Detecting of Ransomware using Software Defined Networking

Detecting of Ransomware using Software Defined Networking Abstract Ransomware is a major weapon for cyber-extortion. The traditional signature-based detection no longer holds good against modern, sophisticated malware that employs encryption techniques and social engineering. This paper investigates the use of Software Defined Networks (SDN) to detect the illicit communication between infected PCs (ransomware) and their controller known as the Command Control (CC) server. SDN provides unique opportunities to detect malicious DNS requests (associated with malware) and where possible block ransomware controls requests, and thereby prevent ransomware triggering. In this article we mostly look at detection at commercial or business scenarios, where the data handled are much more sensitive and might lead to monetary loss. Index Terms Ransomware, cyber-extortion, Signature-based detection, Software defined Networking. Cyber-Extortion malware can be trace back to three decades earlier [1]. It all started with the malware named PC CYBORG which was delivered through floppy disk. The reports of modern malware known as ransomware were started in early 2005. Since then ransomware has developed into more sophisticated method of attack to extort money from people as well as the companies. Ransomware can make a huge impact on businesses, especially if it strikes mission-critical systems. The attacker forces the companies to pay-out money in the form of bitcoins which can be anonymous and not so easily traceable. If refuse to pay, they threaten to destroy the data. This is a profitable business model to cyber criminals as the companies and people tend to pay out to retrieve the data [2]. It is estimated that the pay-outs to ransomware is close to $1 billion an year as per IBM for 2016[3]. This is just known pay-outs and it crosses more than $1 bn if all the pay-outs are considered. The anonymity of the attacker and necessity of the victim makes it one of the popular attacks to extort money, especially from major tech companies and targeted businessmen. The ransomware is not specific to a single OS platform. From past few years, the ransomware have been developed for different platforms like linux, Mac OS and popular one emerging now a days is for android. In general, the working of modern ransomware is as follows. First, a user machine is infected using various attack vectors for example, clicking on malvertisement, downloads from non-trusted sites, phising, spam, etc. Second, the victims system or the stored data is encrypted (locked), based on the type of ransomware. The modern versions of the ransomware can encrypt storage drives such as cloud storage, Dropbox, and shared network devices. As a result, multiple systems on the network can get compromised, by a single infection. Figure 1 shows the general working of the symmetric and asymmetric crypto ransomware. Fig. 1. (left )Symmetric and (right) asymmetric crypto ransomware As the ransomware evolves, some well know malwares have come into business, such as CryptoLocker, CryptoWall, TeslaCrypt and Locky have been widely used and updated. Detecting these ransomware before the payload activates and start encrypting is very difficult [4]. Figure 2. Shows that only half of anti-virus scanners provide protection for this new malware, even after several days of a new attack being circulated. Fig. 2. Time to detect new malware by antivirus vendors. Recent study shows that the ransomware is becoming successful as the prices are tailored as per companys or countrys ability to pay [5]. If the ransom isnt paid within the expiry of the ransom note, the ransom usually doubles. This instils fear of losing the files or pay higher. This let company or the person feel it is easier and less expensive to pay the ransom and get back the files rather than reporting it and trying to find a solution for it. This makes it important to come up with mitigation techniques to stop this from continuing and The ransomware developers are constantly improving their product which makes it hard for developing long lasting countermeasures. With large number of devices that are getting connected on the internet like the Internet of things, the ransomware is being developed to multiple devices. Most common method of detection of ransomware, infact any malware, is signature based detection. Hence most of the experts suggest keeping the antivirus scanners up to date [6]. But as we have seen from the earlier that not many vendors give out updates that regular. Also with the use of encryption techniques and social engineering, it easily evades the defence in firewall and email spam filters. Hence the detection of entry of ransomware into the system or the network is becoming much more difficult. One more commonly used method of detection is by identifying the extensions. For example, many use extensions like .locky, etc. But this can be masked by encryption techniques. Microsoft advices the best way to tackle ransomware is by having a tested reliable backup to escape the damages of the ransomware [7]. Although this is one of the best methods, creating and maintaining backups for huge organizations can be really expensive and time consuming. Now let us take a look at few of the current implementations to detect ransomware in commercial or business network as they are the major victims because of the data they hold. Majorly used method is implementing products which use User Behaviour Analytics (like Varonics or DatAdvantage). This works on the baseline of normal activity and if there is any other abnormal activity, an alert would be sent to the administrator. The major disadvantage with this is any other legitimate activity which is not mentioned under normal behaviour was reported which led to receiving of lot of false positives about the activity. Other method used was to detect malicious activity by monitoring changes in File Server resource manager (FSRM), function built into Windows Servers. By using canaries, writing unauthorised files can be blocked. This helped in developing PowerShell to block unauthorised user access. Most of the currently used techniques work fairly well with the symmetric crypto ransomware. They tend to be less efficient with the asymmetric crypto ransomware. In this article we look at one of the basic approach that can be taken to mitigate ransomware with the use of Software Defined Networking (SDN). This method is mostly useful in companies or a small network with a system administrator to monitor the network traffic. Proposed method is based on findings after analysing CryptoWall ransomware [8]. But this can be applied to other types of crypto-ransomware, such as Locky TeslaCrypt, etc, which communicates with the Command Control (CC) servers. The primary intension with this proposed method is to cut-off the connection between the victim and the CC systems. Without connection to CC the encryption process is not going to be initiated and thus saving the victims system. With the use of Intrusion detection/Prevention systems(IDPS) or firewalls that are commonly used to filter and detect malicious data, it is very hard to give timely response to such threats as there is lot of data that it encounters because of the number of devices that is connected onto the internet now a days. In this article we take a look at two SDN-based mitigation concepts. We can call them SDN1 and SDN2. Both of them rely on dynamic blacklisting of proxy servers used for connecting to the CC server. However for this method to be efficient, it is necessary to have up to date list of all the malicious proxy servers that are previously identified. In this method of mitigation system, it is necessary to develop a SDN application to cooperate with the SDN controller. The controlled provides all the data necessary for analysis. After the detection of threat, the network can be configured to block all the malicious activity and capture suspicious traffic for investigation. This will also help in recovering symmetric key if the ransomware uses symmetric encryption based ransomware. The functionality of the SDN1 is a simple switch. The switch forces all the DNS traffic to be forwarded to SDN controller for inspection. All the responses are compared and evaluated with the database that contains the list of malicious proxy servers. If the domain name extracted from the DNS is present in the database, the response is discarded or blocked to not let it reach the proxy server. This eliminates the process of encryption on the victims system. An alert is sent to the system administrator about this issue for further investigation. The potential drawback of SDN1 is time taken. The DNS traffic from both legitimate and malicious hosts is delayed as each response is checked with the blacked listed domain database. The SDN2 enhances the performance of SDN1 while addressing this issue. As most of the DNS responses received is legitimate, the SDN2 introduces custom flow. This forwards all the DNS response to intended recipient and only the copy of the response is sent to the SDN controller. While the DNS responses are processed, the controller compares the domains with the ones available on the database. If a blacklisted server is found, the victim IP is extracted and all the traffic between the CC server and the victim IP is dropped and an alert is sent to the system administrator. The pictorial representation of both SDN1 and SDN2 are shown in Figure 3. Fig. 3. SDN-based applications, SDN1 and SDN2. Example testbed of the SDN network Major advantages of using SDN based detection techniques is that it can be used to detect both symmetric as well as asymmetric ransomware. As mentioned earlier without the connection between victim and CC server, the infected host will be able to retrieve the public key and hence will not be able to start the encryption process. As we have seen earlier, this method requires a database that contains all the currently known and used malicious proxy servers. This is the major disadvantage of this method. Currently the developers of this method have a database of about 70,000 malicious domains. But this wont be sufficient as the attackers will be looking for new domains to evade detection. Also methods have to be checked frequently and loopholes need to be fixed as the attackers would seek to exploit any loopholes if found. There are researches that are taking place to detect the ransomware using honeypot techniques. The SDN can be included into the honeypots to further enhance the effectiveness of the detection. Alongside with the SDN, the companies will have to develop an Incident Response team [6]. This team should make plans to tackle the issues according to the importance of the systems and also be given training to be equipped with the necessary steps to take in case of an attack which slipped from the SDN controlled. In case of an attack, steps should be taken to contain the ransomware just to the affected system and it doesnt spread to any other system on the network. It is also important to take a backup of the entire necessary and sensitive files in a secure and tested location. This help in restoring the work quickly in case of unseen attack on a critical system. Also one of the most important developments in ransomware is that now it is not just delivered as a Trojan, it is being developed in a way that it can replicate its code onto the removable devices and network drives. This makes it important to educate and train the employees and the staff about the dangers of ransomware and methods that it can be brought in to the network like the spam emails and social engineering [9]. Also companies should discourage the policy of bring your own device (BYOD). Staff a being more alert about the malware makes is very difficult to launch any attack. As we are looking to develop methods to detect and prevent ransomware, new type of ransomware is emerging that threatens to release all the data online, instead of destroying them, if not paid before the ransom note expires. This is makes it more necessary to develop more sophisticated methods of detection to prevent ransomware attacks. Also as this is an SDN based security application, further research can be undertaken to broaden the spectrum of detection and prevention of other types of malware and attacks like DDoS attacks To efficiently fight ransomware, it is important to break the business model of the ransomware developers. With the reduced income to the ransomware developers, they will have to shut down the proxy servers which in turn help in faster detection of newer developers. The best protection is to prevent infection. This may be tough to achieve and hence in this article we have taken a look at 2 types of SDN based security application that can be implemented to improve protection against ransomware. These rely on up to date database of malicious proxy servers which needs to be updated constantly but once detected, the application works efficiently. We have also discussed that it is achievable to break the connection between the victim and the CC server, with the help of SDN application, to make the encryption impossible. Furthermore, we have seen that it is necessary for the companies to actively invest time and money in training people to develop a sense of security at the workplace to reduce the attacks. We have also discussed that this SDN based application need not be limited to detecting ransomware. This can be further developed to detect and prevent other malware, detect attacks based on the network traffic characteristics or detecting malware based on pattern. References N. Hampton and Z. A. Baig, Ransomware: Emergence of the cyber-extortion menace, in Australian Information Security Management, Perth, 2015. Chris Moore,Detecting Ransomware with Honeypot techniques, 2016 Cybersecurity and Cyberforensics Conference. Ransomware becomes most popular form of attack as payouts approach $1bn a year, Networksecuritynewsletter.com , January 2017. Cisco, Cisco 2015 Midyear Security Report, Cisco, San Jose, 2015. Cath Everett,Ransomware: to pay or not to pay? Computer Fraud and security, April 2016. Ross Brewer, LogRhythm, Ransomware attacks:detection, prevention and cure. D. Mauser and K. Cenerelli, Microsoft Protection Center: Security Tips to Protect Against Ransomware, 6 April 2016. Krzysztof Cabaj and Wojciech Mazurczyk, Using Software-Defined Networking for Ransomware Mitigation: The Case of CryptoWall, NETWORK FORENSICS AND SURVEILLANCE FOR EMERGING NETWORKS. Marc Sollars,Risk-based security: staff can play the defining role in securing assets, Networksecuritynewsletter.com à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ 

Criminal Justice Workplace Observation Paper

In any workplace the goal of the company is to perform all job duties so that work functions may be carried out accordingly. Jobs that are centered around the criminal justice system have an even more important task of getting things done because just like any other job, criminal justice ones have laws to uphold. This paper will discuss the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) and its workplace observations. The leadership consists of three levels: upper management, middle management and lower level management. Upper management involves the judge of each case that passes through DHR. The judge is responsible for overseeing the case and making final decisions overall about the case. Middle management consists of the attorneys that are assigned to each case. Attorneys are responsible for making sure the legal aspects of the case in regards to the child are being followed. Lower management consists of the DHR workers. The DHR workers are responsible for making sure the welfare of the child is in their best interest. Culture is one of the most important factors in successfully managing a criminal justice workforce. It is extremely important for each of the above named participants to be able to understand the differing diversities that the courts may encounter. It is not uncommon for a DHR worker to have a caseload with different ethnicities and cultural differences. You can read also  Justice System Position Paper Sometimes, those cultural differences may cause an individual to speak a different language than the worker, judge, or attorney is familiar with. Language barriers can often cause problems with relaying actual problems that are going on with a case. If either of the above participants can fluently speak different languages then that helps not only the court participants, but the people that are involved in the case personally. This will cut down on the legal issues that could arise in cases. Speaking of legal issues, the law is an extremely serious matter in DHR. DHR workers have the ever daunting task of making sure they report behavior to the courts about the welfare of any child. The judges have to make sure they are upholding the law and interpreting it to the best of their ability, and attorneys are built to practice and exercise the good will of the law all according to their states’ statutes.

Chapter 4 Back to the Burrow

By twelve o'clock the next day, Harry's school trunk was packed with his school things and all his most prized possessions – the Invisibility Cloak he had inherited from his father, the broomstick he had gotten from Sirius, the enchanted map of Hogwarts he had been given by Fred and George Weasley last year. He had emptied his hiding place under the loose floorboard of all food, double-checked every nook and cranny of his bedroom for forgotten spellbooks or quills, and taken down the chart on the wall counting down the days to September the first, on which he liked to cross off the days remaining until his return to Hogwarts. The atmosphere inside number four, Privet Drive was extremely tense. The imminent arrival at their house of an assortment of wizards was making the Dursleys uptight and irritable. Uncle Vernon had looked downright alarmed when Harry informed him that the Weasleys would be arriving at five o'clock the very next day. â€Å"I hope you told them to dress properly, these people,† he snarled at once. â€Å"I've seen the sort of stuff your lot wear. They'd better have the decency to put on normal clothes, that's all.† Harry felt a slight sense of foreboding. He had rarely seen Mr. or Mrs. Weasley wearing anything that the Dursleys would call â€Å"normal.† Their children might don Muggle clothing during the holidays, but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley usually wore long robes in varying states of shabbiness. Harry wasn't bothered about what the neighbors would think, but he was anxious about how rude the Dursleys might be to the Weasleys if they turned up looking like their worst idea of wizards. Uncle Vernon had put on his best suit. To some people, this might have looked like a gesture of welcome, but Harry knew it was because Uncle Vernon wanted to look impressive and intimidating. Dudley, on the other hand, looked somehow diminished. This was not because the diet was at last taking effect, but due to fright. Dudley had emerged from his last encounter with a fully grown wizard with a curly pig's tail poking out of the seat of his trousers, and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had had to pay for its removal at a private hospital in London. It wasn't altogether surprising, therefore, that Dudley kept running his hand nervously over his backside, and walking sideways from room to room, so as not to present the same target to the enemy. Lunch was an almost silent meal. Dudley didn't even protest at the food (cottage cheese and grated celery). Aunt Petunia wasn't, eating anything at all. Her arms were folded, her lips were pursed, and she seemed to be chewing her tongue, as though biting back the furious diatribe she longed to throw at Harry. â€Å"They'll be driving, of course?† Uncle Vernon barked across the table. â€Å"Er,† said Harry. He hadn't thought of that. How were the Weasleys going to pick him up? They didn't have a car anymore; the old Ford Anglia they had once owned was currently running wild in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. But Mr. Weasley had borrowed a Ministry of Magic car last year; possibly he would do the same today? â€Å"I think so,† said Harry. Uncle Vernon snorted into his mustache. Normally, Uncle Vernon would have asked what car Mr. Weasley drove; he tended to judge other men by how big and expensive their cars were. But Harry doubted whether Uncle Vernon would have taken to Mr. Weasley even if he drove a Ferrari. Harry spent most of the afternoon in his bedroom; he couldn't stand watching Aunt Petunia peer out through the net curtains every few seconds, as though there had been a warning about an escaped rhinoceros. Finally, at a quarter to five, Harry went back downstairs and into the living room. Aunt Petunia was compulsively straightening cushions. Uncle Vernon was pretending to read the paper, but his tiny eyes were not moving, and Harry was sure he was really listening with all his might for the sound of an approaching car. Dudley was crammed into an armchair, his porky hands beneath him, clamped firmly around his bottom. Harry couldn't take the tension; he left the room and went and sat on the stairs in the hall, his eyes on his watch and his heart pumping fast from excitement and nerves. But five o'clock came and then went. Uncle Vernon, perspiring slightly in his suit, opened the front door, peered up and down the street, then withdrew his head quickly. â€Å"They're late!† he snarled at Harry. â€Å"I know,† said Harry. â€Å"Maybe – er – the traffic's bad, or something.† Ten past five†¦then a quarter past five†¦Harry was starting to feel anxious himself now. At half past, he heard Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia conversing in terse mutters in the living room. â€Å"No consideration at all.† â€Å"We might've had an engagement.† â€Å"Maybe they think they'll get invited to dinner if they're late.† â€Å"Well, they most certainly won't be,† said Uncle Vernon, and Harry heard him stand up and start pacing the living room. â€Å"They'll take the boy and go, there'll be no hanging around. That's if they're coming at all. Probably mistaken the day. I daresay their kind don't set much store by punctuality. Either that or they drive some tin-pot car that's broken d -AAAAAAAARRRRRGH!† Harry jumped up. From the other side of the living room door came the sounds of the three Dursleys scrambling, panic-stricken, across the room. Next moment Dudley came flying into the hall, looking terrified. â€Å"What happened?† said Harry. â€Å"What's the matter?† But Dudley didn't seem able to speak. Hands still clamped over his buttocks, he waddled as fast as he could into the kitchen. Harry hurried into the living room. Loud bangings and scrapings were coming from behind the Dursleys' boarded-up fireplace, which had a fake coal fire plugged in front of it. â€Å"What is it?† gasped Aunt Petunia, who had backed into the wall and was staring, terrified, toward the fire. â€Å"What is it, Vernon?† But they were left in doubt barely a second longer. Voices could be heard from inside the blocked fireplace. â€Å"Ouch! Fred, no – go back, go back, there's been some kind of mistake – tell George not to – OUCH! George, no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron -â€Å" â€Å"Maybe Harry can hear us, Dad – maybe he'll be able to let us out -â€Å" There was a loud hammering of fists on the boards behind the electric fire. â€Å"Harry? Harry, can you hear us?† The Dursleys rounded on Harry like a pair of angry wolverines. â€Å"What is this?† growled Uncle Vernon. â€Å"What's going on?† â€Å"They – they've tried to get here by Floo powder,† said Harry, fighting a mad desire to laugh. â€Å"They can travel by fire – only you've blocked the fireplace – hang on -â€Å" He approached the fireplace and called through the boards. â€Å"Mr. Weasley? Can you hear me?† The hammering stopped. Somebody inside the chimney piece said, â€Å"Shh!† â€Å"Mr. Weasley, it's Harry†¦the fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through there.† â€Å"Damn!† said Mr. Weasley's voice. â€Å"What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?† â€Å"They've got an electric fire,† Harry explained. â€Å"Really?† said Mr. Weasley's voice excitedly. â€Å"Eclectic, you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that†¦.Let's think†¦Ouch, Ron!† Ron's voice now joined the others'. â€Å"What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?† â€Å"Oh no, Ron,† came Fred's voice, very sarcastically. â€Å"No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up.† â€Å"Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here,† said George, whose voice sounded muffled, as though he was squashed against the wall. â€Å"Boys, boys†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Mr. Weasley vaguely. â€Å"I'm trying to think what to do†¦.Yes†¦only way†¦Stand back, Harry.† Harry retreated to the sofa. Uncle Vernon, however, moved forward. â€Å"Wait a moment!† he bellowed at the fire. â€Å"What exactly are you going to -â€Å" BANG. The electric fire shot across the room as the boarded-up fireplace burst outward, expelling Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ron in a cloud of rubble and loose chippings. Aunt Petunia shrieked and fell backward over the coffee table; Uncle Vernon caught her before she hit the floor, and gaped, speechless, at the Weasleys, all of whom had bright red hair, including Fred and George, who were identical to the last freckle. â€Å"That's better,† panted Mr. Weasley, brushing dust from his long green robes and straightening his glasses. â€Å"Ah – you must be Harry's aunt and uncle!† Tall, thin, and balding, he moved toward Uncle Vernon, his hand outstretched, but Uncle Vernon backed away several paces, dragging Aunt Petunia. Words utterly failed Uncle Vernon. His best suit was covered in white dust, which had settled in his hair and mustache and made him look as though he had just aged thirty years. â€Å"Er – yes – sorry about that,† said Mr. Weasley, lowering his hand and looking over his shoulder at the blasted fireplace. â€Å"It's all my fault. It just didn't occur to me that we wouldn't be able to get out at the other end. I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see – just for an afternoon, you know, so we could get Harry. Muggle fireplaces aren't supposed to be connected, strictly speaking – but I've got a useful contact at the Floo Regulation Panel and he fixed it for me. I can put it right in a jiffy, though, don't worry. I'll light a fire to send the boys back, and then I can repair your fireplace before I Disapparate.† Harry was ready to bet that the Dursleys hadn't understood a single word of this. They were still gaping at Mr. Weasley, thunderstruck. Aunt Petunia staggered upright again and hid behind Uncle Vernon. â€Å"Hello, Harry!† said Mr. Weasley brightly. â€Å"Got your trunk ready?† â€Å"It's upstairs,† said Harry, grinning back. â€Å"We'll get it,† said Fred at once. Winking at Harry, he and George left the room. They knew where Harry's bedroom was, having once rescued him from it in the dead of night. Harry suspected that Fred and George were hoping for a glimpse of Dudley; they had heard a lot about him from Harry. â€Å"Well,† said Mr. Weasley, swinging his arms slightly, while he tried to find words to break the very nasty silence. â€Å"Very – erm – very nice place you've got here.† As the usually spotless living room was now covered in dust and bits of brick, this remark didn't go down too well with the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon's face purpled once more, and Aunt Petunia started chewing her tongue again. However, they seemed too scared to actually say anything. Mr. Weasley was looking around. He loved everything to do with Muggles. Harry could see him itching to go and examine the television and the video recorder. â€Å"They run off eckeltricity, do they?† he said knowledgeably. â€Å"Ah yes, I can see the plugs. I collect plugs,† he added to Uncle Vernon. â€Å"And batteries. Got a very large collection of batteries. My wife thinks I'm mad, but there you are.† Uncle Vernon clearly thought Mr. Weasley was mad too. He moved ever so slightly to the right, screening Aunt Petunia from view, as though he thought Mr. Weasley might suddenly run at them and attack. Dudley suddenly reappeared in the room. Harry could hear the clunk of his trunk on the stairs, and knew that the sounds had scared Dudley out of the kitchen. Dudley edged along the wall, gazing at Mr. Weasley with terrified eyes, and attempted to conceal himself behind his mother and father. Unfortunately, Uncle Vernon's bulk, while sufficient to hide bony Aunt Petunia, was nowhere near enough to conceal Dudley. â€Å"Ah, this is your cousin, is it, Harry?† said Mr. Weasley, taking another brave stab at making conversation. â€Å"Yep,† said Harry, â€Å"that's Dudley.† He and Ron exchanged glances and then quickly looked away from each other; the temptation to burst out laughing was almost overwhelming. Dudley was still clutching his bottom as though afraid it might fall off. Mr. Weasley, however, seemed genuinely concerned at Dudley's peculiar behavior. Indeed, from the tone of his voice when he next spoke, Harry was quite sure that Mr. Weasley thought Dudley was quite as mad as the Dursleys thought he was, except that Mr. Weasley felt sympathy rather than fear. â€Å"Having a good holiday, Dudley?† he said kindly. Dudley whimpered. Harry saw his hands tighten still harder over his massive backside. Fred and George came back into the room carrying Harry's school trunk. They glanced around as they entered and spotted Dudley. Their faces cracked into identical evil grins. â€Å"Ah, right,† said Mr. Weasley. â€Å"Better get cracking then.† He pushed up the sleeves of his robes and took out his wand. Harry saw the Dursleys draw back against the wall as one. â€Å"Incendio!† said Mr. Weasley, pointing his wand at the hole in the wall behind him. Flames rose at once in the fireplace, crackling merrily as though they had been burning for hours. Mr. Weasley took a small drawstring bag from his pocket, untied it, took a pinch of the powder inside, and threw it onto the flames, which turned emerald green and roared higher than ever. â€Å"Off you go then, Fred,† said Mr. Weasley. â€Å"Coming,† said Fred. â€Å"Oh no – hang on -â€Å" A bag of sweets had spilled out of Fred's pocket and the contents were now rolling in every direction – big, fat toffees in brightly colored wrappers. Fred scrambled around, cramming them back into his pocket, then gave the Dursleys a cheery wave, stepped forward, and walked right into the fire, saying â€Å"the Burrow!† Aunt Petunia gave a little shuddering gasp. There was a whooshing sound, and Fred vanished. â€Å"Right then, George,† said Mr. Weasley, â€Å"you and the trunk.† Harry helped George carry the trunk forward into the flames and turn it onto its end so that he could hold it better. Then, with a second whoosh, George had cried â€Å"the Burrow!† and vanished too. â€Å"Ron, you next,† said Mr. Weasley. â€Å"See you,† said Ron brightly to the Dursleys. He grinned broadly at Harry, then stepped into the fire, shouted â€Å"the Burrow!† and disappeared. Now Harry and Mr. Weasley alone remained. â€Å"Well†¦'bye then,† Harry said to the Dursleys. They didn't say anything at all. Harry moved toward the fire, but just as he reached the edge of the hearth, Mr. Weasley put out a hand and held him back. He was looking at the Dursleys in amazement. â€Å"Harry said good-bye to you,† he said. â€Å"Didn't you hear him?† â€Å"It doesn't matter,† Harry muttered to Mr. Weasley. â€Å"Honestly, I don't care.† Mr. Weasley did not remove his hand from Harry's shoulder. â€Å"You aren't going to see your nephew till next summer,† he said to Uncle Vernon in mild indignation. â€Å"Surely you're going to say good-bye?† Uncle Vernon's face worked furiously. The idea of being taught consideration by a man who had just blasted away half his living room wall seemed to be causing him intense suffering. But Mr. Weasley's wand was still in his hand, and Uncle Vernon's tiny eyes darted to it once, before he said, very resentfully, â€Å"Good-bye, then.† â€Å"See you,† said Harry, putting one foot forward into the green flames, which felt pleasantly like warm breath. At that moment, however, a horrible gagging sound erupted behind him, and Aunt Petunia started to scream. Harry wheeled around. Dudley was no longer standing behind his parents. He was kneeling beside the coffee table, and he was gagging and sputtering on a foot-long, purple, slimy thing that was protruding from his mouth. One bewildered second later, Harry realized that the foot-long thing was Dudley's tongue – and that a brightly colored toffee wrapper lay on the floor before him. Aunt Petunia hurled herself onto the ground beside Dudley, seized the end of his swollen tongue, and attempted to wrench it out of his mouth; unsurprisingly, Dudley yelled and sputtered worse than ever, trying to fight her off. Uncle Vernon was bellowing and waving his arms around, and Mr. Weasley had to shout to make himself heard. â€Å"Not to worry, I can sort him out!† he yelled, advancing on Dudley with his wand outstretched, but Aunt Petunia screamed worse than ever and threw herself on top of Dudley, shielding him from Mr. Weasley. â€Å"No, really!† said Mr. Weasley desperately. â€Å"It's a simple process it was the toffee – my son Fred – real practical joker – but it's only an Engorgement Charm – at least, I think it is – please, I can correct it -â€Å" But far from being reassured, the Dursleys became more panic- stricken; Aunt Petunia was sobbing hysterically, tugging Dudley's tongue as though determined to rip it out; Dudley appeared to be suffocating under the combined pressure of his mother and his tongue; and Uncle Vernon, who had lost control completely, seized a china figure from on top of the sideboard and threw it very hard at Mr. Weasley, who ducked, causing the ornament to shatter in the blasted fireplace. â€Å"Now really!† said Mr. Weasley angrily, brandishing his wand. â€Å"I'm trying to help!† Bellowing like a wounded hippo, Uncle Vernon snatched up another ornament. â€Å"Harry, go! Just go!† Mr. Weasley shouted, his wand on Uncle Vernon. â€Å"I'll sort this out!† Harry didn't want to miss the fun, but Uncle Vernon's second ornament narrowly missed his left ear, and on balance he thought it best to leave the situation to Mr. Weasley. He stepped into the fire, looking over his shoulder as he said â€Å"the Burrow!† His last fleeting glimpse of the living room was of Mr. Weasley blasting a third ornament out of Uncle Vernon's hand with his wand, Aunt Petunia screaming and lying on top of Dudley, and Dudley's tongue lolling around like a great slimy python. But next moment Harry had begun to spin very fast, and the Dursleys' living room was whipped out of sight in a rush of emerald-green flames.

Personal Experience At High Stakes Testing - 1213 Words

Background/Personal Experience â€Å"I do not know why I am feeling like this.† That was a statement that a student made as she took off running to the restroom twice in a time span of ten minutes. While it is not the typical statement that you may expect from a pre-teen, it became a rather common occurence for this student. I spent additional time trying to understand this student in the hours that followed. She had always been running to the restroom, in a near panic before exams. In fact, I came to learn that this child was experiencing anxiety that was especially present during high-stakes testing. This instance occurred during my first year of teaching and it has shaped my views on anxiety in children. During the time of this event, I was administering the second round of a standardized test, the STAAR test, to special needs students that did not pass, or meet the ‘satisfactory’ level on the first test. This was considered a high-stakes second chance as passing the test is necessary before students can be promoted on to the next grade. As such, general anxiety levels were high among all of the students, but they seemed especially high for this girl in particular. She was always nervous before regular exams, but I knew she was aware that this exam carried some extra weight. I was well aware that her parents had strict expectations for her, and she struggled to live up to them. Consequently, for this particular student, who was anxious in general, the uncontrollableShow MoreRelatedEvaluating The Perceptions Of Those Veteran Teachers Affected By High Stakes Testing1689 Words   |  7 Pages Method A phenomenological study will be utilized to determine the perceptions of those veteran teachers affected by the high-stakes testing. This type of qualitative methodology is appropriate for the problem of high-stakes testing because it demonstrates the shared lived experiences of a particular segment of the population. With that, it proves that experience is a conscious process and shows a development of a consensus of ideas from a particular group of individuals. Furthermore, there is aRead MoreHigh Stakes Testing Environment Is The Overwhelming Consensus Of The Failures Associated With Special Needs909 Words   |  4 PagesAnother issue arising for students developing educationally in a high-stakes testing environment is the overwhelming consensus of the failures associated with the testing in meeting the needs of the economically disadvantaged and the students with special needs. As high-stakes testing became the prevalent norm for Texas and the U.S, supporters were adamant tha t this testing provide new opportunities for those students in the highest risk of failure. 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The community can provide schools with a plethora of resources that will assist the students in becoming globally competitive in the real world. Philosophy of Teaching A. Describe your personal feelings and beliefs about teaching; the awards you find in teaching and your ideas on what makes you an outstanding teacher. Education is a rewarding and challenging field. Determination to go beyond just teaching my students the necessary contentRead MoreTeaching Philosophy Statement. I Believe That Every Student1001 Words   |  5 Pagesstudents based on respect, fun, and a want to succeed. My classroom is very interactive, and always in small groups or one-on-one. I believe in individualized teaching to each of my student’s strengths. We frequently use manipulatives and real-life experiences. I believe that teachers should understand how the world around you affects your students. Finances, demographics, and family trends greatly affect not only the motivation of your student, but also how they learn. I know that some of my studentsRead MoreTeaching Methods And Techniques And Materials For The Classroom1214 Words   |  5 Pageslanguage teaching. I myself have also been less confident in my aural and oral English proficiency compared to reading or writing skills. As a matter of fact, I had thought that the benchmark to measure my listening proficiency would be the score of a high-stakes test like IELTS or TOEFL. Of course I did not think that just passing the English language requirement would be enough for me to live in the UK. However, I thought, on the other hand, that I would be able to satisfactorily catch up with the tutors’Read MoreHigh-Stakes Testing in American Schools Essay1548 Words   |  7 Pagesadministering high-stakes tests. High-stakes testing is scrutinized all the time, since some believe it is the only indicator of tracking students and teachers. 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