Faculty Of Computer Studies

Course code: T215 B

Course Title: Communication and information Technologies- Part B

Final Exam-KEY
Spring 2015/2016

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 Part 1
This part carries 15% of the total examination marks. You should attempt all questions in this
part by choosing the best answer for each question and write it on the external answer sheet.
Each question carries 1.5 marks. You are advised to dedicate approximately 20 minutes to this
part.

1. __________is a tool for video production that provides ways of creating, editing and
processing videos.

a. Compiler
b. Interpreter.
c. Paintbrush
d. AviSynth

2. ___________are points in a fingerprint where ridge lines discontinue abruptly from their
original path.
a. Minutiae.
b. Pixel.
c. Edge.
d. Slope.

3. What is the wavelength of a sound wave generated by the tuning fork having a frequency of
420 Hz? Take the speed of sound to be 340 meters per second.

a. 1.235 m
b. 0.532 m
c. 1.453 m
d. 0.809 m

4. When the encryption process systematically manipulate a symbol (or a group of symbols) in
the plaintext to produce a different symbol (or group of symbols), which becomes the
ciphertext, this is known as________________
a. Transposition cipher.
b. Substitution cipher.
c. Matrix cipher.
d. Vector cipher.

5. Encryption provides mechanism for _______________which is ensuring that the identities of

people and things are correct.
a. Integrity.
b. Confidentiality.
c. Authentication.
d. Eavesdropping.

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6._______________ is a family of standards that specifies how organizations should achieve the
required standards of information using Information Security Management Systems.

a. ISO/IEC 27000
b. ISO 7000
c. IPsec
d. TCP/IP

7. _______ is where potential victims are lured into following links to fake websites where they
are encouraged to reveal personal details or information such as passwords, PINs or security
codes, which fraudsters subsequently use.

a. MITM attack
b. Malware.
c. Phishing.
d. skimming

8. A motion which repeats itself regularly is known as________________.

a. Cyclic motion.
b. Oscillatory motion.
c. Periodic motion.
d. All of the above.

9. ____________ is a device that converts energy from one form to another.

a. Accelerator.
b. Transducer.
c. Amplifier.
d. Rectifier.

10. In the context of software programs, a ____________ is a collection of instructions and

statements that are interpreted, one by one, by the program in order to perform some task.

a. Script.
b. Multiplexer.
c. Encoder.
d. Compiler.

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 Part 2
This part carries 35% of the total examination marks. You should attempt all questions in this
part. Each question carries 5 marks. You are advised to dedicate approximately 70 minutes to
this part.

1- As Surveillance has many benefits, it also has a set of potential and actual drawbacks. List
three of these drawbacks.

Solution: Any three from the list below is correct:

• Surveillance potential and actual drawbacks:

• risks inherent in large-scale computer systems;
• the potential for corruption of power;
• inequalities of access and opportunity;
• the decline in trust, principally between the state and the individual, but also
within more personal relationships;
• And the fear that the use of surveillance discourages the exploration of other
solutions and other issues.

(Total marks awarded=2x1+1.5x2=5 marks)

2- Explain briefly, RFID (Radio Frequency identification) technology and why it is used.

Solution:
• RFID (Radio Frequency Identification): tags that are small wireless devices that
provides unique identifiers which can be read by remote sensors.
• The original aim of these small low cost devices was to enable companies to keep track
of stock.
• However, there are RFID tags which can be ‘active’ – they emit signals over a greater
range and can be sensed remotely – and so concerns over their use have grown.
(3 marks)
• These tiny devices are inconspicuous, meaning that an individual might not be aware
that there is an RFID tag in a product they have bought which is transmitting
information, nor will they be aware of who is able to pick up the data. (2 marks)

3- Explain briefly, what Quantum cryptography systems are designed for and why?

Solution
- Quantum cryptography systems are designed for key generation rather than for the
direct encryption of data (2.5 marks)
- Computers are becoming ever faster and more powerful  Encryption methods that
were once thought to be secure can become vulnerable because of faster processing
speeds  if some day someone discovered a fast and simple method for factoring large
primes, one possible solution is quantum cryptography (2.5 marks)

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4- Describe briefly, the advantages, disadvantages and usages for moving coil microphones
(electromagnetic induction)?

Solution:

Advantages:
o Moving-coil microphones are typically quite rugged.
o Moving-coil microphones are able to convert sounds more or less over the full range of
audible frequencies. (2 marks)

Disadvantage: Moving-coil microphones tend not to be as sensitive as electrostatic microphone

types. (1 mark)

Usage: Moving-coil microphones are most often used as handheld microphones for singers and
speakers, where ruggedness is more important than sensitivity. (2 marks)

5- Even where biometric systems are more secure than conventional systems, they still have
vulnerabilities. Explain briefly, two of these vulnerabilities.

Solution: Any two from the list below is correct (award each item 2.5 marks).

Vulnerability 1:
Some biometric identifiers may be acquired covertly and could be used to make fake objects
designed to fool automatic biometric recognition systems.
For example, a photograph of a face can be taken remotely and without the subject’s knowledge
Fingerprints can be taken from smooth surfaces that the subject touched.

Vulnerability 2:
Biometric systems, especially unsupervised ones, can be accidentally damaged or even
vandalized. The sensor, which is usually situated at an exterior location for obtaining biometric
samples, is particularly vulnerable.
When a sensor is malfunctioning the whole system will not work!

Vulnerability 3:
A biometric system, and in particular a biometric identification system, requires a database to
store the biometric templates. The database usually stores information of a population of users.
If this database is corrupted or stolen, the identities of those users may be compromised.

6- Explain briefly, the two basic stages required to perform Analogue-to-digital conversion
process.
Solution:
The two basic stages required to perform Analogue-to-digital conversion process are sampling
and quantization.

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Sampling: which to measure the instantaneous amplitude of the analogue sound signal at
regular intervals. The result is a set of voltage levels which represent the signal’s level at the
instants the samples were taken. (2.5 marks)
Quantization: which is to divide the maximum voltage range of the analogue sound signal into a
number of discrete voltage bands and assimilate each sample into a voltage band. (2.5 marks)

7- Electronic funds transfer (EFT) is a generic term that is used to describe financial transactions
carried out by computer-based systems. This includes a wide variety of possible transactions.
Mention three of these transactions.

Solution: (any three from the list below is correct)

 Use of payment cards (debit or credit card) to purchase goods or services.
 Authorization of the electronic payment of bills using an online bank.
 Direct debit payments from customers’ accounts to service providers such as utility
companies.
 Payment of salaries by an employer into an employee’s account.
 Transfer of funds to and from accounts in different countries.

(Total marks awarded=2x1+1.5x2=5 marks)

Part 3
This part carries 50% of the total examination marks. You should attempt all the problems in
this part. You are advised to dedicate approximately 90 minutes to this part.

Problem 1: (10 marks)

In an initial trial an authentication system set to a particular threshold has been tested 1400
times by a number of people, of whom 600 were legitimate users and 800 were illegitimate
users. The system made false matches 40 times and false non-matches 80 times. What are the
FMR and FNMR of this authentication system? What can you say about this authentication
system?

Solution:
Calculating the FMR:

A false match occurs when an illegitimate user’s fingerprint MATCHES with one of the stored
fingerprints of legitimate users. So false matches can only occur for illegitimate users. (1 mark)

FMR = 40/800*100 = 5% (3 marks)

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Calculating the FNMR:

A false non-match occurs when a legitimate user’s fingerprint DOES NOT MATCH with anyone of
the stored fingerprints (of legitimate users). So false non-matches can only occur for legitimate
users. (1 mark)

FNMR = 80/600*100 = 13.33% (3 marks)

In this system, there is more likelihood that legitimate users will be refused access than that of
illegitimate users will be able to gain access

This system favors security rather than convenience. (2 marks)

Problem 2: (14 marks)

Use the Vigenère cipher with the keyword ‘technology’ to encrypt the following sentence:
“welcome to ITC”. Show your work in details (in the form of table).
Table below help you to find the code equivalent to each letter.

Solution:
General formula: c ≡ p + K mod 26 (1 mark)

Plain text w e l c o m e t o i t c
code 22 4 11 2 14 12 4 19 14 8 19 2
key t e c h n o l o g y t e
code 19 4 2 7 13 14 11 14 6 24 19 4
Result 15 8 13 9 1 0 15 7 20 6 12 6
Cipher-text P I N J B A P H U G M G

(1 mark for each correct column)

(1 mark for writing the cipher text in Capital letters)
Total marks=12x1+1+1=14 marks

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Problem 3: (11 marks)

a. What is image compression? (2 marks)

b. Why image compression is used? (3 marks)
c. Explain, briefly the fundamental methods for image compression with giving an example
for each type. (6 marks)

Solution:

a. The basic idea of image compression is to re-code the information in a more compact form.
This data can then be stored or transmitted, and converted back again to a suitable form when
needed (uncompressed). (2 marks)
b. There are two main reasons for image compression:
• First, a compressed image file takes up less storage space than the uncompressed
version.
• Second, a compressed image file can be transferred more quickly. This may be
important, for example, when loading images from the internet. (3 marks)

c. There are two fundamental methods for compressing digital image data – lossless or lossy.

• Lossless compression:

As its name suggests, in lossless image compression no data is lost during the compression
process.
When the compressed image is decompressed, the result is exactly the same as it was before
the compression. Lossless compression is most effective where there are frequently recurring
data sequences in the image. (2 marks)
The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) standard is an example of lossless image compression
(1 mark)
• Lossy compression

Lossy compression reduces file size by discarding redundant data, so that only a part of the
original data is retained after compression. The trick in developing successful compression
programs is to make sensible decisions about what kind of degradation can be allowed to occur,
so that the recovered version is indistinguishable from the original to human senses. (2 marks)

Example of lossy compression: MPEG, JPEG (1 mark).

Problem 4: (15 marks)

Matching methods for fingerprints can be broadly classified into three categories. Explain briefly
these three categories.

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Solution:

Matching methods for fingerprints can be broadly classified into three categories which are:

 Correlation-based matching works by superimposing one image over another image and
changing their alignments (by moving and rotating one of the images) until the
correlation between the corresponding pixels of the two images is maximized. (5 marks)
 In a Minutiae-based matching, the matching is conducted by working out the similarity
between Minutiae instead of all pixels. It is the most commonly used matching method
adopted by automatic fingerprint recognition systems. (5 marks)
 Ridge-feature-based matching: is used when the qualities of the fingerprint images are
not good (minutiae extraction is difficult). In a Ridge-feature-based matching, other
ridge features may be used to help in matching fingerprints such as: ridge orientation,
ridge frequency, shape and texture, and ridge counts between minutiae. (5 marks)

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