Legal Issues Flashcards
What are the three acts?
- Data Protection Act
- Copyright Law
- Computer Misuse Act
What is the DATA PROTECTION ACT?
- The Data Protection Act was introduced to ensure that the data held on clients conformed to certain principles, such as: being held securely, being up to date and not kept longer than necessary.
How is Data kept securely? - PASSWORDS
- Passwords entered in to software applications should only be accepted if they are strong and so more difficult to break; strong passwords are created by using mixtures of numbers, letters, and symbols, using lower case and upper case so that the final password does not look like a word.
How is Data kept securely? - ENCRYPTION
- Encryption is used to make stored data more secure, by making it unreadable to people who do not have the key to decode it. This method is commonly used to protect data transmitted over the Internet.
How is Data kept securely? - SELECTIVE DROP-DOWN MENUS
Selective drop-down menus are sometimes used as a security method to add letters for a password, rather than just typing them; this prevents key-logging software from viewing the systems and gaining access to important passwords.
PERSONAL DATA MORAL ISSUES - Misuse of personal data
- MISUSES OF PERSONAL DATA – selling it to businesses that use the data
for a different purpose to the original reason it was collected.
PERSONAL DATA MORAL ISSUES - Data security
- DATA SECURITY – personal data is stored on networks that can be
broken into and stolen by hackers. In some cases government
employees have lost laptop computers with unencrypted personal details
of taxpayers which have got into the wrong hands, causing privacy issues.
What is the COPYRIGHT DESIGN AND PATENTS ACT?
- The Copyright Design and Patents Act introduced to protect the intellectual property of individuals and organisations that create and produce materials based on their own individual ideas.
Why is copyright legislation useful? - PIRACY
- PIRACY is the illegal copying of software for either personal use or business use; this
can include illegal downloading of games and music as well as commercial software.
Why is copyright legislation useful? - THEFT
- THEFT of hardware and software ideas and innovations. In an industry that moves so fast there is seldom time to patent your invention before you release it on to the open market.
- Many organisations purchase their rivals’ products with the express purpose of copying their ideas, which saves them considerable expense on research and development.
What are example of copyright issues?
- Unauthorised use of software – downloading or copying software illegally without purchasing the necessary software licence
- Illegal copying of music and films
- Illegal copying of web content
What is the Computer Misuse Act?
- The Computer Misuse Act was introduced with the express purpose of preventing attacks on ICT systems to commit crimes or to damage the system; this legislation made hacking and the introduction of a computer virus into criminal offences.
What is Hacking?
- Hacking is the practice of breaking into computer systems and it is essential that preventative measures are taken.
- The main techniques are to utilise a firewall and to set up some intrusion detection.
What is a Computer Virus?
- A computer virus is a program designed to cause damage to a computer system.
- The use of a virus scanner or antivirus software helps to minimise the risk from viruses; this software searches the computer system for viruses and deletes them once detected
What can be done with spyware?
- Spyware can be loaded into a computer system as a software virus
