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OCR J277 Computer Science Paper 1 Complete Cheat Sheet

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Last content addition: 23/08/2023 21:50

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READ THIS FIRST:

Please use your class notes, if you have any, as well as this, to aid your revision. I’ve tried to make it as packed full of only the most useful stuff as possible which will come up in the exam. This covers 15 pages of specification content and 210 hours of lesson time, consolidated into one place, so it might not cover everything in 100% detail, but I have written more for the things which people may find more confusing. If there are any errors then please let me know immediately. I have tried my best to make it as easy as possible to understand and get a grade 9😉

This cheat sheet covers all of specification for: J277/01: Computer systems. Check the Cheat Sheets page to see Paper 2 individually.

From OCR:
J277/01: This component will assess:
• 1.1 Systems architecture
• 1.2 Memory and storage
• 1.3 Computer networks, connections and protocols
• 1.4 Network security
• 1.5 Systems software
• 1.6 Ethical, legal, cultural and environmental impacts of digital technology

Paper 1

1.1 - Systems architecture

1.1.1 Architecture of the CPU

The purpose of the CPU - the F-D-E cycle

The Fetch-Decode-Execute cycle is the main job of the CPU. To execute a program, the program code is copied from secondary storage into the main memory. The CPU’s program counter is set to the memory location where the first instruction in the program has been stored, and execution begins.
In a program, each machine code instruction takes up a slot in the main memory. These memory locations each have a unique memory address. The program counter stores the address of each instruction and tells the CPU in what order they should be executed.

Step by step:

• The CPU checks the program counter to see the next instruction to execute.
• The program counter gives a memory address to where the next instruction is
• The CPU fetches the instruction from this memory address
• The instruction is decoded and executed. For example, the value decoded could be a number, which is entered into the ALU (arithmetic logic unit) and added to another fetched from cache and multiplied.
• The program counter increments by 1
• The cycle is repeated indefinitely

CPU components and their function(s)

The ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)

• Performs calculations and logical operations
• Where decisions are made (e.g if x > 10)

The CU (Control Unit)

• Fetches, decodes and executes instructions
• Controls hardware

Cache

• A small amount of high-speed memory physically inside the CPU.
• Temporarily holds small amounts of data which the CPU will reuse often.
• Speeds up the system - does not have to wait for some data in memory to be fetched
• Level 1, 2, 3 cache - 1 is the fastest, most expensive, and has the lowest amount of storage, likewise, 3 is the slowest, least expensive but contains the most amount of potential storage

Registers are:

• Small amounts of high-speed memory in the CPU used to store small amounts of data needed for processing
• Includes the address of the current instruction, the next instruction to be executed, and the results of calculations

In case you find the difference between Cache and Registers difficult, here’s something useful from Stack Overflow:

• A CPU register is just a small amount of data storage, that facilitates some CPU operations.
• CPU cache, is high-speed, volatile memory which is bigger than the size of registers, helping the processor to reduce memory operations. This increases the speed of common operations.
• It is not very inaccurate to think of the processor’s register as the level 0 cache, smaller and faster than the other layers of cache in between the processor and memory. The difference is only that from the point of view of the instruction set, cache access is transparent (the cache is accessed through a memory address that happens to be a cached address at the moment) whereas registers are explicitly referenced in each instruction.

There will probably be a table to tick what things do, or a 2-4 marker asking what something does and to explain it. I’d recommend learning 2 registers in detail, and what 4 just do.

Von Neumann architecture

This is basically a summary of the above.

Von Neumann architecture is the design of which almost every computer now is comprised of. It states:

• Data and instructions are stored as binary
• Data and instructions are both stored in primary storage
• Instructions are fetched from memory one at a time and in order
• The processor decodes and executes an instruction, and then does the same for the next instruction
• This will continue until there are no more instructions

A processor based on von Neumann architecture has five registers which it uses for processing:

• the program counter (PC) holds the memory address of the next instruction to be fetched from primary storage
• the memory address register (MAR) holds the address of the current instruction that is to be fetched from memory, or the address in memory to which data is to be transferred
• the memory data register (MDR) holds the contents found at the address held in the MAR, or data which is to be transferred to primary storage
• the current instruction register (CIR) holds the instruction that is currently being decoded and executed
• the accumulator (ACC) is a special purpose register and is used by the arithmetic logic unit (ALU) to hold the data being processed and the results of its calculations

Note the above was heavily taken from Bitesize as it’s just easier to explain

Personally, I find this the easiest way to remember them:

• program counter counts the programs by 1 every cycle
• memory address register has the current memory address
• memory data register has the memory data at the address
• don’t worry about the CIR because it’s self-explanatory
• accumulator (ACC) holds data being processed and the results of it

1.1.2 - CPU performance

Clock speed

The clock speed is measured in gigahertz (GHz) and represents how many fetch-decode-execute cycles happen per second. 1 GHz = 1 billion cycles.

My computer running at 4.27 GHz, overclocked from 3.7 GHz. This means that 4,270,000,000 fetch-decode-execute cycles are happening per second. Speedy, right?

A clock speed of 4.27 GHz means that 1 clock happens 274,000,000 times faster than a reflex action. In that time, light itself can only travel about 8cm. In other words, they’re really fast.

However, a CPU which cannot keep up with its clock will corrupt its data. A very fast clock speed will cause the CPU to overheat and thermal throttle, reducing its performance to stop it from melting…

Cache size

Transferring data in and out of memory takes much, much longer than from cache. Therefore, placing frequently accessed data in the cache results in everything using that function (such as square roots) being executed much faster. The more cache there is, the more data can be stored closer to the CPU.
CPU cache is ‘graded’ at different levels depending on its speed. L1 is usually part of the CPU chip and is both the smallest and the fastest to access. Its size is often restricted to between 8 KB and 64 KB. L2 and L3 caches are bigger than L1. They are extra caches built between the CPU and the RAM. Sometimes L2 is built into the CPU with L1.
L2 and L3 caches take slightly longer to access than L1. Each CPU core has its own set of L1 cache, but they can share higher levels.

However, cache is very expensive (L1 costs ~£1 per kilobyte), is limited by the space of the CPU die, and is very small, so cannot be a full replacement for memory.

Core count

A CPU has multiple cores on it. CPUs with multiple cores have more power to run multiple programs at the same time.

However, doubling cores does not double clock speed. Some headroom is needed to communicate between each core.

Something you don’t need to remember, I don’t really know why I put it here. Just remember more cores = faster as it can do multiple tasks concurrently! (Source: Bitesize)

1.1.3 - Embedded systems

An embedded system is a small computer inside of a larger system. PCs would be categorised as general-purpose systems, as they can do pretty much anything. Embedded systems on the other hand have one specific function which they run.

General process computers are designed to access the Internet, play games, play videos, and write programs. These all require applications to run. Tablets, phones and consoles are now increasingly classed as general process, as they now can run several applications.

Examples of embedded systems include GPS systems, digital watches, fitness trackers, washing machines, microwaves and more.

They are not reprogrammable either - all the programming is done in manufacturing.

Advantages of these systems include they require less power to run and are cheaper to make as their processors are not as powerful.

1.2 Memory and Storage

1.2.1 Primary storage

Primary storage consists of RAM (random access memory) and ROM (read-only memory). ROM is non-volatile (retains its data after being powered off) and is usually often now only used to boot the computer, providing for the BIOS or UEFI.

Memory/RAM is small in size compared to secondary storage, but is much faster as it does not have moving parts or have to retain that information. It is usually from 4-16GB in size. The more RAM a computer has, the more programs and instructions it can store simultaneously.

Virtual memory is needed in systems. Virtual memory is an area of secondary storage which is used as an overflow for when memory is filled up. When RAM is full, data which would have gone to memory goes to an area of the disk drive. However, virtual memory is much slower than even the fastest SSDs, let alone HDDs with their moving parts.

1.2.2 Secondary storage

Secondary storage is non-volatile, meaning it retains the data written to it even when offline.

An HDD (magnetic) has high capacity and involves flipping magnetic polarity to store bits. It is fairly fast to access. An SSD (solid-state) has high capacity and involves trapping electrons to store bits. They are extremely fast to access. A USB drive (solid state) is tiny in comparison but very portable so is useful for transferring files between people and their computers. Optical storage devices like CDs and DVDs use a laser to scan the tracks, and when light reflects back, it will either reflect from ‘lands’ - representing 1, or not reflect in ‘pits’ - representing 0.

Embedded systems may not need these as the instructions to run them are usually in ROM. For example, a watch does not need to edit the time as it runs all the time.

1.2.3 Units

The basic unit is the bit. It represents 1 or 0. Above this is the nibble - or 4 bits. Above this again is the byte, or 8 bits.

• A kilobyte is 1000 bits.
• A megabyte is 1000 kilobytes. (1,000,000 bits)
• A gigabyte is 1000 megabytes. (1,000,000,000 bits)
• A terabyte is 1000 gigabytes. (1,000,000,000,000 bits)

An image is usually around 500kb. Therefore, on a 2GB USB stick, 2000 images.

Videos can be 100 megabytes, so 20 images can be stored.

Sound file size = sample rate x duration (s) x bit depth
Image file size = colour depth x image height (px) x image width (px)
Text file size = bits per character x number of characters

1.2.4 Data storage

There’s a lot in this topic (including the things I find the hardest but shh)

Denary to Binary

To convert a denary number into binary, write out all the base 2 numbers in a row (128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1). Then, get your number, let’s say 253, and subtract it from the largest. You’d then get 125. Write ‘1’ below the ‘128’ and repeat on the next numbers. If when you subtract it it’s negative, write a zero below and then do the next smallest number.

Adding binary digits

0 + 0 = 0
0 + 1 = 1
1 + 1 = 0, carry 1
1 + 1 + carried 1 = 1, carry 1

Denary/binary to hex

Hex(adecimal) is a base 16 system to simplify binary representation. A hex digit can be any of these: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F.

Each hex digit represents a 4-digit binary sequence.

0 in hex is 0 in denary, and 0000 in binary.

Remember how to convert denary to binary? Well, firstly convert the denary into binary, then split the 8-bit digit binary number into nibbles of 4 bits each. Then, add 1 to 0000 (binary) whilst incrementing hexadecimal by 1. Let’s go through an example.

1. Convert 103 into hexadecimal. [2 marks]

1. Convert 103 into binary.
   = 01100111
2. Split into nibbles
   = 0110 0111
3. Work out hex of nibble 1
   = 6
4. Work out hex of nibble 2
   = 7
5. Put together
   = 67

The other way is to divide the denary number by 16 until you can’t (here, 6 times). Then get the remainder (here, 7). Then put it together. Magic ✨

2. Convert 212 into hexadecimal. [2 marks]

Try and work it out. The answer is below ‘Binary shifts’ below…

I guarantee you this will be in my exam paper lol

Hex to denary/binary

You can reverse the above. Personally, I’d write down the hex digits, and convert them into nibbles which can then easily convert into denary.

Binary shifts

A shift of 1 to the left means multiply by 2.
A shift of 3 to the left means multiply by 2^3 = 8
A shift of 1 to the right means divide by 2
A shift of 3 to the right means divide by 2^3 = 8

left = multiply, right = divide.

Answer to 2) Convert 212 into hexadecimal. [2 marks]

1. to binary = 11010100
2. nibbles = 1101 0100
3. nibble 1 = D (remember it goes into ABCDEF)
4. nibble 2 = 4
5. answer = D4

Characters

Characters are also represented as binary. In ASCII, there are 8 bits, so that’s 255 characters possible. In Unicode, there are 16 bits, or more, allowing it to represent every character and emoji in the world - over 2 million.

A in binary is 0100 0001.
Character sets are ordered logically, so B is one more than A:
B in binary is 0100 0010.

Images

An image is represented as a series of pixels, again, represented as binary. Each pixel has a specific colour, represented by a specific code (can be a hex value).

The image’s size and quality can be affected by the colour depth and resolution.

A black and white image has a bit depth of 1. This means it can only represent two colours - 2¹ = 2 colours. An image which uses 10-bit depth can represent 2¹⁰ = 1024 colours. Colour depth = range of colours available.

Colour depth is interchangeable with bit depth.

Size, or dimensions, is how many pixels the image contains, in terms of height by width. 1920x1080 is a classic example - a screen with these dimensions would have 2,073,600 pixels.

The size of an image file can be estimated using:

• the image height in pixels
• the image width in pixels
• the colour depth per pixel

If a 1920x1080 image, with a colour depth of 24 bits was to be saved:

1920x1080 = 2,073,600
2,073,600 x 24 = 49,766,400 bits
divided by 8 = 6,220,800 bytes
divided by 1000 = 6220.8KB / 6.2208 MB

Resolution is used to describe how densely packed the pixels are. A high resolution would have more pixels, but will be larger in size. A low-resolution image will look like Minecraft when enlarged but has a low file size.

Files contain extra data called metadata. Metadata includes data about the file itself, such as file type, date created, author, geolocation and camera.

An image file also includes metadata about the image data itself, such as the height and width of the image, the resolution and the colour depth. This allows for software to more easily interpret and decode the image file correctly, and output it to a monitor, for example.

Sound

Sample rate is the number of samples recorded in a second. It is measured in hertz. The higher the sample rate, the closer the recorded digital signal is to the original, analogue sound. An audio file on a CD is usually recorded at 44.1KHz which is a compromise between low file size and high quality.

Bit depth is the number of bits used to record each sample. The higher the bit depth, the more accurately the sound can be recorded but the higher the file size.

Bit rate is the amount of data processed per second. It is calculated by sample rate x bit depth, and is in bits per second. Higher bit rate = higher quality sound, and also the file size.

Recording sound

To record an audio file, analogue sound must first be captured by an input device, like a microphone, and then converted into a digital file to store on a computer.

Firstly, the microphone picks up sound and converts it into an electrical signal. This is then used by the ADC (analogue-digital converter, typically located in a system’s sound card) and sampled at regular intervals which directly represent the sound wave’s traits, such as amplitude.

This is represented as a binary sequence called Pulse Code Modulation (PCM), and saved to a file. The raw data of the converted signal is uncompressed (using WAV/FLAC/AIFF formats).

When the file is read, the binary PCM sequence is passed through the DAC (digital-analogue converter) which uses the data to reconstruct an analogue waveform, as close to the original as possible. This analog signal is then amplified and sent to speakers, which vibrate based on these analog signals, creating audible sound waves.

1.2.5 Compression

There are 2 types of compression.

Lossy compression

Lossy - some data is removed, reducing the overall data and quality and therefore size of the file. In an image, this can be seen through reducing colour depth, reducing the number of colours in the image, and therefore reducing the file size. Bit depth can be reduced in audio files to reduce the file. > Remember, in bit depth, it squares every time. A bit depth of 4 would mean 2^4 bits, or 16 potential colours or audio bits.

Examples of lossy compression include JPEG, MPEG (or MP4) and MP3 files.

Lossless compression

For other files, data cannot be lost, like texts. Files need to be reduced in size without the loss of data. WAV audio files or PNG image files are examples of lossless formats. However, lossless files are bigger than lossy, even when compressed.

For example, a binary representation of 000000111100110000000111111 can be represented as 604121217161. (because there are 6 zeroes, 4 ones, 2 zeroes etc)

This would reduce the file from 27 bytes to 12 bytes. A reduction of over 60%!

Lossless formats preserve every single detail, no matter how small, which ‘costs’ a lot in file size.

1.3 Networks, connections and protocols

1.3.1 Networks and topologies

A network’s topology is how different nodes (a device connected to a network) are arranged in it. All nodes are either wired or wirelessly connected.

Some useful key terms which you should probably know:

Router: directs and receives packets incoming/outgoing to/from the Internet to devices in a private network via IP addresses. It connects networks together - your home LAN to the Internet, or a WAN. Nodes connected to it are given private IP addresses (192.168.1.x). The router has a public IP address. (You can see your public IP here.)

Switch: A device which connects devices on a computer network by using packet switching to receive and forward data to the destination device. It uses MAC addresses to forward data at the data link layer. (MAC (Media Access Control) addresses are used to identify a device on the local network assigned by its Network Interface Card)

WAP: wireless access point. Usually built into the switch, or physically connected by wire to it. Unless there’s a repeater which would mean WAPs are connected to other WAPs

Packet switching: a method of breaking up data, and sending it using the most efficient route. For example, if you send an image, it will be broken up into ‘packets’ of around 1000 bytes each (if the image is 1 MB then there’ll be 1000 packets) and then sent. To ensure data is not corrupted on route to the destination, each packet contains the following in a header: the IP address it is going to, the IP address it has come from, the sequence number of the packet, the number of packets in the whole communication, and error checking data

DNS: Domain Name System. How domain names are translated to IP addresses. When you go to ibaguette.com, your device will make a request to a DNS server asking for the actual IP address to connect to, such as 172.67.139.203. If a DNS server does not contain the IP address, your request will be forwarded to a bigger DNS server, and finally, a root DNS server containing every single domain’s IP address.

The two topologies which you need to know are:

Star topologies

• Used in many networks
• Used by client-server networks - all data sent from clients pass through (a) central server(s).
• All computers can communicate with each other through the central switch.

Advantages include:

• If a node or its connection fails, other nodes can still communicate
• New nodes can be added by connecting it to the switch
• Any incoming data from the Internet can be forwarded directly to the intended node.
• Fast data transfer to the hub as each wire isn’t shared with other computers

Disadvantages:

• The entire network will go down if the switch fails
• Can be expensive to set up - requires additional hardware such as the central switch and lots of network cables

They are used anywhere, from company buildings to your home right now. Your ‘router’ is currently acting as the switch, router and WAP for all the nodes connected in your house.

Mesh topologies

Full meshes are when every device is connected to every other device. Partial meshes are when every device is connected to at least another device, which shares a connection with other devices (the original device is indirectly connected with every other device)

Advantages:

• No single point of failure – resilient to attacks
• Messages can be received more quickly if the route to the intended recipient is short
• Expansion and modification can be done without disrupting the network
• Data can be transmitted from different devices simultaneously

Disadvantages:

• Can involve redundant connections
• Expensive to install cabling if using wired connections
• Network maintenance and administration is difficult
• Full mesh networks are impractical to set up because of the high number of connections needed

1.3.2 Wired/wireless, protocols, networks

Advance information: The following will be directly assessed:

• Modes of connection
• Encryption
• IP addressing and MAC addressing
• Standards
• Common protocols

A network is a group of two or more computers connected together to communicate. There are 2 ways for them to communicate: wired (ethernet) and wireless (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth).

It may seem obvious but the benefits of being in a network include accessing and sharing resources, sharing hardware like printers, communications via email, text or video, and roaming profile (can access your files from any computer in the network).

In larger networks, antiviruses and firewalls can be implemented network-wide instead of on individual computers, improving security and cost-effectiveness.

Admins can monitor what people do on these networks, and give them rights (User Access Levels) to restrict access. However, networks can cost a lot as equipment like dedicated cables or switches are needed to communicate, and malware can spread more quickly if a network has poor security.

IP and MAC addressing, standards

The 32-bit IP address system is also known as IPv4. It allows for over 4 billion addresses (2^32 = 4,294,967,296 addresses). We’re running out very quickly.

IPv4 addresses are just numbers, like 248.228.179.104. Each number separated by decimals cannot be over 255, as that’s the 8-bit limit.

IPv6’s adoption is increasing now. IPv6 uses 16 bits (hexadecimal represention) for each section of the address, creating a 128-bit address. This allows almost 80 octillion unique IP addresses.

IPv6 addresses can be letters as well. They are separated by colons, such as 8cfb:3abd:dde5:ca41:e080:0328:6e86:5007. Each part separated by colons can be from 0000 to ffff. This means that there are 1,028x more addresses than IPv4. That’s 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 addresses.
(no, you don’t need to remember that)

A MAC address is different to an IP address - it is assigned to devices within a network. It can’t be changed by the user, as it’s on the network card on the device.

Remember, a protocol is a set of rules that governs the transmission of data. For example, HTTPS.

Standards allow hardware/software to interact across different manufacturers/producers. For example, HDMI or USB-C (love you Apple)

Encryption

Encryption is the process of changing a message so that it can only be understood by the intended recipient, through the use of a public and a private key (also known as asymmetric encryption). A public key can be given to anyone - it can be used to encrypt a message. but it cannot decrypt a message - only the second key (the private key) can do that. The message will remain encrypted unless the private key is compromised, either by giving it out or by brute forcing it.

Unencrypted messages are referred to as plaintext messages. Encrypted messages are known as ciphertext.

You can read more about encryption on BBC Bitesize or in higher detail on the Computer Science A Level Cheat Sheet.

Common protocols

You need to know a few common protocols.

• TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)
  • Used for accessing the Internet. Set of rules describing how packets are sent. All packets have source IP, destination IP, packet reassembly sequence, the actual data (or payload), and error-checking details.
• HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol)
  • Sends web pages from the webserver to your browser.
• HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure)
  • Sends web pages securely encrypted from the webserver to your browser. Needed on sites with private information like banks.
• FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
  • Transfer files. You can upload a file to a FTP server and someone else can download it.
• POP (Post Office Protocol)
  • Used to download email to a device, then delete it from the server.
• IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol)
  • Used to download email from the server, but caching it on-device. Doesn’t delete from a web server.
• SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
  • Used to send the email

Layers

Finally, you need to know how layers are used in protocols, and the benefits of using layers; for a teaching example, please refer to the 4-layer TCP/IP model.

Not required: Knowledge of the names and functions of each TCP/IP layer

Layering means the breakdown of the sending of messages into separate components and activities, with each component handling a different part of communication. Therefore, it allows standards to be put in place and simply adapted as new hardware and software are developed.

See this Bitesize page if you want to learn more, but it’s not required

• Application layer - applications and protocols.
• Transport layer - breakdown into packets
• Network layer - adds sender and receiver’s IP addresses to packets and sends over the network
• Data link layer - the NIC and drivers are here and then send the packets to another computer

1.4 Network security

1.4.1 Threats to computer systems

Malware

Malware is an umbrella term for malicious software designed to compromise a system.

Viruses - often embedded in another file. When run, they replicate and can spread throughout a network. They usually delete or modify other data, including personal documents or critical system files. Can upload your files to a server.

Worms - similar to viruses with the ability to replicate and spread, but are often completely standalone programs which exploit vulnerabilities in a system, not requiring a host file. Typically distributed by email. They may not initially damage systems, but try and spread rapidly to other systems.

Trojans - a malicious application pretending to be a useful application. A user must run it to spread.

Spyware - monitors a user’s activities and sends them back to a server. This could include websites visited, passwords, usernames and applications opened. This can then be used by advertising agencies to market more targeted ads to a user.

Adware is the same as this but used to serve more relevant ads to a user. Becoming more common on mobile devices.

Ransomware - arguably the worst type of malware. Encrypt documents, and require a ransom payment such as Bitcoin (due to its anonymity), to decrypt the data. Often will delete data after a certain time if not paid. Often won’t decrypt the data even if paid. Usually deletes copies of data and locks the system by taking over how the system boots. Very easily spreads through the network if run as an administrator. (user access levels are useful here!)

Social engineering

e.g. phishing, people as the ‘weak point’

Emails which try to deceive users to give their personal details. Designed to look like a genuine email from a useful service, like a bank, and will have a link to a website (still looking like a real bank) where there will be a username/password field, and maybe even credit card numbers. Of course, when you enter the data, it’s just sent to someone else.

Brute-force attacks

A program is used to systematically try all possible combinations of a username and password until the correct one is ‘cracked’.

Denial of service attacks

Where a computer sends loads of requests to a server to overwhelm it. The server will become overwhelmed and legitimate requests will no longer work.

Multiple computers doing this concurrently is called a distributed denial of service attack, or DDoS. They usually only last a few seconds but send tens of millions of requests.

Data interception and theft

Data interception is when data is intercepted while being transferred, using a special software called a ‘packet sniffer’. It can identify what packets are doing and their destination across the Internet or in a network. They are usually difficult to detect, as the data still reaches its intended destination. The information gathered is sent back to a server where it can be seen by malicious entities.

SQL injection

You don’t need to know what SQL actually is, but rather the process of it. SQL is widely used in databases to ensure their structures are maintained and to quickly read a value in it. SQL code can be entered as a data input in, for example, a username/password field, which can cause errors. Even worse, someone can input something like FROM * PRINT Passwords to get a list of everyone’s passwords if unencrypted!

1.4.2 Preventing vulnerabilities

Penetration testing

Pen testing is when authorised users (including white hat hackers) probe a network for weaknesses, and attempt to exploit them. It is used to check how resistant a network is against malicious attacks by trying to identify security issues before they are exploited. White hat hackers or organisations who attempt to find vulnerabilities can get paid hundreds of thousands for finding issues!

Anti-malware software

Anti-malware detects installed malware, prevents malware from being installed and removes malware from a device. It scans through all files that are run or modified and sees if one matches a list of known malicious files. However, if the antimalware software is not updated, it may not be able to correctly identify new, zero-day threats to which the system is exposed.

Firewalls

Firewalls monitor traffic and allow it to pass through or deny it. It can be placed in front of the network, or can be placed in front of an individual device. Legitimate programs such as game servers require the firewall to allow a program or port (e.g. for a Minecraft Java server the default port is 25565) to communicate with other devices. Firewalls can be hardware or software-based, and as most things hardware-based firewalls are more effective but cost more than software-based implementations.

User access levels

User access levels only allow a user to do certain things, including running software, accessing the Internet, installing new software and editing the accounts of other users. In a school, students will be denied access to managing other students and software, but will be allowed to access the Internet. Teachers will be allowed to manage students, and maybe the software installed. Finally, admins will be able to access everything.

This reduces the risks as if a student downloads a virus, it will not be able to access any other device, as it is effectively isolated from managing network devices. However, if an admin gets infected, it would mean disaster for the network…

Passwords

Passwords are used to verify a user’s identity. Secure passwords could include a password policy to ensure it is secure and difficult to guess, and one changes regularly. They should ideally be unique across different websites, so if one website account is compromised, the same passwords cannot be used to login to your account on another site which you might want to be kept secure, like a bank.

Data encryption

The process of changing data from plaintext to ciphertext so it cannot be understood. For example, if a database containing passwords gets accessed by a hacker, the passwords themselves are not visible and the user’s private key is still needed to decrypt them. Smart, right?

Physical security

Server rooms should be locked and only authorised people such as the admins can unlock them. Obviously, if someone gets into a server room, they can take all the drives containing users’ information. Also, don’t write down your passwords on a sticky note, someone can just take a picture of them…

1.5 Systems Software

1.5.1 Operating systems

An operating system is a suite of programs that controls the general operation of a computer, and provides an easy way for us to interact with computers and run applications.

OSes can control hardware components, provide a UI, manage files in a file system, manage memory, manage users, and even provide multitasking. Examples are Windows and Linux for desktops, and iOS and Android for mobile devices.

User interfaces

UIs are program(s) that allow a user to interact with the computer. The GUI is the most popular as they include desktops and icons for ease of use, with menus and a mouse to interact with it. They are easy to use but use more processing power. CLIs are text-based programs (like command prompt in Windows) which are very powerful and require little processing power to display due to their simplicity. However, they are difficult for most people to use. Mobile UIs are basically the same as GUIs but replace the mouse with touch and gestures to navigate.

Multitasking & memory management

Multitasking is a classic example of OS’ evolution over the years. With CLIs, a user could only do one process. Now, videos can be streamed while uploading documents to the cloud. This requires an OS to support it (duh) and enough memory to run multiple processes. The OS manages memory used to prioritise running processes, and when another process closes, this extra available memory gets allocated to the running program.

Peripherals and drivers

Peripherals are hardware devices physically connected to a computer like mice, monitors, printers, etc etc (you knew that right… RIGHT?!?)

OSes use drivers to control peripherals. Data is transferred between devices and the CPU, and this needs drivers to manage the interactions between the user and the computer. As drivers contain instructions on how to manage a device, every device connected will have its own associated driver. Any device can be used with a computer, as long as standards (written about above) are met and a driver is available. Drivers are frequently updated to improve the hardware device’s performance or to fix a bug.

However, if a driver update goes wrong then it will take some extra effort to fix it, as you can’t interact with the hardware with the bad driver…

User and file management

The OS controls…

… user management functions, e.g.:

• Creating, modifying, and deletion of an account
• Access rights (admin, or normal user)
• Logging actions

… handling files

• Create, modify and delete files
• Allocating to folders
• Moving and renaming between folders
• Copying and pasting
• Searching
• Access rights (read-only)
• Sorting (date modified, name)
• Overall file system for organising (NTFS)

1.5.2 Utility software

Utility software helps maintain the system. It includes programs involving encryption software, defragmentation and data compression tools. Computers often come with this software built in (even part of the OS now) to keep the device running smoothly.

Encryption software

Encryption software is used to scramble the contents of files to everyone but authorised users who have the decryption/private key. It can encrypt individual files or even the entire disk! This is useful for government organisations or banks which have private and sensitive data stored. If someone steals a disk, what can they do with the data if they can’t read it?

Defragmentation software

If you know what defragging a hard disk is, then you can skip this.

If you don’t, read below:

Hard disk drives are separated into thousands of tracks, with thousands of segments in these tracks. When a file is written to a disk, it is written to the next available segment. Let’s say you’re downloading a 30GB game - and you pause it halfway through for an hour, and you download some music. Then, on the hard drive, you will have some of the game, and then some music. Let’s say you finish the download. Then, there will be some game, some music, and the rest of the game. Oh, also, how about that there were some programs updating in the background and you didn’t realise! Then, there will be loads of ‘fragmented’ parts of games, programs and music, all jumbled around near each other on the disk!

This is terrible for the computer’s performance, as the head has to go to loads of physically distanced parts of the disk to read and write to. Defragging moves the files from all these parts to one consecutive track, where possible. This will load your games up a load faster!

What a hard drive is actually made from. Remember there can be several platters on a large drive!

NOTE: Solid-state drives’ speeds are not affected by fragmentation. Do NOT EVER try and defrag an SSD!

Compression software

Compression software reduces the size of a file on secondary storage to make it easier to send (as lower file size = lower packets needed) and allows more files to be stored (as lower file size = more free space). Note that most compression will need to be lossless, as you can’t just get rid of a bit of a program and hope it’ll work. Examples of compressed data are ZIP files.

Backup software

Now this isn’t in the specification, but I think it’s worth knowing about.

Backup software takes a copy of the files on a computer to either a high-capacity secondary storage device (usually removable so a USB drive or big HDD) or uploaded to the cloud.

It can be a full backup or an incremental backup which takes place. A full backup is making a copy of every single file on a device, so will take a lot of time and storage space. Incremental backups only take a copy of new and modified files since the last backup, so they’re cheaper and faster. Usually, admins will take one backup at the start then daily incremental backups.

Remember, it will take a long time to download from the cloud, so if there’s a question on this then remember that. Then again, cloud documents can be accessed from anywhere…

1.6 Impacts of digital technology

1.6.1 Ethical, legal, cultural and environmental impact

Here’s what the specification says on this subtopic:

Impacts of digital technology on wider society including:

• Ethical issues
• Legal issues
• Cultural issues
• Environmental issues
• Privacy issues

Ethical issues occur when a given decision, scenario or activity creates a conflict with a society’s moral principles.

A legal issue is something that happens that has legal implications and may need the help of a lawyer to sort out - a question or problem that is answered or resolved by the law.

Cultural issues are problems that occur when culture conflicts with systems, goals or other cultures. (e.g religion, ethnicity, generation)

Environmental issues are defined as harmful effects on Earth and its natural systems due to the actions of humans. (e.g pollution, animals dying, poisoning of the environment, deforestation)

Privacy issues include companies using your personal data for their gain, e.g. TikTok seeing what trends you’re into and giving you ads across other websites, which then track you and build up a profile of what you do online. To some people, this would be creepy, especially as there’s no way to opt-out

If in doubt, just say that’s what tiktok does because you’ll probably be right either way

Legislation relevant to Computer Science:

• The Data Protection Act 2018
  • Controls how your personal information is used by companies, organisations or the Government.
• Computer Misuse Act 1990
  • For securing computer material against unauthorised access or modification
• Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988
  • Gives the author or creator the right to copy, adapt, communicate, lend or sell copies of their work (can be sold or transferred)
• Software licences (i.e. open source and proprietary)

A software license agreement describes how the software should be used, and any restrictions it may have from the author, the provider and end users.

Open source means providing access to the source code and the ability to change the software if you want. Groups of programmers often work together to provide support for users and develop the software further. These products are often tested by contributors in public. FREE TO USE, FOR ANYONE.

For example, BaguetteBot (Source Code + Invite Link) is free to use and you can inspect my code.

Proprietary means no access to the source code (already compiled), purchased commonly as ‘off-the-shelf’ for example games. Also known as closed-source. It remains the legal property of whoever made it. Source code is usually not released, and may require a license key to use it in return for money.

Developers of proprietary products are expected to create tutorials and support many operating systems themselves, especially if the product costs money.

In short, if you want to make money, use a proprietary license. If you want people to improve your code and find bugs, use an open-source license. You will need to recommend a type of licence for a given scenario, including benefits and drawbacks.

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