1. GOLD UNIT 4 - IT SECURITY FOR USERS (2 CREDITS) Rebecca Pritchard.

2. SELECT AND USE APPROPRIATE METHODS TO MINIMISE SECURITY RISK TO IT SYSTEMS AND DATA 1.1 I can describe the security issues that may threaten system performance. To minimise security risks I know that I can use anti virus software this minimises the chances of a risk to my computer. A computer virus is something that hacks into your computer system altering or deleting files on your computer or ultimately breaking your computer. You can get one of these from opening a pop up that comes onto your computer or opening an email that has an attachment of a virus within. An example of a virus is the; AIDS II. Viruses cause lots of situations that make the computer run slow and eventually break the computer. A virus is under the software category. You can have spyware spy’s on your computer so you need to be careful of what website’s you go on that can cause someone to be able to make a spyware attack on your computer. If a spyware attack happens on you they can access things such as personal messages and details. An example of a spyware is; keylogger. To prevent a spyware attack you have to use anti virus software which can be installed using the internet Don’t open links given in an email as it can be a virus sent to attack the computer. This is known as spam. If you open a spam email this will mean your computer will receive a virus.

3. SELECT AND USE APPROPRIATE METHODS TO MINIMISE SECURITY RISK TO IT SYSTEMS AND DATA 1.3 I can describe the threats to system and information security and integrity. Phishing is dangerous because people could get your personal details, phishing is identity theft. Phishing is an unknown email which asks you about your personal details. Computer phishing is bad because people can access your personal details just from sending you an email that you open. To prevent phishing you should never open a spam email make sure you discuss personal information only via the phone or secure websites never clink on unknown links. You can be the victim of phishing by doing the opposite of all the things I have listed to prevent phishing. You have to have a strong password because then no one could get into your user or get onto your personal information. You also need to make sure you log out of anything you have logged into otherwise anyone could enter your personal profile. When on a public network you must never share private details, if it is necessary to share you personal information ensure your details are safe by looking for a padlock on the page. If you do not sign up to anything then this limits your chances of phishing. You must have a password of strong security.

4. SELECT AND USE APPROPRIATE METHODS TO MINIMISE SECURITY RISK TO IT SYSTEMS AND DATA 1.5 I can describe ways to protect hardware, software and data and minimise security risk. You can protect hardware and software by putting on the computer anti-virus software, by doing this you are protecting your computer from any harmful viruses that can attack your computer. You can use a software called firewall to protect your IT system this acts against the online community stopping people who have no authority accessing your network. A firewall acts like a barrier constantly protecting your computer from security risks. If an attack happened on your computer and you do not have a system like firewall to protect it then people who have made the attack on your computer can access your accounts seeing all personal information and all files stored on your computer. You should backup any files at least every week. If you do this then you will never lose your work.

5. SELECT AND USE APPROPRIATE METHODS TO MINIMISE SECURITY RISK TO IT SYSTEMS AND DATA 1.7 I can describe why it is important to backup data and how to do so securely. You should back up your files every week, you do this by moving all files onto either a USB or cloud storage meaning you can access these again if ever they were accidentally deleted. By doing this you can always access deleted work if anything ever went wrong. You should keep your backups in a secure file or somewhere safe and easily accessible to you and no one else, it would help if you put a password onto what you have stored your files in to access, this way it is secured for only you the user to access. In doing so your files are always protected.