Information Security

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Data Interception

Data interception is an increasing threat to the security of organisations.

Data as a commodity

Data is a very valuable commodity.
Personal data can be used to impersonate individuals to gain access to their assets.
Outsiders can exploit the financial data or trade secrets of organisations to gain a competitive advantage.

Data theft

Data theft is a serious concern for any organisation.
The loss of customers' personal data can result in significant fines.
Data theft can happen as part of different methods such as:
- Insider attacks.
- Man-in-the-middle attacks.
- Packet sniffing.

Protection from data theft

Data interception and theft is best prevented by employing a range of preventative measures such as:
- Encrypting data.
- User access levels.
- Network policies.
- Educating users.

Methods of Data Interception

There are three main methods of data interception: insider attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, and packet sniffing.

Insider attacks

An insider attack is where someone with privileged access to information (e.g. an employee) uses their access to steal information from the company, and gives it to others.
Attackers often have financial or ethical motivations.
The risk of insider attacks can be reduced using:
- Firewalls.
- User access levels.

Man-in-the-middle attacks

A man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack is where an attacker will intercept a device's connection to the Internet.
This is often done by tricking users into signing into a fake WiFi hotspot.
The man-in-the-middle can then see all of the victim's traffic, such as personal information.
This is one of the reasons why users should be very careful if they join a public WiFi network.

Packet sniffing

Packet sniffing is where a hacker will intercept data as it is being transmitted across a network.
Sniffing software reads and displays the content of all packets being sent on a network.
Packet sniffing is a form of passive attack.
One of the best ways to protect against packet sniffing is to use encryption so that packets cannot be decoded.

1Computer Systems

1.1Data Representation

1.1.1Binary Numbers

1.1.2Negative Binary Numbers

1.1.3Hexadecimal

1.1.4Using Hexadecimal

1.1.5Converting Binary & Hexadecimal

1.1.6Converting Denary & Hexadecimal

1.1.7Capacity

1.1.8Calculating Capacity Requirements

1.1.9Binary in Computer Systems

1.1.10Data Compression

1.1.11Run Length Encoding

1.1.12File Formats

1.2Data Transmission

1.2.1Packet Switching

1.2.2Data Transmission

1.2.3Universal Serial Bus (USB)

1.2.4Parity Check

1.2.5Checksum & Echo Checks

1.2.6Encryption

1.3Hardware

1.4Software

1.4.1Operating Systems

1.4.2Interrupts

1.4.3High-Level Languages

1.4.4Low-Level Languages

1.5The Internet & its Uses

1.5.1The Internet

1.5.2Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)

1.5.3DNS

1.5.4HTML

1.5.5Cookies

1.5.6Web Hosting

1.5.7Digital Currency

1.6Cyber Security

1.6.1Forms of Attack

1.6.2Penetration Testing

1.6.3Types of Malware

1.6.4How Malware Spreads

1.6.5Protecting Against Malware

1.6.6Information Security

1.6.7Structured Query Language (SQL) Injection

1.6.8Firewalls

1.6.9Authentication: User Access Levels

1.6.10Authentication: Passwords

1.6.11Social Engineering

1.6.12Phishing

1.6.13Denial of Service Attacks

1.7Automated & Emerging Technologies

1.7.1Automated Systems

1.7.2Robotics

1.7.3Artificial Intelligence

2Algorithms, Programming & Logic

2.1Algorithm Design & Problem Solving

2.1.1Computational Thinking - Abstraction

2.1.2Computational Thinking - Decomposition

2.1.3Computational Thinking - Algorithmic Thinking

2.1.4Pseudocode

2.1.5Flow Diagrams

2.1.6Interpreting, Correcting & Completing Algorithm

2.1.7Correcting Algorithms

2.1.8Completing Algorithms

2.1.9Testing

2.1.10Types of Testing

2.1.11Test Plans

2.1.12Validation & Sanitation

2.1.13Authentication & Contingencies

2.2Programming

2.2.1Programming Fundamentals - Variables & Constants

2.2.2Programming Fundamentals - Comments

2.2.3Programming Fundamentals - Input & Output

2.2.4Data Types

2.2.5Casting

2.2.6Controlling Program Flow - Sequence

2.2.7Controlling Program Flow - Selection

2.2.8Controlling Program Flow - Iteration

2.2.9Modularity - Subroutines

2.2.10Modularity - Scope

2.2.11Arrays

2.3Databases

2.3.1Structuring Data - Records

2.3.2Structuring Data - Databases

2.3.3SQL

2.4Boolean Logic

2.4.1Binary Systems

2.4.2Logic Circuits

2.4.3Truth Tables

2.4.4Evaluating Expressions

2.4.5Boolean Operators

2.4.6End of Topic Test - Logic

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