Category: STA Article

  • Keeping Data Safe

    the words Stop Spam on a stop sign.

    Happy Cyber Security Month! On Readwrite, Nirnay Butle, authors an article called “12 Things to Know About Cybersecurity Now.” In the article, it talks about ways people can lose their data which includes unauthorized links, spam messages, applications, weak privacy, and precaution. Here are some aways to keep your data safe: Internet links that have…

  • What is Malware?

    Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash What is Malware? Malware, which is a combination of the words malicious and software, is an umbrella term for any kind of software designed with malicious intent.  Not all malware is destructive, though it can cause annoying behaviors such as generating an abundance of pop-up ads or cause your computer to run slowly. In…

  • Data Breaches

    Why should you care about data breaches and why are they a potential threat?  A data breach is a security incident where information is accessed without authorization. Other terms for this are data spill, unintentional information disclosure, data leak, and information leakage. Data breaches can harm businesses and consumers in many ways. As technology progresses, more information is spread throughout the digital world, making…

  • What is the purpose of a firewall?

    Illustration of how a firewall works

    Even though we don’t think about it very often, network security is extremely important. This post is going to discuss a device that is used to enforce protection in networks. A firewall is a component that is used to monitor the incoming and outgoing traffic in a network. The term ‘firewall’ can be used to…

  • An Introduction to SQL Injection Attacks

    Illustration of databases and an injection

    This Cybersecurity month, I wanted to introduce everyone to one kind of vulnerabilities that can exploited to take advantage of web applications. Many websites we use every day depend on databases for their backend infrastructure. Databases can be created and managed using a programming language called Structured Query Language (SQL). Statements written in SQL to…

  • Karen Hao

    Karen Hao is an artificial intelligence reporter for MIT Technology Review. Hao’s focus is on the ethics and social impact of AI, as well as its applications for social good. She identifies herself as a tech reporter, experimental storyteller, and engineer. She is beyond what she claims herself. Hao dedicates her work to improving information…

  • Reshma Saujani

    Reshma Saujani is an American lawyer and politician. She was born in Illinois and went to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for majors in Political Science and Speech Communication. She attended John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University for a Masters Degree in Public Policy and Yale Law School for a Juris Doctor…

  • Ann Mei Chang

    former USAID Chief Innovation Officer Ann Mei Chang first began her career as a Senior Engineering Director at Google where she led the product development team for Emerging Markets. After 20 years in Silicon Valley, Chang moved her direction to the social and public sector as she served as Chief Innovation Officer at Mercy Corps…

  • Anant Agarwal

    photo of Anant Agarwal in 2013 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

    Anant Agarwal is the CEO of edX, an online learning platform offering free courses founded by Harvard and MIT. Agarwal began edX by teaching an online course on circuits and electronics from MIT, which drew 155,000 students from 162 countries. He has also served as the director of CSAIL, MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence…

  • Luis Von Ahn

    You probably have been annoyed sometimes by the random distorted characters that websites force you to type so they recognize you as a real person. Maybe, you have also tried to learn a language for fun outside of class using the free language-learning app Duolingo. Then, you might want to know about Luis von Ahn,…