INFORMA Information Technology (I.

T) is made up of
TION Technologies that is used to capture input data: it
processes the data into useful information, displays the
TECHNO output information and stores it for future use.
Information technology can be describing as the use of
LOGY computers, storage, communication and other physical
devices to create, process and exchange all forms of
electric data. In other words, I.T covers everything that
is computer related. It merges the field of:
 Computer Science: deals with theory of computation, algorithms,
computation problems and the design of computer system hardware,
software and application. Computer science is the study of how computers
are used to solve problems.
 Office Automation: refers to the varied computer machinery and software
used to digitally create, store and manipulate and relay office information
needed for accomplishing basic tasks.
 Information and communication technologies: ICT refers to technologies
that provide information through telecommunications. It is similar to
Information Technology (I.T), but focus primarily on communication
technologies. This includes the internet, wireless networks, cell phones and
other communication mediums.

Difference between Data

and Information
There is a subtle difference between data and information. Data are the facts or
details from which information is derived. Individual pieces of data are rarely
useful alone. For data to become information, data needs to be put into context.
 Comp
arison
chart Data
Data is raw,
unorganized facts that
Information
When data is processed,
organized, structured or
need to be processed. presented in a given
Meaning Data can be something context so as to make it
simple and seemingly useful, it is called
random and useless information.
until it is organized.

Each student's test score The average score of a

is one piece of data. class or of the entire
Example school is information
that can be derived from
the given data.
"Data" comes from a "Information" is an older
singular Latin word, word that dates back to
datum, which originally the 1300s and has Old
Etymology meant "something French and Middle
given." Its early usage English origins. It has
dates back to the 1600s. always referred to "the
Over time "data" has act of informing, "
become the plural of usually in regard to
datum. education, instruction, or
other knowledge
communication.

What
is a
compu
ter?
A computer is an electronic device that manipulates information, or data. It has
the ability to store, retrieve, and process data. You may already know that you
can use a computer to type documents, send email, play games, and browse the
Web. You can also use it to edit or create spreadsheets, presentations, and even
videos.
Computers are an important aspect of Information Technologies. A computer
is an electronic device, operating under the control of instructions stored in its
memory. Whether on its own or connected via a network (such as the internet),
it can:
Access data (input)
Manipulating data (processing)
Produce results (output) from the processing
Store the data and results for future use (storage)
 Hardware
Hardware are examples of Circuit,
Chips, Wires plugs, Stuff, speakers.
Software
Software are all the computer programs
or codes running on this machine.
Software are examples of games,
websites, maps, creative, apps and
analysis.

HOW DOES THE

HARDWARE AND
SOFTWARE INTERACT
WITHEACH OTHER?

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

It is the master chip that controls all the other part of the computer. A CPU needs
to do different things so inside it has smaller simpler parts that handle specific task.
It has circuit to do simpler math and logic; it has other circuit to send and receive
information to and from different parts of the computer. The CPU knows which
circuits to use and when to use them. The CPU receives simple commands that tell
it which circuit to use for each job. For example, an add command tells the CPU to
use it outer circuit to calculate a new number and then the store command tells the
CPU to use a different circuit to save that result into memory. Just like numbers, all
of these simple commands can be in binary ones and zeros or on and off electric
signals. The binary commands are store in memory and the CPU fetches &
executes them in sequence one after the other this sequence of commands is, in
fact, a very simple computer program. Binary code is the most basic form of
software and controls all the hardware of a computer. These days nobody writes
software in binary; it will take forever. Now programing languages let you type in
commands in something that looks a lot like English. To draw a rectangle on the
screen you just need a simple command. This high level command is converted
into hundreds, or thousands of simpler binary commands that the CPU
understands. Software tells the CPU what to do, but when you are listening to
music, browsing with the web or chatting with a friend; your computer is running
multiple pieces of software all at once.
Operating System
So how do all of these programs get on the computer in the first place and how
could the CPU run them at once; to find out we have to take a look at the operating
system. The operating system of the computer is the master program that manages
how software gets to use the hardware of the computer. For example, the windows
operating system that runs on most personal computers. The operating system is a
program with special abilities that let it control the other software on the computer.
It lets you install new programs by loading them into your computer’s memory. It
decides when a program is run by the central processing unit and whether that
program can access the computer’s input and output devices. When it is running
many programs at once it is the operating system that’s quickly switching between
programs sharing that CPU for fractions of a second. Inside every computer is an
operating system managing software that controls the computer’s hardware. The
software is a series of command made of simple binary code, and that binary code
is just electrical signals flowing through billions of tiny circuits.
DATA TRANSMISSION
Two forms in which data transmission media is available: Wired and Wireless.
Three commonly used wired/cable transmission media: Fiber optics, Twisted pair,
and coaxial.
Three commonly used wireless transmission media: Radio signal, Infrared
Transmission and Microwave Transmission.
A wireless communication sends and receive message without the use of cable.
This type of cable transmits light and contains bundles of glass fiber-optic cable.
The most common form of wireless transmission media is Radio Signals.
Infrared Transmission is used in remote controls for televisions and other domestic
devices.
Industrial Espionage is the process of a person in a company sell the company
secrets to another company.
The Browser is the software program that lets you search and see material on the
Internet.
The address of a website is also known as URL (Uniform Resource Locator).
The network the links computers around the world is the internet.
Domain is the name of the user's internet system or location.
Phising is the act of tricking someone into releasing sensitive information or data,
such as usernames, passwords and credit card details.

network threat to the Skimmer

A small
device
possible security feature that may
be

that can be used to

attached
to an
ATM (or

prevent or reduce the other

likelihood of each threat.

machines that uses cards for transactions) for the purpose of stealing card
information.
Educate or antivirus Anti- Encryption
train software malware
employees software
Electronic eavesdropping 
Phising 
Malware 
 File Organization and Access
Methods

File organization refers to the way data is stored in a file. File organization is very
important because it determines the methods of access, efficiency and storage
devices to use.
DATA FILES
Data file is a collection of records holding the same type of information but about
different objects or individuals.
All Data files can be thought of as a table like this
Surname Forename Joining Data
Huggins Barrington 9 Nov 1996
Bellamy Howard 23 June 1988
Pereira Bella 14 Mar 1993
Williams Clarice 12 Oct 1975
Tang SU 19 May 1990
In a table there are:
 Record- is a collection of related data items stored in fields and treated as a
single entity for processing.
 Field- is a single data item, and many fields make up a record. Each file has
a name and one key field called primary key used to identify the record.
TYPES OF FILES
Master File: Many businesses and organizations regularly access, modify
and store large amounts of files. These files are given special
names to identify their purpose. A master file is a permanent
file which is kept-up-to-date. It stores the main information,
summary data and key fields in a data.

Master File Cont’d

The master file contains two types of data:
 Permanent data, such as employee personal data, payroll data, employee
status and job title.
 Temporary data, which is updated on a regular basis such as hours worked
and taxes deducted.
Transaction File: This is a temporary file which is used to update the master file
after a certain time (at the end of each day or work week). The transaction file
updates the master file. The records in the transaction file are used to perform three
important operations: add, update and delete
Transaction File
 Add: put new record into the master file
 Update: change the contents of a record or field that
 already exists
 Delete: remove a record from the master file
All changes in the transaction file are recorded in another file called the transaction
log or the change file.
NOTE: A primary key is normally used to identify the record you
want to update or delete. The primary key is usually a field in the
record whose value is unique to that record. Examples of primary
keys include Student ID, Passport Number, account number. It
means that if you do not have the primary key, you cannot update
or delete any record.
HOW ARE THESE FILES ORGANIZED AND?
STORED?
File Organization
There are many ways of organizing and accessing a file.
These methods are:
 Sequential Access
 Serial Access
 Random Access/ Direct Access
 Serial Access and Organization
 Serial/ unordered file organization the records are arranged
 one after another, records are stored and accessed in the
 order in which they were added.

Note: they are not sorted in a particular order. Serial files can be stored on a tape,
disk or in memory. A serial file is used mainly for backup purposes.
Advantage and Disadvantage

Advantages Disadvantages
 It is simple It is cumbersome to access because you have to access all
proceeding records before retrieving the one being searched.
 It is cheap It cannot support modern high speed requirements for quick
record access.
Sequential Access and Organization
A sequential file is one in which the records are stored ins orated order on one or
more key fields. Example: invoice sorted by customer number Magnetic tape is a
sequential device. To get to a particular section you must start at the beginning and
scan forward.
NOTE: When inserting, deleting or amending records in both serial and
sequential files the entire file must be read and then the records
written to a new file. Example: if you are adding 10 new records to a
master file containing 1000 records, then 1000 records will have
to be read from the old master file and after the 10 insertions from
the transaction file, 1010 records are written to a new master.
Data Validation
Data validation is an automated check done by the computer to identify incorrect
data that may have been entered by the user. Example: entering information in an
online form and you leave out data that should be enter it will give you a message
and ask you to enter it.
Types of Validation Checks
 Range check
 Reasonableness checks
 Data type checks
 Consistency checks
 Presence
 Format
 Length.