10.1 - Knowledge, Information and Data - Revision

• Data: recorded facts
• Information: Data with meaning
• Knowledge: set of rules which allow people to use information to make decisions

All ICT systems work on the basis of:

• Input
• Process
• Output

Sometimes there is another step which is called 'Feedback'. This steps enables the process to be modified/improved.

Data Capture

• Direct
• Indirect
• GIGO - Garbage In = Garbage Out

Data encoding:

• Makes data harder to understand (good/bad)
• Reduces the size of data (good for storage/input reasons)

Value judgements:

• A judgement based on your experience or information given
• Prejudice = a pre-judgement due to something (race, colour, creed = racism)

10.2 Value and Importance of Information - Revision

Information is useful. It can help to:

• reduce costs
• reduce losses
• help make good business decisions
• help develop new products

Information is considered good quality if:

• it is up to date
• accurate
• relevant for a particular use

An insurance company will ask for motoring convictions from the last 5 years. Any longer and it would be unfair to judge the person applying for the insurance. Your driving style would have changed over 5 years.

At the end of the day a bank processes a list of credit card transactions. It is no good if the credit card numbers are in any way inaccurate. The wrong person will get charged for the transaction.

The safety officer of a nuclear power station needs to know accurate and up-to-date core readings to monitor the danger of the station blowing up. He is not in the slightest bit interested in the shopping bill for the station canteen albeit an accurate and up-to-date list.

Information as a commodity

"James Bond looked down at the small microfilm. 'Was this worth the death of 006?' He knew the answer. The death of one man, for the whereabouts of Oosama Ben Lardin. Without it, thousands would die."

It is obvious now that good quality information can be valuable. But there is a trade off between the value of the information vs how much it costs to collect.

• Cost of getting the information vs The value of the information once collected

There are certain factors that determine the cost of information:

• How the data is collected?
• How the data is inputted?
• How often the data needs to be collected?
• How good are the data validation methods upon entry?
• How long does it take to process the data?
• How is the information reported?

Click HERE for some summary notes

Remember:

Any data collected about an identifiable person, by a Data Controller must be done so and used in accordance with the 8 Principles of the Data Protection Act.

10.8 Reducing Risks

Protecting against internal threats:

• Audit trails - provide evidence or wrong doing and enable retracing of errors
• Encryption - prevents access to unauthorised personnel
• Physical security - prevention
• Biometrics
• Access levels (full rights, read only, write only, update, delete, append, no access)

Protecting against external threats:

• Firewalls
• Access logs
• Virus checkers
• Physical secutiry

Legislation goes some way to disuade people trying to gain access to your information, but does not actually prevent this happening.

10.8 Internal and External Threats

Threats can be catagorised into:

• Internal (within an organisation)
• External (outside an organisation)

Internal threats include:

• Unprofessional, disgruntled employees
• Corrupted filesystems/hardware
• Network failiure

External threats include:

• Crackers/hackers
• Viruses

10.8 Important Points

Most 10.8 exam questions are written in two ways:

• Provide a definition of Computer Crime and Malpractice
• Provide weak points and ways to reduce weak points in an IT system

So it is important to learn the 2 definitions and the 2 lists on the previous post.

10.8 Information Systems, Malpractice and Crime

Computer crime is any crime that has been committed using a computer as the principle tool.

• fraud
• company espionage
• viruses
• malcious vandelism
• theft of information

Malpractice is behaviour that is legal but goes against a professional code of practice.

• British Computer Society or individual company codes of conduct
• leaving your computer terminal open and unattended
• poorly chosen password
• looking at inproper websites
• using computer system for personal use

Crime and Malpractice is on the way up because we use and rely on computers more and more.

• Amazon.co.uk - relies on the Internet, without it, there is no business.
• Terrorism - espionage
• ATM machines and on-line banking

Weak Points of IT systems:

• data being wrongly entered into a system
• access to data stored online
• access to data stored offline such as on floppy disk
• viruses
• data being transmitted using a network
• internal staff not following procedures

Weak point can be reduced by:

• physical security
• internal procedures and codes of conduct
• encrypting vital information
• user ID's and passwords
• access levels
• firewalls
• antivirus software
• biometric security
• vetting potential employees

10.6 Holiday homework - w/s 22/10/07

1. Produce a revision poster on A4 paper illustrating the advantages and drawbacks of on-line retail (p54 in text book)
2. Using the Wiki, produce a paper revision guide to the essential terminology to this unit.
3. Create an end of unit summary sheet for 10.6
4. Answer the following exam questions:

1) A local college has started running its courses online.

Describe:
a) 2 advantages to a learner of following an online course (4)
b) 1 drawback to a learner of following an online course (2)
c) 2 advantages to the course organisers at the college of providing a course online (4)


2) Many organisations have adopted email as a method of communication only to find that it can have disadvantages.

Describe 3 disadvantages of the use of email, other than contracting virus, for business communication. (6)


3) A large clothing retailer has decided to set up an online store.

a) Explain 2 disadvantages to the retailer of using this method of selling as opposed to selling from a high street shop (4)
b) Explain 1 advantage to the customer of using the online store rather than a high street shop (2)
c) State 1 disadvantage to the customer of using the online store rather than a high street shop (1)
d) Describe 2 ways in which the retailer could make use of the Internet to publicise its new service. (4)