How Computers Have Affected the Discipline

Science and Technology sounds promising as more and more unprecedented advances in computing, artificial intelligences robotics, genetics, biotechnology and neurosciences are unraveling. The commonly held belief is that technology goes on to make our lives better. Keeping this in mind, many people also believe that it has a positive impact on our aspects of our society. Because of the advents in technologies, there are present significant improvements in the standard of education, transport, and medical care as well. Similar impacts are also noticed in the security and safety arena as well. Even though the computer and science technology has had a positive impact on safety and technology, it has a negative impact as well.

How computers have affected the discipline

Information security is a very crucial operational technique. Before computers were invented, the main mode of security was through manual means. Everything had to be taken care of using the conventional ways of security which include the main principle of lock and key. While business are concerned, all the documents and relevant information present had to be written down physically. Along with maintaining these items, they had to be organized in proper way as well. Furthermore, they were kept guard in a safe place so that no one else has access to it. This was in terms of security in the business realm. Coming to maintenance of safety and security in the city, the police technology evolved from the use of horses to motor bikes and to vehicles now. Similarly, for weapons sake, the safety starting off with sticks and spears evolved into the use of guns and bombs. In the modern era, chemical, nuclear and bio0lgical warfare has made nations feel both protected and vulnerable due to the adversity of these weapons.

It should be known that the addition of computers and technology into this discipline has made it quite complicated. It has resulted in the availability of many different pathways for criminals to attack and ultimately affect the security and safety of the people.

Positive effects

Today there are many different additions because of technology and computers that enable the police and other agencies to remain more on guard. The department of crime control and prevention has gone to divide this into two different categories. Hard technology is technology like CCTV, street lights, and tasers and metal detectors (Byrne & Marx, 2011) All of these aforementioned things have made it easier to prevent crime. CCTV has markedly gone to reduce the incidence of theft and robbery because many places can be guarded without the presence of a guard or a watchman there. Seeing how CCTV also brings about proof of the incident. Therefore, not only have CCTVs prevented crime, they have also made conviction and arrests easier.

Other technologies that have had positive effects include enhanced weapons and data tracking devices. Computers in the squad cars and hands free patrol cars have made it easier for the law enforcement. With the introduction of computer, computer security technology also became very common. As mentioned earlier, bundles and bundles of important information can be saved on computers. Organizations and companies can keep their information safe by keeping passwords on their machines. This is a highly efficient and cost effective way of protecting corporate information because it does not require any manual labor as such. The top officials of the company should only be aware of the passwords and this will therefore ensure proper security for the organization. With increased technological advancement, many companies have installed tracking devices. If there is any deviation in the workplace, they can be detected by tracking and monitoring devices installed on the machines in the workplace. Furthermore, things like finger print sensitive technologies only ensure that certain personnel have access to the high security areas within an organization. Therefore, we see that encryption is a good form of protecting sensitive information. This basically ensures adequate database management and increased security concerning confidential information.

Negative Effects

Even though technologies that have been discussed in the previous section do have positive effects, they also come with some negative consequences as well. Because of the increasing incidence of terrorism all around the world, there has been consistent use of ionizing radiation in airports. However, ionizing radiation is a known carcinogen meaning that it causes cancer. It is true that short-term health effects cannot result from the doses that are given from the security scanners. Nonetheless, the long-term effects of this ionizing radiation have been linked to increased risk for cancer (European Union, 2012)

Technology has made safety and security more advance but it also made people more vulnerable as well. Identify thefts and privacy breaches are now possible only because people rely on technology to manage their expenses, travel and communication. It appears that increasing technology has caused the world to become increasingly open. Where the police forces and intelligence agencies can make use of trackers, internet and gaps, these technologies are also open to the terrorist as well. Where the police are coming up with better ways of preventing and fighting of crime, the criminal are coming up with ways of breaking the laws. It was stated that terrorists plotting attacks in India and Pakistan are able to monitor global news broadcasts, online reporting and social media as well (Goodman, 2012) Furthermore, with increasing use of robots, drug traffickers and international organized crime groups are using this technology for their dirty work. It has been reported that many drug traffickers are using robotic submarines to delivery tons of cocaine to the United States every year (Goodman, 2012)

Workplace security has been improved with anti-virus software's and the ability to condense information on machines. All of this enables organization to put their sensitive information including information about their financial and account records. Cybercrime has made it able for hackers to hack into a system sitting in a different place from their intended target. They can uncover crucial information which leads to loss of millions and billions for corporate organizations.