1. What does data security mean?
This means doing everything possible to ensure that an information
system remains secure. This means protecting information from both
criminals and also normal events such as equipment malfunction and
natural disaster of fire.
2. What are three threats to data security?
Natural disasters, Criminals, Equipment failure such as a power failure
or hard drive crash.
3. What is an archive file?
This is a file that is a collection of files that are kept for back up
purposes. We use PKZIP to create archive files. When files are backed up
with Windows the files that have the archive property set are the ones
that will be archived.
4. What is a backup file?
This is a copy of an existing file. It is created to ensure that it will
be possible to rebuild a system after data has been corrupted or lost.
5. What is data encryption? Describe what can be found at
the "pretty good protection" site.
Data encryption is a technique used to make it impossible for
unauthorized access to information that you have on a computer or
information that you wish to transmit over a network to another
computer. It is common practice to encrypt credit card information
before it is sent over the network to a company you are making a
purchase from. This is so that criminals can not get your credit card
details and then start buying things that you have to pay for.
6.
What is data integrity?7. What is a check digit used for?
A check digit is used to verify that a bar code has been read
correctly by a reader.
8. What is verification?
This means ensuring that information that has been transcribed from
source documents is the same as the original source documents. One
technique used to verify input is to have the same input entered by more
than one person. If the input files created by the data entry people are
different then one of the data entry people has made a mistake.
9. What is validation?
This is a check made on data to ensure that it meets criteria such as
being of the correct type, being within a range if required and that
data exists when it is supposed to. For instance, when we enter data
about a person we might check that the day part of the date is between 1
and 30 for most months and between 1 and 31 for some other months. By
doing this we are able to check data entry before processing takes
place.
10. What is a transmission error?
This is an error that occurs when we send information from one computer
to another. It is quite common to send a packet from one computer
to another only to find that it has been changed (corrupted) sometime
before it reaches its destination. Fortunately, the computer operating
system will check each packet that arrives to ensure that it still has
integrity by performing a CRC (cyclical redundancy check). A CRC is a
flash version of a check digit validation procedure.
11. What is a packet? What method is used to make sure that
internet packets are not corrupted when they are received by your
computer?
Data to be transmitted is put into a special form using a transmission
protocol. TCP/IP is a protocol used for the internet. Part of this
protocol ensures that data integrity is maintained by using a check
digit at the end of a packet. If the check digit arithmetic shows that
the packet received is corrupted then the computer will send a request
to the origin computer asking it to resend the same packet again. Note
that CRC is one method of ensuring packets reach destinations intact.
There are other protocols that use other methods, depending on factors
related to network speed and tolerance to the ratio of packet size to
data content.
12. How do preprinted forms help to cut down errors?
Well designed forms will help to ensure that data is captured
accurately. This saves time by reducing the time spent going back to the
person who filled in the form and asking them to clarify entries that
appear to be incorrect or impossible to understand. Designing forms is a
skill that requires good training. Well designed forms save an
organization money by ensuring accuracy and minimizing the need to
process incomplete or incorrect forms.
13. What is a read error?
This is an error that occurs when media such as a floppy disk is
being read and an error is found. Read errors indicate that either
information was not saved properly in the first place or else the
storage media has been corrupted at some time later.
14. What does log in mean?
This means to connect a user to a network. Usually it will involve a
user entering an account name, password and a domain. The domain will
have a controller (software) that determines what resources on the
network that the user will have access to.
15. What is compression used for?
We use compression to reduce the size of a file. Many programs use
compression automatically so that the amount of space a file takes up is
minimized. The down side of compression is that before a file is used it
must be decompressed. The decompression process may take some time to
complete. Graphic files such as digital pictures are often compressed
using the jpeg format.
