Security Threats

Question 1

What is malware?

Answer 1

• Any type of harmful program that seeks to damage or gain unauthorised access to your computer system.

Question 2

Virus:

Answer 2

• Can replicate itself and spread from system to system by attaching itself to infected files.
• A virus is only activated when opened by a human.
• Once activated, a virus can change data or corrupt a system so that it stops working.

Question 3

Worm:

Answer 3

• Can replicate itself and spread from system to system by finding weaknesses in software.
• Does not need an infected file or human interaction to spread.
• Spreads very quickly across a network once it has infiltrated it.

Question 4

Trojan:

Answer 4

• Harmful program that looks like legitimate software so users are tricked into installing it.
• A Trojan secretly gives the attacker back door access to the system.
• Do not self replicate or infect other files.

Question 5

Spyware:

Answer 5

• Secretly records the activities of a user on a computer.
• The main aim of spyware is to record usernames, passwords and credit card information.
• All recorded information is secretly passed back to the attacker to use.

Question 6

Keylogger:

Answer 6

• Secretly records the key presses of a user on a computer. Data is stored or sent back to the attacker.
• It records usernames, passwords and credit card information.
• Can be downloaded or plugged into the USB port.

Question 7

Ransomware:

Answer 7

• Locks files on a computer system using encryption so that a user can no longer access them.
• The attacker demands money from the victim to decrypt the data.
• Attackers usually use digital currencies like bitcoin which makes it hard to trace them.

Question 8

SQL Injection:

Answer 8

• A SQL Injection is when a malicious SQL query is entered into a data input box on a website.
• The SQL query can trick the website into giving unauthorised access to the website’s database.
• Can be used to view and edit the contents of a database or even gain administrator privileges.

Question 9

What is SQL?

Answer 9

• SQL is a programming language used for manipulating data in databases.

Question 10

DoS Attack:

Answer 10

• When a computer repeatedly sends requests to a server to overload the system.
• A server overload will slow the system and may take websites offline temporarily.

Question 11

DDoS Attack:

Answer 11

• A coordinated attack using a botnet of infected systems to overload a server with requests.

Question 12

What is a botnet?

Answer 12

• A large group of devices controlled and used maliciously by an attacker.

Question 13

Brute-Force Attack:

Answer 13

• Every possible combination tested in order from start to finish.
• Not quick, but should break the password eventually.
• Can be sped up if multiple computer systems are used at the same time.

Question 14

Social Engineering:

Answer 14

• Trick others into revealing their personal data by posing as a trusted source.
• e.g impersonating an IT Technician of a school via email and asking for a student’s username and password.

Question 15

Interception:

Answer 15

• When data packets on a network are intercepted by a third party (e.g hacker) and copied to a different location than the intended destination.
• Software called packet sniffers are used to intercept and analyse data packets.