Section 10 - The Internet Flashcards
What is a URL
- Unifrom Resource Locator
- specifies the location of a resource on the internet, inlcuding name and file type
- hhtp = method
- www = host
- /webpage = location
what is an ip address
- stands for internet protocol
- unique address assigned to a network device
- indicates where a packet of data is to be sent to or sent from
what is packet switching
a method of communicating packets of data across a network
what is a data packet
- data that is to be transmitted across a network is broken down into more managabke chunks called packets
- each packet contains a header, trailer and payload (the data)
what is in a packet header
- senders IP address
- recipients IP address
- protocol
- packet number
what is in a packet trailer
- end of packet flag
- checksum
what is a router
- routers connect two networks together
- determines which router to send to next
- uses most efficient/shortest route
- updates routing table to reflect network changes
what is a gateway
- if a packet is being moved between networks with different protocols, then a gateway is required to translate
- All of the header data is stripped from the packet and a new header is added in the format of the new network
what is a firewall
- a firewall is either softwareor hardwae that controls access to and from a network
- numbered doors called ports are opened so that only certain traffic is allowed to pass through
what is packet filtering
- packets of data are inspected by the friewall to check which port they are attempting to access
- if the IP address matched those recorded on the administrators permitted list, they are accepted and the port is opened
what is stateful inspection
- the firewall maintains information about current connections
- it can inspect the payload of packets
- only allows relevant packets through
what is a proxy server
- a proxy server makes a web request on behalf of your own computer, hiding the true request IP address from the recipient
- proxy servers can be used for anonymous surfing and provides a cashe of previously visited sites to speed access
what is symmetric (private key) encryption
- uses the same key to encrypt and decrypt data
- this means the key must also be transferred to the same destination as the ciphertext
- this causes security problems as the key can be intercepted as easily as the ciphertext to decrypt the data
what is asymmetric (public key) encryption
- uses two separate, but related keys
- the public key is made public and others wishing to send you data can use it for encryption, but not decryption
- another private key is known only by you and is used for decryption
what is a digital signature
- in order to verify the integrity of a message, the sender can add a digital signature to a message
- the sender creates the signature by reducing the unencrypted message to produce a hash and encrypting the hash using their private key
- the sender bundles the digital signature with the message and encrypts it using the recipients public key
- recipient decrypts the bundle, uses the senders public key to decrypt the signature and compares the hash with their own calcuated hash
what is malicious software (malware)
designed to cause inconvenience, loss or damage to programs, data or computer systems
what is a virus/worm
a standalone program that does not require a user for it to spread or duplicate itself
what is the TCP/IP stack
- a set of rules used in turn to format a message so it can be sent over a network
- contains four layers that each provide a specific function
- stands for transmission control protocol/ internet protocol
what are the four layers of TCIP/IP
- application layer
- transport layer
- network layer
- link layer
what happens in the application layer
- uses protocols related to the application being used
- does not determine how the data is tranmistted, rather specifies the rules
what happens in the transport layer
- uses TCP to establish an end-to-end connection with the recipient computer
- splits the data into packets, labels them with packet numbers and adds the port number based on http protocol
- at the recieving end, this layer confirms all the packets have been recieved and requests any missing ones
- performs error detection
what happens in the network layer
- uses the IP to address packets with the source and destination addresses
- routers operate on this layer and forward each packet towards a socket (endpoint) formed of their IP address and port number
- each router uses a routing table to insruct the next hop
what happens in the link layer
- adds the MAC adress identifying the NICs of the source and destination
what happens when data is recieved
- the link layer removes the MAC adrewss from each packet
- the network layer removes the IP address from each packet
- the transport layer remobes the port number from each packet and reassembles them in the correct order
- the application layer presents the image data for the user in a browser