1.4.2 Threat Prevention Flashcards
What are examples of common protection and detection methods
Penetration testing
Anti-malware
Firewalls
User access levels
Passwords
Encryption
Physical security
What does penetration testing do?
Used to find potential vulnerabilities within a computer system that could be exploited for criminal purposes
What does anti-malware do?
Designed to spot a malicious virus, worm, Trojan, adware or spyware program and to remove it from a system or network
Must be regularly updated to meet the latest threats that appear on a daily basis.
What does firewalls do?
Control the transmission of data between a computer and other network computers or the internet.
What are the characteristics of firewalls?
Can be configured to apply ruled to certain programs, websites or network connections
Can be either software or hardware based – a hardware firewall is generally more expensive but more robust
What does a user access level do?
Are used to control the info that a specific user(s) can access, read or edit.
What are the characteristics of a user access level?
May be limited to data that is relevant only to them or to protect personal info
Are essential as users are often the weakest link in any computer systems in respect to security
What do passwords do?
Essential in preventing unauthorised access to a computer system, but they need to be complex enough so that they cannot be guessed or calculated by hackers.
What does encryption do?
Converts info using a public encryption key into a meaningless form that cannot be read if intercepted
What are the characteristics of encryption?
Only way to decrypt the info is with a private key or cypher generated by the owner
The encryption text and the cypher are never transmitted together
What does physical security do?
Practical way to protect equipment and data from external hackers.
Protects important network equipment or data by physically preventing access
What are examples of physical security?
use of safes, locked rooms or obstacles to protect equipment
increased surveillance on equipment
removable hard drives or data storage
biometric scanners that check fingerprints, iris or facial scans or voice recognition systems
What makes a strong password?
Make sure all passwords are at least eight characters long
Use upper0 and lower-case characters
Include special character (?, % and #)
Avoid real dictionary words
Avoid any personal info – names of family members or pets, important dates or phone numbers
Regular change passwords and never use them for more than one system.
What are the characteristics of penetration testing?
Is usually carried out by security specialists that offer their services to organisations with security concerns
