4.1 Network Threats

Question 1

What is malware?

Answer 1

Malicous executable programs that run on a computer

Question 2

Give examples of Malware

Answer 2

Viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware

Question 3

What are viruses?

Answer 3

Code that infect computers
• They replicate their code in other programs
• They infect other computers
• They harm the computer by deleting, corrupting or modifying files

Question 4

What are worms?

Answer 4

A worm replicates itself in order to soread to other computers
• They might cause no damage to the attacked computers
• They slow down networks and computers

Question 5

What are Trojans?

Answer 5

Negative program code which causes damage, , takes control, or provides access to computers

Question 6

What is ransomware?

Answer 6

Software that:
• Holds a computer hostage by locking or encrypting access to it
• If the data is encrypted, a cyber security specialist won’t be able to recover the data unless a backup is available
• Once a ransom is paid to the attacker, the computer might be restored

Question 7

What are ways hackers can exploit technical vulnerabilities?

Answer 7

• Unpatched software - if software updates and security updates are not installed then the software will be vulnerable
• Out of date anti malware - if software such as antivirus , isn’t regularly updated then it won’t be able to detect the latest viruses

Question 8

What is social engineering?

Answer 8

The ability to obtain confidential information by asking people for it

Question 9

What is Shoulder Surfing?

Answer 9

The ability to get information or passwords by observing as someone types them in.
• CCTV
• Looking over someone’s shoulder

Question 10

What is phishing?

Answer 10

Phishing is a type of social engineering technique where, emails, texts or phone calls are sent to users commonly pretending to be banks or websites. They try to steal information such as
• Usernames
• Passwords
• Credit card details
• Other personal information

Question 11

Features of phishing attacks

Answer 11

Greetings aren't personlised
Sender's address is often a variation of a genuine address
Forged link and is not the exact link
Request your personal details
Rushed
Poor spelling and grammar

Question 12

Denial of Service

Answer 12

A hadker will use or infect a computer so that:
• it sends many requests to the server (flood)
• the server can’t respond fast enough so it slows down or goes offline

Question 13

Distributed Denial of Service

Answer 13

Many computers are making requests to the server, not just one

Question 14

Man in the middle attack

Answer 14

• A man in the middle attack (MITM) allows the attacker to intercept communications between the user and server. The attacker can then:
• eavesdrop to find passwords and personal information
• add different information to a web page or other communication such as email.
• Connecting to uncrypted Wi-Fi makes it easy to perform a MITM attack

Question 15

Why shouldn’t you use a found free USB stick?

Answer 15

• It may contain malware that can steal data from your device

Question 16

Data theft

Answer 16

Stealing private data

Question 17

Threats from digital decices

Answer 17

• Data loss
• ‘Back doors’ to devices
• Frauds

Question 18

Reeucing threats on mobile devices

Answer 18

• Use a strong password
• Make sure data is encrypted
• Do not follow special links
• Delete information before discarding

Question 19

Brute Force Attacks

Answer 19

• A hacker will try every combination of password untill the correct password is found
• A computer program is designed to do this 1 million times a second

Question 20

SQL

Answer 20

• Structured Query Language

* Database query language

Question 21

SQL injection

Answer 21

• Using web forms to add SQL instructions to a query that cause data loss or the revealing of personal information

Question 22

How to execute SQL Injection

Answer 22

• SQL Commands are inserted instead of ‘real’ data

* These can return or destroy valuable data