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Explain in depth the impact that ONE or TWO of the following factors has on your chosen computer science concept. (M)
Encryption in Healthcare Systems
Encryption in Healthcare Systems
Healthcare systems depend on encryption to protect highly sensitive personal data. Medical records, prescriptions, and test results are often sent between doctors, labs, and patients using digital systems. If these weren’t encrypted, they could be stolen, leaked, or tampered with.
For example, patient data must comply with laws like HIPAA (USA) or the Privacy Act (NZ). Hospitals encrypt their systems to prevent ransomware attacks, where hackers try to lock down data until a ransom is paid. Without encryption, healthcare would be more risky, slower, and prone to breaches. Encryption supports both ethical responsibility and trust in public services.
Ethical issues
Ethical issues
Issues relating to equity, diversity, integrity and the common good
Issues relating to equity, diversity, integrity and the common good
Encrypted communication online allows us to conduct business from home. This can affect people’s physical and mental health as they move around less.
Families and friends stay in contact more than in the past, since they can communicate safely online.
Encryption has had a powerful social and ethical impact on how we communicate and do business online. It ensures that our private information — messages, bank details, passwords — stays confidential.
In today’s world, families and friends stay in touch more than ever, even across continents, because they can communicate safely online. People can work from home, shop internationally, and access services they wouldn’t otherwise have — especially in places like Aotearoa New Zealand, where some products and services may only be available from overseas. Without encryption, we would be vulnerable to fraud, theft, and surveillance.
Social impact
Social impact
The impacts or effects our use of these digital techniques have on society
The impacts or effects our use of these digital techniques have on society
We are doing business and communicating online more than ever before. If our communications weren’t encrypted they wouldn’t be secure.
Because encryption offers secure online communication, many businesses are moving online, affecting our shopping habits.
Socially, encryption creates a sense of safety and trust. It makes the internet usable for everyday life. Imagine sending money or private messages without any protection — people would go back to sending letters or travelling to pay in cash. Encryption has helped shape the modern digital world.
Sustainability
Sustainability
The use of resources, the creation of products and/or the provision of services in such a way as to meet present needs without compromising future needs
The use of resources, the creation of products and/or the provision of services in such a way as to meet present needs without compromising future needs
We need to keep training cryptanalysts and computer scientists to design more sophisticated encryption systems to protect us from increasingly complex attacks in future.
Attackers are constantly seeking new ways to breach security, so our computer scientists need to keep up to date.
As attackers develop stronger tools, encryption must evolve to stay effective. This means constantly investing in research, training experts in cryptography, and creating new algorithms. This ongoing development ensures encryption can continue to protect future generations without using excessive resources or falling behind.
Human factors
Human factors
Factors affecting the relationship between people and the digital environment
Factors affecting the relationship between people and the digital environment
Encrypted communication online allows us to conduct business from home. This can affect people’s physical and mental health as they move around less.
Families and friends stay in contact more than in the past, since they can communicate safely online.
Because encryption allows for secure communication, more people are working, learning, and shopping online. While this brings convenience, it also has human impacts: reduced physical activity, digital overload, and isolation. Still, it offers accessibility benefits — for example, people with disabilities or in remote areas can now access services more easily.
Future proofing
Future proofing
Techniques that will ensure our digital outcomes remain useful in future
Techniques that will ensure our digital outcomes remain useful in future
As computers become faster, it becomes easier for attackers to write programs to attack our ciphertext using brute force.
Organisations should be using securely encrypted website communications to protect their clients and customers.
As technology improves, older encryption methods become easier to break. This means developers must use strong, up-to-date algorithms like AES-256 and RSA with long key lengths. If organisations fail to adapt, their systems could be compromised, affecting millions of users.
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