Topic 5.1 Keywords

Question 1

audit trail

Answer 1

a record of activities that have taken place on a computer system. this record is generated automatically and will record what has happened and who or what made the change.

Question 2

authentication

Answer 2

the process of proving to a computer system who you are (eg. username and password).

Question 3

back-up

Answer 3

a copy of files in another location so that they are still available if the original copy is damaged or lost. backing up is the process of making a back-up copy.

Question 4

bandwidth

Answer 4

the amount of data that can be carried on a network in a given period of time.

Question 5

byte

Answer 5

the basic combination of bits used to represent an item of information. a byte consists of 8 bits.

Question 6

checksum

Answer 6

an error detection technique. a mathematical formula is applied to the data and the resulting numerical value is transmitted with the data. the recipient computer applies the same formula to the received data and then compares the checksum sent with the data to the calculated checksum. if the checksums don’t match, the data is likely to have been corrupted and the recipient computer requests the data again.

Question 7

client-sever network

Answer 7

a network that has at least one server to provide services to the client computers.

Question 8

cloud storage

Answer 8

secondary storage, often belonging to a third party, that is accessed via a network, usually the internet, and so is not in the same physical place as the machine’s RAM/ROM. files stored “in the cloud” can be accessed from anywhere via an internet connection.

Question 9

code vulnerability

Answer 9

a computer program (the code) that has been written in such a way that it creates a security issue that may be taken advantage of to gain access to the computer system or data within it.

Question 10

communication media

Answer 10

the means by which data is transmitted between devices on a network. coaxial cable, fibre-optic cable and microwaves are all forms of communication media.

Question 11

cyberattack

Answer 11

any kind of malicious attack on a network-connected device

Question 12

denial of service (DoS)

Answer 12

an attack on a network that attempts to prevent legitimate users from accessing its services

Question 13

eavesdrop

Answer 13

having unauthorised sight of data being sent from ione computer to another over a network

Question 14

encryption

Answer 14

the process of encoding a message into a form that only the intended recipient can decode, or decrypt, and read. the message is encoded using an agreed method or algorithm. this is called the key. the encrypted message is called the cipher.

Question 15

firewall

Answer 15

a utility that controls program access to the network both incoming and outgoing

Question 16

hypertext markup language (HTML)

Answer 16

essentially a text document that contains any text to be displayed along with:

• details of how text should be formatted
• details of any hyperlinks and when they like to using a URL.
• details of any object such as pictures or videos that should be shown within the web page when it is displayed

Question 17

identity theft

Answer 17

the stealing of another persons personal details such as their bank account number, sort code or passport number, for the purpose of making purchases and running up debts in their name

Question 18

internet

Answer 18

a worldwide system of interconnected networks that enables information to be exchanged and shared

Question 19

internet service provider (ISP)

Answer 19

an organisation that provides its customers with a connection to the internet.

Question 20

local area network (LAN)

Answer 20

a network that covers a relatively small geographical area, often a single site

Question 21

malware

Answer 21

short for “malicious software”. it is used as a generic term for any kind of software that is designed to disrupt the use of a computer system

Question 22

network

Answer 22

an arrangement of computers and other devices connect together to share resources and data.

Question 23

netowork topology

Answer 23

describes how the devices on a network are connected together

Question 24

network security

Answer 24

activities designed to protect network and its data form threats such as viruses, hacker attacks, denial of service attacks data interception and theft, and equipment failure.

Question 25

packet

Answer 25

a small quantity of data being sent through a network. the packet is labelled with the sender address (source), the recipient (destination), how many packets are being transmitted and the position of this packet in the complete message

Question 26

peer-to-peer network

Answer 26

a network that doesn’t have any centralised servers. each computer in the network can act as client and server

Question 27

phishing

Answer 27

attempting to get confidential information by sending a user a message that appears to come from a trustworthy person or organisation

Question 28

physical securtiy

Answer 28

controlling access to critical parts of a network using physical methods (locked doors) rather than software

Question 29

protocol

Answer 29

a set of rules that govern how communications on a network should be formatted and what data they should include

Question 30

router

Answer 30

a piece of networking hardware used to forward packets of data from one network to another

Question 31

shoulder surfing

Answer 31

gainng access to information by watching someone enter it into a computer system

Question 32

social engineering

Answer 32

any kind of attack on a computer system or network that exploits how people behave andrespond to certain situations

Question 33

spyware

Answer 33

software, possibly a virus, that is designed to be installed secretly on a computer and record private information as the user enters it

Question 34

unpatched software

Answer 34

software that hasn’t had the latest security updates applied to it, making it vulnerable to attack

Question 35

web server

Answer 35

powerful computer systems that store web pages and any multimedia that the pages might contain

Question 36

wide area network (WAN)

Answer 36

a network that covers a large geographical area. it connect together two or LANs and is usually under collective ownership. the largest wide area network is the internet.

Question 37

wireless local area network

Answer 37

a local area network in which connected devices use high frequency radio waves to communicate

Question 38

hacking

Answer 38

the act of gaining unauthorised access to a computer system and the data it contains

Question 39

virus

Answer 39

software that is designed to make and distribute copies of itself, usually for malicious purpose