3_6_2 Methods to detect and prevent cyber security threats

You should be able to:

  • Understand and be able to explain the following security measures:

•• biometric measures (particularly for mobile devices)

•• password systems

•• CAPTCHA (or similar)

•• using email confirmations to confirm a user’s identity

•• automatic software updates.

REVISE:

Biometric Measures

Biometrics refers to using a part of the body to confirm a person's identity. The most common being a fingerprint. Other methods could be:

  • Iris (the eye)
  • Voice recognition
  • Facial recognition
  • DNA

Password Systems

Is the password entered the same as the one stored on the system? If it is, let them in.

CAPTCHA

This is used to check that the person using the system is a human being. Brute force attacks can be set up to constantly guess passwords. Having that extra layer known as CAPTCHA it means that a human has to complete an activity to prove they are human. For example, there may be a series of pictures and the user will be asked to click on all the images that contain vehicles.

Using Email Confirmations

This stops accounts being opened with fake email addresses or another users' email address. By having the email confirmation sent to the address, the user confirms that they have access to that email account.

Automatic Updates

If your computer or device is set to automatically update then you know that you will always have the most up to date version of the software. This will help protect your computer from new threats and vulnerabilities that are discovered after the creation of the software.

TEST:

The previous two mock examinations for 3_6_1_1 and 3_6_1_2 have both covered areas of this point in the specification.

SOURCE RECOGNITION - PLEASE NOTE: The examination examples used in these walking talking mocks are samples from AQA from their non-confidential section of the public site. They also contain questions designed by TeachIT for AQA as part of the publicly available lesson materials.