The Smartphone Security Awareness Information Technology Essay

The Smartphone Security Awareness Information Technology Essay Over the past decade mobile phones have become pervasive and have evolved significantly from feature phones to smartphones to fit the increasing needs of the competitive market and to meet consumers wants and needs. The purpose of this research paper is to provide insight and raise security awareness into the risks posed by unsecured smart mobile devices. Smartphones are ubiquitous devices and are comparative to the personal computer in terms of computational power, choice of operating systems, software with the same extended features and the ability to support 3rd party software. Smartphones have enabled businesses and their workforce the freedom to collaborate and access organizational data 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. What has been done to protect individuals and businesses from the ever increasing threat of mobile orientated attacks? Pervasive computing (also called ubiquitous computing) Endpoint security antivirus/malware enterprise information infrastructure mobile information security perspective security awareness training technical topics are outside the scope of this research Introduction The purpose of this document is to expose a business problem from a technological viewpoint. The subject of the business problem I have selected is on smartphone security awareness. This subject will be analysed and critically evaluated, then expanded upon further to reflect the range of possible solutions and create a comprehensive guide for the benefit of the reader. 1.1 Motivation The motivation for this project was mostly due to my vocational role as an IT consultant. During the course of my employment over the past decade within the IT industry, I have noticed a substantial gap within businesses for the need of greater smartphone security and awareness. It was obvious to me that along with the evolution and improved capabilities of cellular devices, established a greater risk for organisations. This thesis is the result of work I have personally carried out in various roles throughout my technological career between October 2004 and December 2010. 1.2 Aims and objectives The following are my aims and objectives for this project Aims Create an authoritative document with recommendations to raise awareness and inform businesses for the need of greater mobile security within the business environment. Use insight to establish a research gap. Main objectives Assess smart mobile devices currently used. Analyse security advantages and disadvantages of smart mobile devices. Establish what risks smart mobile devices are exposed to. Evaluate impact of risk exposed by unsecure mobile devices to businesses. Examine mobile security currently available. Investigate responsibility Evaluate current business policies and procedures for mobile devices and how these are enforced. Construct smartphone security guide with recommendations for businesses. 1.3 Problem Statement The problem is information and financial loss due to information theft or inaccessibility from malicious software (malware), and the detrimental impact this has upon the business. There are many types of information that can be stored on smartphones for example, personally identifiable information in the form of contact details (phone, address), email, GPS coordinatesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Information security has gained significant value within the business domain over the past decade however this value remains subjective. Users have been made aware of the risks posed by malicious software whilst using their personal computer on the internet, now assistive technology like smart mobile devices are becoming increasingly more powerful, functional and ubiquitous. Where personal computers have at least some security software in place as standard, smartphones commonly have no security software installed and are susceptible to the same threats as personal computers. Businesses, professionals and personal users now have a greater awareness for the need of personal computer security. This has been provided by media coverage, enterprise training or through personal experience. When using a personal computer or laptop for example, it is common to find a firewall and antivirus software installed showing that internet safety has now become a social normalcy. Example http://www.bloobble.com/broadband-presentations/presentations?itemid=3397 Data loss or inaccessibility due to a virus, data theft due to Smartphones are high specification mobile personal computers, and are subject to the same risks personal computers are open to. There are four to five billion mobile phones and we are approaching a billion smart phones. But remember that these devices are more powerful than supercomputers were a few years ago, and we are putting them in the hands of people whove never had anything like it before. Google CEO Eric Schmidt Businesses need IT to function, IT adds value and to compete in todays economic climate. ITs purpose is to save time, time is money. Todays organisations rely heavily upon information technology in order to allow their business to function (Khosrowpour, 2001). This is fundamentally due to how intricate information technology systems are embedded into organisations. Enterprise architecture (EA) is a communication tool between IT and business (Zachman, 2004). EA is multifaceted (Wagter et al, 2005) and for the scope of the project I will be examining how the Security Architecture (SA) facet can benefit organisations to secure the Information Technology within the business against the increasing threat that unsecured mobile devices pose. There are many different mobile operating systems for smart mobile devices requiring different security applications. I will analyse these systems and the risks associated. My intentions are to investigate what impacts smart mobile devices can have on businesses, why these problems affect the organisation, and how they are overcome. Finally I will gather insight and make recommendations that businesses can use to foresee and prevent future unnecessary costs and risk. 2 Literature review 2.1 Background The subject I have proposed to use for this project is a very real-world business and information technology problem. Because smartphone security is still in its infancy, it is currently quite a challenge to source accurate and relevant information from authoritative sources such as Emerald without resorting to web based research. However, the more this project advances smartphone security in the media is becoming omnipresent. The first documented computer virus was designed over 25years ago by two brothers named name 1 and name 2 in Pakistan, the virus was called the brain virusà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Timeline evolution of the mobile telephone (Malware) Analogue Cellular Mobile History / Uses 2.2 Current status/Development of theories Information is all that needs to be secured. Malware is changing, smartphones are changing and businesses are changing. How far up the technological ladder are mobiles/feature phones/smartphones 2.3 How this project fits in with the literature review I had chosen the subject then chosen the literature review method, thus tailoring the literature review to fit the requirements of the project. 3 Research methods 3.1 Introduction: hypothesis Throughout my employment, I recognised a gap and need for smartphone security within 3.2 Epistemology http://www.learnhigher.ac.uk/analysethis/main/quantitative1.html One of the methods of analysis I will to use is the conceptual method, this has been described by Beaney as a way of breaking down or analysing concepts into their constituent parts in order to gain knowledge. Conceptual analysis consists primarily in breaking down or analysing concepts into their constituent parts in order to gain knowledge or a better understanding of a particular philosophical issue in which the concept is involved (Beaney 2003). I have interpreted this to mean the compartmentalisation and analysis of data. The proposed project will be delivered using an analytical in-depth research structure. I have chosen this project structure as it will primarily be research based on the current business problem as previously stated. I intend to analyse this problem, propose possible solutions, test and implement a well-documented solution with recommendations. Critical and creative thinking skills such as Edward.De Bono six thinking hats will be used to examine the problem domain. A review will be given on how the systems work and compare them to how they should work. I will then analyse the solution domain by examining which options are available to improve the system security along with an optimal recommendation and the benefits it would provide. 3.3 Methodology Figure research methodFor my project I will implement a triangulated, positivistic methodological approach, I have chosen this particular technique as it will provide me a balanced view of the subject area. I will incorporate both quantitative and qualitative primary research methods as recommended by Bryman (BRYMAN, 2006). However for the scope of this project I will be mostly using Quantitative based research as indicted in Fig 1 below. . Bryman advises that quantitative data can be gathered by way of a survey and qualitative research collected from journals and interviews. Initially I will undertake primary research in the form of a survey questionnaire, and furthermore I will interview professionals in the field of smartphones and security such as police personnel, security advisors and mobile phone shop staff. The survey will be available to respondents in paper form and electronically hosted so any user with internet access may access it. I will design the survey to be concise and simple to maximise the amount of respondents and gain quality information. My target survey participants are business managers, IT professionals and general smartphone users. I have chosen to target these particular users as I am trying to ascertain not only the perception of smartphone security but also what policies and procedures are put in place and how aware users are of these. I have proposed to target these users by using a popular internet based technological social news website named Reddit. Reddit has a daily turnover of over 850.000 unique users (Alexa, 2010). According to Alexa the average Redditor is male, between the age of 18 to 44, does not have children, is well educated and browses Reddit either from work or home, suggesting that the majority of Redditors are working professionals and due to being a technological social news website the average user is technologically aware (Alexa, 2010). This confirms my premise and establishes that Reddit would suit my proposed target survey participant. There are many options available for online survey software, each option has its benefits and weaknesses, I have carefully analysed these options personally and have chosen to utilise the cloud based option Survey Monkey to host my survey. The default limitations of Survey Monkey are the survey itself has been designed to be logical with closed questioning and Qualitative data has been sourced from reliable and authoritative resources. I have chosen journals from Emerald Primary research methods used Interviewing mobile phone shop staff, police, business owners I will critically analyse the results of my survey by comparing the answers given to a risk register. 4 Results 4.1 Presentation and description of results Who took part? A survey was conducted to establish the awareness for the need of smartphone security. Users were openly invited from technological backgrounds to partake in the survey and assured of anonymity. A total of 758 people responded to the online survey from a possible 854,998 potential participants. The survey itself was open for one month during February and March 2011. The results indicated that majority share with 82% of survey responders being male as opposed to the 18% that were female both averaging at 26 years of age, this confirms part of my original hypothesis as an average smartphone user. When asked, 53% of respondents reported that they had used their smartphone solely for personal use as opposed to the 45% of partakers that reported they used their smartphone for both business and personal use, with just 2% reporting to use a smartphone solely for business use only as shown in Fig 2 combining a total of 47%.C:UsersLeeDesktopUniUniversity 2010_11MikeDissertationDocumentsDissertationSurveySurvey monkey charts8 FeaturesSM_Features_Line.png Figure Smartphone use 25% of respondents had only been using smartphones for the past six months, 17% were aware they had been using them for at least a year and a majority percentage of 59% had been using smartphones for more than one year. Only 12% of respondents opted to use the pay as you go payment facilities as opposed to the greater majority of 88% that have contracts. SMARTPHONE 34% of respondents used an Apple IPhone, 58% reported to use Android smartphones, 13% used Blackberries and 6% (46) of respondents had Nokia smartphones. (GRAPHIC) 87% of respondents had used calendar functions, 94% of respondents used email, 86% of used games, 87% of respondents used GPS features, 74% of respondents used instant messaging, 52 % of respondents used internet banking facilities, 66% of respondents used multimedia messaging service (MMS), 94% of respondents used the short messaging service (SMS) feature and 78% of respondents admitted to using social networking sites on their smartphone. A total of 756 participants responded and 2 participators chose not to answer the question. From a total of 758 respondents, 63% (476) valued the physical smartphone above the 37% (282) whom valued the information more. Applications 93% of survey partakers used 3G for mobile data communication, 59% of respondents used Bluetooth technology, only 4% of had used infrared line of sight technology, 75% of respondents admitted to connecting via universal serial bus (USB), 94% of participators had used wireless for mobile data communication. Total of 757 participators answered this question and 1 partaker chose to skip the question. Security Survey respondents considered smartphone security as beneficial but not essential as the majority answer with 64% (485), 21% (159) didnt not consider there to be a need currently for smartphone security software as opposed to 15% (114) whom considered smartphone security software as absolutely essential. A total of 758 of 758 responded to this question. 87% Of participants stated that they do not use any smartphone security software. 87% of participants reported that they did not use any form of smartphone security software such as antivirus as opposed to 13% that did. A majority of 92% (699) had not been advised of any security methods to protect them or their information from fraud, theft or malicious software. 8% (59) respondents agreed they had received adequate security advice. Everyone answered this. Malware 95% (694) of respondents were aware of Adware, 27% had known about Badware, 25% (181) of respondents were aware of Crimeware, 69% (504) had previous knowledge of Rootkits, Trojans'(95%, 696), Spyware (95%, 697), and Worm (90%, 656)were the most commonly aware terms of malware from the malicious software list, the majority being Virus (711) with 97% of respondents being aware of this type of malware. 731 respondents answered this question. 62% of survey participants reported that they did not pay attention to licence agreements and permissions when installing applications on their smartphones 34% reported they did read the licence agreements and permissions. 4% of respondents believed that this question was not applicable to them for their smartphone use. Personal Computer 81% of responders were aware for the need of security software for personal computers and 19% were not aware. All survey partakers responded to this question. 94% (713) participants have connected their smartphone to a personal computer (PC), 6% (46) stated they had not ever connected to a PC. All 758 respondents answered this question. 96% (728) respondents stated that they owned the smartphone, only 4% (30) of respondents had employer owned smartphones. All partakers responded to this question. Responsibility Out of the 758 respondents, 15% (115) were aware of policies within their place of business, with the majority of respondents 41% (309) unaware of any workplace policies or procedures particularly orientated toward smartphones. 44% (334) responded that the question was not applicable to them. All participants answered this question. 4.2 Discussion and interpretation of the results Awareness and concern Compare phones and age to security awareness Bb were the most security aware group Internet banking is true by smartphone antivirus is false and user is aware of computer antivirus need. Harris Interactive: Tablet users more likely to transfer sensitive data than smartphone users Serendipity, sagacity 5 Smartphones A mobile phone is a portable electronic device used to make and receive telephone calls. The mobile phone was first revealed by Dr Martin Cooper from the company Motorola in 1973, it was not until ten years after Dr Coopers demonstration that Motorola released its flagship mobile phone the DynaTAC, this was the worlds first commercially viable mobile phone (Motorola, 2009). Originally these devices were commercially targeted at businesses and upper class individuals as the cost of the device was very high and the actual usage was severely restricted, due to the technology limitations at this time battery weight was 2kg (Motorola, 2009) and the battery duration would last a maximum of 30 minutes thus making the device impractical and available only to businesses and professional consumers. According to Moores Law, the number of transistors on a chip roughly doubles every two years. (Intel, 2005) As Moore stated over thirty five years ago, due to the advancement of processors, battery technologies and overall reduced power consumption, mobile phones have become lighter, smaller, more powerful and longer lasting. Due to these fundamental technological advancements mobile phones have been able to incorporate additional existing technologies such as camera units, sensors, speakers and often take advantage of JAVA based applications and features, thus coining the term Feature phone. Feature phones are more advanced technologically than mobile phones. Smartphone The term smartphone is ambiguous and many experts fail to agree on a suitable definition. Most smartphone features are not exclusive to a particular category, this project does not intend to make that definition, however for the scope of this project I have listed combined definitions and compared current smartphone features as listed in Figure 3 below. Most vendorsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ type more Gartner, a world leading authority in information technology research define smartphones as A large-screen, voice-centric handheld device designed to offer complete phone functions while simultaneously functioning as a personal digital assistant.'(Gartner, 2010) Feature phones can have several of the characteristics as listed below in figure 3, however smartphones have the capability of providing all the capabilities. As a result, any mobile device meeting all conditions of each function in figure 3 can be considered a smartphone under this definition. Figure Smartphone characteristics Function Characteristic Phone size Device is compact and easily transported. Operating System Operating system that allows third party applications. Connectivity Device provides multiple methods (wired and wireless) of connecting to both the internet and other devices and networks. Input The device contains keyboard, or touchscreen keyboard. Storage capacity The device has a large and expandable storage facility. Office functionality The device provides the ability to perform basic office tasks such as email, take notes and word processing. Calendar The device includes a digital organiser and calendar. Synchronisation The device supports synchronisation of information with fixed desktop or laptop devices, or online web services. Phone Features The mobile device executes voice, text and multimedia message functions. Sensors Acceloratormeter, light, sound and movement sensors. A model to measure the maturity of smartphone security at softwareà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Under this definition of smartphones or Smart Mobile Device (SMD) the following mobile platforms were included: Apple iOS Blackberry Google Android Symbian Windows Mobile These mobile platforms were reported to be the top 5 mobile platforms used in 2010 Figure (?) Storage expansion cards Smartphones currently reside in the top tier of mobile communication technology. Third party operating system As previously stated there are many smartphone platforms available, each platform and brand bringing different benefits and functionality. These platforms or operating systems create opportunities for both businesses and personal users. For businesses this increased functionality provides the facility for added employee productivity. These opportunities exist not just for business and personal users as the opportunity extends to the bad guys too, I will continue to explain further in the document. Smartphone Definition A smartphone is defined as A cellular telephone with built-in applications and Internet access (PCMAG, 2010) describes a smartphone as a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ describes it asà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I have interpreted these descriptions and define smartphones as not feature phones basically. All smartphones have generalised functionality, such as input devices (keys, touchscreen) I will go into greater detail regarding the operating features Botha, et al (2009) point out that early generations of cell phones and PDAs had relatively little storage capability. Johnson (2009) indicates that todays generation of devices can be quickly and easily upgraded by adding additional storage cards. http://mobileopportunity.blogspot.com/2007/01/shape-of-smartphone-and-mobile-data.html 5.1 Apple The Apple Iphone was the original smartphone (), first released in June 2007. Popular, perceived security (apple store, scans for malware?) Simplistic design Limitations: NO support for flash 5.2 Android Open source, will be biggest 5.3 Blackberry (RIM) Security architecture built upon military specification, perceived most secure as email encryption (tunnelled) through Canada Banned in UAE 5.4 Symbian Owned by Finnish giant Nokia open sourcing the software opens up the availability of the Source Code to programmers, who can then develop, modify and distribute as they see fit meaning a richer and hopefully what becomes a considerably improved OS very quickly thanks to developer input. http://blog.mobiles.co.uk/mobile-news/symbian-os-goes-open-source/ http://blog.mobiles.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/symbian.jpg Most popular globally, acquired by Microsoft? 5.5 Windows mobile Newest player, least perceived secure device 6 Smartphone role within business environment 6.1 Email 7 Malware defined Continuously evolving, changing creative Virology Malware encompasses Define Malware (Family) Malware, short for  malicious software http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware Grimes (2001) defines malware as any software program designed to move from computer to computer and network to network to intentionally modify computer systems without the consent of the owner or operator. Etsebeth, V. (2007) Sensory malware soundminer, a stealthly Trojan with innocuous permissions that can sense the context of its audible surroundings to target and extract a very small amount of HIGH-VALUE DATA. Give example 7.1 Badware Give example 7.2 Crimeware Collecting company secrets for profit Crimeware is malicious software that is covertly installed on computers. Most crimeware progams are in fact Trojans. There are many types of Trojans designed to do different things. For example, some are used to log every key you type (keyloggers), some capture screenshots when you are using banking websites, some download other malicious code, and others let a remote hacker access your system. What they each have in common is the ability to steal your confidential information such as passwords and PINs and send it back to the criminal. Armed with this information, the cybercriminal is then able to steal your money. http://www.kaspersky.com/crimeware Give example 7.3 Greyware Adware spyware Give example 7.4 Riskware Give example 7.5 Rootkits iPad and smartphone rootkits demod by boffins http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/23/smartphone_rootkits_demoed/ Give example 7.4 Scareware Give example 7.5 Trojan Give example 7.6 Virus Give example 8 Define Risk to business or individual Mobile banking 8.1 Define Legal implications http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/its3/seminar-notes/2005-05-18-DataSecurityLaw.pdf Computer related crime Dishonestly obtaining electronic communication service Section 125 of the Communications Act 2003 creates an offence in relation to dishonestly obtaining use of an electronic communication service with intent to avoid payment of the charge applicable to that service. This offence reflects the continual advancement of technology, thus covering all the diverse types of services available Theft of information Oxford v Moss (1979) Unauthorised use of a computer: theft of services Theft Act 1968, s. 13 dishonestly uses without due authority, or dishonestly causes to be wasted or diverted, any electricityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Criminal damage à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Intangible (Computer Misuse Act 1990, s.3) unauthorised modification: to impair the operation, prevent or hinder access or reliability denial of service: The Caffrey problem à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Case law insiders à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Whitaker (1993) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Lindesay (2000) virus writers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ e.g. Pile (1995), Vallor (2003) 8.2 Responsibility Examine who is responsible Define Solutions Effects and results of infected device on company with each malware type 9 Security Security doesnt exist in products and verbiage alone; it requires a process, people, policies, education, and technologies working together. http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=6502997 9.1 ISO27002 9.2 COBIT 5 Schedule to release in 2011, COBIT 5 will consolidate and integrate the  COBIT 4.1, Val IT 2.0 and Risk IT frameworks and also draw significantly from the Business Model for Information Security (BMIS) and ITAF. http://www.isaca.org/Knowledge-Center/COBIT/Pages/Overview.aspx Security updates? 9.3 Smartphone security solutions http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/020911-ibm-juniper-mobile-security.html 10 Conclusions Moores Law http://venturebeat.com/2010/08/13/moore%E2%80%99s-law-hits-a-wall-trouble-for-mobile-growth/#disqus_thread 10.1 Summary 10.2 Future work Mobile wallets customers will be able to transfer funds from their bank account/paypal using their phones via text message (http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/Malware_Goes_Mobile.pdf) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NirvanaPhone future smartphone symbiant acquisitioned by Microsoft (biggest os for pcs) newest player to smartphone market. As Sensor-rich smartphones become more ubiquitous, sensory malware has the potential to breach the privacy of individuals at mass scales. https://www.cs.indiana.edu/~kapadia/papers/soundminer-ndss11.pdf 11 Glossary PC Personal computer PDA Personal digital assistant Prosumer Professional + consumer = advanced consumer (Cisco, 2008) http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac79/docs/wp/Prosumer_VS2_POV_0404_FINAL.pdf

Compare the way Andrew Marvell and William King present relationships :: English Literature

Compare the way Andrew Marvell and William King present relationships between men and women in To His Coy Mistress and The Beggar Women. If we look at the 2 poems we can see some quite significant similarities between them about the relationships between men and women. We see in both poems the desire for sex from the two men, but both attempt to acquire it through different methods due to the difference in class between the women. First we must look at the difference in forms of the two poems. To His Coy Mistress is a dramatic monologue and so we can therefore see the narrator's attitude towards the lady he is trying to seduce. The Beggar Women is a ballad (so it is telling a story) this means that you can find a moral to the story; however, you are unable to see the attitude of the 'gentlemen' towards the women as easily. I both poems we see that neither of the men have much respect for the women. In The Beggar Women we see that the 'gentlemen' views the women very low which is perhaps given the historical context of the poem. In the poem he refers to her as "game", comparing her to the animals he was hunting, almost saying that she isn't considered important enough to be human. It then says, "her cheeks were fresh, and linen clean" which may suggest that the situation is not what it seems. In To His Coy Mistress we also see the narrator has little respect for the lady; however in this poem it seems quite unnecessary because she is a respectable lady. He mocks her for being a virgin - her "quaint honour" but in those times being virginal was the only way for a women to maintain a good reputation. In The Beggar Women the initial rhyming scheme is "rhyming couplets". The pattern deteriorates as the beggar woman begins to take control over the situation without the man realising. In To His Coy Mistress, if we look at the rhythm of the first 4 lines, it is in iambic quatrametre. This is a very powerful rhythm and may reflect just how hard the narrator is trying to seduce the women. In both poems there is also the obvious similarity of the men's one desire of sex and nothing else and how much they will do to achieve this. To His Coy Mistress shows the narrator taking a kind and adoring approach to getting the lady into bed with him in the first part of the poem (up to line 20). In this part he uses time as a positive

The Return: Nightfall Chapter 11

Bonnie couldn't remember any more sophisticated prayer and so, like a tired child, she was saying an old one: â€Å"†¦I pray the Lord my soul to take†¦.† She had used up all her energy calling for help and had gotten no response at all, just some feedback noise. She was so sleepy now. The pain had gone away and she was simply numb. The only thing bothering her was the cold. But then, that could be taken care of, too. She could just pull a blanket over herself, a thick, downy blanket, and she would warm up. She knew it without knowing how she knew. The only thing that held her back from the blanket was the thought of her mother. Her mother would be sad if she stopped fighting. That was another thing she knew without knowing how she knew. If she could just get a message to her mother, explaining that she had fought as hard as she could, but that with the numbness and the cold, she couldn't keep it up. And that she had known she was dying, but that it hadn't hurt in the end, so there was no reason for Mom to cry. And next time she would learn from her mistakes, she promised†¦next time†¦ Damon's entry was meant to be dramatic, coordinated with a flash of lightning just as his boots hit the car. Simultaneously, he sent out another vicious lash of Power, this time directed at the trees, the puppets who were being controlled by an unseen master. It was so strong that he felt a shocked response from Stefan all the way back at the boardinghouse. And the trees†¦melted backward into the darkness. They'd ripped the top off as if the car had been a giant sardine can, he mused, standing on the hood. Handy for him. Then he turned his attention to the human Bonnie, the one with the curls, who ought by rights to have been embracing his feet by now, and gasping out â€Å"Thank you!† She wasn't. She was lying just as she had been in the embrace of the trees. Annoyed, Damon reached down to grab her hand, when he got a shock of his own. He sensed it before he touched it, smelled it before he felt it smear on his fingers. A hundred little pinpricks, each leaking blood. The evergreen's needles must have done that, taking blood from her or – no, pumping some resinous substance in. Some anesthetic to keep her still as it took whatever was the next step in its consumption of prey – something quite unpleasant, to judge by the manners of the creature so far. An injection of digestive juices seemed most likely. Or perhaps simply something to keep her alive, like antifreeze for a car, he thought, realizing with another nasty shock just how cold she was. Her wrist was like ice. He glanced at the two other humans, the dark-haired girl with the disturbing, logical eyes, and the fair-haired boy who was always trying to pick a fight. He might just have cut this one too fine. It certainly looked bad for the other two. But he was going to save this one. Because it was his whim. Because she had called for his help so piteously. Because those creatures, thosemalach, had tried to make him watch her death, eyes half-focused on it as they took his mind off the present with a glorious daydream.Malach – it was a general word indicating a creature of darkness: a sister or brother of the night. But Damon thought it now as if the word itself were something evil, a sound to be spat or hissed. He had no intention of lettingthem win. He picked Bonnie up as if she were a bit of dandelion fluff and slung her over one shoulder. Then he took off from the car. Flying without changing shape first was a challenge. Damon liked challenges. He decided to take her to the nearest source of warm water, and that was the boardinghouse. He needn't disturb Stefan. There were half a dozen rooms in that warren that was making its genteel decline into the good Virginia mud. Unless Stefan was snoopy, he wouldn't go walking in on other folks' bathrooms. As it turned out, Stefan was not only snoopy butfast . There was almost a collision: Damon and his burden came around a corner to find Stefan driving down the dark road with Elena, floating like Damon, bobbing behind the car as if she were a child's balloon. Their first exchange of words was neither brilliant nor witty. â€Å"What the hell are you doing?† exclaimed Stefan. â€Å"What the hell areyou doing?† Damon said, or began to say, when he noticed the tremendous difference in Stefan – and the tremendous Power that was Elena. While most of his mind simply reeled in shock, a small part of it immediately began to analyze the situation, to figure out how Stefan had gone from a nothing to a – a – Good grief. Oh, well, might as well put a brave face on it. â€Å"I felt a fight,† Stefan said. â€Å"When did you become Peter Pan?† â€Å"You should be glad you weren't in the fight. And I can fly because I have the Power, boy.† This was sheer bravado. In any case, it was perfectly correct, back when they were born, to address a younger relative asragazzo , or â€Å"boy.† It wasn't now. And meanwhile the part of his brain that hadn't simply shut down was still analyzing. He could see, feel, do everything buttouch Stefan's aura. And it was†¦unimaginable. If Damon hadn't been this close, hadn't been experiencing it firsthand, he wouldn't have believed it was possible for one person to have so much Power. But he was looking at the situation with the same ability of cold and logical assessment that told him that his own Power – even after making himself drunk with the variety of women's blood he had taken in the last few days – his Power was nothing to Stefan's right now. And his cold and logical ability was also telling him that Stefan had been pulled out of bed for this, and that he hadn't had time – or hadn't been rational enough – to hide his aura. â€Å"Well, now, look at you,† Damon said with all the sarcasm that he could call up – and that turned out to be quite a lot. â€Å"Is it a halo? Did you get canonized while I wasn't looking? Am I addressing St. Stefan now?† Stefan's telepathic response was unprintable. â€Å"Where are Meredith and Matt?† he added fiercely. â€Å"Or,† continued Damon, exactly as if Stefan hadn't spoken, â€Å"could it be that you merit congratulation for having learned the art of deception at last?† â€Å"And what are you doing with Bonnie?† Stefan demanded, ignoring Damon's comments in turn. â€Å"But you still don't seem to have a grasp of polysyllabic English, so I'll put this as simply as I can. You threw the fight.† â€Å"I threw the fight,† Stefan said flatly, apparently seeing that Damon wasn't going to answer any of his questions until he'd told the truth. â€Å"I just thanked God thatyou seemed to be too mad or drunk to be very observant. I wanted to keep you and the rest of the world from figuring out just exactly what Elena's blood does. So you drove away without even trying to get a good look at her. And without suspecting that I could have shaken you off like a flea from the very beginning.† â€Å"I never thought you had it in you.† Damon was reliving their little combat in all-too-vivid detail. It was true: he had never suspected that Stefan's performance had been entirely that – a performance – and that he could have thrown Damon down at any time and done whatever he'd wanted. â€Å"And there's your benefactress.† Damon nodded up to where Elena was floating, secured by – yes, it was true – secured by clothesline to the clutch. â€Å"Just a little lower than the angels, and crowned with glory and honor,† he remarked, unable to help himself as he gazed up at her. Elena was, in fact, so bright that to look at her with Power channeled to the eyes was like trying to stare straight into the sun. â€Å"She seems to have forgotten how to hide as well; she's shining like a G0 star.† â€Å"She doesn't know how to lie, Damon.† It was clear that Stefan's anger was steadily mounting. â€Å"Now tell me what's going on and what you've done to Bonnie.† The impulse to answer,Nothing. Why, do you think I should? was almost irresistible – almost. But Damon was facing a different Stefan than he'd ever seen before. This is not the little brother you know and love to trample into the ground, the voice of logic told him, and he heeded it. â€Å"The other two huuu-mans,† Damon said, drawing the word out to its full obscene length, â€Å"are in their automobile. And† – suddenly virtuous – â€Å"I was taking Bonnie toyour place.† Stefan was standing by the car, at a perfect distance for examining Bonnie's outflung arm. The pinpricks turned into a smear of blood when he touched them, and Stefan examined his own fingers with horror. He kept repeating the experiment. Soon Damon would be drooling, a highly undignified behavior that he wished to avoid. Instead, he concentrated on a nearby astronomical phenomenon. The full moon, medium high, and white and pure as snow. And Elena floating in front of it, wearing an old-fashioned high-necked nightgown – and little if anything else. As long as he looked at her without the Power needed to discern her aura, he could examine her as a girl rather than as an angel in the midst of blinding incandescence. Damon cocked his head to get a better view of the silhouette. Yes, that was definitely the right apparel for her, and she should always stand in front of brilliant lights. If he – Slam. He was flying backward and to the left. He hit a tree, trying to make sure that Bonnie didn't hit it, too – she might break. Momentarily stunned, he floated – wafted really – down to the ground. Stefan was on top of him. â€Å"You,† said Damon somewhat indistinctly through the blood in his mouth, â€Å"have been a naughty boy, boy.† â€Å"She made me. Literally. I thought she might die if I didn't take some of her blood – her aura was that swollen. Now you tell me what's wrong with Bonnie – â€Å" â€Å"So you bled her despite your heroic unflagging resistance – â€Å" Slam. This new tree smelled of resin. I never particularly wanted to get acquainted with the insides of trees, Damon thought as he spat out a mouthful of blood. Even as a crow I only use them when necessary. Stefan had somehow snatched Bonnie out of the air while Damon was flying toward the tree. He was that fast now. He was very, very fast. Elena was aphenomenon . â€Å"So now you have a secondhand idea what Elena's blood is like.†And Stefan could hear Damon's private thoughts. Normally, Damon was always up for a fight, but right now he could almost hear Elena's weeping over her human friends, and something inside him felt tired. Very old – centuries old – and very tired. But as for the question, well,yes . Elena was still bobbing aimlessly, sometimes spread-eagled and sometimes balled up like a kitten. Her blood was rocket fuel compared to the unleaded gasoline in most girls. And Stefan wanted to fight. Wasn't even trying to hide it. I was right, Damon thought. For vampires, the urge to squabble is stronger than any other urge, even the need to feed or, in Stefan's case, the concern for his – what was the word? Oh, yes.Friends. Now Damon was trying to elude a thrashing, trying to enumerate his assets, which weren't many, because Stefan was still holding him down. Thought. Speech. A penchant for fighting dirty that Stefan just couldn't seem to understand. Logic. An instinctive ability to find the chinks in his foe's armor†¦ Hmmm†¦ â€Å"Meredith and† – damn! What was that boy'sname ? – â€Å"her escort are dead by now, I think,† he said innocently. â€Å"We can stay here and brawl, if that's what you want to call it, considering that I never laid a finger on you – or we can try to resuscitate them. Which will it be, I wonder?† He really did wonder about how much control Stefan had over himself right now. As if Damon had zoomed out abruptly with a camera, Stefan seemed to become smaller. He had been floating a few feet above the ground; now he landed and looked about himself in astonishment, obviously unaware that he had been airborne. Damon spoke in the pause while Stefan was most vulnerable. â€Å"I wasn't the one who hurt them,† he added. â€Å"If you'll look at Bonnie† – thank badness, he knewher name – â€Å"you'll see that no vampire could do it. I think† – he added ingenuously, for shock value – â€Å"that the attackers were trees, controlled by malach.† â€Å"Trees?†Stefan barely took time to glance at Bonnie's pin-pricked arm. Then he said, â€Å"We need to get them indoors and into warm water. You take Elena – â€Å" Oh, gladly. In fact I'd give anything,anything – † – and this car with Bonnie right back to the boardinghouse. Wake Mrs. Flowers. Do all you can for Bonnie. I'll go on ahead and get Meredith and Matt – â€Å" That was it! Matt. Now if only he had a mnemonic – â€Å"They're just up the road, right? That was where your first strafe of Power seemed to come from.† A strafe, was it? Why not be honest and just call it a feeble wash? And while it was fresh in his mind†¦M for Mortal, A for Annoying, T for Thing. And there you had it. The pity was that it applied to all of them and yet not all of them were called MAT. Oh, damn – was there supposed to be another T at the end? Mortal, Annoying, Troublesome Thing? Annoying Terrible Thing? â€Å"I said, is that all right?† Damon returned to the present. â€Å"No, it's not all right. The other car's wrecked. It won't drive.† â€Å"I'll float it behind me.† Stefan wasn't bragging, just making a statement of fact. â€Å"It's not even in one piece.† â€Å"I'll bind the pieces. Come on, Damon. I'm sorry I strafed you; I had a completely wrong idea about what was going on. But Matt and Meredith may really be dying, and even with all my new Power, and all of Elena's, we may not be able to save them. I've raised Bonnie's core temperature a few degrees but I don't dare to stay and bring it up slowly enough.Please , Damon.† He was putting Bonnie in the passenger seat. Well, thatsounded like the old Stefan, but coming from this powerhouse, the new Stefan, it had rather different undertones. Still, as long as Stefanthought he was a mouse, he was a mouse. End of discussion. Earlier Damon had felt like Mount Vesuvius exploding. Now he suddenly felt as if he werestanding near Vesuvius, and the mountain was rumbling. Ye gods! He actually felt seared just being this close to Stefan. He called on all his considerable resources, mentally packing himself in ice, and hoped that at least a breath of coolness underlay his answer. â€Å"I'll go. See you later – hope the humans aren't dead yet.† As they parted, Stefan sent him a powerful message of disapproval – not strafing him with sheer elemental pain, as he had before when throwing Damon against the tree, but making sure that his opinion of his brother was stamped across every word. Damon sent Stefan a last message as he went.I don't understand, he thought innocently toward the disappearing Stefan.What's wrong with saying that I hope the humans are still alive? I've been in greeting card shops, you know – he didn't mention that it wasn't for the cards but for the young cashiers – and they had sections like â€Å"Hope you get well† and â€Å"Sympathy,† which I suppose means that the previous card's spell wasn't strong enough. So what's wrong with saying â€Å"I hope they're not dead†? Stefan didn't even bother to answer. But Damon flashed a quick and brilliant smile anyway, as he turned the Porsche around and set off for the boardinghouse. He tugged on the clothesline that kept Elena bobbing above him. She floated – nightgown billowing – above Bonnie's head – or rather where Bonnie's head should have been. Bonnie had always been small, and this freezing illness had her crumpled into the fetal position. Elena could practically sit on her. â€Å"Hello, princess. Looking gorgeous, as always. And you're not too bad yourself.† It was one of the worst opening lines of his life, he thought dejectedly. But he wasn't feeling quite himself. Stefan's transformation had startled him – that must be what's wrong, he decided. â€Å"Da†¦mon.† Damon started. Elena's voice was slow and hesitant†¦and absolutely beautiful: molasses dripping sweetness, honey falling straight from the comb. It was lower in pitch, he was sure, than it had been before her transformation, and it had become a true Southern drawl. To a vampire it resembled the sweet drip-drip of a newly opened human vein. â€Å"Yes, angel. Have I called you  ¡Ã‚ ®angel' before? If not, it was purely an oversight.† And as he said this, he realized that that was another component to her voice, one he'd missed before: purity. The lancing purity of a seraph of seraphim. That should have put him off, but instead it just reminded him that Elena was someone to take seriously, never lightly. I'd take you seriously or lightly or any way you prefer, Damon thought, if you weren't so stuck on my idiot younger brother. Twin violet suns turned on him: Elena's eyes. She'd heard him. For the first time in his life, Damon was surrounded by people more powerful than he was. And to a vampire, Power was everything: material goods, community position, trophy mate, comfort, sex, cash, candy. It was an odd feeling. Not entirely unpleasant in regards to Elena. He liked strong women. He'd been looking for one strong enough for centuries. But Elena's glance very effectively brought his thoughts back to their situation. He parked askew outside the boardinghouse, snatched up the stiffening Bonnie, and floated up the twisting, narrowing staircase towards Stefan's room. It was the only place heknew there was a bathtub. There was barely room for three inside the tiny bathroom, and Damon was the one carrying Bonnie. He ran water into the ancient, four-footed tub based on what his exquisitely tuned senses said was five degrees above her current icy temperature. He tried to explain to Elena what he was doing, but she seemed to have lost interest and was floating round and round Stefan's bedroom, like a close-up of Tinkerbell caged. She kept bumping the closed window and then zooming over to the open door, looking out. What a dilemma. Ask Elena to undress and bathe Bonnie, and risk her putting Bonnie in the tub wrong side up? Or ask Elena to do the job and watch over them both, but not touch – unless disaster struck? Plus, someone had to find Mrs. Flowers and get hot drinks going. Write a note and send Elena with it? There might be more casualties in here any moment now. Then Damon caught Elena's eye, and all petty and conventional concerns seemed to drop away. Words appeared in his brain without bothering to come through his ears. Help her. Please! He turned back to the bathroom, lay Bonnie on the thick rug there and shelled her like a shrimp. Off with the sweatshirt, off with the summer top that went under it. Off with the small bra – A cup, he noticed sadly, discarding it, trying not to look at Bonnie directly. But he couldn't help but see that the prickling marks the tree had left were everywhere. Off with the jeans, and then a small hitch because he had to sit and take each foot in his lap to get the tightly tied high-top sneakers off before the jeans would come past her ankles. Off with socks. And that was all. Bonnie was left naked except for her own blood and her pink silky underwear. He picked her up and put her in the tub, soaking himself in the process. Vampires associated baths with virgin's blood, but only the really crazy ones tried it. The water in Bonnie's bathtub turned pink when he put her in. He kept the tap running because the tub was so large, and then sat back to consider the situation. The tree had been pumping something into her with its needles. Whatever it was, it wasn't good. So it ought to come out. Most sensible solution was to suck it as if it were a snakebite, but he was hesitant to try that until he was sure Elena wouldn't crush his skull if she found him methodically sucking Bonnie's upper body. He would have to settle for next best. The bloody water didn't quite conceal Bonnie's diminutive form, but it helped to blur the details. Damon supported Bonnie's head against the edge of the tub with one hand, and with the other he began to squeeze and massage the poison out of one arm. He knew he was doing the right thing when he smelled the resinous scent of pine. It was so thick and viscid itself that it hadn't yet disappeared into Bonnie's body. He was getting a small amount of it out this way, but was it enough? Cautiously, watching the door and cranking his senses up to cover their broadest spectrum, Damon lifted Bonnie's hand to his lips as if he were going to kiss it. Instead, he took her wrist in his mouth and, suppressing every urge he had to bite, instead simply sucked. He spat almost immediately. His mouth was full of resin. The massage wasn't enough by far. Even suction, if he could get a couple of dozen vampires and attach them all over Bonnie's little body like leeches, wouldn't be enough. He sat back on his heels and looked at her, this fatally poisoned woman-child he'd as good as given his word to save. For the first time, he became aware that he was soaked to the waist. He gave an irritated glance toward the heavens and then shrugged out of his black bomber jacket. What could he do? Bonnie needed medicine, but he had no idea what specific medicine she needed, and there was no witch he knew of to appeal to. Was Mrs. Flowers acquainted with arcane knowledge? Would she give it to him if she were? Or was she just a batty old lady? What was a generic medicine – for a human? He could give her over to her own people and let them try their bungling sciences – take her to a hospital – but they would be working with a girl who'd been poisoned by the Other Side, by the dark places they would never be allowed to see or understand. Absently, he had been rubbing a towel over his arms and hands and black shirt. Now, he looked at the towel and decided that Bonnie deserved at least a sop to modesty, especially since he could think of no more work to be done on her. He soaked the towel and then spread it out and pushed it underwater to cover Bonnie from throat to feet. It floated in some places, sank in others, but generally did the job. He turned the water temperature up again, but it made no difference. Bonnie was stiffening into the true death, young as she was. His peers in old Italy had had it right, he thought, a female like this was amaiden , no longer girl, not yet woman. It was especially apposite since any vampire could tell that she was a maiden in both senses. And it had all been done under his nose. The lure, the pack-attack, the marvelous technique and synchronization – they had killed this maiden while he sat and watched. He'd applauded it. Slowly, inside, Damon could feel something growing. It had sparked when he thought of the audacity of the malach, hunting his humans right under his nose. It didn't ask the question of when the group in the car had becomehis humans – he supposed it was because they had been so close lately that it seemed they were his to dispose of, to say whether they lived or died, or whether they became what he was. The growing thing surged when he'd thought of the way the malach had manipulated his thoughts, drawing him into a blissful contemplation of death in general terms, while death in very specific terms was going on right at his feet. And now it was reaching incendiary levels because he had been shown up too many times today. It really was unbearable†¦. †¦and it was Bonnie†¦. Bonnie, who had never hurt a – a harmless thing for malice. Bonnie, who was like a kitten, making airy pounces at no prey at all. Bonnie, with her hair that was called something strawberry, but that looked simply as if it was on fire. Bonnie of the translucent skin, with the delicate violet fjords and estuaries of veins all over her throat and inner arms. Bonnie, who had lately taken to looking at him sideways with her large childlike eyes, big and brown, under lashes like stars†¦. His jaws and canines were aching, and his mouth felt as if it were on fire from the poisonous resin. But all that could be ignored, because he was consumed with one other thought. Bonnie had called for his help for nearly half an hour before succumbing to the darkness. That was what needed to be said. Needed to be examined. Bonnie had called for Stefan – who had been too far away and too busy with his angel – but she had called for Damon, too, and she had pleaded for his help. And he had ignored it. With three of Elena's friends at his feet, he had ignored their agonies, had ignored Bonnie's frenzied pleas not to let them die. Usually, this sort of thing would only make him take off for some other town. But somehow he was still here and still tasting the bitter consequences of his act. Damon leaned back with his eyes closed, trying to shut out the overwhelming smell of blood and the musty scent of†¦something. He frowned and looked around. The little room was clean even to its corners. Nothing musty here. But the odor wouldn't go away. And then he remembered.

The Whiteness of the Veil Color and the veil in...

In his essay â€Å"Color, Light and Shadow in Hawthorne’s Fiction† Walter Blair approaches an interpretation of Hawthorne’s work through the author’s manipulation of color and light to produce symbolic meaning. Blair addresses â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† and notes the repeated emphasis on the blackness of Father Hooper’s veil and the pallor as a reaction to it. â€Å"The design of this tale,† he asserts, â€Å"is one in which repeated patterns of light, then blackness, then whiteness meaningfully occur† (Blair 76). Similarly, Hawthorne’s novel The Blithedale Romance employs chiaroscuro for its characters, symbols and the veil motif in particular. Blair does not go further in his discussion of whiteness and blackness in â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† in relation to The Blithedale Romance. An analysis of the use of color, particularly regarding the veil symbol, in both texts can provide additiona l insights into Hawthorne’s often noted ambiguity. Veils and the act of unveiling are popular literary tropes, particularly in Gothic fiction. They may be employed to address contrasting themes of knowledge vs. ignorance, the conscious vs. the unconscious, appearance vs. reality, obscurity vs. visibility, as well as the public vs. the private. In visual arts as well as in literature, the color black is associated with the satanic or the demonic. It is the opposite of light and life and represents loss. In addition, blackness may conceal a dark mystery. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story â€Å"The