Hacking, Viruses and the Copyright Law

Learning Objectives

Describe what Hacking is and what Viruses are.

List what viruses can do and describe how viruses work.

List the measures that must be taken in order to protect against hacking (physical and software) and viruses.

Explain what is meant by software copyright.

Computer Misuse Act 1990 This law was devised to reduce the activity

of hackers, with these 3 main points:– It is illegal to access unauthorised data. – It is illegal to access unauthorised data and

intend to do it again.– It is illegal to access unauthorised data and

amend it.

Computer Misuse Act 1990

Unlimited fines. Up to 5 years in prison.

– Even though the jail terms seem pretty strong for just hacking, very few people have ever been charged with breaking them for a couple of reasons:

• It's very difficult to prove when you have been hacked or who has actually hacked you.

• Very few companies wish to admit that they have been hacked, so do not actually go ahead with prosecuting people who have hacked them.

Legal penalties for breaking this law include:

Hacking  

Is not as easy as television programmes/movies make it out to be.

It includes:– Accessing computer systems illegally – Detecting passwords using software

remotely/locally – Looking at other peoples data/passing on data – Changing other peoples data – Deleting other peoples data – Inserting viruses

Viruses A virus is a program designed to cause harm to

someone else's computer. A virus spreads by duplicating and attaching itself

to other files. Some virus damage is insignificant but

inconvenient. Some virus damage is disastrous, putting the

computer system out of action by crashing memory, erasing files or corrupting data.  

There are tens of thousands of viruses.

How can you catch viruses?

The primary source of infection these days are e-mail attachments.

Illegal software and infected files from the Internet.

Putting infected floppy disks into your computer - the virus can automatically copy itself from the infected disk into your computer

How to protect against Hacking

Physical methods:– Keeping important

computers in locked rooms.

– Posting security guards.

– Security locks, smart cards.

– Keeping sensitive data on stand-alone machines instead of networks.

– Using alarm systems and video cameras

Software methods:– Data encryption

• data is 'scrambled' before being transmitted through a network.

• Only the authorised recipient has the 'key'.

– Firewalls - software to block access from outside.

– Activity logs, passwords and levels of security.

How to protect against Viruses

Using anti-virus software to scan your system daily or weekly Update the scanning software regularly Not allowing people to load applications \ executable files on

your system Using special filtering software to prevent downloads of

computer programs Scanning all incoming e-mails Not opening suspicious emails or attachments. Avoiding software from unreliable sources Backing up data regularly so you can recover your data with

clean copies.

Copyright Law

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 has two main purposes:

1. To ensure people are rewarded for their endeavours.

2. To give protection to the copyright holder if someone tries to copy or steal their work.

Copyright Law

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 makes it illegal to:

– Copying and/or giving and/or selling software without the owner’s permission.

– Using the copyright name on other software.

– Amending software/using parts of code in own programs without permission.

– Buying pirated software.

Note: The key words without permission as with permission it would not be illegal.

Plenary

What is Hacking?– Accessing computer systems illegally – Detecting passwords using software

remotely/locally – Looking at other peoples data/passing on data – Changing other peoples data – Deleting other peoples data – Inserting viruses

Plenary

What are viruses?– A virus is a program designed to cause harm to

someone else's computer.

How do viruses work?– A virus spreads by duplicating and attaching

itself to other files.

Plenary

What can viruses do?– Putting the computer system out of action by:

• Crashing memory

• Erasing files

• Corrupting data.

What measures must be taken in order to protect against hacking and viruses (physical and software)?

How to protect against Hacking

Physical methods:– Keeping important

computers in locked rooms.

– Posting security guards.

– Security locks, smart cards.

– Keeping sensitive data on stand-alone machines instead of networks.

– Using alarm systems and video cameras

Software methods:– Data encryption

• data is 'scrambled' before being transmitted through a network. Only the authorised recipient has the 'key'.

– Firewalls - software to block access from outside.

– Activity logs, passwords and levels of security.

How to protect against Viruses

Use anti-virus software to scan your system daily or weekly Update the scanning software regularly Do not allow people to load applications \ executable files on

your system Use special filtering software to prevent downloads of

computer programs Scan all incoming e-mails Do not open suspicious emails or attachments. Avoid software from unreliable sources Back up data regularly so you can recover your data with

clean copies.