Data Transfer & Passwords (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE ICT)
Revision Note
Data Transfer
Why is data transfer a network issue?
Sharing data is a fundamental reason to use a network, electronic data is constantly moving between sender and receiver
The transfer of data on a network poses potential security risks, such as:
Unauthorised access
Data manipulation
Common causes of data transfer security risks
Cause | Risks |
|---|---|
Hackers | Exploit network weaknesses and access/delete/steal confidential data |
Insider threats | Intentionally/unintentionally compromising network security polices leading to data interception/theft |
Social engineering | Manipulating network users into giving away confidential information and/or clicking links which installs malware leading to the compromise of data |
Unencrypted transfers | No encryption protocols used when transferring sensitive data |
Weak encryption | Weak or outdated encryption protocols used when transferring sensitive data |
Insecure protocols | Using HTTP instead of HTTPS when dealing with sensitive information |
Passwords
What are passwords?
Passwords are a digital lock to prevent unauthorised access to an account
They are often stored as an encrypted/ciphered text entry in a database, ensuring that even with unauthorised access to a database, a hacker would not be able to gain access to the individual passwords of users
Passwords must be kept safe, this can be achieved by:
Using anti-spyware software to ensure 'keyloggers' are not used
Periodically changing passwords to ensure they have not been compromised
Ensuring passwords are 'strong'
Mixture of upper/lower case
Contain at least one number
Contain at least one symbol
Minimum of eight characters
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