Spotify for artists, n.d.). Spotify pays rightsholders a net revenue from what’s made from streaming, advertising, and premium members. However, when it comes to pays per stream, Spotify only pays artists “$0.003-$0.005 per single stream.”(Mucenieks, 2023.). Some cool things you can do with Spotify is blend playlist with friends, host a group session (allows people to listen to music together), filter liked songs and so much more.

References:

D’Sousa, Deborah. (2023). TikTok: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It’s Popular. Investopidia.           https://www.investopedia.com/what-is-tiktok-4588933

Tiktok.(2021). TikTok Creator Fund: Your questions answered. Tiktok.                                                                   https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-gb/tiktok-creator-fund-your-questions-answered

Spotify. (n.d). What is Spotify? Spotify. https://support.spotify.com/us/article/what-is-spotify/

Larkin, Sarah. (2023).Who is today’s Spotify Consumer? Comscore.                                             https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Blog/Who-is-today-s-Spotify-Consumer#:~:text=Who%20is%20the%20Spotify%20Consumer,visit%20Spotify%20in%20January%202023.

Spotify for artists.(n.d). Royalties. https://support.spotify.com/us/artists/article/royalties/

Mucenieks, Andris. (2023). How Do Artists Make Money on Spotify: Full Guide (2023). Printify.                        https://printify.com/blog/how-do-artists-make-money-on-spotify/#:~:text=According%20to%20Spotify%2C%20its%20music,commissions%20from%20the%20total%20earnings.

An example of “bad behavior” online would be when the Playstation network was hacked. On April 4th, 2011 a hacker group called Anonymous took down Sony’s Playstation network with a DDoS attack. Anonymous sent a message to Sony claiming that they did this attack as a form of retaliation after Sony took legal action against George Hotz and Alexander Igorrenknov (fellow hackers). In Anonymous’ message to Sony they say “You have now abused the judicial system in an attempt to censor information on how your products work. You have victimized your own customers merely for possessing and sharing information and continue to target every person who seeks this information. In doing so you have violated the privacy of thousands. This is the information they were willing to teach to the world for free. The very same information you wish to suppress for sake of corporate greed and complete control of the users. Now you will experience the wrath of Anonymous”(Garcia, 2021). Anonymous attacked Sony until April 7th, when they realised that their attack wasn’t having the desired effects. The attacks harmed customers more than it harmed Sony. However, on April 19th the Playstation network was down again. This was because Sony had turned the servers offline. The servers had been shut down for over a week. Because of this, Sony had to admit that there had been a security breach (seperate from anonymous) that affected 77 million users. Users name, address, country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network password and login, and PSN Online ID, all had been accessed because of a cyberattack. The Playstation Network continued to experience cyber attacks until June, 2011. The frequent cyberattacks definitely damaged Sony’s reputation and led to some users switching to other consoles like the Xbox. In total the Playstation Network attacks cost Sony about $170 million. In the end the criminals were not held responsible for the Playstation Network attacks. This is because, although there are theories, no one actually knows who committed the attacks. Something we can learn from this incident is to be more careful with the information we give to large companies. Also, even though Sony’s network was breached many times, they didn’t take any action to prevent breaches from happening again. We can learn from that by taking steps to protect and encrypt private information.

References:

Garcia, Diamond M. (2021). The 2011 PlayStation Network Hack – What Actually Happened?. Wsswired. https://wsswired.com/4837/entertainment-3/the-2011-playstation-network-hack-what-actually-happened/

Tassi, Paul. (2011). Sony Pegs PSN Attack Costs at $170 Million, $3.1B Total Loss for 2011. forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2011/05/23/sony-pegs-psn-attack-costs-at-170-million/?sh=309505c344ca

Know Your Enemy:

As a CEO it is important to understand what potential digital threats my organization may deal with. Knowing my “enemy” allows me to know what actions I must take in order to prevent these threats from happening. One potential digital threat is DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks. A DDoS attack “will send multiple requests to the attacked web resource – with the aim of exceeding the website’s capacity to handle multiple requests… and prevent the website from functioning correctly.”(Kaspersky, n.d.). With a DDoS attack, my site would be essentially unusable. Getting hit with a DDoS attack could negatively impact my organization reputation. An example of this would be the Amazon Web Services attack in 2020; it lasted three days. A second digital threat is spyware. Spyware is a form of malware and is a “malicious software designed to enter your computer device, gather data about you, and forward it to a third-party without your consent.”(Kaspersky, n.d.). Having malicious spyware on my e-commerce website would be a serious issue concerning users privacy. Users of the e-commerce site would be entering personal information and spyware would lead to their login credentials, email addresses, and credit card information getting stolen. Phonespy is an example of this. It “pretends to be a mobile application to gain access to and infect Android mobile devices.” (Zola, 2022).

Another digital threat to my organization is ransomware. Ransomware “prevents or limits users from accessing their system, either by locking the system’s screen or by locking the users’ files until a ransom is paid.” (Trend Micro, n.d.). My organization sells approximately $1 million in goods each year which, while not the most, is enough to potentially receive ransomware. “According to Sophos’s The State of Ransomware 2022 report, ransomware attacks affected 66% of organizations in 2021, a dramatic year-over-year increase of 78% compared to 2020.”(Proofpoint, n.d.). Although ransomware is mainly about money, the attacker would have access to private data and could potentially leak it if the ransom is not paid. In 2016, there was a ransomware attack called Jigsaw that made an image of Jigsaw (from the Saw franchise) pop up and would delete files each hour that the ransom went unpaid (Kaspersky, n.d.). Additionally, a big reason for digital threats is actually internal human error. My organization is more likely to have it’s data breached because of a lack of cybersecurity awareness. A common human error that can lead to a digital threat is using public Wi-Fi. When employees use public Wi-Fi they don’t know who potentially now has access to there data. This is because public Wi-Fi can be unsecured which makes it more vulnerable to digital attacks (Haan,2023).

Finally, bad software security like employees failing to update their devices is a reason for digital attacks. If their devices aren’t updated it leaves the software susceptible to an attack. Also, when employees purposely disable security features they’re potentially compromising the security of the whole system (NVITS, n.d.). If the system is compromised them my organization is compromised.

Know Yourself:

My company has a number of digital systems in place.  The three physical stores have handheld point of sales systems that allow servers to take customer orders and accept payment for their bills at the table (toast, n.d.). Another important system in place include “order and pay at the table”.  This option allows customers to scan a QR code to access the menu, place their orders, and pay for their orders all from their cellphones (toast, n.d.). As our kitchens continue to streamline processed we have also upgraded from the chefs receiving paper ticket orders to kitchen display screens.  This allow for more efficiency and accuracy from the kitchen to the table. For those customers interested in take out orders, we have touchscreen point of sale terminals (toast, n.d). This allows for a quicker order taking process, accuracy of ordering and the ability for the customers to pay and tip quickly with the use of a credit card, apple pay, cashapp, etc.  When it comes to our e-commerce marketplace sells a mandatory function includes marketing and the actual website infrastructure that powers the e-commerce marketplace. 

The digital processes, systems and functions that are currently being used in my physical restaurant and e-commerce marketplace business have a bigger chance of being exploited or manipulated because everything is digital.  This means there is an increased chance of hackers getting into the company database and getting access to personal credit card information of customers or the business bank account numbers. There is also the possibility of phishing scams corrupting the systems in my business (Rosenburg, 2019). For example, if a staff member opens an email with malware while on the company’s network, private financial data can be obtained and the whole system can be locked up.  The more digitized business systems are the more susceptible they are to cybercriminals. 

Develop Your Strategy:

In today’s society security threats are everywhere, both in person and online.  One of the most important things I can do for my company is to develop a security culture.  A security culture will include ongoing security training and the understanding that security is the business of everyone in the organization (Romeo, 2023).  Afterall, it’s not computers but people who create security threats whether they mean to or not (Romeo, 2023).Therefore, it is important to limit access to business databases and to use secured passwords and multifactor authentication systems (Federal Trade Commission, n.d). Another important way to keep my business safe is to back-up important data and to have a recovery plan in case I experience a ransomware attack (DeCarlo, n.d.). As another safety layer, I will work with my IT staff to make sure critical data is encrypted and all firewall protections are up to date and working properly (DeCarlo, n.d.). 

References:

Kaspersky.(n.d.). What is a DDoS Attack? – DDoS Meaning. Kaspersky. https://usa.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/ddos-attacks

Nicholson, Paul. (2022). Five Most Famous DDoS Attacks and Then Some. A10.                                        https://www.a10networks.com/blog/5-most-famous-ddos-attacks/

Rosencrance, Linda. (2023). Top 10 types of information security threats for IT teams. TechTarget. https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/feature/Top-10-types-of-information-security-threats-for-IT-teams

Rosenberg, J. (2019). Cybercriminals manipulate their way into company computers. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/09/04/business/ap-us-smallbiz-small-talk-cybersecurity.html

Toast. (n.d.). The most important types of restaurant technology and hardware.                                             https://pos.toasttab.com/blog/types-of-restaurant-technology

Zola, Andrew.(2022) Top 10 Spyware Threats. TechTarget.                                                      https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Top-10-Spyware-Threats#:~:text=PhoneSpy%20is%20an%20example%20of,and%20infect%20Android%20mobile%20devices.

Kaspersky. (n.d.). What is Spyware. Kaspersky. https://usa.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/spyware

Romeo, C. (2023). Six ways to develop a security culture from top to bottom. TechBeacon.                            https://techbeacon.com/security/6-ways-develop-security-culture-top-bottom

Federal Trade Commision. (n.d). Start with security: A guide for business.                                                                   https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/start-security-guide-business#start

DeCarlo, A. (n.d.). The top 10 network security best practices to implement today. TechTarget. https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/tip/The-top-10-network-security-best-practices-to-implement-today

Kaspersky. (n.d.). Ransomware Attacks and Types – How Encryption Trojans Differ. Kaspersky.              https://usa.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/ransomware-attacks-and-types

Haan, Kathy. (2023). The Real Risks Of Public Wi-Fi: Key Statistics And Usage Data. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/public-wifi-risks/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20biggest%20risks,your%20devices%20without%20you%20knowing.

Trend Micro.(n.d.). Ransomware. Trend Micro. https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/definition/Ransomware

Proofpoint. (n.d.). What Is Ransomware. https://www.proofpoint.com/us/threat-reference/ransomware

hse.(2023) The Dangerous Role of Human Error in Cybersecurity. Hornetsecurity.                       https://www.hornetsecurity.com/us/security-information-us/human-error-in-cybersecurity/

NVITS. (n.d.) Human Error Threats and How to Prevent Them. NVITS. https://nevadaitsolutions.com/prevent-human-error-threats/

A CMS or Content Management System is a “software that helps users create, manage, and modify content on website without the need for technical knowledge” (Kinsta, 2023). While a Content Management System is only for websites, that does not mean all websites use one.

To understand the difference between a CMS and HTML it is important to know what an HTML is. HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. When creating a website HTML is usually the standard markup language. You can use HTML for internet navigation, web developement, and web documentation. More speciffically, HTML gives you the ability to create and structure sections, paragraphs, and links.

A CMS can be an easier option to choose for a business owner who has no prior technical knowledge.  A CMS also takes less time than having to code something from scratch. However, if you want a good looking website, it’s necessary to have some knowledge in HTML. Using HTML to create a website will take more time but a website using HTML is more secure and harder to hack than a CMS. A HTML takes more time to edit, so it’s less beneficial for business owners who need to change and update their sites regularly. Also, it’s easier to use a CMS if your website is bigger with a large amount of pages.  The current best practices when creating a site are easy navigation, consistent color scheme, images and visuals, and SEO’s.

CMS impacts the web design industry because of how easy it is for anyone to use. Using a CMS cost less money than hiring a front-end developer. Web designers now have to figure out how they can make their services worth the price. Because of this, CMS’s may be taking away some jobs from web developers.

Resources:

Kinsta. (2023).What Is a Content Management System (CMS)? Kinsta. https://kinsta.com/knowledgebase/content-management-system/

S., Astari. (2023) What Is HTML? Hypertext Markup Language Basics Explained. Hostinger Tutorials. https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/what-is-html

beMarketing. (n.d)..Websites Pros and Cons When Building in HTML vs. CMS Platforms. beMarketing            https://bemarketing.com/websites-pros-cons-building-html-vs-cms-platforms/

Saltis, Sam. (n.d.). CMS vs HTML: What Are the Advantages of each? Core dna. https://www.coredna.com/blogs/cms-vs-html

The Upwork Team. (2021). The 10 Best Website Design Best Practices. Upwork.                            https://www.upwork.com/resources/website-design-best-practices

Saltis, Sam. (n.d.).The Web is Broken: And The CMSs Broke It. Core dna. https://www.coredna.com/blogs/the-web-is-broken#:~:text=The%20whole%20reason%20that%20many,these%20processes%20harder%2C%20not%20easier.

Misterek, Chris.(n.d.).HAVE WEBSITE BUILDERS KILLED WEB DESIGN CAREERS? Self Made Web Designer. https://selfmadewebdesigner.com/have-website-builders-killed-web-design-careers/

1.Today, do more people access the web using computers or mobile devices?

According to data shared by Layton (2023) 49.78 percent of web visits were mobile and 50.22 percent came from desktops as of November 2022.

2. Who controls the World Wide Web? What is it made of?

No single individual controls the entire World Wide Web. The WWW is made of HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol). This connects computers to one another. Its also made up of URL (uniform resource locator) this finds documents, and HTML (hypertext markup language) which formats pages that have hypertext links.

3. Who is Tim Berners Lee? What is he best known for?

Tim Berners-Lee is a scientist who is often recognized for creating the World Wide Web.

4. What is a blog? What is it used for?

A blog is a online journal where an individual or group shares their views and activities. Blogs are mainly used to engage with others who have similar interest as you.

5. What is a “responsive” website design?

Responsive web design is an approach that gives websites the ability to display on all devices by automatically changing to fit the screen.

6. Why are “responsive” website designs necessary?

Responsive designs are necessary because they improve the way websites look on devices on any screen size. Responsive design also helps the amount of time that visitors spend on your site increase. Also, in 2015, google announced that search engine algorithms would take mobile friendsliness into account in it’s ranking factor. Meaning, if your site doesn’t look good on mobile devices, it’ll get pushed down in the algorithm.

7. What is SEO, and why should website owners/managers be concerned with SEO?

SEO means search engine optimization. It optimizes websites to improve a websites rank and visibility on search engines. Website owners and managers should be concerned with SEO because SEO makes sites more desirable to be on and pushes sites high up in the ranks when using search engines. If you are a owneer who isn’t using SEO your site may be pushed down and less likely to get used.

8. What is dynamic content?

Dynamic content is online content that changes based on users interests and behaviors.

9. What is a content management system? You work with one, whats is it’s name?

A content management system ia an application that lets people create, manage, and publish content on a website. A content management system lets you create a site without any technical knowledge. The content management system that I work with is WordPress.

10. What is a Youtube channel? Who might want to start one?

Youtube is a social media platform for sharing, commenting, and watching videos. A person who might want to start a youtube channel is someone who is okay with attention. They may be someone who is enjoys spreading information on different topics, or someone who could benefit from the money that is given from views, likes, and sponsorships.

References

Layton, Robin. (2023). Mobile vs. desktop usage: What percentage of internet traffic is mobile in 2023? allconnect. https://www.allconnect.com/blog/mobile-vs-desktop

Aaron Dennis, Michael. (2023). Tim Berners-Lee. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tim-Berners-Lee

Aaron Dennis, Michael. (n.d.). Blog. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/technology/newsgroup

Hosch, William, L. (2023). Youtube. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/YouTube

Kinsta. (2023).What Is a Content Management System (CMS)? Kinsta. https://kinsta.com/knowledgebase/content-management-system/

Roy, Raj. (2021) What is Dynamic Content? Definition, Types, Strategy, Best Practices with Examples. Spiceworks. https://www.spiceworks.com/marketing/content-marketing/articles/what-is-dynamic-content-definition-types-strategy-best-practices-with-examples/

Berry, Sarah. (n.d.) What Is Responsive Web Design? (The Non-Developer’s Cheat Sheet). Webfx.               https://www.webfx.com/blog/web-design/what-is-responsive-web-design/

Ellis, Miriam. (2023) What is SEO? MOZ. https://moz.com/learn/seo/what-is-seo

Webfx. (n.d) Why is Responsive Design So Important? WebFX.                                                                                              https://www.webfx.com/web-design/learn/why-responsive-design-important/

Britannica. (n.d) Who controls the Internet? Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/question/Who-controls-the-Internet

Google Art & Culture. (n.d) The World Wide Web: The Invention That Connected The World. Google Art & Culture. https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-world-wide-web-the-invention-that-connected-the-world/ogVR4WcKh7UBIQ?hl=en

Hi, my name is Jasmine Allen-Rice and I’m a senior at Reynoldsburg High School. I enjoy traditional or digital art as a hobbie but do not see myself pursuing either of these in college. At the moment, I find myself more interested in things involving humanities. I am very interested in philosophy and would love to study it more in the future. Outside of school and work, I enjoy playing video games like Dead by Daylight, Baldurs Gate 3, Yakuza and The Sims 4. Another interest I have is creative writing. I have been looking for opportunities to take creative writing courses and hope to one day write my own book. I also heavily enjoy music. Learning about music history is one of my favorite pastimes. I love finding new songs and genres to listen to. I honestly love all genres of music. My favorite decades of music are 80’s, 90’s and 00’s. Due to my love for music, I started learning different instruments such as the clarinet, the keyboard, and the bass guitar.  My favorite of the three would have to be the bass guitar. I have been playing the bass guitar on and off for about 2 years. I also have an electric guitar that I look forward to learning how to play.