Reflection Paper 1

This was written after 50 hours at my internship:

At this current moment, I have worked with Dr. Hans Peter-Plag and his
organization at the Earth Viability Center for about 50 hours total. Through my
experience here, I have learned a number of things, and have gained a new perspective
about how we as humans can solve the environmental issues around the world. Dr
Hans Peter-Plag developed a website on his own called Place4us.net, and despite it
only having one person behind it, it is a social platform that is loaded with several
resources that people can use to meet up with likeminded individuals and discuss about
anything they want, as long as it is appropriate and follows his set rules and guidelines.
As for what I have done at this internship myself, I was assigned 3 tasks: Assess
the proposed concept for MyHouse on Place4Us in terms of cybersecurity issues
including hacking, inappropriate material posted in a MyHouse, and inappropriate
behavior of visitors to a MyHouse; Assess the current handling of cybersecurity in VCCs
including hacking, the positing of inappropriate material, and inappropriate user
behavior in a VCC; Research methods to identify images and videos created with the
help of Generative Artificial Intelligence tools. As of the time I am writing this paper, the
concept of of “MyHouse” is only just an idea in the mind of Dr. Hans Peter-Plag, so I
have not been able to develop any progress towards that. But as for my second goal of
looking for methods of countering the posting or overall use of inappropriate materials
and behaviors, what we have set up during our group meetings was to look for ways to
establish a multi factor authentication system when logging into or signing up for a user
account. What i proposed is that we program a way to enable an authenticator app of
sorts, specifically the Google Authentication app, so that it generates a number that is
needed to be typed in from your phone, so that way you can verify that it is you yourself
attempting to login. And for my final task of looking for methods to counter AI use within
the platform, as a group we have decided to establish a community feedback button, so
where everyone can reply under a direct post or message and report or discuss the
potential use of AI within the post itself.
At this internship, it is ran completely virtual, as it is a Virtual Community Center.
My fellow interns, as well as the other volunteers and individuals working on
Place4Us.net meet up once a week on Tuesday at 11am, and we discuss the things that
we had worked on and plan to work on for the week, and bounce off of each other’s
ideas and openly debate on things we may disagree on. As for the cyber team, which is
just me and 2 other interns, we meet with Dr. Hans Peter-Plag every Friday at 5pm to
further discuss specific cybersecurity issues and potential countermeasures that can be
established into the website platform, as well as debate and discuss on what may be
the best solution for those same problems.
Conclusion
Overall, I have already learnt a whole bunch at this internship, and am enjoying my time
here a great amount along with socializing with the people around me that are also
working towards the same goals as I am, and because of this, I have greatly improved
my skills in working with a team of people.

Reflection Paper 2

Written after 100 hours at my internship:

I have worked with Dr. Hans Peter-Plag and his organization at the Earth
Viability Center for about 105 hours total. Through my experience here, I have learned a
number of things, and have gained a new perspective about how we as humans can
solve the environmental issues around the world. Dr Hans Peter-Plag developed a
website on his own called Place4us.net, and it is a social platform that is loaded with
several resources that people can use to meet up with likeminded individuals and
discuss about anything they want, as long as it is appropriate and follows his set rules
and guidelines.
I was assigned 3 tasks at the start of the internship, which was to: assess the
proposed concept for MyHouse on Place4Us in terms of cybersecurity issues including
hacking, inappropriate material posted in a MyHouse, and inappropriate behavior of
visitors to a MyHouse; Assess the current handling of cybersecurity in VCCs including
hacking, the positing of inappropriate material, and inappropriate user behavior in a
VCC; Research methods to identify images and videos created with the help of
Generative Artificial Intelligence tools.There has still been nothing published so far for
the concept of of “MyHouse,” as it is only just an idea in the mind of Dr. Hans
Peter-Plag, so I have not been able to develop any progress towards that. But as for my
second goal of looking for methods of countering the posting or overall use of
inappropriate materials and behaviors, what we have set up during our group meetings
was to look for ways to establish a multi factor authentication system when logging into
or signing up for a user account. This was a task of mine that I had made during my last
reflection paper, but was unsuccessful in getting that implemented and into the system.
But instead, a new task I was assigned was to have a thorough report system set up so
that when people make reports on the site, they know specifically what they are
reporting. Originally, the report system was just a scale of 1-5 (depending on how
severe the person making the report thinks it is) and would be very broad within a
queue of reports. What I had proposed was to have set categories of things to report,
like sexual content or harassment for example, and have the severity of the reports be
pre-determined based on what someone selects. For example, if there are 4 reports in a
review queue for something less important, let’s say bullying, and somebody makes a
report of someone being doxxed on the site, that will jump forward in the queue due to
its labeled “higher importance” and be reviewed much sooner than the other reports.
There will also be immediate automated responses too, like censoring the reported post
itself or offering a warning when users try to open it. This has still yet to be implemented
fully, but we are laying out the framework for it and will hope to see some results by the
next report.
The internship is completely virtual, and so it is very convenient for everyone’s
time and makes it very simple to be able to attend meetings. There are two meetings I
have to attend every week, one on Tuesday at 11am that everyone working on the
place4us site meet to discuss our goals and weekly objectives, and the other meeting
on Fridays at 5pm that is strictly for the other cybersecurity interns and I to meet and
discuss any question we may have or future goals for the site.
Conclusion
I have learnt so much already from my time here at this internship, and I am very close
to the other interns that I work with. My communication skills have improved, my
cybersecurity skills have been reinforced, and I am very happy to be interning where I
am here at Place4Us.

Reflection Paper 3

Written 150 hours during my internship:

Currently at my internship, I have worked with Dr. Hans Peter-Plag and his
organization at the Earth Viability Center for about 150 hours at this point. I have
learned a lot during my time here at this internship, I have gained valuable experience
applying cybersecurity concepts to a real-world project while also learning how
technology can be used to support global environmental initiatives, and working
alongside Dr. Hans Peter-Plag has given me a new perspective on how people from
different backgrounds can collaborate to solve environmental challenges through online
communities and technology.
Dr. Hans Peter-Plag created Place4Us.net, which is a social networking platform
designed to bring together people with shared interests and encourage discussions on
topics related to sustainability and other important issues. The platform gives users the
resources needed to connect with one another, create communities, and exchange
ideas, just as long as they follow the website’s rules and guidelines for appropriate
behavior.
At the beginning of my internship, I was assigned three primary objectives. The
first was to assess the proposed MyHouse concept for Place4Us by identifying potential
cybersecurity risks, including hacking, inappropriate content, and inappropriate behavior
by visitors. The second objective was to evaluate how cybersecurity is currently handled
within Virtual Community Centers (VCCs), with a focus on preventing hacking,
moderating inappropriate material, and addressing harmful user behavior. My third
objective was to research methods for identifying images and videos generated with the
assistance of artificial intelligence tools. But I was quite quick at being able to handle my
tasks, and so I was then given another assignment.
The task I received this term was updating the Terms of Service for the Place4Us
website. This required researching the policies commonly used by online platforms and
adapting them to fit the goals of Place4Us. The document outlines acceptable and
prohibited behavior, explains users’ responsibilities while using the platform, and
establishes the consequences for violating the website’s policies. Developing the Terms
of Service was an important step toward creating a safer online environment and
providing moderators with clear guidelines for enforcing the platform’s rules. It also
helped with my understanding of the legal and ethical considerations involved in
managing an online community, as well as ensuring cybersecurity standards are up to
standard.
Conclusion
My internship at the Earth Viability Center has continued to be an extremely
valuable learning experience. Throughout this semester, I have strengthened both my
cybersecurity knowledge and my professional communication skills while contributing to
a real-world project that continues to grow. From researching security improvements
and redesigning the reporting system to developing the website’s Terms of Service, I
have gained practical experience that extends beyond what I have learned in the
classroom. As I come to the end of my internship, I look forward to finishing up my work
with Place4Us and contributing to future improvements as the platform develops into
something great.

FINAL PAPER

Written at the end of my internship to reflect on my time and what I had done over the months.