Social and Professional Issues Flashcards
What is the difference between Mechanical and Electronic Devices?
Mechanical devices use mechanical parts to work, while electronic devices use electricity.
(Pre-history of Computing) What are the four key devices in the pre-history of computing?
Abacus (1000-500BC); Antikythera mechanism (~100BC), the oldest example of an analogue computer; First Mechanical Calculator (1623), made by Wilhelm Schickard, it could add and subtract 6 digit numbers; Leibniz’s calculating machine (1640), made by Gottfried von Leibniz. It could also multiply and divide.
What is the difference between an Analogue and a Digital computer?
A computer that uses a continuous signal to process is an analogue computer, while a computer that uses a discrete signal for its operation is called a digital computer.
What happened with Charles Babbage and the Difference Engine 1?
He wanted calculations to be done by steam. He developed the Difference Engine 1, but it was never made due to fallouts with Joseph Clement, and eventually the governments £1700 funding was cut.
What happened with Charles Babbage, the Analytical Engine and the Difference Engine 2?
After failing to build the Difference Engine 1, Babbage designed a general purpose programmable computing machine called the Analytical Engine. It had an input, output, store (memory), and mill (CPU). After that he developed the Difference Engine 2, an improved version of the original. Neither was ever built by him.
What did Ada Lovelace do?
She was the first computer programmer. She translated a french paper written by Luigi Menabrea and added notes to it. One of the notes was how to use the analytical engine to calculate Bernoulli numbers - called Note G.
What did Wilhelm Leibniz do?
In 1703 Leibniz described how binary numbers may be added, subtracted, multiplied and divided. He developed the concept of formal symbolic logic. He was too ahead of his time so nothing happened.
What did Charles Boole do?
He developed the concept of using symbols to represent objects. He developed the mathematics for logical operations. He made it so we have the maths for logical operations.
What did Claude Shannon do?
He combined boolean algebra and circuit design. He provided mathematical techniques for building a network of switches to realize a specific logical function.
What are the 1st generation of electronic machines?
From 1950-1959. Key technology was the vacuum tube. Issues were heat, weight, size and reliability.
What are the 2nd generation of electronic machines?
From 1960-1968. Key technology was the transistor which enabled use of logic gates without vacuum tubes. The IBM system 360 introduces the concept of a computer family.
What are the 3rd generation of electronic machines?
From 1969-1977. Key technology is the integrated circuit which allowed for devices to be smaller, cheaper and more reliable.
What are the 4th generation of electronic machines?
From 1978-2009. Key technology was the microprocessor. Computers started to become readily available for the public.
What is Moore’s Law?
The number of transistors on microchips doubles every two years.
What is cryptography?
The study of
mathematical techniques for securing
digital information, systems, and distributed
computations against adversarial attacks.
What are Encryption and Decryption?
Encryption is when plaintext is converted into ciphertext, and Decryption is when ciphertext is converted back into plaintext.
What is the Caesar cipher?
Letters are shifted by a key k either backwards or forwards to encrypt and decrypt.
What is the mono-alphabetic cipher?
It defines a map from each letter to some letter of the alphabet, where the map is arbitrary,
instead of a fixed shift like in caesar cipher.
What is symmetric encryption?
Symmetric encryption is when both parties have the same key to encrypt and decrypt the data. This leads to the key distribution problem.
What is the key distribution problem?
With symmetric encryption, both parties need to have the same key. This key needs to be distributed confidentially, and there are two options: meeting in person, which is hard if there is a long distance, and if the key is reset you have to share it again; and using cryptography to share the key, which then brings up the same issue for sharing the key.
What is asymmetric encryption?
With asymmetric encryption, there is a public key (used to encrypt data) and a private key (used to decrypt data). The keys are related, but it is computationally infeasible to derive the private key from the public key. Asymmetric encryption solves the key distribution problem.
What is a digital signature?
A digital signature is a way of verifying the authenticity of a digital document or message, created using a combination of the document or message and a private key. It can be verified using the corresponding public key and has the properties of integrity, non-repudiation, and authentication.
What is a digital certificate?
A digital certificate is an electronic document that is used to identify an individual, organization, or device, and to secure their online communications. Digital certificates are issued by a certification authority (CA), which verifies the identity of the applicant before issuing the certificate. Digital certificates contain the public key of the certificate owner, as well as other identifying information, and are signed by the CA’s private key.
Why is quantum computing a threat to cryptography?
Quantum computers have the potential to break many of the cryptographic algorithms that are currently used to secure online communication, because they are able to solve certain mathematical problems much faster than classical computers. This is because some of the most widely used cryptographic algorithms rely on the fact that certain mathematical problems are hard to solve.
How can you attack cryptography?
One way is a brute force attack, which involves trying every possible combination of keys or passwords until the correct one is found. This is time and power consuming however and may take ages. Another way is cryptanalysis, which involves using mathematical and statistical analysis to try break the encryption of a message/document by finding patters and weaknesses. Another way is a side-channel attack, which involves trying to extract information about a cryptographic system by observing either the time taken to perform certain operations, or the power it consumes.
What was the Heartbleed Bug?
The Heartbleed bug is a security vulnerability in the open-source encryption software OpenSSL, which is widely used to secure internet communication and protect sensitive data. The Heartbleed vulnerability was discovered in April 2014. It allowed attackers to access and potentially steal sensitive information.
What was the DROWN Attack?
The DROWN attack worked by taking advantage of servers that support both TLS and an older, less secure version of the SSL protocol, called SSLv2. The vulnerability allowed attackers to decrypt and read sensitive information, such as passwords and private keys, that were transmitted over secure connections. The DROWN attack was discovered in 2016.
What is TOR?
TOR (The Onion Router) is a free, open-source software that enables anonymous communication over the internet. It works by routing internet traffic through a network of volunteer servers, which makes it difficult for anyone to trace the source of the traffic or to monitor the communication.
What is HTTPS?
HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is a protocol used to secure communication over the internet. It works by encrypting the communication between a web server and a client.
What is Zimmerman’s Law?
The natural flow of technology tends to
move in the direction of making surveillance
easier, and the ability of computers to track
us doubles every eighteen months.
What did Edward Snowden do?
Edward Snowden leaked a large amount of classified information about the National Security Agency (NSA) and its global surveillance activities. Snowden revealed the existence of secret agreements between the NSA and telecom companies, as well as the agency’s efforts to undermine encryption technologies used to protect online communication.
What is End-to-end encryption?
End-to-end encryption is a type of communication security that ensures that only the sender and the intended recipient of a message can read it. The message cannot be read by anyone else, even if it is intercepted or stored by a third party (such as a service provider).
What are the pros of End-to-end encryption?
It protects the privacy of communication and prevents unauthorized access to sensitive information. It helps to ensure the security of online communication, particularly in the age of mass surveillance. Can be used to protect against cyber threats, such as hackers and malware
What are the cons of End-to-end encryption?
Can make it difficult for law enforcement agencies to access communication in the course of an investigation. Can be used by criminals and terrorists to evade detection and hide their activities. Can make it difficult for service providers to detect and prevent abuse or illegal activity on their platforms.
What is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, and images, that are used in commerce. Intellectual property is protected by law, which allows the owner to control the use of their property and to profit from it.
What is copyright?
Copyright is a legal protection that covers original literary, artistic, and musical works, such as books, films, music, and software. It gives the owner the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, and adapt the work. It is automatic in the UK.
What is a trademark?
A trademark is a distinctive sign or symbol that is used to identify a product or service and to distinguish it from others. Trademarks can be words, phrases, logos, or other symbols.
What is a patent?
A patent is a legal protection that covers new and useful inventions, such as products, processes, and machines. It gives the owner the exclusive right to make, use, and sell the invention for a certain period of time.
What is a trade secret?
A trade secret is information that is not generally known and that gives the owner a competitive advantage. Trade secrets can include formulas, recipes, processes, or other confidential information. An example of a way round this is an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement).
What are free and open-source licenses?
Free and open-source licenses are legal agreements that allow users to freely use, modify, and distribute software and other types of intellectual property. They are designed to encourage the sharing and development of knowledge and technology, and to promote collaboration and innovation.
What are the pros of free and open-source licenses?
Promote the sharing and development of knowledge and technology. Encourage collaboration and innovation. Can lead to the creation of better and more efficient products and services.
What are the cons of free and open-source licenses?
Can make it difficult for developers to make a profit from their work. Can lead to the creation of low-quality or unreliable products and services.
What is Cybersquatting?
Cybersquatting is the action of using an Internet domain name with intent
to profit from a trademark belonging to someone else.
