CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL AS & A LEVEL IT: TEACHER'S RESOURCE

5 E-security
Unit plan
Session Outline of lesson content
5.1 Personal data Understand what is meant by personal
data, the reasons why it needs to be
kept secure, threats to the security
of personal data and methods of
preventing these threats.
5.2 Malware Understand what is meant by malware
and different types of malware.
Understand how to prevent malware
from being installed.
Resources
Worksheet 5.1 Context questions
Worksheet 5.2 Match the terms
Coursebook question 1
Coursebook Practical Activity 5.01–5.02
Coursebook exam-style questions 1–3
Worksheet 5.3 Key word definitions
Coursebook questions 2–8
Coursebook Practical Activity 5.03–5.04
Coursebook exam-style questions 4–8

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

• Learners should already be aware of the need to keep computers safe against threats. There
will likely be some familiarity with threats, such as viruses and hackers, and methods to prevent
these, such as anti-virus software and firewalls.
• Learners may have some understanding of the need for privacy but may not be able to
differentiate between personal and non-personal data.
• Learners should have an understanding of the risks to companies and individuals of threats, likely
through news reports when threats have penetrated security systems.

5.1 Personal data

LEARNING INTENTIONS

Learning intentions Success criteria

• Understand what is meant by personal data.
• Understand the need to keep personal
data secure.
• Understand how to prevent misuse of
personal data.
• Define what is meant by personal data.
• Identify examples of personal data.
• Explain why personal data needs to be
kept secure.
• Describe ways that personal data can be
kept secure.
• Explain the advantages and disadvantage of
each method of preventing data misuse.

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Common misconceptions
Misconception
The terms phishing and
pharming are very similar and
learners may mix them up.
How to elicit How to overcome
Ask learners for definitions and/ Give learners clear definitions
or examples of each. and ask them to develop ways
to remember the differences.

Lesson starter
1 Which is personal data? (10 min)
Learning intention: To identify what is classed as personal data.
Preparation: Provide a list of different pieces of data, some personal, some not.
Description: Ask learners to consider each piece of data and determine whether they think it is personal
or not. Ask learners to share their answers and justify their choices.
What to look out for: Learners often confuse what is personal data to just being what they think is private,
instead of considering it as a whole.

Main activities
1 Research (60 min)
Learning intention: To understand the threats to personal data.
What this activity is good for: Teamwork, independence, research.
Resources: Internet and textbooks.
Description: Put learners into four groups (or eight groups with two groups to research each area) and give
each group one threat from smishing, vishing, phishing and pharming. Ask each group to research the area
and create an A5 crib-sheet of information about that area. Ask each group to present their findings and
give a copy of the A5 document to each learner.
Differentiation ideas: To support learners, give them a structure to complete on the sheet, e.g. What is
phishing? What threat does phishing pose? What happens if someone gets your data through phishing?
How can you prevent being taken in by phishing?
To challenge confident learners, ask them to find out how each method actually works and to determine
how to prevent it.

2 Context (20 min)

Learning intention: To understand what personal data is, the threats to it and how to keep it secure.
What this activity is good for: Consolidating and testing understanding, applying knowledge to a context.
Resources: Worksheet 5.1 Context questions.
Description: Describe a context to learners, display this on the board: three are listed in Worksheet 5.1
Context questions as a starting point. Ask learners to work in pairs to determine: a) What personal data is
being stored, b) Why this personal data should be kept confidential, c) What are the threats to the personal
data? and d) how can the personal data be kept secure?
Differentiation ideas: To support learners, pair them with a stronger learner, provide hints to start them
thinking about the context by prompting areas of interest.
To challenge confident learners, ask them to justify the decisions they make.

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 CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL AS & A LEVEL IT: TEACHER'S RESOURCE

Plenary ideas
1 Personal data (10 min)
Preparation: A set of contexts, such as; a student in a school, a patient in a hospital, a customer in a library.
Description: Show learners a context and ask each learner in turn to identify a piece of personal data that
will be stored. Continue going around all the learners in turn until they run out; then change the context.

2 Match the statements (10 min)

Resources: Worksheet 5.2 Match the terms.
Description: Give learners a copy of Worksheet 5.2 Match the terms and ask them individually or in pairs
to identify which threat each statement belongs to.

Homework idea
Ask learners to create a list of all the companies and people who store personal data about them and what the
types of data are.

Assessment idea
Include questions to ask learners to explain why a company or organisation needs to store personal data. Use
a context to ask learners to identify threats and what people can do to stay safe. Questions could also include
definitions of the threats and descriptions of how they can be prevented.

5.2 Malware
LEARNING INTENTIONS

Learning intentions Success criteria

• Understand the different types of malware. • Define the term malware.

• Understand the use of malware.
• Understand the consequences on
organisations and individuals of malware.
• Understand common prevention methods to
stop malware.
• Describe the function and purpose of
different types of malware.
• Describe the use of malware in
different contexts.
• Identify methods of preventing malware;
both software based and physical.

KEY WORDS

anti-malware: software that is used to identify malware on a computer and remove it

anti-virus: software that is used to identify a virus on a computer and remove it
biometric: a device that measures a person’s biological data
firewall: a security measure that can be implemented to monitor traffic into and out of a computer
geotag: an electronic tag that assigns a geographical location
malware: software that is malicious
virtual private network: an encrypted connection that can be used to send data more securely
across a network

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Common misconceptions
Misconception
Spyware only collects
personal data.
Prevention methods, e.g.
firewall, always work against
all threats.
How to elicit
Ask learners to describe
spyware and create a series
of instructions that explain
how it works.
Discuss the limitations of
prevention methods.
How to overcome
Show learners how spyware
collects all data and transmits
it. Personal data is not gathered
until it is analysed.
Explain the different threats each
prevention method works for,
but include details about threats
always evolving and the need to
update prevention tools.

Lesson starter
1 Name the risk (10 min)
Learning intention: To understand the preventions for malware.
Description: Ask learners to identify the malware that each prevention method could help to prevent, make
learners aware that there could be more than one malware prevented by one method.

Main activities
1 Staying safe online (60 min)
Learning intention: To understand the different types of malware and how to prevent them.
What this activity is good for: Consolidating understanding.
Description: Ask learners to create a guide for an organisation about the threat of malware, the
consequences of malware, and methods to prevent the malware. This could be as an A5 booklet.
This could be completed in groups where each learner completes a page about a different threat and
they are all combined for the final document.
Differentiation ideas: To support learners, provide them with a template to complete.
To challenge confident learners, ask them to justify their statements by expanding each sentence.

2 Real-life case study (20 min)

Learning intention: To understand the threats to computer systems and how to prevent these threats.
What this activity is good for: Application of theory in real-life case study.
Preparation: Do an internet search for 'computer threat case studies'. Select a case study where a threat has
not been prevented.
Description: Discuss a real-life case study where malware has not been prevented. Give learners a copy of
an article (e.g. from a newspaper or the internet) and ask them to identify the threat, the consequences (real
or potential) and what the organisation should have done differently to try and prevent the threat.
Differentiation ideas: To support learners, give them a list of questions to answer about the case study.
To challenge confident learners, ask them to consider the wider implications, e.g. on society, of the malware.

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Plenary ideas
1 Key words (10 min)
Resources: Worksheet 5.3 Key word definitions.
Description: Give learners the set of cards from Worksheet 5.3 Key word definitions. Ask learners to add the
definition of each term to the back, along with a prevention.

2 Quick questions (10 min)

Preparation: Prepare a series of multiple-choice questions about malware.
Description: Give learners a series of multiple-choice questions about malware, the consequences and
preventions. Ask learners to vote on the answer to each question.

Homework idea
Ask learners to identify the prevention methods they currently have on their computers and other devices.

Assessment ideas
Include questions that ask learners to describe the malware threats and the consequences of that malware.
Give learners a scenario and ask them to identify the preventions that can be put in place to prevent malware
from being installed.

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