Methods of Securing Data (Edexcel IGCSE ICT)

Passwords, PINs & biometrics

What is a strong password?

• Strong passwords should contain:

  • More than eight characters

  • A mixture of letters, numbers and symbols

  • A mixture of uppercase and lowercase letters

  • Uncommon words/phrases

• Passwords should be changed regularly

What are biometrics?

• Biometrics are a way of authenticating a user by using their unique human characteristics

• Some of the ways biometrics can be used are:

  • Fingerprint scans

  • Retina scans

  • Facial recognition

What is a CAPCHA?

• A CAPCHA is a method of testing if a website request originates from a human or a machine (bot)

• Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers & Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) examples include:

  • Text - Asking users to enter characters from a distorted text box, users would need to decipher the characters and enter them in a designated box

  • Image - A grid of images, a user would be asked to select all those that contain a specific object

  • Checkbox - A simple checkbox appears asking the user to confirm they are not a robot 

• A CAPTCHA can be used to prevent spam and protect logins

Anti-malware

What is anti-malware software?

• Anti-malware software is a term used to describe a combination of different software to prevent computers from being susceptible to viruses and other malicious software

• The different software anti-malware includes are

  • Anti-virus 

  • Anti-spam 

  • Anti-spyware 

How does anti-malware work?

• Anti-malware scans through email attachments, websites and downloaded files to search for issues

• Anti-malware software has a list of known malware signatures to block immediately if they try to access your device in any way

• Anti-malware will also perform checks for updates to ensure the database of known issues is up to date

Access rights

What are access rights?

• Access rights ensure users of a network can access what they need to access and do not have access to information/resources they shouldn't

• Users can have designated roles on a network

• Access rights can be set based on a user's role, responsibility, or clearance level

  • Full access - this allows the user to open, create, edit & delete files

  • Read-only access - this only allows the user to open files without editing or deleting

  • No access - this hides the file from the user

• Some examples of different rights of access to a school network could include:

  • Administrators: Unrestricted - Can access all areas of the network

  • Teaching Staff: Partially restricted - Can access all student data but cannot access other staff members' data

  • Students: Restricted - Can only access their own data and files

• Users and groups of users can be given specific file permissions

Secure websites

What is HTTP & HTTPS?

• Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) allows communication between clients and servers for website viewing

• HTTP allows clients to receive data from the sever (fetching a webpage) and send data to the server (submitting a form, uploading a file)

• HTTPS works in the same way as HTTP but with an added layer of security

• All data sent and received using HTTPS is encrypted

• HTTPS is used to protect sensitive information such as passwords, financial information and personal data

Email safety

What is email safety?

• Users should be aware of the dangers when using email, especially email attachments and web links

• To ensure users use email safely they should take extra caution when:

  • Email is from an unknown sender

  • Text is general or impersonal

  • Contains spelling, punctuation or grammar mistakes

  • Attached files are executable files (.exe)

  • Urgency is the tone of the message

  • Don't recognise the URL

Backup procedures

What is a backup software?

• Backup software is used to create copies of personal data in order to keep it safe in the event of:

  • Accidental loss

  • Data theft

• Backups can be automated and scheduled to happen at less busy periods of the day, to not take up valuable system resources (e.g. overnight etc.)

• Backups can be made in two ways:

  • Full - all files are backed up (saftest, slow)

  • Incremental - only files that have been added/modified since the last backup are backed up (faster, less secure)

• Backups can be stored locally (secondary storage) or remotely (cloud)

• Backup software can be purchased or come as a standalone application bundled with an operating system