A-Level IT: Protecting Data

• Integrity (keeping it accurate and complete)

• Security (keeping it safe from theft, misuse and damage)

Malicious software that damages computers.

• Virus (software programs attaching to other programs)

• Worm (uses computer networks to replicate itself)

• Trojan horse (advertisements, cracked software or fake emails)

• Ransomware (encrypts users’ files and asks for payment to decrypt)

• Spyware

• Denial of Service attack (sends lots of requests to a server to crash it)

• Distributed Denial of Service attack (comes from multiple systems)

Collections of internet-connected devices (zombies) that were infected and controlled by the owner of the botnet.

• Freezing

• Crashing

• Slower processing speed

• Strange new programs/desktop icons

Money can be spent restoring systems and files.

Black-hat hackers write malware. White-hat hackers find weaknesses in systems with a company’s permission.

Attacks designed to persuade users to type in personal information.

• Taking out mobile phone contracts

• Opening bank accounts

• Taking out credit cards

• Applying for loans

• Receiving invoices for items they haven’t ordered

• Receiving letters about debts that aren’t theirs

• Being overdrawn at the bank

• Lack of bill payments

• Bad credit ratings making it difficult to obtain mortgages

• Financial cost

• Corrupted or damaged files

• Loss of productivity for companies

• No personal details

• Combination of lowercase and capital letters

• Numbers and symbols

They can carry malware or viruses, compromising the security of organisations and workplaces’ data.

Bring Your Own Device.

A policy deciding when and how employees can use their own laptops on company networks to work and access data.

It allows employees to work and gain resources anywhere.

Company data can be retrieved outside of the network and stolen or tampered with.

Organisations can encrypt data when storing it or transferring it to employees.

Companies can use keycards and databases to sort their employees into who is authorised to edit certain files or work in high-tier areas.

Transport Layer Security.

Secure Sockets Layer.

Verify legitimate webpages upon user requests and indicate if they are secure or not.

To verify encryption keys and prevent unwanted traffic from hackers by encrypting data when it is transferred.

• One-way firewalls protect systems from incoming threats

• Two-way firewalls prevent malware from connecting to the internet

To stop unwanted traffic from entering wireless connections and putting users’ data at risk.

To check packets of information entering networks and verify if they are legitimate.

A database that helps antivirus software identify viruses by scanning downloaded files for definitions and detecting viruses in the ones that match.

The original message/string of data before encryption.

An encrypted message/string of data.

The process of converting plaintext to ciphertext.

To encode data so it cannot be read or stolen when transferred without a key to decrypt it.

• Private key encryption uses one key.

• Public key encryption uses two separate keys.

A key is transferred between communicated devices so they both understand how to pass messages.

A public key, available to anyone, is used to encrypt a message for a recipient. A private key, available to only the recipient, is used to decrypt a message.

Pretty Good Privacy.

SSL encryption of websites and PGP encryption of emails.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol.

Hypertext Markup Language.

It is a standard protocol used to access and receive webpages.

To secure data transmitted between web browsers and websites using encryption.

…use TLS and SSL certificates.

• WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) - outdated, easy to bypass.

• WPA / WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access) - WPA2 is more secure and should be chosen.

• WPA3 - announced in 2018 as the updated version of WPA2.

…it must be updated or replaced.

…hackers could exploit their vulnerabilities.

It regularly updates a virus definition database. When files are downloaded it checks the program against known viruses or malware, then for types of actions that indicate a virus (heuristic analysis). If viruses are detected the files are quarantined or deleted.

Check downloaded files and email attachments before they are saved, copied, opened or run.

Check every file on a computer system to see if it is infected with viruses/malware. This can take hours.

• Only one password needs to be remembered

• Long, complicated passwords can’t be created

• Passwords are randomised

• Log-in screens can be filled automatically

If someone steals the main password, they have access to every password. This can be solved with two-factor authentication.

• Asking users to input passwords twice

• Asking for phone numbers or recovery emails and sending security codes to them

• Using security questions (e.g. favourite colour/favourite food)

• Asking for selected letters from passwords

• Captchas

Sets of rules that define common methods of data communication.

Use files or text to produce strings of characters (hashes), which can be compared to verify passwords and protect users from hacking attempts.

Firewalls use software to enforce sets of rules to check incoming files and data. When they identify malicious traffic, they stop it from entering while allowing safe files in.