Safety and Security

By Walusimbi Kenneth
Introduction
This Topic covers Safety and Security issues when using computers in
the office or at home.
As the use of computers continues to expand, the health risks and
security risks continue to increase. Many of these risks are associated
with the internet which, by its very nature, poses a great risk to
younger people unless they are vigilant at all times.
Large businesses are also at risk from a number of threats, including
hackers, pharming attacks and viruses.
Physical safety
Physical safety is concerned with the dangers that could lead to
serious injuries or even loss of life while health safety is how to stop
people becoming ill, or being affected by daily contact with
computers.
Electrocution
Cause of safety risk
• Spilling liquids/drinks on electric
equipment
• Exposed wires/damaged
insulation
• Unsafe electrical equipment
• Unsafe electrics (for example,
wall sockets) in the office
Prevention measures
• Do not allow drinks to be taken into
the computer room
• Check all wires on a regular basis and
renew wires if there is any sign of
damaged insulation
• Ensure all equipment is checked by a
qualified electrician on a regular basis
• Make use of an RCB (residual current
breaker) to prevent electrocution
Fire hazard
Cause of safety risk
• Overloaded wall sockets (several
items plugged into one wall
socket)
• Overheating of computer
equipment (due to poor heat
dissipation)
• Exposed wires causing a short
circuit
Prevention measures
• Increase the number of wall sockets and do not
use too many extension blocks
• Do not cover the cooling vents on computer
equipment
• Clean out dust accumulation in computers to
prevent overheating
• Make sure all equipment is fully tested on a
regular basis
• Ensure there is good room ventilation » Use low-
voltage equipment wherever possible
• Have a number of fully tested carbon dioxide/dry
powder fire extinguishers
Tripping hazard
Cause of safety risk
• Trailing wires on the floor
• Damaged carpets and other
flooring
Prevention measures
• Use cable ducts to make the wires
safe
• Cover exposed wires and hide
wires under desks away from
general thoroughfare
• Use wireless connectivity
wherever possible, therefore
eliminating the need for trailing
cables
Personal injury
Cause of safety risk
• Heavy equipment unstable or
falling from desks
• Desks collapsing under
weight/desks not designed to
take the weight
Prevention measures
• Use desks strong enough to take
the weight of the computer
equipment
• Use large desks and tables so
that hardware is not too close to
the edge where it could fall off
Health Issues
Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)
RSI causes painful swelling of the wrist and fingers. Sufferers with
really bad RSI are unable to use their hands at all.

RSI is caused by doing the same small movements over and over
again across a long period of time. For example, clicking a mouse
button repeatedly.

Computer users who type and use a mouse all day long are
commonly affected.
Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)
Causes of RSI
• Typing on a computer for too
long.
• Using a mouse for long periods.
• Holding the mouse incorrectly.
• Working in a cramped
workspace.
How to prevent RSI
• Take breaks to rest your hands.
• Use an ergonomic
keyboard/mouse.
• Arrange your workspace so you
are not cramped.
• Use a wrist rest.
Back and Neck Problems
Causes of back and neck ache
• Working in a cramped
workspace.
• Not sitting upright in your chair.
• Incorrect positioning of the
computer screen.
How to prevent back and neck ache
• Take regular breaks to stretch your
body.
• Use adjustable chairs so you can sit
in a position suitable for your height.
• Sit upright against the back rest.
• Tilt the computer screen so it is set
just below your eye level.
• Keep your feet flat on the floor.
Eye Strain and Headaches
Causes of eye strain
• Staring at a computer screen for
a long time.
• Working in a room with bad
lighting.
• Using a computer screen with
glare or flickers.
• Dirt on the screen.
How to prevent eye strain
• Take regular breaks (every hour or so).
• Use LCD screens rather than CRT as
they have less flicker.
• Use an anti-glare screen.
• Ensure that room lighting is good with
no direct light causing glare on the
screen.
• Keep the screen clean of dirt.
• Have eyes tested regularly.
E-Safety
E-Safety
E-safety refers to the benefits, risks and responsibilities when using
ICT. It is often defined to be the safe and responsible use of
technology.
e-safety is as much about user behaviour as it is about electronic
security. In particular:
 when using the internet
 sending and receiving emails
 taking part in social media
 online gaming.
Precautions that can be taken to minimise the potential danger when using the
internet:

When using the internet make sure that the websites being used can be
trusted (for example, look out for websites including https and/or the green
padlock symbol ).
Only purchase items from websites that offer secure, encrypted connections
When using search engines, always make sure the device settings are set to
‘safe search’ and the highest possible level of security is used
Only use websites recommended by teachers, parents or from trusted
sources
Be careful what you download; is the material potentially harmful? Could it
be malware?
Always remember to log out of sites when you have finished using them
Sending and receiving emails
Only open emails or attachments from known sources
Make sure your internet service provider (ISP) has an effective email
filtering feature to ensure emails from unknown sources are put into
your spam folder
Only reply to an email if you know the person who sent it
Check that email addresses or website addresses pertaining to come
from a genuine company always contain the real company’s website
address
Think carefully before replying to an email and never include the name
of your school/college, or any personal data that could identify you.
Sending and receiving emails
Never send photos of yourself
Beware of phishing and pharming scams
Protect your email account by using passwords which are difficult to
guess, and change them on a regular basis
Take care when forwarding emails
Avoid clicking on hyperlinks within emails because it could be part of
a phishing scam.
Remember, the unsubscribe link at the bottom of an email could itself
be fraudulent.
Social media
Do not publicly post or give out personal information to people you do not know
Do not send out photos of yourself to people you do not know
Always make sure you use the privacy settings when posting photos of yourself
on social media sites
It is important that none of the photos you post can link you to a place or an
address
Particular care should be taken not to post photos of yourself in some form of
school uniform
Always maintain privacy settings to stop ‘non-friends’ from contacting you
Only make friends with people you know or are very well-known to other
friends.
Social media
Avoid using, or forwarding messages containing, inappropriate
language
Block or report anybody who acts suspiciously or uses inappropriate
language.
Be very careful with the language used in chat rooms
Never arrange to meet anyone on your own, always tell an adult first
and meet the person in a public place
Avoid the misuse of images, including forwarding on other images
from other people.
Always respect people’s confidentiality
Risks associated with online gaming
Predators (people who prey on others who they see as vulnerable)
Cyberbullying
Use of webcams
Voice-masking technology (to disguise a voice so you cannot tell their
sex, age, or even their accent)
Violence in the game itself, which can lead to violent behaviour in
reality.
Viruses, Phishing or Spyware
Security of Data
Data threats
There are a number of security risks to data held on a
computer/smartphone or data being transferred around networks:
hacking
phishing
vishing
smishing
pharming
viruses
malware
card fraud.
Hacking
This is the act of gaining unauthorised/ illegal access to a computer
system.
This can lead to identity theft or the misuse of personal information
Data can be deleted, changed or corrupted on a user’s computer
Prevention:
Use of firewalls
Use of strong (frequently changed) passwords and user IDs
Use of anti-hacking software
Use of user IDs and passwords
PHISHING
The creator sends out legitimate-looking emails to target users.
As soon as the recipient clicks on a link in the email or attachment, they are sent to
a fake website or they are fooled into giving personal data in replying to the email.
The email often appears to come from a trusted source, such as a bank or well-
known service provider
PREVENTION
Use ISPs or web browsers that filter out phishing emails
Users should always be cautious when opening emails or attachments
 Don’t click on executable attachments that end in .exe, .bat, .com or .php, for
example
Check the grammar or spelling in the email
Smishing
This is short for ‘SMS phishing’.
It uses the SMS system of mobile phones to send out fake text
messages. It is very similar to phishing.
These scams often contain a URL or telephone number embedded in
the text message. The recipient will be asked to log on to the website
or make a telephone call. If they do, they will be asked to supply
personal details such as credit/debit card numbers or passwords.
Vishing
This uses a voicemail message to trick the user into calling the
telephone number contained in the message. As with all phishing
attacks, the user will be asked to supply personal data thinking they
are talking to somebody who works for a legitimate company.
Pharming
This is malicious code installed on a user’s computer or on a web
server; the code will redirect the user to a fake website without their
knowledge.
The creator of the malicious code can gain personal data such as
credit/debit card details from users when they visit the fake website;
usually the website appears to be that of a well-known and trusted
company
Preventing Pharming
Install anti-spyware software to identify and remove pharming code
from a user’s computer
The user should always be alert and look out for clues that they are
being redirected to another website
look out for clues that they are being connected to a secure website;
they should look out for https:// in the URL or use of the padlock
symbol
Viruses and Malware
Malware
Malware is one of the biggest risks to the integrity and security of
data on a computer system. Many software applications, such as anti-
virus, are capable of identifying and removing most of the forms of
malware.
There are many forms of malware; this section details just a selection
of those forms.
Viruses
Viruses are programs or program code that replicates (copies itself)
with the intention of deleting or corrupting files and causing the
computer to malfunction (for example, by deleting .exe files, filling up
the hard drive with ‘useless’ data, and so on).
Prevention
Install anti-virus software and update it regularly
Don’t use software from unknown sources
Be careful when opening emails or attachments from unknown
senders
Worms
Worms are a type of stand-alone virus that can self-replicate. Their
intention is to spread to other computers and corrupt whole
networks; unlike viruses, they do not need an active host program to
be opened in order to do any damage – they remain inside
applications, which allows them to move throughout networks.
Worms frequently arrive as message attachments and only one user
opening a worm-infested email could end up infecting the whole
network.
Trojan horse
A Trojan horse is a malicious program which is often disguised as
some legitimate software, but contains malicious instructions
embedded within it. A Trojan horse replaces all or part of the
legitimate software with the intent of carrying out some harm to the
user’s computer system.
Once installed on the user’s computer, the Trojan horse will give cyber
criminals access to personal information on your computers, such as
IP addresses, passwords and other personal data.
Spyware (including key logging software) and ransomware are often
installed on a user’s computer via Trojan horse malware.
Adware
Adware is a type of malware. At its least dangerous, it will attempt to
flood an end-user with unwanted advertising. For example, it could
redirect a user’s browser to a fake website that contains promotional
advertising. They can be in the form of pop-ups, or appear in the
browser’s toolbar thus redirecting the search request.
Ransomware
Ransomware are programs that encrypt data on a user’s computer
and ‘hold the data hostage’. The cybercriminal just waits until the
ransom money is paid and, sometimes, the decryption key is then
sent to the user. It has caused considerable damage to some
companies and individuals.
When ransomware is executed, it either encrypts files straightaway or
it waits for a while to determine how much of a ransom the victim can
afford.
Key logging software/ Spyware
Key logging software (or key loggers) is a form of spyware. It gathers
information by monitoring a user’s keyboard activities carried out on
their computer.
The software stores keystrokes in a small file which is automatically
emailed to the cybercriminal responsible for the software.
It is primarily designed to monitor and capture web browsing and
other activities and capture personal data (for example, bank account
numbers, passwords and credit/debit card details).
Card fraud
Card fraud is the illegal use of a credit or debit card. This can be due to:
1. Shoulder surfing: is a form of data theft where criminals steal
personal information from a victim when they are using a cash
dispensing machine.
Examples of shoulder surfing includes:
somebody watching you key in data, such as your PIN
somebody listening in when you are giving credit or debit card details
over the phone
some of the more sophisticated examples of shoulder surfing include
the use of tiny digital cameras
Card fraud
2. Card cloning: is the copying of a credit or debit card which uses a
magnetic stripe. Cloning of this type of card employs an electronic
device known as a skimmer. This is a data capture device that allows a
criminal to record all of the data stored on the magnetic stripe on a
card.

3. Key logging: This is used to detect all key presses, such as when
entering a credit or debit card.
 Protection of data
1. biometrics
2. digital certificates

3. secure sockets layer (SSL)

4. Encryption
5. firewalls
6. two-factor authentication
7. user ID and password.
Biometric authentication
Biometrics relies on certain unique characteristics of human beings. Examples
include:
fingerprint scans
signature recognition
retina scans
iris recognition
face recognition
voice recognition.
One drawback common to all biometric techniques is the need for the systems
to store very personal data about users. Some people are uncomfortable with
this idea
Fingerprint scans
Images of fingerprints are compared against previously scanned
fingerprints stored in a database; if they match then access is allowed.
The system compares patterns of ‘ridges’ and ‘valleys’ which are unique.
Advantages
Fingerprints are unique, therefore this technique would improve security
Other security devices (such as magnetic cards) could be lost or even
stolen, which makes them less effective.
It would be impossible to ‘sign in’ for somebody else because the
fingerprints would match up to one person only on the database
Fingerprints cannot be misplaced; a person always has them!
Fingerprint scans
Disadvantages
It is relatively expensive to install and set up.
If a person’s fingers are damaged through an injury, this can have an
effect on the scanning accuracy.
Some people may regard it as an infringement of civil liberties.
Face recognition
Face recognition is used to identify somebody by their facial features.
It is used by many modern smartphones as the method of identifying
the owner of the phone, and for authorising purchases using the
phone.
Data such as:
distance between the eyes
width of the nose
shape of the cheek bones
length of the jawline
shape of the eyebrows are all used to uniquely identify a given face.
Digital certificates
A digital certificate is a pair of files stored on a user’s computer – these
are used to ensure the security of data sent over the internet. Each pair
of files is divided into:
a public key (which can be accessed by anyone)
a private key (known to the computer user only).
For example, when sending an email, the message is made more secure
by attaching a digital certificate. When the message is received, the
recipient can verify that it comes from a known or trusted source by
viewing the public key information
Digital certificates
The digital certificate is made up of six parts:
the sender’s email address
the name of the digital certificate owner
a serial number
expiry date (the date range during which the certificate is valid)
public key (which is used for encrypting the messages and for digital
signatures)
digital signature of certificate authority (CAs)
Secure sockets layer (SSL)
Secure sockets layer (SSL) is a type of protocol that allows data to be
sent and received securely over the internet.
When a user logs onto a website, SSL encrypts the data – only the
user’s computer and the web server are able to make sense of what is
being transmitted.
SSL certificates are small data files that digitally bind an encryption
key to an organisation’s details. When installed on a web server, it
shows as the green padlock and the https protocol ensures secure
connections from a web server to a web browser.
Where SSL would be used
online banking and all online financial transactions
 online shopping/commerce
 when sending software out to a restricted list of users
 sending and receiving emails
 using cloud storage facilities
 intranets and extranets (as well as the internet)
 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) when carrying out video chatting
and/or audio chatting over the internet
 within instant messaging
 when making use of a social networking site.
Encryption
Encryption is used primarily to protect data in case it has been hacked
or accessed illegally. While encryption will not prevent hacking, it
makes the data meaningless unless the recipient has the necessary
decryption tools
Encryption uses a secret key that has the capability of altering the
characters in a message. If this key is applied to a message, its content
is changed, which makes it unreadable unless the recipient also has
the same secret key. When this secret key is applied to the encrypted
message, it decodes it, allowing it to be read.
Encryption
Encryption applications
Due to the risks of pharming, hacking or spyware (and other forms of
malware) it is important that data stored on HDDs or SSDs is
encrypted
Encryption of emails
Firewall
A firewall can be software or hardware. It sits between the user’s
computer and an external network (for example, the internet).
A firewall will help to keep potentially destructive forces away from a
user’s computer, by filtering incoming and outgoing network traffic.
Authentication
Authentication refers to the ability of a user to prove who they are.
There are three common factors used in authentication:
 something you know (for example, a password or PIN code)
 something you have (for example, a mobile phone or tablet)
 something which is unique to you (for example, biometrics)
Two-factor authentication
A form of verification which requires two methods of authentication to
verify who a user is.
For example, suppose Kate wishes to buy a new camera from a website.
She logs into the website using her computer. This requires her to enter
a user name and a password, which is step one of the authentication
process.
To improve security, an eight-digit PIN (called a one-time pass code) is
sent back to her either in an email or as a text message to her mobile
phone to input into her computer and she is authorised to buy the
camera
User IDs and passwords
Passwords are used to restrict access to data or systems. They should
be hard to break and changed frequently to retain any real level of
security.
It is important that passwords are
protected by:
Run anti-spyware software to make sure that your passwords are not
being relayed back to anyone who put the spyware on your computer.
Change passwords on a regular basis
Passwords should not be easy to break
Strong passwords should contain: – at least one capital letter – at
least one numerical value – at least one other keyboard character
(such as @, *, &. etc.)