5 The internet and its uses Flashcards
Simple right now
How many cyber attacks happen each day on average?
2021 published
Approximately 2,500
What percentage of malware is delivered using email?
Over 90%
What was WannaCry?
A large-scale cyber security attack
When did WannaCry happen?
2017
What were some nations affected by WannaCry?
Britain, Spain, Russia, Ukraine and Taiwan
What was the type of malware used in the WannaCry attack?
Ransomware
In what form was payment demanded in the WannaCry attack?
Bitcoin
What was the name of the malware code WannaCry was based on?
EternalBlue
What is the internet?
A large global network which allows users to access the world wide web
What is an infrastructure?
A physical structure
What type of network is the internet?
A wide area network (WAN)
What is a network?
Computers and devices which are joined together using cables or wireless technology
What is the world wide web?
The collective term for all the web pages and websites which have been made available
What is a website?
A collection of web pages, normally about a related topic or with a purpose
What is a web page?
A single page within a website
What is a uniform resource locator (URL)?
The text-based address for a website
What is a web browser?
Software which retrieves and displays web pages
What is a protocol?
A set of rules for transmitting data
What is a domain name?
A specific part of a URL which contains the unique name for the web server
What is a domain name server (DNS)?
DNS normally stands for Domain Name System
A special server which contains a database of domain names and their corresponding IP address
What is a web server?
A network component where the web pages for a website are stored
What is the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)?
A protocol used for the transmission of web pages and related data across the internet
What is hypertext markup language (HTML)?
A scripting (web authoring) language that is used to create web pages
What is cascading style sheets (CSS)?
A scripting language which is used to create a presentation template for a web page
What does CSS include? (example)
The kind of font and colour text will appear on the webpage
What is active script?
Script that is used to produce any of the interactive elements of a web page
What is hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS)?
A secure version of the HTTP which encrypts data for transmission and involves digital certificates
What is encryption?
A method of securing data for storage or transmission which scrambles it and makes it meaningless
What is a digital certificate?
A certificate awarded to a website if they can prove that they are a real organisation and take measures to securely transmit their data
What is a certificate authority?
The awarding organisation that checks if another organisation is real and secure before awarding them a digital certificate
What is the secure sockets layer (SSL) protocol?
A type of protocol that encrypts data for transmission.
What protocol is the HTTP combined with to create HTTPS?
The secure sockets layer (SSL) protocol
What is the transport layer security (TLS) protocol?
An updated version of the SSL protocol
What does render mean in the context of computer science?
The method of processing all the web page data to display the web page
What is a search engine?
Software which lets you find information on the world wide web
What is an address bar?
The section of a web browser where you type the web page address
What is user history?
A record made on a web browser of all the web pages that the user has visited
What is a bookmark?
A link which can be created to allow a user to quickly find a web page again
What is a tab?
A website function which allows a user to open multiple web pages in the same window
What is a window?
A viewing area that is created in which a software application or file can be opened
What does it mean to navigate between web pages?
Move around web pages, or move back or forward to previous web pages
What is a cookie?
A small text file that is used to store personal data by a web browser
What is a session cookie?
A type of cookie that is deleted when the web browser is closed
What is a persistent cookie?
A type of cookie that is stored by the web browser until it is deleted by the user or because it has expired
What is a digital currency?
A currency that exists electronically rather than physically
What is blockchain?
A method that is used to track all the transactions made with a cryptocurrency
What is cryptocurrency?
A type of digital currency that uses encryption procedures
What is a digital ledger?
A database that is a list of all the transactions recorded by the use of blockchain
Who is a perpetrator?
A person who carries out an illegal or immoral action
What is a brute-force attack?
A type of cyber threat that involves repeatedly inputting a password until the correct one is found to try and break into an account or device
What is a biometric password?
A type of password that uses a person’s biological data
What data might a biometric password use (example)?
A person’s fingerprint
What is a biometric device?
A device that allows a user to record and input a biometric password
What is two-step verification?
A process that involves inputting two different kinds of data to enter an account or device
What is data interception?
A process where data packets are intercepted and examined to steal personal data, a perpetrator being responsible
What is the purpose of data interception?
To steal personal data for criminal activity like identity theft or fraud
What security solutions can be used against data interception?
Encryption like the SSL protocol used in HTTPS and checking the URL of a website to see if it uses the HTTPS protocol
What is a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack?
An attack where malware is sent to many computers to turn them into bots and form a botnet which overwhelms a web server with requests, crashing it
What is the purpose of a DDoS attack?
To cause the web server to crash
What is the motive of a DDoS attack?
So the perpetrator can demand money for it to stop or as an act of revenge or activism
What security solutions can be used against a DDoS attack?
The company can use a proxy server to filter requests requests to the web server and computer users can scan their computers with anti-malware
What is a botnet?
A network of bots that are created to carry out a DDoS attack
What is malware?
A type of malicious software that is downloaded onto a user’s computer or device
What is a bot?
A computer that has had malware downloaded onto it which will cause it to be used in a DDoS attack
What is a zombie?
A computer that has had malware downloaded onto it to allow it to be used in a DDoS attack, but currently isn’t being used in this way
What is a proxy server?
A method of cyber security that examines requests sent by devices to access the web pages stored on a web server
What is anti-malware?
A type of software that scans a computer or device to find and remove any malware
What is hacking?
The act of gaining unauthorised access to data
What are the ways hacking can occur?
A hacker may use methods like brute-force attacks or exploit vulnerabilities in a computer or a network
What is the motive behind hacking?
To steal, corrupt or leak your data for criminal activity, possibly as an act of revenge or activism
What are some security solutions which can be used against hacking?
A firewall, automatic software updates, strong or biometric passwords and two-step verification
Who is a hacker?
A perpetrator that carries out an act of hacking
What is a firewall?
A cyber security method that is used to examine incoming and outgoing traffic from a computer or network
What is a port?
An entry point into a computer or network
What are certain types of malware?
Viruses, worms, trojan horses, spyware, adware and ransomware
What is a virus?
Malware which is downloaded onto your hard drive and replicates itself to corrupt data or fill up available memory, causing the computer to crash
What is a worm?
A computer program which replicates itself across a network using vulnerabilities it finds to clog up the bandwidth
What is spyware?
A computer program downloaded onto your hard drive which spies on a user’s actions while they use their computer
What is a trojan horse?
A computer program used to disguise other malware by looking like harmless software and smuggle the malware into a computer or network
What is adware?
A computer program that automatically creates popup advertisements and banner adverts when the user is online
What is ransomware?
A computer program which encrypts a user’s data to prevent them gaining access until a ransom is paid to the creators to decrypt the data
What do ransomware creators often threaten to get users to pay the ransom?
They threaten to release all the stored data if the ransom isn’t paid
What is an anti-virus?
A type of software which scans a computer for viruses with the purpose of removing them
How does an anti-virus work?
It scans all files in a computer and compares them against a known list of viruses, placing any files which match into a quarantine area and asking the user if they want to delete the file
Why is it important to update an anti-virus?
New viruses are always being developed and anti-virus updates ensure the database the anti-virus checks files against is up-to-date
What will an anti-virus do if it finds what it thinks is a virus (by checking against a known virus list)?
It will put the file in a quarantine area
What is the name of the anti-malware that looks specifically for spyware?
anti-spyware
What does a firewall do?
A firewall examines data coming into and out of a computer against a set of criteria, rejecting the data from being downloaded or leaving the computer if it looks malicious
Why is it important a firewall examines outgoing data as well as incoming data?
Examining outgoing data can be especially useful in the prevention of spyware. The firewall could prevent data collected about a user leaving the computer, preventing it from being analysed by a perpetrator
What is something important a user should do to prevent malware getting on to their computer?
A user should be very cautious when clicking links and downloading online software and only do these things from trustworthy sources
What is a data backup?
A copy of data that is stored separate from the computer
How can a data backup help in the case of malware getting on your computer?
If your data is damaged by malware (like a virus) or encrypted using ransomware, a user still has access to a copy of their data
What will a data backup not do?
It will not stop a perpetrator from gaining access to or leaking your data
What could you or other organisations do relating to inputting your password to prevent it being sent to a perpatrator?
You could use an onscreen virtual keyboard, companies could let you use drop down boxes, ask from random password characters but not the entirety
What is pharming?
A type of cyber threat where malicious software is downloaded onto a user’s hard drive which redirects a request aimed at a genuine website to a fake one, where the user inputs their personal data, letting it be stolen
What are ways the perpetrator gets you to download the malware?
Enticing you into clicking a link or icon which begins downloading the malware. They do this through sending emails, creating pop up adverts or having the link available on a web page
What should you do if you realise a website is fake after typing your login details in and why?
Change your password for that website immediately to help stop the perpetrator being able to long into your account
How could you remove the malware installed on your hard drive in pharming?
Use anti-malware software to remove it
How could you check to see if a website is fake?
Check if the URL is the correct one, if the site uses HTTPS, if the website looks like it normally does (colours, images, text, etc.)
What is the aim of pharming?
To steal a user’s personal data to commit criminal activity like stealing money, identity theft or fraud
What security solutions can be used against pharming?
Anti-malware software, visually checking the web page and only downloading data from trusted sources
What is phishing?
A type of cyber threat where a perpetrator sends a user a fake email which has a link to a fake website, where the user is encouraged to give their personal data, allowing it to be stolen
What is the purpose of phishing?
The perpetrator may use your account to buy products online with your money or use it to get more personal details for identity theft or fraud
How does the perpetrator get a user to click the link in the email in phishing?
They create an email which looks like it is from a genuine company, like a bank
What might a perpetrator say in an email in phishing to get a user to click the link?
They may tell the user to click the link to check unusual activity, claim a prize, confirm a purchase or claim a tax refund
How could a user prevent themselves from being fooled by a phishing scam?
Check the spelling and tone of the email, if it has been personalised, the URL attached to the link, the URL of the website after clicking, if the site uses HTTPS and if the website looks like it normally does
