European Court of Justice - Free

European Court of Justice Free Movement of Persons Essay From early on it became clear to close observers of the EU that the role and rule of law were going to be critical in anchoring EU policy regimes. If the legal system could ensure a high rate of compliance, a way of giving authoritative interpretation to disputed texts, and a means of redress for those for whom the law was created, then the EU process as a whole would gain solidity and a predictability that would help it to be sustained. The ECJ was established in the first treaty texts; these have been virtually unchanged since then, except to cater for the increasing workload and successive enlargements of the EU membership. The ECJ, sited in Luxembourg, is now composed of fifteen judges, as well as the nine advocates-general who deliver preliminary opinions on cases. The SEA in 1986 established a second Court of First Instance, composed now of fifteen judges, to help in handling the heavy flow of cases. The EU has thus something like a supreme court, able to provide an overarching framework of jurisprudence, as well as to deal with litigation, both in cases referred via the national courts and in those that are brought directly before it. The Courts sanctions are mostly the force of their own rulings, backed up in some instances by the ability to impose fines on those (usually companies) found to have broken EU law. The T EU gave the ECJ power to fine member governments for non-application of European law. Also, as a result of its own rulings (especially one of the Factortame cases on fisheries see Chapter 13), damages can be claimed against governments that fail to implement European law correctly. The Courts take their cases in public, but reach their judgments in private by, if necessary, majority votes; the results of their votes are not made public, and minority opinions are not issued. A series of key cases has, since the early 1960s, established important principles of European law, such as: its supremacy over the law of the member states, its direct effect, a doctrine of proportionality, and another of non-discrimination. In doing so the ECJ has gone further in clarifying the rule and the role of law than had specifically been laid down in the treaties. In some policy domains court cases have been one of the key forces in developing EU policy regimes. Table 1. summarize the pattern and volume of cases before the Court. Table 1 New cases at the European Court of Justice, 1972-1997 (no.) (five-year, periods, Since 1972; five-year 1992-1997; each year given) Subject-matter Cases 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992 1993 1994 1995    1997    until       1971    Agriculture and 99 36 61 83 81 198 210 65 70 60 66 fisheries Transport 3 2 4 5 14 10 11 5 3 11 Taxation 27 1 2 9 35 20 21 25 36 33 61 Free movement of 53 3 25 56 45 33 58 86 79 50 61 goods and customs Competition and 38 6 10 42 34 54 35 20 35 28 45 state aids Freedom of 3 2 4 12 12 20 47 34 46 39 establishment and to provide services Free movement for 37 11 19 17 35 49 59 44 54 70 51 workers and social policy Environment 15 11 11 42 59 47 Rest a 2 16 21 44 23 43 29 26 54 34 Staff of EU 268 23 25 85 77 9 10 5 15 13 14 institutions b Other(ECSC, EAEC, 25 27 11 9 4 13 4 15 privileges and immunities) All 895 82 162 348 395d 438 486c 347 409 420 444 a Inc. common commercial policy and cases under agreements with third countries. b These are contract and social security cases of EU civil servants, mostly dealt with by Court of First Instance created in 1989, except for appeals to ECJ. This strong legal dimension has a large influence on the policy process. Policymakers pay great attention to the legal meaning of the texts that they devise; policy advocates look for legal rules to achieve their objectives, because they know that these are favoured by the institutional system; policy reformers can sometimes use cases to alter the impact of EU policies; and in general there is a presumption that rules will be more or less obeyed. Hence policy-makers have to choose carefully between treaty articles in determining which legal base to use, and to consider car Efully which kind of legislation to make (Reich Harbacevica, 2003). Regulations are directly applicable within the member states once promulgated by the EU institutions. Directives have to be transposed into national law, which allows some flexibility to member governments, but within limits set by the ECJ. Decisions are more limited legal instruments applied to specific circumstances or specific addressees, as in competition policy. All three kinds of law may be made either by the Commission (under delegated powers), or by the Council, or jointly by the Council and EP (under co-decision). And all are subject to challenge through the national and European courts. The vigour of the European legal system is one of the most distinctive features of the EU. It has helped to reinforce the powers and reach of the EU process, although in recent years the ECJ has become a bit more cautious in its judgments. We should note also that in some policy domains member governments have gone to considerable lengths to keep the ECJ out of the picture. Part of the reason for the three-pillar structure of the T EU was to keep both CFSP and JHA well away from the reach of the European legal system. Even though the ToA goes some way towards incorporating parts of JHA and Schengen more fully within the system, it remains contested how far they will be brought within the jurisdiction of the ECJ. One issue which floats in the debate is how far the other European legal order, based on the European Convention of Human Rights attached to the Council of Europe, is to be linked to the EU, and whether the EU should adopt its own Charter on Fundamental Rights. The wider institutional setting The EU institutional system includes in addition a number of additional organizations that have an impact on, or provide instruments for, EU policies. Some are consultative. Some provide control mechanisms. Some provide autonomous operating arms. Consultation and lobbying The founding treaties established the Economic and Social Committee (and the Consultative Committee for the ECSC) as a point of access to the policy process for socioeconomic groups. Its creation borrowed from the corporatist traditions in some of the founder member countries. It has not, however, become an influential body in the policy process. Instead socio-economic groups have found their own more direct points of access since the 1960s, both through EU-Ievel federal associations and through sector-specific trade and producer organizations. These became even more active in the period around the development of the single European market (Forder, 2002). Individual large firms have also taken pains to develop links with the EU institutions, again some since the 1960s, but many more and with more vigour since the early 1980s. A more recent development has been the increased activity of groups and lobbies representing societal interests, the consumers, the environmentalists, womens groups, and increasingly a range of other advocacy groups and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Illustrations of the activities of these different kinds of groups can be found in many of our case-studies (Groenendijk Guild, 2001). The TEU introduced a second consultative body, the Committee of the Regions, in response to the extensive involvement of local and regional authorities in seeking to influence those EU policies that impacted on them. The Committee provides regional and local politicians from the member states with a multilateral forum, and an opportunity to enhance their local political credibility. At least as important, however, is the direct lobbying by infranational (local and regional) authorities, many with their own offices in Brussels. These same infranational authorities also engage in efforts to influence national policy positions and the implementation of Community programmes. Chapters 9 and 13 comment on this in relation to the structural funds and the common fisheries policy. Control and scrutiny In the mid- 1970s concern started to be voiced that the EU policy process was subject to few external controls. The EP at the time had few powers, and national parliaments paid rather little attention to EU legislation and programmes. It was the growing scale and scope of the EU budget and spending programmes that led the arguments about the inadequacy of scrutiny. This led to the creation of the European Court of Auditors by the 1975 Budget Treaty. Since 1978 it has, from its seat in Luxembourg, endeavoured to evaluate systematically both revenue-raising and spending. Both in its Annual Reports and in specific reports it has drawn attention to various weaknesses in the budgetary process, as handled by the Commission and national agencies. Here we should note that about four-fifths of EU budgetary expenditure is disbursed by national agencies. Chapter 8 describes some of the Court of Auditors activities and impact. We note here that many of its criticisms fell for many years on deaf ears member governments that were reluctant to face up to some of the issues, an EP that had other preoccupations, and a Commission which repeatedly undervalued the importance of sound financial management. In late 1998 this situation was reversed by the row over alleged financial mismanagement by the Commission. Another new instrument of post hoc control is provided by the Ombudsman attached to the EP under the provisions of the TEU. The aim is to provide a channel for dealing with cases of maladminstration vis-à  -vis individuals. Thus far the existence of this office has not had a large impact, although it may have contributed to making the policy process a little more open than hitherto. Some control and scrutiny of policy depends on national institutions, both parliamentary and financial. National parliaments had no official recognition in the institutional system until the early 1990s. Each member state had developed its own, mostly rather limited, procedures for national parliamentary scrutiny of EU policy. The same discontent that had led to some strengthening of European procedures started to provoke a debate on national scrutiny. Both the T EU and the ToA mention the importance of encouraging this, although there is little likelihood of standardized procedures emerging. Instead it seems likely that EU-level policy-makers, especially in the Commission, will pay more attention to national parliamentary discussions and appear more readily before national parliamentary committees of inquiry. This heightened sensitivity to country-level preoccupations is becoming a more marked feature of the EU policy process. It may well be emphasized by the establishment of national parliamentary offices in Brussels (by September 1999 from Denmark, Finland, France, and the UK). From market citizenship to political and social citizenship As mentioned previously, 184 it was at the 1972 Paris Summit that European economic integration was put into a broader perspective of social welfare. Since then, the neo-liberal philosophy that was at the basis of the European Economic Community (and still is, to a large extent, at the basis of the European Community, that is, the first pillar of the Union) was gradually turned into a more socially oriented philosophy. From a perspective of citizen rights, this means that the rights that citizens enjoy by virtue of EC law are no longer only â€Å"market rights† but have been enlarged to include â€Å"political rights† as well, and slowly also â€Å"social rights† in the broad sense of the word, that is, rights (and duties) concerned with peoples welfare generally, including work, education, health, and quality of life. 185 This transformation started with the incorporation, by the Maastricht Treaty, of a new part II in the EC Treaty, entitled â€Å"Citizenship of the Union† and composed of Articles 17–22 (ex 8–8e) EC. According to Article 17 (1) EC, citizenship in the Union, â€Å"complement[ing] and not replac[ing] national citizenship, † is established and accorded to every person â€Å"holding the nationality of a Member State.† The rights enjoyed by Union citizens are, according to Article 17 (2), â€Å"the rights conferred by [the EC] Treaty †¦ subject to the duties imposed thereby.† Those rights are in the first place the internal market freedoms (in the exercise of which discrimination on the basis of nationality is prohibited) and related consumer and worker rights specified elsewhere in the treaty. Then, in Articles 18 to 21 EC, a limited number of rights are enumerated, starting with the general right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States and followed by a number of specific political rights: the right to vote and stand as a candidate at municipal and European Parliament elections, the right to diplomatic protection in a third country, 186 the right to petition the European Parliament and to address complaints to the European Ombudsman. In Articles 39–46 of the (as yet non-binding) EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, this list of citizen rights was consolidated, and it was expanded with the rights to good administration and access to documents (Peers, 2004). The enumeration of these lists of rights in the EC Treaty, as amended, and in the EU Charter may seem rather symbolic, many of the rights mentioned being already specified in other treaty provisions. However, the fact should not be overlooked that the rights enumerated in Articles 18 to 21 EC are granted to all citizens, that is, they are unconnected with the exercise of any economic activity. That obviously holds true for the political rights, but it is also becoming increasingly true, as we will see below, for the general right of citizens, established in Article 18 EC, to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States. Among the rights conferred by other treaty provisions are the rights that workers from other Member States, and by extension members of their family (so-called â€Å"dependents†), enjoy in the Member State where they work. These rights remain connected, however, to the status of â€Å"worker† in the sense of Article 39 (1) EC (relating to freedom of movement for workers), as interpreted by the ECJ in numerous judgments. It means, in concrete terms, that nationals from one Member State who want to work in another Member State need a residence permit, for which they must produce proof of engagement from an employer. Similarly, family members, whether from a Member State or a third country, must produce proof of their relationship with the worker. it was expanded with the rights to good administration and access to documents. The enumeration of these lists of rights in the EC Treaty, as amended, and in the EU Charter may seem rather symbolic, many of the rights mentioned being already specified in other treaty provisions. However, the fact should not be overlooked that the rights enumerated in Articles 18 to 21 EC are granted to all citizens, that is, they are unconnected with the exercise of any economic activity. That obviously holds true for the political rights, but it is also becoming increasingly true, as we will see below, for the general right of citizens, established in Article 18 EC, to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States (Pettit, 1997). Among the rights conferred by other treaty provisions are the rights that workers from other Member States, and by extension members of their family (so-called â€Å"dependents†), enjoy in the Member State where they work. 188 These rights remain connected, however, to the status of â€Å"worker† in the sense of Article 39 (1) EC (relating to freedom of movement for workers), as interpreted by the ECJ in numerous judgments. It means, in concrete terms, that nationals from one Member State who want to work in another Member State need a residence permit, for which they must produce proof of engagement from an employer. Similarly, family members, whether from a Member State or a third country, must produce proof of their relationship with the worker. [1] A financial burden on the host Member State, the students right of residence was directly based on Article 18 EC, with the effect that he was entitled in Belgium to financial assistance available to Belgians. In fact, not only EU citizens but also third-country nationals enjoy social rights under certain conditions, principally when they are family members of migrant workers, or migrant workers from countries with which the EU has special agreements. In this context, the Mary Carpenter case deserves to be mentioned: it concerned the right, under EU law, of the non-EU spouse of a U.K. national to remain with him in the United Kingdom, despite her having violated immigration rules. The ECJ ruled in that case that, since the deportation of his spouse (who cared for children from his previous marriage) could adversely affect the husband in the exercise of his (EC) right to provide services in other Member States, the situation fell within the scope of EC law. Furthermore, the Court held that although a Member State may limit the right to provide services on grounds of public policy or public security (as mentioned in Article 46 referring to Article 55 EC), the Member State concerned is bound to observe the human rights requirements embodied in EC law, including respect for the right of family life, as laid down in Article 8 ECHR. Citing the Boultif judgment of the Court of Human Rights, the ECJ held that the U.K. would be violating the right to respect for family life if it expelled Mrs. Carpenter without a more significant public policy reason than violation of immigration laws. The ECJs case law deriving social rights for Union citizens from the free movement and residency right embodied in Article 18 EC raises the delicate issue of how far the ECJ can go in imposing financial burdens on Member State social security systems in the name of solidarity between Union citizens. The issue is underlying many recent judgments, but is most apparent in Baumbast. In that case, the ECJ ruled that Article 18 (1) EC is sufficiently clear and precise to be directly applicable (and directly effective), and this despite the fact, as pointed out previously, that the article submits the free movement and resident right â€Å"to the limitations and conditions contained† in the treaty and in secondary legislation. The question at issue was whether the U.K. immigration authorities could reject Mr. Baumbasts application for renewal of his residence permit on the grounds that he and his family were not insured for emergency treatment in the U.K., where the family lived (although they were covered by comprehensive medical insurance in Germany, of which Mr. Baumbast was a national). Such a residence permit is needed under the three EC directives granting rights of residence to categories of persons other than workers. These directives provide that rights of residence are subject to two conditions: first, the applicant must possess sufficient resources, and, second, he or she must have comprehensive medical insurance for all risks. It was clear, as the court observed that Mr. Baumbast had sufficient resources, but it was equally clear that he had no health insurance for emergency treatment within the U.K (Dougan Spaventa, 2003). In its judgment, the ECJ ruled that the refusal of the British authorities was unfounded. It recognized that the requirements in the directives were permissible, being based on the idea that exercise of the Union citizens right of residency can be subordinated to the legitimate financial interests of the Member State, including the fact that foreign nationals should not become an â€Å"unreasonable burden† on the public finances of the host state. Nevertheless, those limitations and conditions, laid down in secondary Community legislation, must be applied in compliance with general principles of Community law, and in particular with the principle of proportionality. The Court then found that to deny Mr. Baumbast residence solely on the grounds that he lacked medical insurance for emergency treatment within the United Kingdom would be a disproportionate interference with the exercise of his residency right under Article 18 (1) EC. Conclusion The difficulty with the ECJs case law in this case, but also in other â€Å"social rights† cases, is that the Court, and the EU, â€Å"cannot simply grant full rights of residency to all its citizens, because it cannot foot the consequent welfare bill, especially in respect of economically inactive individuals. The aspiration towards a supranational form of social citizenship, which many see embodied in Article 18, must therefore remain sensitive to domestic conceptions of belonging to (and being excluded from) the welfare society.† Apart from this basic question, many other issues of a more specifically legal nature arise, such as which general principles other than proportionality will be permitted to qualify restrictions imposed by secondary Community legislation. The question is most acute with regard to economically inactive and financially dependent persons: What are the benefits of Union citizenship for them? Should they not be able to derive residency rights from fundamental rights provisions, such as respect for private and family life and for human dignity? Should these rights not have an impact upon the ability of Member States to expel individuals who would otherwise be considered an unreasonable burden upon the public purse? A straight answer to that question would be to grant Union citizens who have been lawfully resident in another Member State, for example, at least five consecutive years â€Å"permanent resident† status regardless of their economic or financial status, as is proposed by the Commission in a draft general directive which, if adopted, would replace much of the existing secondary legislation. References Bright; Christopher. Business Law in the European Economic Area. Oxford University, 1994 Case C-413/99, Baumbast and R v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, [2002] ECR I-7091. Case C-60/00, Mary Carpenter v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, [2002] ECR I-6279. Dougan, Michael and Spaventa, Eleanor; â€Å"Educating Rudy and the (Non-) English Patient: A Double-bill on Residency Rights under Article 18 EC, † 28 ELRev., 2003, 699–712. Forder, Caroline; â€Å"Editorial: Common Minimum European Standards in Immigration Matters, † 9 MJ, 2002, 221–29. Groenendijk, Kees and Guild, Elspeth; â€Å"Converging Criteria: Creating an Area of Security of Residence for Europes Third Country Nationals, † 3 EJML, 2001, 37–59, at 52. Goyder; D. G. EC Competition Law. Oxford University Press, 1998 Jarvis; Malcolm A. The Application of EC Law by National Courts: The Free Movement of Goods. Oxford University, 1998 Leibfried, Stephan; Pierson; Paul; European Social Policy: Between Fragmentation and Integration. Brookings Institution, 1995 Pettit, P. Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997). Peers, Steve; â€Å"Implementing Equality? The Directive On Long-Term Third-Country Nationals, † 29 ELRev., 2004, 437–60. Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive on the Right of Citizens of the Union and their Family Members to Move and Reside Freely within the Territory of the Member States: COM (2001) 257 final. Reich, Norbert and Harbacevica, Solvita; â€Å"Citizenship and Family on Trial: A Fairly Optimistic Overview of Recent Court Practice with Regard to Free Movement of Persons, † 40 CMLRev., 2003, 615–38. [1] The most important of these measures are: Council Directive 68/360, containing formal requirements for workers and their family members, and Council Regulation 1612/68, concerning the substantive rights and social advantages that workers and their family members enjoy. Further directives relating to rights of residence granted to categories of persons other than genuine workers are: Directive 90/366, replaced later by Directive 93/96, covering students exercising the right of vocational training; Directive 90/365, dealing with persons who have ceased to work; and catch-all Directive 90/364, governing all those persons who did not already enjoy a right of residence under Community law. These three residency directives have in common that the persons involved must have adequate resources not to become a financial burden on the social assistance schemes of the host Member State and must be covered by sickness insurance. For references, see Craig and de Bà ºrca, n. 36 above, 756. Th e scope of these directives was reconsidered by the ECJ in its Grzelczyk and Baumbast judgments mentioned later in the text.

Strategies for Breaking Wireless Protocols

Strategies for Breaking Wireless Protocols CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Starting of wireless Network is a result of a research Project carried out by University of Hawaii. Initially its called as Aloha net, but later it used to call as Wireless Local Area Network or WLAN. At the beginning of aloha net, is capable of transferring 1 to 2 mbps data. But over the last few years aloha net changed to WLAN and it came with so many enhancements to the initial technology. Newer days, wireless networks become more popular than the wired networks. The main reason for this is, wireless networks are high in portability and the flexibility, increased productivity, and lower installation cost. Wireless Network Devices let Users to move their laptops from one place to another without warring about their network connectivity. Minimizing the wiring gives the maximum flexibility over the network and it reduces the wiring cost for the whole network infrastructure. However, when we comparing the security factor, wireless networks are more vulnerable to attack by outsider than the wired network. Main reason for this is, anyone can see and make the initial connection through the wireless network. But establishing the initial connection in a wired network is bit difficult than the wireless network. Loss of confidentiality like password cracking and man in the middle attacks are typically associated with wireless networks. Some other way, this kind of attack can easily practise in wireless Networks rather than the wired network. Even though a wireless network has this kind of problems, its not a failed concept. The main reason for that is we can protect a wireless network in maximum and make invincible from unauthorised users or attackers. Configuring the wireless devices correctly and accurately can minimize the attacks. We are going to discuss about this topic in future. 1.2 Objectives Breaking wireless protocols is the main objective in this project. Mostly the WEP, WPA and WPA2 will be my major preference. So the goal of this research is break the wireless protocol and get data from the wireless devices and the network. 1.2.1 Comparison of Hacking Tools Available. There are lots of tools that can use to hack a wireless protocol. Some of the tools are very user friendly. We can install it on our Windows Based Systems and it does our work very easily. Those tools are 100% Graphical User Interface and very easy to use. AirCrack-ng Windows version is the common example. But Some Other tools are available; we need to have some technical knowledge to use those tools. Mainly those tools run on command base mode and running platform is Linux. These tools do not provide any graphical user Interface, and bit difficult to learn without any proper guidance. But the final result is very accurate than the windows version. The major difference between these two types of tools are the software which runs on linux is more accurate than the Windows version. So I have decided to use Linux version hacking software to carry out my testing. But to hack a wireless network we need few of software to download from the internet. And then we can install those on a Linux machine and we can start the research. But, I think its very easy to use a one operating System rather than struggling with lots of softwares. So I decided to download latest version of worlds famous Hacking Operating System â€Å"Back Track†. It has built in hacking tools that need to hack a wireless network. 1.2.2 Downloading related software. Back Track is free to download, and its open source. Anyone can download Back Track from its developers web site www.backtrack-linux.org for free. So I have downloaded the latest version of Back Track v4 to carry out my research. We will discuss about BackTrack in further chapters. 1.2.3 Cracking WEP Using AirCrack-ng In order to crack a WEP Password, I have chosen few amazing tool. That is BackTrack 4 Hacking Operating System. It has all the hacking tools to crack a WEP Network. Airodump-ng can use to get the information about the wireless network and then I can use the Aircrack-ng to crack the password. 1.2.4 Cracking WPA Using AirCrack-ng We Can Use the same Process to Crack the WPA using AirCrack-ng. Same as in WEP I am going to use the Airodump-ng and Airoreply-ng to collect all the informations about the wireless Network and AirCrack-ng to decrypt the Password. 1.2.5 Cracking WPA2 Using Cowpatty In here, I am going to use a special cracking Software to crack WPA2. The software is Cowpatty. Cowpatty bit different than Aircrack-ng. And cowpatty specially designed to crack WPA and WPA2 Passwords. All these tools are built-in tools which we can find in the BackTrack4 Linux based operating system. So I dont need to download these softwares from the internet. 1.3 Dissertation Structure This Documentation mainly divided in to 4 Main Chapters. Including entire Practical and theoretical concepts. Chapter 1: Introduction In this section, I am going to give a introduction about what is wireless Network, Start of the Wireless Network and Basic Problems that wireless Networks faced. In the Second Section explain about the whole Research objectives and aims. Chapter 02: Literature Review This Chapter Consist all the theoretical informations relating to my research. In here I am discussing about wireless Networks and its Types, Wireless Network Devices, Security Methods that WLAN Uses, WLAN Security Protocols, Deep discussion about WEP, WPA and WPA2, Protocol Hacking tools like Air Crack-ng, Cowpatty, and Hacking Methods that use by the Hacking tools. Eg: Dictionary Attacks, Brute Force Attacks etc. Chapter 03: Methodology In here, I am going to show my Practical Work that I have done all over my research. Installing the Hacking OS, Use of Hacking tools, Problems Faced all over the project and the final results will be my main concerns. Chapter 04: Result and Discussions In this section I am comparing all the results I have gain all over my project. Chapter 05: Conclusions This Chapter will be my conclusions of the Research. In here i am planning to compare my final result and the objectives in my initial project proposal. CHAPTER 02 Literature Survey 2.1 Wireless Networks Wireless Networks enables to communicate devices without any physical media. These Networks are divided to three main categories according to their communication level. Those are, Wireless Local Area Network, Wireless Wide Area Network, Wireless Personnel Area Network. Wireless Wide Area Network has larger coverage than the WLAN and WPAN. WWAN uses 2G or 3G Cell Phone Networks to connect each and every device in the network. WLAN represents local area network that connected using wireless access point or a wireless router includes 802.11. WPAN is a small network topology. This includes Bluetooth and Infrared technologies. 2.1.1 Wireless Local Area Networks As I Mentioned earlier, Wireless LANs has more portability and flexibility over traditional Wires Local Area Networks. In WLAN, All the Computers and other devices connect to each other using Wireless Access Points also called as APs. And Access points communicated with the Wireless Network Adaptors that fixed in to computers. Access Points normally has coverage are up to 75-100 meters. In that area users can move their laptops and other wireless devices while maintaining their network connections. We can connect access points together and expand the wireless LANs coverage. In my thesis, I am going to discuss more about wireless LAN in further chapters. 2.1.2 Wireless Wide Area Networks This is the most familiar wireless Network type for everyone. This networks are Combinations of few WLANs. In these networks, Antennas acts as the access point for all WLANs. There are connections between Antennas to Antennas, to expand the Service of the network. Mobile Phone Networks also a good example for WWAN Networks. 2.1.3 Wireless Personnel Area Networks These Networks are so smaller when comparing to the other networks. It does not give much coverage as other 2 network type we discuss earlier. And this network does not require Main Access Point to make the connection with other WPAN Devices. Source WPAN device directly connect to the other WPAN device when its needs to transfer data. 2.2 Wireless Local Area Networks This is the most important topic of my thesis. We are going to discuss about this topic all over the project. As I mentioned in my objectives I am going to analyse the security of WLAN and Break few of WLAN Protocols. Before that we need to get a clear Idea about â€Å"What is WLAN?† and â€Å"How it operates?† WLAN is same as the wired Local Area Network. But the only difference is, its using wireless method to connect all devices. WLAN combined with the Client Station and the Wireless Access point. The Client Station connects to the AP (Access point) using the wireless Network Adaptor. We can connect the wireless adaptor to the computer using Personal Computer Memory Card International (PCMCIA) slot or using the USB Port. IEEE 802.11 is the Standard of WLAN technology. The coverage of the Wireless network totally relay on the Strength of the Wireless Access Point. Normally its can covers up to 75-100 meters circular area. 2.2.1 Architecture of 802.11 Standards This architecture allows initiating a peer to peer connection between Client Station and the wireless Network based on access point in an infrastructure network (WLAN). The coverage area of an access point called as a â€Å"Cell†. A Cell also called as â€Å"Basic Service Set† (BSS). The collection other cells of the infrastructure network called as Extended Service Set (ESS).Any access point that work with 802.11 standards has this 2 data sets for their functionality. BSS is the most important data set in the Access point. BSS contain all the information about wireless Network. This is the security key negotiation protocol of the Access point. BSS consist of APs Hardware name, Communication protocol informations, Signal strength etc. The Access Point identify in the WLAN using a specific identifier. This is called as â€Å"Basic Service Set Identifier† (BSSID). When Laptop or any other wireless device needs to connect to wireless network via access point, the guest station (Eg: Laptop) searches for the available access points in the area by releasing discovery packets. If there any access points available, APs respond to the guest station by sending the BSSID. Normally BSSID is in a Human Readable format. BSSID also called as â€Å"AP Name or Router Name† by Technical personals. This identifier always represents a Specific Access point. Likewise each and every access point of the network has its own BSSID. NOTE: BSSID is very important to accomplish my main objective of the project. We need to retrieve the routers BSSID before we crack the routers password. We can discuss about the retrieving methods in future chapters. 2.2.2 Advantages of WLANs Following are the advantages. Increased Mobility- Users can be mobile while accessing to all the network resources. Fast Installation Installation of the network is very quick since there no adding wires like wired network. Flexibility anyone can easily install and uninstall a small wireless Network. 2.2.3 Wireless Protocols Use in Wireless Networks There are 3 main wireless protocols use by the 802.11x wireless networks. Those are, Wired Equivalent Privacy This Protocol primarily protect the WLAN uses being a victim from eavesdropping. WEP uses 64 bit RC4 key to generate encrypted data and then those encrypted data transferred over the network. Wi-Fi Protected Access This is introduced by the Wi-Fi Alliance to overcome certain restrictions in WEP. This uses Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) to encrypt the wireless data packets. Wi-Fi Protected Access Version 2 This is the latest movement in wireless LAN Protocols. Only the Difference is WPA 2 introduces new AES algorithm to be much more secure than the WPA. These 3 protocols widely using in wireless Networks. Every protocol has significant advantages and disadvantages. In the next chapter I am going to illustrate features, advantages and disadvantages of each and every protocol. 2.2.4 Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) WEP is an authentication protocol that use in 802.11 wireless networks to secure all the transmitting data. This protocol introduced in 1997 and main intention was increasing the confidentiality of the data than wired network. Any wireless network that uses WEP encrypt the data packets using RC4 cipher stream generated by a 64 bit RC4 key. IEEE 802.11 has few basic features when it comes to Security. These concerns provide a better security for the wireless environment. This all security elements embedded in to the wireless network protocols. Following are the basic security concerns in a wireless Network. Authentication This is the main goal of the wireless protocols. This means identifying the Client Station by using a password. If any client station failed to comply with this requirement the AP will deny giving the access to the Client Station. Integrity In here, the data should not be changed while it transmitting from the AP and/or to the AP. That mean those data should not be a victim of active attack. Confidentiality in this goal, the Protocol should protect the security of all data elements that transmit. In other word, the data should not be a victim of passive attacks. 2.2.4.1 Authentication 802.11 Networks have 2 kinds of authentication methods. â€Å"Open System Authentication† and â€Å"Shared Key Authentication†. 802.11 Authentication Open System Authentication Shared Key Authentication Any Client Station can join The Station should Provide the To the network without authentication Network password in order to join Network In Open system authentication does not use any cryptographic password to gain access to the network. Any client station can connect to the network and use the network resources. As an example, Internet facilitys in a public locations like Air Port or a Bus Station. In these places anyone can connect their Laptop or PDAs to the Wireless Access Point and start browse the internet. No Password required at all to login to the network. In open system method, the client station sends its MAC address just as a reference to the Access point. Then the AP makes that client as a member of that APs network. The major problem with this authentication mode is its vulnerable to attack. Shared key authentication is password based authentication model. The client must have the password to make the connection with AP. when client made a request to the AP that asking the connection, the AP generate a challenge and send it to the client station. If the client station responds to that challenge correctly AP gives the permission to be a member of wireless network. Figure 2.7 give the clear idea about the Shared Key authentication. Authentication Request Challenge Response Confirm the Result 2.2.4.2 Integrity 802.11 Standards also concerns about the integrity of the data transmitted. This always checks the data content whether it got changed while happening the transmitting process. It uses Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) approach to check the content of data. Once the CRC completed those data encrypted by using the RC4 key Stream. On the receiving end, data will be decrypted and again check for CRC to check the integrity of the data. If the receiving end CRC value does not match with the initial CRC value the data will be rejected and retransmitting will be required. WEP Uses an algorithm called Stream Cipher to encrypt all the data. It expand short version of key in to a random key stream. The sender encrypts the Plain text along with the Short key and creates the cipher text. In the receiver end has the same short key to decrypt the data. Once the data stream received by the recipient, it uses the short key to generates cipher text back to plain text. If one data bit lost on its way to the destination, the decryption process will mislead the data in to incorrect information. To prevent this problem WEP has â€Å"Cyclic Redundancy Check† to keep up the Message Integrity correctly. 2.2.4.3 Privacy 802.11 standards use cryptographic techniques to support Privacy. It uses RC4 Symmetric Keys to protect the data. Normally 802.11 standards support different cryptographic key lengths to protect the data from a attack. Generally, WEP supports 40 bit cryptographic key size for the shared key. But numerous vendors support different key sizes like 104 bits and 128 bits. Increasing the key size increases the security of the cryptographic technique. 2.2.4.4 Problems with WEP Even though WEP has so many security measurements to protect the transmitting data, it has few failures. These failures make the way, an attacker to break the security of WEP and lost the Integrity and privacy of the transmitting data using WEP. 2.2.4.4.1 Shared WEP Key WEP Uses single security key to Access the network. So this key should be distributed to all the users who access the network. So this security key might go to an attacker very easily who trying to get the access to the network. 2.2.4.4.2 WEP Key Size As I mentioned earlier, WEP uses 40 bit Cryptographic Key Size. This key can be crack very easily regardless of the time. So the encryption key is not sufficient to provide a better security for data. 2.2.5 Wi-Fi Protected Access This is a WLAN protocol created by the Wi-Fi alliance. This is created because of several weakness of the WEP Protocol. WPA has some advanced features when comparing with WEP. To get the optimum performance from the WPA, The WPA protocol implements the majority of the IEEE 802.11i standard, and was intended as an intermediate measure to take the place of WEP while 802.11i was prepared. Specifically, the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP), was brought into WPA. TKIP could be implemented on pre-WPA wireless network interface cards that began shipping as far back as 1999 through firmware upgrades. Because the changes required fewer modifications on the client than on the wireless access point, most pre-2003 APs could not be upgraded to support WPA with TKIP. Researchers have since discovered a flaw in TKIP that relied on older weaknesses to retrieve the key stream from short packets to use for re-injection and spoofing. [wiki/WPA] 2.2.5.1 Features of WPA WPA uses Temporal Key Management (TKIP) as its Key encryption system. WPA does, Data Encryption and Discretion based on TKIP technology. It uses 128 bits for encryption using RC4 cipher. 2.2.5.2 Temporal Key Management TKIP along with the WPA has introduced three security features to overcome some security issues that come with WEP networks. TKIP mixing the security key with the initialization vector before it pass it to the cipher routine. In our case TKIP uses RC4 as the cipher. This method avoids certain kind of key attacks that came along with WEP. And then, WPA protects the data packets against reply attacks by implementing a sequence counter to the data stream. Finally its implements a message integrity check called â€Å"MIC† to check the consistency of the data stream. As i mentioned earlier, TKIP uses Rivest Cipher 4 (RC 4) as its cipher. Rekeying, also an important feature of TKIP. And the most important feature is TKIP always ensure to send data with a Unique Encryption key. But in certain situations it uses same mechanism like WEP. So TKIP also vulnerable to some kind of attacks which WEP faces. Any how the advance development of Message Integrity Check, Isolated Key Hashing on every packet, Sequence Counter prevents those attacks successfully. The Best thing is TKIP resolving most of the problems came along with the WEP. The next section discuss about that. 2.2.5.3 Michael Message Integrity Code Unlike WEP, WPA uses special feature to check the integrity of the transmitted message. This is called as Message Integrity Code (MIC). This is also called as Michel. This is a short cryptographic checksum that use to authenticate a message. This is also known as Message Authentication Code (MAC). This is a 64 bit algorithm that controls several types of attacks like, Splicing Attacks, Payload Truncation, and Fragmentation Attacks. 2.2.5.3 Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) EAP is an Authentication Method that widely use in wireless networks. This is not specifically designed for wireless networks. This can be use to authentication in wired network as well. EAP use to transmit the packets containing Authentication informations. WPA and WPA2 Networks supports 5 EAP Authentication Mechanisms as it Authentication Standards. Those are, EAP-TLS, EAP-SIM, EAP-AKA, PEAP, LEAP. 2.2.5.3.1 EAP-TLS EAP-Transport Layer Security is well known among Protocol for wireless communication. TLS provide very strong confidentiality for the User Credentials. This uses PKI to secure the communication between the AP and the RADIUS Server. EAP-TLS is the original, standard wireless LAN EAP authentication protocol. Although it is rarely deployed, it is still considered one of the most secure EAP standards available and is universally supported by all manufacturers of wireless LAN hardware and software. [Wiki/EAP] A compromised password is not enough to break into EAP-TLS enabled systems because the hacker still needs to have the client-side private key. The highest security available is when client-side keys are housed in smart cards. This is because there is no way to steal a certificates corresponding private key from a smart card without stealing the card itself. [Wiki/EAP] 2.2.5.3.2 EAP-SIM EAP for Subscriber Identity Module used for authentication and Session key distribution using the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) SIM. [Wiki/EAP] 2.2.5.3.3 EAP-AKA EAP for Authentication and Key Management Agreement is used for Authentication and session key distributing using the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). [wiki / EAP] 2.2.5.3.4 PEAP PEAP is a joint proposal by Cisco Systems, Microsoft and RSA Security as an open standard. It is already widely available in products, and provides very good security. It is similar in design to EAP-TTLS, requiring only a server-side PKI certificate to create a secure TLS tunnel to protect user authentication. [Wiki/EAP] There were two PEAP sub-types certified for the updated WPA and WPA2 standard. They are: PEAPv0/EAP-MSCHAPv2 PEAPv1/EAP-GTC The terms PEAPv0 and PEAPv1 refer to the outer authentication method, the mechanism that creates the secure TLS tunnel to protect subsequent authentication transactions. EAP-MSCHAPv2, EAP-GTC, and EAP-SIM refer to the inner authentication method which facilitates user or device authentication. [Wiki/EAP] 2.2.5.3.5 LEAP The Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol (LEAP) A proprietary EAP method developed by Cisco Systems prior to the IEEE ratification of the 802.11i security standard. [Wiki/EAP] LEAP uses a modified version of MS-CHAP, an authentication protocol in which user credentials are not strongly protected and are thus easily compromised. Along these lines, an exploit tool called ASLEAP. [wiki/EAP] 2.2.6 Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 WPA 2 implements IEEE 802.11i standards same as the WPA. WPA 2 supports Advanced Encryption Standards as the encryption cipher. This is an encryption standard that implement by US Government. 3 block of ciphers available in the AES. Those are AES 128, AES 192, and AES 256. In WPA2, Advanced Encryption Standards using counter Mode-Cipher Block Channing to provide the high confidentiality to the data. [Microsoft] WPA2 architecture must contain following network components to provide better security to the network. An Authentication Server to authenticate the users, Robust Security Network to maintain the pathways of associations, and AES based methodology to provide the privacy, integrity and authentication. The authentication server holds all the user name and passwords of the users of wireless network. When a user wants to connect to a network that uses WPA, The User must provide His / her identical user name and password when the network asks for it. Then the AP sends that informations to the Authentication server to verify the validity of the user to access network resources. Once the authentication server gave a positive feedback, the user allows connecting to the network otherwise the request will be discarded. 2.2.6.1 The Four way Hand Shake The Authentication Process has 2 Parts, the access point (AP) still needs to authenticate itself to the client station (STA), and keys to encrypt the traffic need to be derived. The earlier EAP exchange has provided the shared secret key PMK (Pair wise Master Key). This key is, however, designed to last the entire session and should be exposed as little as possible. [1] Therefore the four-way handshake is used to establish another key called the PTK (Pairwise Transient Key). The PTK is generated by concatenating the following attributes: PMK, AP nonce (ANonce), STA nonce (SNonce), AP MAC address, and STA MAC address. The product is then put through a cryptographic hash function. [1] The handshake also yields the GTK (Group Temporal Key), used to decrypt multicast and broadcast traffic. The actual messages exchanged during the handshake are depicted in the figure and explained below: [1] 2.2.6.2 Group Key Hand Shake The GTK used in the network may need to be updated due to the expiry of a preset timer. When a device leaves the network, the GTK also needs to be updated. This is to prevent the device from receiving any more multicast or broadcast messages from the AP. [2] To handle the updating, 802.11i defines a Group Key Handshake that consists of a two-way handshake: [2] The AP sends the new GTK to each STA in the network. The GTK is encrypted using the KEK assigned to that STA and protects the data from being tampered using a MIC. The STA acknowledges the new GTK and replies to the AP. [2] 2.3 Differences between WEP, WPA and WPA2 2.3.1 Encryption Methods WEP uses only one encryption method for the whole network, but in WPA, encryptions are dedicated for every user. One user has its own encryption method. 2.3.2 Authentication In WEP Authentication, it uses Open or Shared key authentication method. In WPA operates on Pre-Shared Key Method. As well as WPA uses an authentication server to validate the user and it using EAP to send all the informations to the Server. But WEP does not use any authentication server. 2.3.3 Security Protocols and Key Streams WEP uses WEP as their Security protocol. This is a primary wireless protocol that has few loop hols for attackers, in WPA use Temporal Key Integrity Management as the security protocol. WPA 2 uses bit advanced security protocol than both of the WEP and WPA. It uses Counter Mode with Cipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code Protocol (CCMP). WPA and WEP both use Rivest Cipher 4 as their cipher, but WPA 2 uses Advanced Encryption Standards. WEP uses 40 and 104 bits key length for the encryption key. WPA use 128 bit for the encryption and 64 bit for the Authentication. WPA2 uses 128 bit key streams for the both Encryption and the authentication. 2.3.4 Data Integrity and Key Generation WEP use Cyclic Redundancy Check 32 bit Method to check the Integrity of the data. WPA use Michael Message Integrity Code to check the integrity of data. WPA2 has CBC-MAC for that operation. WEP does the key generation by using Concatenation. In WPA used â€Å"Two phase mixing function (both TKIP and RC4)†. WPA2 doesnt require any key generation. 2.4 Security Threats Associated with Wireless Networks As Discussed above, nowadays wireless networks become more popular than the wired networks. Many organisations including Commercial Companies, Hospitals, government offices and most of the houses use wireless networks to facilitate different services. But the problem is WLAN are not 100 percent protective from attacks. 802.11x networks are vulnerable to certain attacks. There are thousands of papers and reports available in the internet that describes those kinds of attacks and security threats to WLANs. These security threats mainly target on Confidentiality, Integrity and Network availability. WLAN attacks normally divide in to 2 types. Those are â€Å"Active Attacks† andâ€Å"Passive Attacks†. Then those 2 main classes sub divided into types of attacks. 2.4.1 Active Attacks Active attacks are the most dangerous attack type. In here, hacker or the unauthorised party gain access to the system and do the modifications to the system or the message transmitting. This outcome a receiving an incorrect message stream or a file to the recipient. Active attacks result a loss of integrity of the network. Active attacks are possible to detect by using special software like packet monitors. But the problem associated with this kind of attacks are, its difficult to prevent these kinds of attacks. Active attacks can be sub categorised in to 4 Methods of attacking. Following explain those, 2.4.1.1 Masquerade In here, Attacker imitates as an authorised user in the network and gains the access to the network. This kind of attacks can be happened in few ways. The first consideration is authorised user give away the password to an unknown person or a group of people. So automatically they are possible to get access to the system. The other consideration is hacker can use some software pieces to collect the passwords or access keys of authorised users. There are many methods to perform this kind of attack. Installing Key Board Activities Recording software is a very successful method to collect these kinds of informations. 2.4.1.2 Reply The Attacker can monitor the transmissions of the source and destination machines and re transmit the informations as a legitimate user. So the attackers computer acts as the Source and destination accordingly, to get the actual source and Destinations informations. Reply attacks are offline attacks. The attacker first gathers all the data and then later decrypts that information. This informations could be users authentication session informations that carries WLAN password. 2.4.1.3 Message Modification In here, attacker tries to modify a particular message or informations. This could results a transmitting wrong informations to the legitimate user. 2.4.1.3 Denial of Service This is a very popular attack type and very easily does in a WLAN environment. The main goal of this attack is make the network unavailable to the users. it generally consists of the concerted efforts of a person or people to prevent an Internet site or service from functioning efficiently or at all, temporarily or indefinitely [wiki]. This attacks cause Loss of Network a

Barclays Bank SWOT Analysis

Barclays Bank SWOT Analysis Barclays was started by the British Empire and it characterizes as the British banking from twentieth century. Barclays appeared as the largest bank of Britain in 1950. Due to the ferocious competition in 1980 and because of its lending policies Barclays banking became imprudent. Later on Barclays built its empire in 50 countries. Innovation and adoption of good marketing strategies leaded the Barclays as one of the largest banks all around the world. Main objective of Barclays is to give value to the customers and clients. Barclays has employed almost 135,000 workers in 50 countries. It offers devoted services to small and medium businesses. Barclays income before tax is approximately 7 billion. This profit returns shows the good portfolio management of business. Services that are providing by bank are unique and innovative. Ambition of Barclays is to become one of the leading banks in all over the world and to provide the services to the financial industry globally. Meaning thereby, providing full and innovative retail and wholesale services to the customers. Barclays strategy focuses on the identification of needs of customers and then providing them services accordingly. Barclays follows the principle of making profit, investing that profit and hence growing. BARCLAYS SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths Strength of the company is taken as the internal element. The strength factor represents and focuses those elements within the company that become the strong points of that pertaining company. Barclays is founded in 1896 and it is enjoying benefits from the strong penetration exists in the banking industry. Barclays is providing its services in 50 different countries. Barclays group is one of the leading and rapidly growing groups in the world. Main strength of Barclays is that in banking sector and by asset base it is the third largest bank. And in market capitalization perspective it is third largest bank in United Kingdom. Barclays has the wide customers base and strong growth base in all over the world. Barclays networking for the distribution is very strong and it has multi-channels available for distribution networking. Branches, automatic teller machines, online banking services, on phone banking services and its relationship managers are all considered as its sources and channels of networking. Barclays workers and employees are more innovative and are more passionate towards their work. One of the strength factors of the bank is its operational efficiency. Physical and financial resources available to banks are very good. Its operations are well diversified. Barclays diversified operations include the retail banking, consumer lending, home financing, lending to small and medium enterprises, corporate banking, banking in investments and asset management. Barclays was the first bank that launched and introduced the credit cards in United Kingdom and till then Barclays brand name has embedded in the minds of the customers. Strong brand name has become the strength of the Barclays bank now. Bank has carried out its operations in credit card line with the help of the sponsorship that was provided by the English premier league. Financial performance of Barclays bank is very good. It takes help of technology for improving its banking services as it gives response electronically to the queries of clients. Barclays provides innovative financial services to the clients by using the information technology. It is providing online security so that thefts and frauds will be prevented. For this security Barclays bank is using different software. Fraud cases will be avoided by using the software. Barclays bank is geographically diversified bank and it performs its business operations in different countries. Branches of Barclays are widely spread in all over the worlds. Bank takes the benefit from the geographical diversification and it spreads its risks widely across the countries and gets advantage of the economies of scales. Opening of new branches of Barclays bank and renovation of the branches in different countries will attract the clients and will enhance and boost the performance of Barclays banks. Barclay applies different marketing tools like product mix and gives importance to the services that are provided to clients and hence focuses more on the customer relationship management. Weaknesses Weaknesses are the internal factor of the company. Company is affected adversely because of the presence of these elements. Company should try to eradicate these negative factors in order to enhance its business performance. Impairment charges in Barclays bank are very high. These charges occur due to the impairments of loans, more chances of bankruptcy and poor loan recovery management. Bank efforts for the recovery of loan from businesses and credit cards are not good. Barclays brand image has affected a lot by the unethical activities and wrong promotion of bank through advertisement. Barclays was also fined for these unhealthy and adverse promotions. More controversies and questions arouse due to that brand image. Due to this deteriorating and bad brand image, Barclays performance has affected a lot. Investors give more importance to the ethical issues and after these unhealthy activities many investors drew their investments back from the bank. Banks capital ratio is less than the average industry ratio. Bank can face difficulty in the case of financial crises due to this low capital ratio. Due to the inefficiency of operations, bank has low return on assets and less profit margins. Moreover Barclays cost on income is more as compare to other banks. More cost income ratio of bank represents the inefficiency of the business operations of the bank. Barclays failed to cope up with the integration between information technology, business processes and brand. It did not gain success in the planned synergies and outcomes. Barclays has fewer branches in the region of Asia. Banking industry is emerging and growing in Asia. Barclays did not take these openings in account and this is considered to be the strategic negligence of the bank. Bank can avail opportunity by opening the branches in Asian countries. Bank is paying large bonuses and incentives to its directors and this has become the source of criticism. Banks dividend policy is less attractive to the investors and as Barclays is paying fewer dividends to its investors. Banks marketing strategy is not up to the mark and people are less aware of the bank due to the absence of marketing campaigns and promotions. Barclays are paying less consideration towards the adoption of the modern technology and equipments. Sales promotions of Barclays are not striking the customers attention they need to be improved. Opportunities Opportunities are external factor for the company. As the name indicates this element identifies the opportunities available in the market for the company. Company can gain competitive edge on other companies by availing and utilizing the opportunities available to it. Numerous opportunities are available to Barclays due to the increase trend of globalization. Banks are performing their operations globally and Barclays can take benefit from this positive outlook of globalization. With the growth of the global banking industry Barclays being the leading and well positioned financial institution can exploit the financial market by expanding its deposit base. Barclays can take advantage of emerging economies by strengthening its positions in the retail and commercial banking operations in those growing economies. Diverse opportunities for the growth of revenues are available in United Kingdom for Barclay. Trend of corporate lending is also increasing and Barclays can exploit this opportunities by giving more loans to corporate sector. Operational efficiency of Barclays can be increased by applying the good asset management principles. Increase in mergers, acquisitions and renovations in banking industry give the positive opening to banks. Barclays can utilize this opportunity as investment banking industry is expected to expand and it can increase its operating cash flows by making acquisitions. Due to off shoring of financial institutions cost of investment has decreased. Banks are opening their branches in those countries that are less costly to obtain the cost efficiencies. Barclays can fortify its working in Asian banking industries like in Indian market in order to achieve the cost efficiencies and to gain more profit and return margins. Objective of Barclays is to provide the good services to customer worldwide. This objective provides lots of opportunities to Barclays like cross-selling its products across many countries. Barclays can exploit, expand its branches, avail opportunities and set its operation in the Asian banking industry. Barclays can use high tech-technology by adding more websites that contains sufficient information of Barclays banking. Provision of welfare is also ceased in those countries where the cost to the government has increased but Barclays can make use of the trend of provision by itself. Barclays can attract more investors by formulating good dividend policies and by providing good returns to the shareholders. Use of good marketing strategy like product mix enhances the efficiency of the business and Barclays can use the tools and techniques of good marketing strategies for grabbing the customers attention. Barclay can also take hold of other banks customer by providing good services that conforms to the need of the customer. Cost efficiencies can be gained by Barclays through the opening of branches in the low cost locations like in Asian countries. Integration of business processes with the information technology can provide more synergy and success to the bank. Barclays can strengthen its brand image by conducting more marketing campaigns, advertisements and promotions. Threats Threats are also the external element of the company. Threat factor in the SWOT analysis diverts the attention of the company towards the pertaining risks in market. Company has to avoid these threats by taking precautionary measures against them. Financial markets have become volatile in recent few years. This financial threat affects the investment opportunities in markets. Investors are hesitant to invest in financial institutions due to the financial volatility. Barclays revenues from investments are also affected by this unstable market behavior. Interest rates fluctuations discourage the consumer to take the services of credit cards. When interest rate fluctuates rapidly then consumer becomes conservative and does not take the credit card borrowings. Barclays credit card facilities are also affected by these fluctuations as many consumers are not availing the credit card borrowings now. Barclays has also threat from other foreign banks as these banks can take high proportion and percentage of the total assets within the banking industry and can decrease the market shares of Barclays bank. Barclays has to face many challenges before acquiring the similar size bank or institution as it has failed to acquire the Royal bank of Scotland and there are chances due to this reason that workers of Barclays bank will resist the integration and acquisition of bank. Internet and online banking frauds are increasing with the increase in the awareness of the technology. These frauds are done through system hacking, emails and through telephonic calls. Barclays can suffer a lot from this threat in future. Barclays can be sued as it is famous of making wrong investments from its deposits and from other investments. Barclays has to give proper consideration towards these decisions in future. Bank can go in the state of bankruptcy if these wrong investments decisions of Barclays will continue in the future. More threats are present to bank due to the vicious competition in the banking industry as customers can go to other banks for the same product because of the other banks specialized approach. Customers are demanding more innovative products and it has become difficult for the bank to cope up with these rapid innovations. Bank has to go for online products and different products mix for gaining the customers attention towards its products. Expansion of branches in Asian countries seems to be risky for Barclays and this situation depicts that other financial institutions in banking industry are in more strong positions than Barclays. Barclays is also facing threats from investment as Barclays dividend policy is least attractive to the investors and it is not giving good dividends to investors on their shares. Barclays can face difficulty in gaining the investors attention if it will not amend its dividend policy. Barclays can face threat in terms of its customer service from other competitors like if competitors are advertising their customer services and their care about the customers then Barclays can lose it customers and to retain the customers Barclays has to provide higher level of services than its competitors. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Barclays is one of the largest financial service groups in United Kingdom. Barclays image has become imprudent due to its ineffective policy structure. It was founded in 1896. In market capitalization perspectives and asset base it is third largest bank in United Kingdom. Barclays has good availability of human and financial resources. Barclays has launched and introduced the credit cards first time in United Kingdom. Launching of credit card has embedded the good brand image of Barclays in all over the world. Barclays networking of distribution channels are very strong. Banks branches, online banking services and its customer relationship management are considered as its networking sources. Bank has branches in different countries so it can take benefit of diversifications and can spread its risks widely across these countries. Barclays can take advantage from acquisitions and mergers and can increase its operating cash flows. By off shoring Barclays can gain and enjoy the benefit of cost efficiencies. This cost efficiencies can be availed by opening branches in low cost locations like in Asian countries. Barclays should improve its loan recovery management and should reduce the chances for the loans impairments. Bank should pay heed on its advertisement as its brand image has affected a lot by adverse promotions. Banks should improve its asset management operations and its profit margin ratio. Dividend policy of Barclays in not efficient and its dividend payout ratio is not good. Investors demand good return on their investments and if they do not get good dividends then there is large probability that they will draw out their investments bank. Also sales promotions of Barclays are not grabbing the customer attentions. Barclays investment opportunities have adversely affected due to the high volatility in financial markets. Investors are taking out their money from market due to interest rates rapid fluctuations. Barclays revenues are also affected by this market volatility. Barclays should make use of high and more innovative technologies as fraud cases in banking industry is increasing. Barclays should improve its strategic decisions because it is famous of making wrong investments. Bank can suffer a great loss due to these wrong investment decisions. Bank should provide more innovative products and good services to customers. It should give more importance on the customer relationship management for the retention of loyal customers.

My Dream Place Essay -- Descriptive Essay, Descriptive Writing

My dream place would be a house on a Galapagos Island. My land will be located on the Isabella Island. It will be nice and relaxing because it has a constant weather all that time, perfect environment. Also I will have a nice 2 floor cabin. The cabins will look like the ones that you see in forest. My whole family will live there after I am 75. But before that I will spend my time gathering all the money to buy a piece of land, a plane, a boat, and some vegetable seed (lot of them). I want my dream place to be nice and relaxing where you can enjoy the environment and very peaceful weather. Since I am a vegetarian, I will own a farm with couple of horses, cows, chickens, couple of healthy, fully trained by me dogs, and the lands will be about 17 acres. The horses and the cows will have 15 flat acres of land. In this specific area, it will have a beautiful lake that surrounds 0.13 acres of land where there will be an oak tree. It will be a home to all the ducks, swan, and flamingos. And on this lake there will be couple of different types of fountains. Surrounding the lake will be s...

Internet Music Sharing and the RIAA Essay -- Internet Online Communica

Internet Music Sharing and the RIAA In today’s high-tech computer savvy world, one of the largest controversies brewing on the internet is the downloading and sharing of music using various peer-to-peer programs such as Kazaa, Limewire, Audio Galaxy, and many others. These programs use software that, â€Å"rather than going through a server to request information, can make requests directly to other software. This attribute is what allows users of P2P networks to freely exchange music, movies and other types of files (Friedenberg).† To the everyday user, downloading all of their music from the internet is great. Who wouldn’t want to be able to get the newest Radiohead CD months before it comes out in stores and for free? However, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) doesn’t find sharing music over the internet to be quite as appealing; in fact, according to the RIAA’s official website, they have begun launching their first of what could potentially be thousand’s of civil lawsuits against users of these peer-to-peer programs. (Recording Industry Begins Suing P2P File Sharers Who Illegally Offer Copyrighted Music Online). On Monday, September 10th, the RIAA sued 261 people, one of whom was a 12-year-old girl, Brianna LaHara of New York. This lawsuit was settled for $2,000 on Tuesday, by her mother (Music Piracy Suits Could Bring Backlash ) and was actually paid by P2P United, which is a group who represents major file-sharing websites on the internet (Mello). Mo st likely to appear to the people that are on the edge between the goods and evils of file sharing as the good guy, for helping out a 12-year-old who many believe shouldn’t have been prosicuted. Many people were upset by this particu... ... September 2003. . Mello, John P. â€Å"RIAA Settles First Lawsuit Against 12-Year-Old Brianna LaHara.† Tech News World. 11 September 2003. Tech News World. 23 September 2003. . â€Å"Music Piracy Suits Could Bring Backlash.† CNN.com. 10 September 2003. CNN. 21 September 2003. < http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/09/10/backlash.music.ap/index.html>. Recording Industry Association of America – About Us. Recording Industry Association of America. 21 September 2003. . â€Å"Recording Industry Begins Suing P2P File Sharers Who Illegally Offer Copyrighted Music Online.† 8 September 2003. Recording Industry Association of America. 21 September 2003 .

People Should Look After Their Health as a Duty to Society They Live in Rather Than Personal Benefits Essay

It has long been believed that an individual’s health is a private matter. However, in contemporary society, where human interaction is frequent and medical costs are high, the health of any individual concerns the whole community. Society as a whole suffers when an individual falls ill. Nowadays, a disease can spread very quickly between people in the same community and even across national borders. If a single patient is not diagnosed and treated in time, many more people will be affected. In addition, the high cost of medical treatment a patient requires is usually paid by the government and society. A smoker who suffers from lung cancer, for example, is making other taxpayers pay for his habit. For these reasons, health is more than just a personal matter. In the same way, good health benefits society as well as the individual. By keeping fit, a person is not only investing in his/her future, but also contributing to the overall productivity of society. That is the reason why many governments encourage their people to participate in sports as a way of boosting their health. Some people might argue that their freedom will be limited if their health is regarded as a public matter. However, I would like to point out that personal enjoyment should never be placed above public interests. Drug users, for example, are punished in any civilized society. In conclusion, health is not an issue like seatbelts which affect only the individual. In an era when everybody is involved with everybody else, people should look after their health for the sake of society as well as themselves.

Adversarial System vs. Civil Law Essay

The European civil law system is all about finding the truth, even if a lawyer has to lose the case for their client while doing so. The American adversarial system is about winning, even if it means avoiding and stretching the truth to do so. Civil law has the laws made by the government and the courts apply them, while common law has the judges making the majority of the laws through precedents. The adversarial system uses specific laws, precedents, and legal rules to determine who wins. It allows lawyers to take the truth and spin it into the picture that is the most beneficial to their client. They can use loopholes in the law to keep evidence from being allowed to cause their guilty clients to be punished for what they have done. Once all the talking is done, it is up to twelve people to decide whose lawyer did a better job of convincing them to believe them. See more: Beowulf essay essay The civil system uses general ideas and broad concepts to form the framework for taking the evidence at hand and attempting to determine what the truth is. When the truth is revealed, lawyers do not try to hide it or escape from it, even if they do not like the results. A major disadvantage of this system is that those twelve people from the common law system are only used in major criminal cases, so when the truth is unclear, only a couple people get to determine who is right, and three people can be wrong easier than twelve people in 100% agreement. In my opinion from what I have learned, I believe that the civil law system has an advantage in finding the ideal of the judicial system – justice. In the adversarial system, the truth can be avoided, and once it is, there can be no justice. As to the question of whether there are constitutional problems with applying civil laws in the US, the most obvious one is that a jury trial is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights to protect a defendant from being condemned by the voice of one person.