Risk to Data and Personal Information Flashcards
Risks to data and information:
- Unauthorised access
- Damage by malware
- Accidental deletion
- Theft of personal data: phishing and pharming
How can unauthorized users access data?
Either directly or by using software that inputs multiple login details in order to attempt to gain access to networks with poor security.
Devices on a network can be targeted by unauthorized users to be used as botnets
How does malware work?
Malware shows messages, plays sounds, delete files or reprogram systems to perform tasks that’ll harm the system and the connected hardware
How does ransomware work?
It threatens to delete a user’s files or restrict access to software or resources until the money is paid, usually to an anonymous account
Possible reasons for accidental deletion of files or contents of a drive:
Pressing a key on the keyboard
Formatting media on the wrong storage device
he device loses power unexpectedly
What is phishing?
It is the criminal activity of sending emails or SMS that appear to be from real organizations and asking users to type in their personal information by replying to the message or directing them through a hyperlink to a website into which the user is asked to type in their personal details
Spear phishing is customized and targeted at a small no. of particular users
What is pharming?
The criminal activity to gain a user’s personal information and payment details by creating fake versions of trusted websites to trick users into entering their login details
Methods by which users are directed to a pharming site:
- Internet traffic going to the real website is redirected to the fake website by altering the domain name servers (translates domain names to IP addresses) or by using malware to redirect web requests
- Designing the URL of the pharming website o be similar to that of the original website so if the user misspells the URL, they would go to the pharming website
Methods to secure data and personal information online:
- Firewalls (examine the network addresses and ports of the data)
- Encryption
- CAPTCHA tests
- Passwords, pins, and biometrics
- Anti-malware, anti-virus software
- Access rights and file permissions
- Secure websites
- Not opening email attachments and web links
- Backup procedures
Users should make sure their password is:
8 characters long A mix of letters, numbers, and symbols A mix of uppercase and lowercase letters Made up of random characters Frequently changed Something that they haven't used before
CAPTCHA stands for:
Completely Automated Public Turing Test To Tell Computers and Humans Apart
The function of the CAPTCHA test:
The CAPTCHA tests work by asking users to enter a randomly generated series of numbers or letters into a required field. Automated software cannot read the letters displayed so this is used to distinguish humans from bots
How are the solutions of reCAPTCHA tests (pics share common features and extracts of texts from books) used?
They are used to digitize books and annotate images. This helps to make more books available online and improves the info. provided in online maps and online services
What are viruses? How are they spread?
A virus is a malware that uses networks to spread to connected devices.
They are spread by communication software or by being loaded into the computer’s memory from external storage
How does anti-virus software work?
Anti-virus software constantly checks files that are downloaded by a computer for signs of virus definitions. If it finds a match, it quarantines the file so that it cannot run
