Todays wireless access network technology is developing rapidly, providing new
mobile cloud services that bring both opportunities and challenges for organisations.
Han and Adbullah (2013) suggest that ubiquity and mobility are the two major
features of the next generation network which provides a range of personalized
network services through numerous network terminals and modes of accessing.
User experience with mobile devices connected to cloud services leads to security
threats both inside and outside the cloud. Mane et al. (2013) states that mobile
devices are exposed to numerous security threats like malicious codes and their
vulnerability.
According to a recent study by Juniper Research (n.d.), the number of employee
owned smart phones and tablets used in the enterprise will more than double by
2014, reaching 350 million, compared to almost 150 million this year. This represents
almost 23% of the total installed base of consumer owned tablets and smart phones.
Khan et al (2013) states ‘We define mobile cloud computing as an integration of
cloud computing technology with mobile devices to make the mobile devices
resource-full in terms of computational power, memory, storage, energy, and context
awareness. ‘
In simplified terms mobile cloud computing is when mobile devices use cloud
computing services to execute application functions faster and store information in
the cloud. The purpose of this paper is to analyze cloud computing security issues
for mobile devices and investigate the various approaches.
2. Problem statement
The present study will identify and evaluate cloud security issues that are specific to
mobile devices. Protecting user privacy and data/application secrecy from
adversaries is key to establish and maintain consumers’ trust in the mobile platform,
especially in mobile cloud computing.
3. Research questions
The main research questions are:
What are the mobile security risks/challenges of moving corporate data into the
cloud and how is it handled by IT intensive organisation in South Africa?
4. Objective
The main objectives of this research paper are to highlight the concept of mobile
cloud computing and unpack the opportunities, security issues and challenges for IT
intensive organizations in South Africa. These include;
To determine the existing security issues in mobile cloud computing.
Identify research problems by focusing on issues of the existing models.
Considering issues of the existing models, propose enhancements or improvement.
In 2013, Fernando et al. (2013) suggested that little research in security in mobile
clouds has been carried out. Users would need to feel confident when offloading
their jobs to other surrogates such that their privacy would not be violated.
To help understand the current security issues in mobile cloud computing
architectures, we review threats, privacy, data integrity and ownership.
According to Modi et al. (A survey on security issues and solutions at different layers
of Cloud computing, 2012) mobile devices raise several security and privacy
concerns; an obvious case is misplacement or loss of a mobile device that can result
into the major data breach.
5. Methodology
This research script, through the examination of published materials and studies,
analyzes existing mobile cloud computing issues and propose possible solutions in
order to evaluate the overall level of mobile cloud security.
Academic literature and security publications as sited are the main sources of
material used for this research.
In addition, in order to assess various cloud security approaches, a quantitative
research approach using a survey and targeting employees and managers will be
conducted.
Two primary goals of the survey are (1) to eliminate confusion by clarifying the terms
and concepts, predicting state-of-the-art mobile cloud computing and (2) to
discussing future trends of mobile cloud computing and identifying opportunities.
The survey consists of a total of 35 questions, and was broken down into four parts:
Part 1: The current state of mobile cloud computing usage (10 questions) ‘ This
section was designed to determine usage of mobile cloud in respondents’
organizations. If a respondent indicated his or her organization was using cloud,
additional questions regarding satisfaction level with providers, provider selection,
and high level risks and benefits of mobile cloud perceived were presented.
Part 2: Drivers and obstacle concerns (10 questions) ‘ This section was the core of
the survey. 10 most frequently discussed security risks were presented, and the
magnitude of each risk on mobile cloud adoption decisions in respondents’
organizations was assessed.
Part 3: Security measures (10 questions) ‘ 10 security measures that security
experts were presented, and the respondents’ organizations was assessed based on
their current security approach.
Part 4: About respondent’s organization and comments (5 questions) ‘ This section
asked demographic questions, and responses were used to determine how the
result from the previous three sections varied by company size and industry.
6. Literature Survey
Plagiarism: what it is and why it is a problem.
6.1 Abstract
Plagiarism emerges as one of the controversial topics in the academic world
because of its ambiguity and lack of understanding. Plagiarism is stealing
intentionally or unintentionally by taking credit for others peoples work. Since the
dawn of the internet age, scholars have easy access to vast amounts of information
from various sources that can be used for the own research papers without citing the
original source, making plagiarism an increasing problem. In order to make clear the
concept of plagiarism, this literature survey explores the literature relating to
plagiarism and identifies the prevalence of plagiarism within the academic
environment.
This paper presents a literature review analysing existing research in plagiarism at
academic institutions and the wider academic world by outlining the history of
plagiarism and look at the various mechanisms to deter plagiarism.
Keywords: Plagiarism, Intellectual Property
6.2 Introduction
This literature survey will explore the concept of plagiarism and look at different
forms of plagiarism and why is a problem in the academic world. Plagiarism is
derived from the Latin word ‘plagiarius’ meaning ‘kidnaper’ or ‘abductor’. In the age
of the Internet the issue of plagiarism arises when an author copies previously
published words and ideas of any other person intentionally or unintentionally and
fails to cite the source or self-plagiarizes in his or her research paper.
The purpose of this review is to outline the concept of plagiarism and understand the
implications and challenges associated with it. The paper begins with a brief
overview of the concept of plagiarism and a discussion related to plagiarism at
academic institutions and the challenges/consequences thereof.
6.3 Overview
Research papers should bring together different academic opinions about a specific
subject matter and explain, discuss using critical analysis and provide possible
solutions to the research questions and by adding value to the research topic
including the author’s viewpoint and opinion.
How is plagiarism defined and understood?
The Oxford English dictionary defines plagiarism as ‘The practice of taking someone
else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own’
University of South Africa website policy defines plagiarism as ‘the appropriation of
another’s work, whether intentionally or unintentionally, without proper
acknowledgement’ (Policy for copyright infringement and plagiarism, 2005).
Briefly stated, plagiarism is committed when researchers take someone else’s ideas,
words or information and present it as their own.
According to Oates (2006) plagiarism means that you have used someone else’s
words or ideas without giving them credit. Furthermore Oates (2006) goes on to say
that IT systems and by large the internet offers various temptations for unethical acts
such as plagiarism. These temptations include:
Ease of access and copying ‘ digital data can be accessed and copied without
wiping out the original in any way.
Privacy and anonymity ‘ increasing availability of computers that guarantee
anonymity of perpetrators, makes it less likely the wrongdoer will be caught.
6.4 Discussion
In general plagiarism is considered to be cheating by universities and the academic
world. While researchers commit plagiarism knowingly or unknowingly due to lack of
experience and knowledge, it is the responsibility of institutions to highlight the
consequences of plagiarism. Researchers also have an obligation to acknowledge
the sources where they get there information from, this is the essence of academic
integrity.
Plagiarism is a serious offence whether you are a first year student completing an
assignment and do not credit the sources of your information or a postgraduate
student completing a thesis. Mammen and Meyiwa (2013) recommends that it is
imperative to instil the idea across the university academic community that the
resolve to avoid plagiarism operates simultaneously with learning the correct and
appropriate conventions of the relevant academic discipline, in both ‘in-text
referencing’ and in compiling a ‘references list’.
What is the history of the concept of plagiarism?
Before mid-1990’s examples of plagiarism appeared to be comparatively rare but
due to the high volume of research over the last few years and the advent of the
Internet has made it more prevalent with students. Plagiarism, intellectual property
and copyright law are closely intertwined and throughout history plagiarism has
occurred in one way or another. Even the famous write William Sharespeare has
been accused of using other people’s ideas and plots in his plays. Over the past few
decades plagiarism has been on the increase in the academic world.
Examples of plagiarism
Cut-and-paste plagiarism: literally copying information from a source without
quotation or acknowledgement, usually taken from the internet.
Too many quotes plagiarism: having too many quotes in your work constitutes
plagiarism because it indicates that you do not understand the material well enough
to put it in your own words.
Paraphrasing plagiarism: by changing the paragraph words around in order to hide
that one is in fact copying word-for-word but the structure and argument remains the
same. The exception to this would be in relation to common knowledge.
Secondary source plagiarism: referencing a source used in someone else’s work
and pretending to have read the original source.
Self-plagiarism: when one uses previous research papers and uses all or part of it
in new work is also considered plagiarism.
Referencing
Plagiarism can result in not referencing source correctly. In chapter 2 from the book
by Neville (2010) title ‘The complete guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism.’
The question of why referencing is important and the reasons why is discussed and
how to present your argument.
You can present your argument in an assignment by:
Figure 6.1 Flowchart of argument presentation process. Source: Neville (2010).
What are academic institutions doing about plagiarism?
Awareness:
Many Universities have a policy regarding plagiarism and student misconduct
available to students who need to be aware of the regulations and consequences.
This policy information is distributed to all students when they have registered for
any course. Many students have to sign a non-plagiarism declaration when
submitting assignments to lecturers.
Tools to deter plagiarism:
Various electronic and software packages are available as well as various websites
that provide plagiarism detection services. Unisa uses Turn-it-in software to pick u if
a researcher has committed plagiarism. There are also many websites that allow
students to purchase pre-written research papers.
Peer review:
Institutions have employed peer review which is an essential process to ensure work
submitted for review is of high standard before publishing. This is process is open to
abuse both from the reviewer and the person submitting his or her work. In an article
about the review process titled ‘What is the future of peer review’?, Chris and David
(2007) states ‘Peer review is widely, and perhaps almost universally, regarded to be
an essential component of the scientific review process and to provide quality control
so that the published works meet appropriate standards. Most of us would agree, at
least in public, that peer review works reasonably well, but it is certainly not without
its problems and the issue is what could be better or constitute improvements.’
How prevalent is student plagiarism and academic world?
A study analysis of student responses to a questionnaire by Greg et al (2009) found
that plagiarism is widespread. From the above study we can see that according to
some student’s plagiarism is not deemed a serious issue and that the internet has
made plagiarism easier. Another study by Ann and Ang??lica (2008) reported that
using anti-plagiarism software for peer reviewed assignments has lead increased the
students awareness of plagiarism and a made them feel more accountable.
From the above the question of plagiarism being widespread is difficult to answer as
most of the surveys are questionnaire based on self-reporting. My opinion is that the
problem of plagiarism is increasing as more and more information is widely available
in research studies.
6.5 Conclusion
The review of literature regarding plagiarism shows that it is an extremely serious
matter that impacts the integrity of researchers work and reputation and can result in
failing an assignment. There is a need for academic institutions to provide more
awareness to students around plagiarism and the consequences thereof so that
students change the perception of committing plagiarism. I believe that plagiarism is
a hot topic in academic community and the more cases of research plagiarism are
publicized the less likely students will commit plagiarism.
6.6 Future work
There are many research studies that focus on plagiarism but few look at multilingual
plagiarism as many websites offer translation services on the fly. Also what would be
of further interest is the contributing factor that the growth of the internet has on the
prevalence of plagiarism.