Key term
WJEC AS-Level Computer Science 601-5345-3
Hardware: Architecture, Memory and Storage
Networks and Data Transmission
Logic Gates and Boolean Algebra
Data Representation and Data Types
Data Structures
Organisation of Data: Files and Records
Database Systems
The Operating System
Algorithms and Programs
Principles of Programming
Systems Analysis
Software Engineering and Program Construction
Topic overviewIntegrated development environments and their purposeEditors, syntax highlighting and code entry toolsDebugging tools: breakpoints, stepping and watchesTranslation, source code and object codeLexical analysis and the symbol tableSyntax and semantic analysisCode generation and optimisation
Types of Software System
Practical Programming
Data Security and Integrity
Computing, Society and the Law
Topic overviewSocial and economic change from computingComputers and the nature of employmentThe digital divide and cultural changeEnvironmental cost of computingData protection and freedom of information lawThe Computer Misuse Act 1990 and computer crimeCopyright, surveillance and professional codes
Data Security and Integrity
- 7 subtopics
- 21 things to know
- AS Unit 1
What Data Security and Integrity covers
Data Security and Integrity is examined in AS Unit 1, Fundamentals of Computer Science. It covers dangers of holding files of personal data, levels of permitted access and access control, passwords and authentication, clerical procedures and write-protection, threats to computer systems, malicious and accidental damage to data and contingency planning and disaster recovery.
Where it is assessed
AS Unit 1
Fundamentals of Computer Science, examined again at A2 at a more demanding level.
Check the WJEC specification ↗The 7 subtopics
Each one has its own page. WJEC AS Computer Science students sit this topic in the first year.
- Dangers of holding files of personal dataPersonal data, function creep and danger of combining separate files about the same people.Open →
- Levels of permitted access and access controlAccess rights, idea of levels of permitted access with an example and principle of least privilege.Open →
- Passwords and authenticationThree kinds of evidence used to authenticate a user, brute force attack on a password and dictionary attack.Open →
- Clerical procedures and write-protectionStandard clerical procedures in the context of data security, separation of duties and batch total.Open →
- Threats to computer systemsFour environmental threats to a computer installation, hardware failure and social engineering.Open →
- Malicious and accidental damage to dataSituation in which an untested software update damages data, logic bomb and four measures that reduce accidental damage.Open →
- Contingency planning and disaster recoveryContingency plan, five things a disaster recovery plan should contain and purpose of an uninterruptible power supply.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
How does a database view protect sensitive fields?
Key term
Why is a long passphrase of ordinary words stronger than a short password with symbol substitutions?
Key term
Why is accidental damage generally a more frequent problem than deliberate attack?
Key term
Name five things a disaster recovery plan should contain.
Key term
Distinguish data security from data integrity.
Process
Why are clerical procedures as important as technical measures?
Key term
Name four environmental threats to a computer installation.
Key term
Why is a leak of personal data impossible to undo?
Key term
Name the three kinds of evidence used to authenticate a user.
Key term
Why is staff training treated as a security measure?
Key term
Why is a power cut a threat to data as well as to availability?
Key term
Distinguish malicious damage from accidental damage.
Key term
Why must the recovery plan itself be kept off site?
Key term
Explain the danger of combining separate files about the same people.
Key term
Explain the idea of levels of permitted access with an example.
Key term
Explain a brute force attack on a password.
Key term
What does a clear desk rule achieve?
Key term
Define malware.
Key term
Give three examples of malicious damage to data.
Key term
Why are backups stored away from the computers they protect?
Take Data Security and Integrity further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Data security vs Data integrity
Data security: keeping information safe from loss and from people who should not reach it. Data integrity: it means the data being accurate, complete and unaltered.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is personal data?
Model answer
It is data relating to a living individual who can be identified from it, either on its own or when combined with other information the holder has.
- 2
Distinguish data security from data integrity.
Model answer
Security is keeping data safe from loss and from people who should not see or change it; integrity is the data being accurate, complete and unaltered except by permitted processing.
- 3
Explain how a leaked file of customer details can lead to identity theft.
Model answer
Names, addresses, dates of birth and account details together are enough for a criminal to impersonate the customer and open accounts or obtain credit in their name.
- 4
Why is a leak of personal data impossible to undo?
Model answer
Once copies exist outside the organisation they can be duplicated and passed on without limit, so the data cannot be recalled however quickly the breach is closed.
- 5
Describe a harm that can follow from personal data being inaccurate.
Model answer
A wrong entry can cause a decision that damages the person, such as credit being refused because of a debt recorded against the wrong name, or the wrong treatment being given from a mistaken medical record.
- 6
What is meant by function creep?
Model answer
Data gathered for one stated purpose is gradually used for others the person never agreed to, such as loyalty card purchases being used to set insurance prices.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Data Security and Integrity revision questions
- Is Data Security and Integrity examined at AS in WJEC Computer Science?
- Yes. It sits in AS Unit 1, which you take in the first year, so it is on the AS paper as well as counting towards the full A level.
- What does Data Security and Integrity cover in WJEC AS-Level Computer Science?
- 7 subtopics: dangers of holding files of personal data, levels of permitted access and access control, passwords and authentication, clerical procedures and write-protection, threats to computer systems, malicious and accidental damage to data and contingency planning and disaster recovery. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Data Security and Integrity organised?
- By the WJEC 601-5345-3 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Data Security and Integrity, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.