SENG1050 Chap.12 Security, Privacy and Ethics
Security, Privacy and Ethics
This chapter follows the Week 12 lecture, the session the course recommends for exam tips. It separates the kinds of malware, explains phishing, spoofing and pharming, identity theft and denial-of-service attacks, and walks through the stages of a cyber attack with a defence for each.
It then covers information privacy, cookies, personally identifiable information, consent, Australia's privacy principles, and the core concepts of computer ethics. Several of the defences it lists, such as removing server signatures, using encryption and serving pages over secure channels, connect back to earlier chapters of this guide.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Malware and its six kinds
- 02
Phishing, spoofing and pharming
- 03
Denial of service and identity theft
- 04
The nine-stage attack cycle
- 05
Defences in layers
- 06
Cookies and personal information
- 07
Opt-in, opt-out and the privacy principles
- 08
Five ethical concepts and computer law
Worked example · free
Place an attack's events in the cyber attack cycle
- 1Studying the website is initial reconnaissance.
- 1The malicious attachment that the employee opens is the initial compromise.
- 1Installing a backdoor establishes a foothold.
- 1Gaining administrator rights is privilege escalation, which multi-factor authentication and the principle of least privilege help to stop.
Key terms
- Malware
- Malware is software intentionally designed to damage a device or network.
- Worm
- A worm is malware that copies itself from computer to computer without any host file being run.
- Pharming
- Pharming alters a DNS mapping so users who type a genuine address reach a spoofed site.
- Personally identifiable information
- Personally identifiable information is data that identifies, locates or contacts an individual.
- Informed consent
- Informed consent is agreement given only after every relevant fact has been disclosed.
- Denial of service
- Denial of service is an attack that floods a site with useless traffic until it cannot serve real users.
- Opt-in consent
- Opt-in consent means nothing is collected until the user actively agrees.
Security, Privacy and Ethics FAQ
What is the difference between a virus and a worm?
A virus copies itself into other files and spreads only when its host file is run. A worm spreads from computer to computer on its own, with no host activation. Both are malware, but not all malware is a virus.
What is the difference between opt-in and opt-out?
Under opt-in, nothing is collected until the user actively agrees. Under opt-out, collection happens by default unless the user acts to refuse. The lecture defines both under informed consent, so name which one a scenario uses before judging it.
Is unethical behaviour always illegal?
No. Ethics concerns what a group judges right or wrong, while law is the set of rules made by government. An act can be legal yet unethical, and what counts as unethical varies with the organisation, country, culture and circumstances.
What is the difference between phishing and pharming?
Phishing deceives a person directly, usually with an email that imitates a trusted organisation and asks for confidential details. Pharming works behind the scenes by altering DNS mappings, so even a correctly typed address leads the user to a spoofed site.
What are cookies and are they dangerous?
Cookies are small text files a site creates on the first visit and reads on later visits, useful for shopping baskets and staying logged in. They are not executable code, but they allow tracking and profiling of behaviour, which is why they raise privacy concerns.
Exam move
Make a one-line definition card for each malware type and each attack, and test yourself on telling the close pairs apart, such as virus and worm or phishing and pharming. Learn the nine attack stages in order with one defence each. For privacy, rehearse the opt-in and opt-out contrast and a handful of privacy principles in plain words.
Then link each attack stage to a defence from an earlier chapter, such as hiding the server version or enforcing HTTPS.
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