CHAPTER 13 Computers in Society: Today
High-tech Workers Still in Great Demand
In some parts of the country one in four high-tech jobs are unfilled. There simply are not enough qualified IT people to fill all positions. The labor shortage continues to change the landscape for high-tech employment. Human resources personnel are filling positions with two-year college graduates that in the not-too-distance past were filled exclusively by four-year college graduates. This shift in requirements, however, may not be bad in that some industry analysts argue that some positions, such as those in the support area, are better filled by graduates of two-year programs. Two-year colleges have greater flexibility to modify curriculums to accommodate the rapid changes in information technology. The severe high-tech labor shortage is placing pressure on the United States Congress to open the immigration door for more skilled foreign workers. Those who argue for more visas say that companies in United States will be unable to fill the 840,000 high-tech jobs from the existing pool of college graduates. There is, of course, a group of people who want to protect those jobs for American workers and say that the job shortage is overstated.
New Macro Viruses Hit Hard
On May 4, 2000, millions of people received an e-mail from an acquaintance stating, "I love you" in the message line. A "love letter" attachment contains a macro program that when open sends the love letter to all contacts in the recipient's Microsoft Outlook address book. When the virus surface within companies that had many employees with overlapping contact, the e-mails were sent over and over to the same people until the e-mail server was overloaded and crashed. The love bug also deleted some graphics and music files. The culprits from the Philippines who planted the virus from the have been arrested. The virus resulted in over $2 billion dollars in damage worldwide.
Love Bug II Virus
A new virus similar to the original Love Bug virus that announced "I love you" was recently released into the cyber world. The VBS.NewLove.A virus is more difficult to detect because it renames itself and it is far more destructive. The virus overwrites every file on the system that is not in use. These two macro viruses took advantage of a loophole in the Microsoft Outlook program. Microsoft has since offered a downloadable fix to their Outlook software; however, the fix limits some of the software's functionality.
Spam Laws
Over a dozen states now have laws, which prohibit spam, unsolicited e-mails. The laws vary considerably in what is permitted and what recourse can be taken against spammers. For example, some forbid forged routing information or they bar the use of false return addresses. One state allows spam, but spammers are required to give spammees an opportunity to opt out of receiving further spam. Another state requires that the spam be identified in the subject line.