Risks to data

1. Acts of nature are a risk to data

A. Explain what is meant by an act of nature

Act of nature means a natural disaster. For example, if a flood occurs, and your computer is affected
by the flood, that is act of nature. Another example is if a fire happens, that is another act of nature

B. Describe another 4 risks to data

Other risks to data can be malware, which can contain viruses (a program that spreads itself
through your computer and duplicating so it can spread quicker), spyware (a program which
installs itself onto a computer system and steals personal information the user has stored or
entered), worms (similar to viruses, but they don’t need to attach themselves to files, instead
they go through your memory and hard disk directly) and trojans (a program which pretends to
be a normal program but it actually causes damage to your computer system when installed)

2. Explained above (describe virus, worms and trojan)

3. Unwanted software can cause viruses
A. Suggest how unwanted software can be installed

Unwanted software can be installed unknowingly, for example, downloading an innocent looking
piece of software what looks helpful, but it holds a virus which can ruin your system.

B. Explain by what is means by a ‘backdoor’

The ‘backdoor’ is where someone (eg, a hacker) can bypass security by going through a
backdoor, so they avoid detection by the owner of the computer.

4. Describe the three types of cyber attack:

A. Hacking/Forced access.

Hacking is where someone forced their way into your computer, whether that’s through
cracking your passcode, or going through the backdoor of your computer system, they can force
their way into your system without you even noticing

B. Ransomware.

Ransomware where a hacker accesses a persons computer system and their personal
information and permanently blocks access to it or threatens to publish it unless a ransom is
paid.

C. DDOS attack

DDOS, which stands for distributed denial of service, is where a hacker makes a machine or a
whole network unavailable for the users.

5. Suggest methods of protecting data against the 5 main risks.

Acts of nature acts of crime accidental loss technology failure viruses and malware.

Acts of nature – You should back up your data onto the cloud, to save your data if you cant save
your computer.

Acts of crime – If someone tries to access your computer system to steal your information you
can install a firewall, which can detect traffic going to and from your computer, which can see if
there are any attempts at someone trying to access your system

10/11/2022 Lucy Garrett

Risks to data

Accidental loss – You can use levels of access to protect ourselves from accidental loss. You can
check the logs to see where and who has accessed the files and see what has been damaged,
and see if you can restore what’s been accidentally deleted.

Technology failure – In case your technology fails, you should always have a backup for your
files, so having cloud storage will help you keep your files, even though you have lost your
computer.

Viruses and malware – There are a lot of ways to prevent viruses and malware from making their
way onto your system, for example, using an anti-virus, which examines your files and programs
to make sure they don’t have anything malicious hiding in them.

10/11/2022 Lucy Garrett