1.4 Network Security Flashcards
What is malware? + examples and preventions
Malicious software installed on someone’s computer without their knowledge.
E.g worms, viruses, ransomeware, Trojan horses, spyware, adware, shareware etc
Prevented with: firewalls, spam filter, anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam etc
What is social engineering
Manipulating people to give out sensitive information/ expose vulnerabilities.
What’s phishing an example of and what is it
Social engineering,
Fraudulent practice of sending emails in order to trick people into giving away sensitive information.
What’s a brute force attack + prevention methods
Trial & error to guess passwords & pins.
Prevented by: network lock out policy, stronger passwords, captchas to tackle programs doing it.
What’s a Denial Of Service (DOS) attack? + prevention methods
Flooding a server with useless traffic causing it to overload and crash.
Prevented with: strong firewalls, packet filters, logging& monitoring servers.
What’s data interception? + prevention
‘Man in the middle’ attack or ‘passive attack’. Someone monitors data on the network and captures any sensitive or personal data they see.
Prevented with: encryption, use of passwords, locking computers and logging off.
What’s an SQL injection? + prevention
SQL code typed into a websites input box which reveals personal data.
Prevented with: validation on input boxes, using parameter queries, setting data base permissions, penetration testing.
What’s penetration testing
People are employed by organisations to identify possible weaknesses in the network’s security.
What’s anti-malware
Software designed to find and stop malware from damaging a network and devices on it.
What’s a firewall
Examine all data entering and leaving the network and block any potential threats.
What’s a virus an example of an what does it do
Malware,
Malicious software designed to cause harm to a network or computer system. It attaches itself to programs or files on a computer or server
What’s a worm an example of and what does it do
Malware,
Replicates itself in order to spread to other computers. In order to achieve this, it exploits vulnerabilities. It doesn’t need to attach to a program
What’s an example of a Trojan horse and how does it work
Malware,
A malicious computer program that’s designed to access a computer by misleading users of its intent.
What’s a DDoS attack
Distributed Denial of Service attack, uses a large number of computers to carry out the attach.
More affective because a large number of computers can generate more traffic.
They make use of bonnets- collections of zombie computers that have been infected with code that gives a malicious user control over that machine.
