1.6: System Security - YK Flashcards
What is malware?
Malicious software - any software designed to cause harm to a user or computer
What are the different types of malware?
Virus: software that copies itself from machine to machine, causing harm as it goes
Trojan Horse: malware disguised as something beneficial which causes damage once downloaded
Spyware: malware that records/transmits keys pressed to record passwords or personal information entered
Ransomware: locks a machine and its files until money (a ransom) is paid
What is SQL injection?
Malicious code entered into a form on a website attempting to change the SQL statement going to the server, potentially giving the hacker access to unauthorised data from the database and the ability to delete/modify data
What is phishing?
Sending an email/text pretending to be a reputable source, with a link to enter personal details or passwords
What is a brute force attack?
Guessing every possible combination for a PIN or password until the correct one is found
What is a Denial of Service attack (DoS and DDoS)?
When a web server is flooded with requests so it can’t cope with real demand (either shuts down or stops responding to all requests), DDoS is when multiple computers are used to flood the traffic (harder to stop)
What is data interception and theft?
Whenever data travels across a network, it is split into packets which can be intercepted, read, altered, or deleted, either by someone hijacking the network and pretending to be the packet’s destination, or using packet sniffing software and hardware to monitor network traffic (usually used to find passwords)
What is social engineering?
Techniques designed to trick people into giving away important data or passwords
What are some examples of social engineering scams?
Pretexting: impersonating a trusted source (e.g. police officer, bank clerk)
Phishing: sending an email/text, pretending to be a reputable source, with a link to enter personal information
Tailgating: looking over someone’s shoulder to see their PIN/password
What is poor network policy and what are some examples?
Poor network policy doesn’t prevent users from doing harmful things so the network and its users are at risk
Examples of good policy: Users shouldn’t access accounts they don’t have authorisation to; users shouldn’t view illegal, defamatory, or pornographic content; users shouldn’t download files without knowing the source; users shouldn’t click links on emails without knowing their source
What is penetration testing?
When a company hires somebody to try and break into their system to identify weaknesses and confirm security
What is network forensics?
The process of monitoring and analysing network traffic to see who is performing suspicious actions (and may be source of past or future attacks)
How can network policies protect users?
Having rules that users have to agree to before using a network (often including not installing software, not looking at inappropriate content, and not creating malware) prevents some harmful actors from using the network
What is anti-malware software?
Protection software that stays in the computers memory and constantly scans drives and memory for malicious software, comparing suspicious items with a database of known threats and reporting any matches (user can then choose to quarantine or delete file)
What is a firewall?
A network security system that scans files as they come into your system from a network or the internet, flagging anything suspicious (can be set to block certain files or file types)
