Cyber Safety

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1

............... is a social identity that a user establishes during online communities and websites.

1. Internet identity
2. Personal identity
3. Login Information
4. None of these

Answer

Internet identity

Reason — Internet identity is a social identity that a user establishes during online communities and websites.

Question 2

............... is a technique used to fetch personal details of a user from his discarded documents.

1. Dumpster Diving
2. Shoulder surfing
3. Identity Theft
4. None of these

Answer

Dumpster Diving

Reason — Dumpster Diving is a technique used to fetch personal details of a user from his discarded documents.

Question 3

Name the tool which is used for tracking and reporting the traffic received on a particular website.

1. Google Chrome
2. Google Analytics
3. Google Engine
4. None of these

Answer

Google Analytics

Reason — Google Analytics is used for tracking and reporting the traffic received on a particular website.

Question 4

Which key combination launches the private mode in Firefox?

1. Ctrl + Shift + P
2. Ctrl + Shift + N
3. Ctrl + Shift + F
4. None of these

Answer

Ctrl + Shift + P

Reason — Ctrl + Shift + P key combination launches the private mode in Firefox.

Question 5

............... is a technique used to gather web pages across the web and feed them into search engines for web indexing.

1. Spidering
2. Phishing
3. Spoofing
4. None of these

Answer

Spidering

Reason — Spidering is a technique used to gather web pages across the web and feed them into search engines for web indexing.

Question 6

............... is a software which keeps a track of all your activities and sends your confidential information to hacker.

1. Spyware
2. Adware
3. Virus
4. None of these

Answer

Spyware

Reason — Spyware is a software which keeps a track of all your activities and sends your confidential information to hacker.

Question 7

............... involves an attack coupled with a demand for money to stop further attacks.

1. Cyber stalking
2. Cyber extortion
3. Cyber bullying
4. None of these

Answer

Cyber extortion

Reason — Cyber extortion involves an attack coupled with a demand for money to stop further attacks.

Question 8

Which one of the following is not a password cracking technique?

1. Dictionary Attack
2. Spidering
3. User Agent
4. None of these

Answer

User Agent

Reason — User agent refers to the software program, such as our browser or a session initiating application. It is not a password cracking technique.

Question 9

In which year Cyber law was introduced?

1. 2009
2. 2001
3. 2000
4. None of these

Answer

2000

Reason — With the increase in number of crimes related to the Internet, urgent need was felt to introduce an act of law against such crimes. With this view in mind, the Indian Government introduced Information Technology Act 2000 on October 17, 2000.

Question 10

Mention the cyber crime in which the attacker harasses a victim by using the electronic communication.

1. Cyber stalking
2. Cyber espionage
3. Cyber warfare
4. None of these

Answer

Cyber stalking

Reason — Cyber stalking is a cyber crime in which the attacker harasses a victim by using the electronic communication.

Question 11

Which software is designed to capture keystrokes without being identified by the user or security program?

1. Ransomware
2. Backdoors
3. Keyloggers
4. None of these

Answer

Keyloggers

Reason — Keyloggers software is designed to capture keystrokes without being identified by the user or security program.

Question 12

Name the malware program that send unwanted advertisements to the user's computer which may disrupt user's working.

1. Spyware
2. Adware
3. Worm
4. None of these

Answer

Adware

Reason — Adware is a malware program that sends unwanted advertisements to the user's computer which may disrupt user's working.

Question 13

Which program can create multiple copies of itself and can consume large portion of system memory?

1. Worm
2. Trojan horse
3. Rootkit
4. None of these

Answer

Worm

Reason — Worm can create multiple copies of itself and can consume large portion of system memory.

Question 14

Which type of cookies, websites store to get details of a user's search history and the web browsing history?

1. First party cookie
2. Third party cookie
3. Session cookie
4. None of these

Answer

Third party cookie

Reason — Third party cookies are stored by websites to get details of a user's search history and the web browsing history.

Question 15

When we enter the password, which text box displays password strength?

1. Strength text field
2. Password text field
3. User name text field
4. None of these

Answer

Strength text field

Reason — When we enter the password, the Strength Text field box displays password strength.

Question 16

Which program sends message to the user system that the system is locked and the user will not be able to work on it until one pays a certain amount.

1. Trojan horse
2. Ransomware
3. Keyloggers
4. None of these

Answer

Ransomware

Reason — A Ransomware program sends message to the user system that the system is locked and the user will not be able to work on it until one pays a certain amount.

Question 17

Name the software that helps the other malware to enter in your system and harm it.

1. Keyloggers
2. Ransomware
3. Backdoors
4. None of these

Answer

Backdoors

Reason — Backdoors help the other malware to enter in our system and harm it.

Question 18

Which of the following are the types of malicious software?

1. Anti-virus software
2. Viruses, worms, trojans
3. Word Processing packages
4. None of these

Answer

Viruses, worms, trojans

Reason — Malware is a malicious program that enters into a computer and damages it without the user's knowledge. These softwares include viruses, worms and trojans.

Question 19

Which one of the following is not the best practice to protect the confidential information?

1. Use multifactor authentication
2. Slowing down the network speed
3. Use Firewall
4. Engage in Safe web browsing

Answer

Slowing down the network speed

Reason — Slowing down the network speed is not the best practice to protect the confidential information.

Fill in the Blanks

Question 1

............... is the process of stealing confidential, personal information, and financial information.

Answer

Cyber theft is the process of stealing confidential, personal information, and financial information.

Question 2

VPN stands for ............... .

Answer

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network.

Question 3

The two common cyber crimes are ............... and ............... .

Answer

The two common cyber crimes are Cyber stalking and Cyber bullying.

Question 4

............... is temporary in nature.

Answer

Session cookie is temporary in nature.

Question 5

............... are permanently stored on your system.

Answer

Super cookies are permanently stored on your system.

Question 6

To prevent tracking of browsing history, we can use ..............., ............... or ............... .

Answer

To prevent tracking of browsing history, we can use Proxy server, Incognito browsing or VPN.

Question 7

A ............... is a dedicated computer or a software system which acts as an intermediary between an end point device, such as a computer, and another server.

Answer

A Proxy server is a dedicated computer or a software system which acts as an intermediary between an end point device, such as a computer, and another server.

Question 8

A VPN allows you to hide your true identity by ............... the data and web traffic.

Answer

A VPN allows you to hide your true identity by encrypting the data and web traffic.

Question 9

Turning your ............... settings to "off" can keep your family's where-about more private.

Answer

Turning your GPS location settings to "off" can keep your family's where-about more private.

Question 10

............... and ............... can serve in cutting your data charges and are helpful in completing work efficiently.

Answer

Open Wi-Fi and Hotspot can serve in cutting your data charges and are helpful in completing work efficiently.

Question 11

A ............... is just like a key to your personal information.

Answer

A password is just like a key to your personal information.

Question 12

A password should be minimum ............... characters long.

Answer

A password should be minimum eight characters long.

Question 13

The strength of a password is determined by length, complexity and ............... .

Answer

The strength of a password is determined by length, complexity and unpredictability.

Question 14

............... is a technique similar to the Dictionary attack but with a little difference that it detects the password using algorithm.

Answer

Brute force attack is a technique similar to the Dictionary attack but with a little difference that it detects the password using algorithm.

Question 15

The term ............... describes a person actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general.

Answer

The term Netizen describes a person actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general.

Question 16

In Windows operating system, the ............... keeps track of a system's hardware and software.

Answer

In Windows operating system, the registry keeps track of a system's hardware and software.

Theory Questions

Question 1

How can you prevent the entry of virus into your system?

Answer

We can prevent the entry of virus into our system by following the given safety measures:

1. Security Programs — The anti-virus should be regularly updated. It should also be programmed to regularly scan and quarantine the system.
2. Secure Internet access — Be vigilant when accessing or uploading information on the Internet. Only secure sites should be used for financial transactions and no personal information should be shared.
3. Regular security updates — Keep applications and operating system updated at all times. Special attention should be paid to security updates and security bulletins for each software or application being used.
4. Avoid Spams — Mails from un-wanted and un-warranted sources should be deleted without reading or downloading. Any attachments in such mails should never be downloaded or installed onto the system.
5. Scanning All Portable devices — Scan all portable storage devices before use as these are the most common sources of infection in computers.

Question 2

How are the first party cookies different from third party cookies?

Answer

First party cookies are generally used to store our login id, password, autofill information etc. for the frequently visited websites.

Third party cookies are the cookies that websites store to get details of our search history and web browsing history. These are most often used by advertising companies to track us across multiple websites that we visit.

Question 3

What do you mean by Cybercrime?

Answer

Cybercrime refers to any online illegal activity facilitated by the use of electronic communication devices like mobile phones, computers or through networks like the Internet. For example, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, cyberespionage, cyberwarfare, etc.

Question 4

What precautions should be taken to safeguard one's online identity?

Answer

Some of the precautions that one should take to safeguard their online identity are:

1. Exclude important personal information like phone number, address, school name, etc. from our social media profiles. Be selective in adding friends and hitting like button.
2. Turning our GPS location settings to "off" from our phone's privacy settings to keep our where­abouts more private.
3. Watch out for 'phishing' e-mails. Never react to any messages with account data or passwords. Delete the email.
4. Use strong passwords that are a combination of letters, numbers and special characters.
5. Use Private browsing/Incognito Mode that helps us to prevent saving of our details as in the autofill feature, browsing history, data in cookies and location tracking.
6. Add an extra layer of security by using multi-factor authentication for important online accounts like email, social media, bank accounts, etc.

Question 5

How does a proxy server work to protect your data?

Answer

A proxy server is a dedicated computer or a software system that runs on a computer and acts as an intermediary between an endpoint device, such as a computer and another server from which a user or client is requesting a service. So, the tracking website will get the information on the proxy server and we can still browse the site without disclosing our IP address or location.

Question 6

What do you mean by Cyber terrorism?

Answer

Cyber terrorism is the act of conducting terrorism through the use of computers and the internet in order to cause fear and panic. Cyber terrorism involves large scale disruption of computers, telecommunication networks, or information system so as to compel the government or its people to fulfill some social, religious, or political objectives. Attacks on military installations, power plants, air traffic control, banks, etc. are some examples of cyberterrorism.

Question 7

How firewall can safeguard your data on the network?

Answer

A firewall is a security system that regulates network traffic based on set rules, using hardware, software, or a combination. It safeguards our computer system and data from any unauthorized external source. It blocks all unauthorised users and doesn't allow them to gain access to our data.

Question 8

What is Phishing?

Answer

Phishing is the act of illegally acquiring personal and sensitive information such as, online banking details, credit card details, and other login details, of an individual by sending malicious e-mails or by creating web pages that can collect this information as they appear to come from very famous organizations.

Question 9

How can you check that the website you are visiting is open in secure mode?

Answer

The URL of a secure website begins with "https" rather than "http". Also, the Internet browsers display a padlock icon in address bar to indicate that the website is secure. These checks help ensure that the website is opened in secure mode.

Application Based Questions

Question 1

While working, Mrs Sharma's system stopped functioning suddenly. After her system got repaired, she tried to log in to her e-mail account but could not do so. There was an error of incorrect user name or password.

a. What might be the reason for this?

b. How do you think her password might be altered, if at all?

c. What precautions she should have taken to protect her login details?

Answer

a. The reason might be that Mrs Sharma's email account got hacked and the hacker changed her password locking her out of her email account.

b. Mrs. Sharma may have used the web browser's auto-login feature, which saves her username and password for automatic website login. While her system was undergoing repairs, an unauthorized individual could have gained access and altered her password.

c. Mrs. Sharma should have taken the following precautions to protect her login details:

1. She should have enabled multi-factor authentication for her email account adding an extra layer of security.
2. She should avoid using the auto login and remember password functionality of the web browsers.

Question 2

Nimmi is planning to spend her vacations abroad and surfed the internet to get details about some of the places. Now she keeps getting e-mails from various unknown sources regarding travel, tourism, hotel booking, etc. What could have been the reason for this and how can she prevent it?

Answer

The reason Nimmi is receiving these emails is likely due to sharing of e-mail id. Nimmi must have shared her mail id with websites while surfing the internet to get details about various locations for vacation. She might have unknowingly subscribed for newsletters as well.

To prevent receiving such unsolicited emails, Nimmi can take the following steps:

1. Unsubscribe — Check the emails she receives for an "unsubscribe" link.
2. Be cautious while sharing her mail address — When filling out forms on websites, avoid providing personal information like mail id unless absolutely necessary.

Question 3

Aakriti copied a game from her friend's system into her laptop. But after she executed this game, some of the data from her laptop was lost. What kind of malware do you think it is and what precautions should be taken to work with it?

Answer

The malware that infected Aakriti's laptop is a Trojan Horse. At first glance, the Trojan Horse seems to be useful but once it is activated, it harms the system by deleting files or by modifying useful information.

Aakriti can take the following precautions to safeguard her system from malware:

1. Scanning All Portable devices — All Portable devices should be scanned before use.
2. Security Programs — Installing reliable anti-virus software and updating it regularly is essential.
3. Regular security updates — Keep applications and operating system updated at all times.
4. Backups — Taking backups regularly is a good practice. This not only protects us against data loss but also helps to restore the integrity of the data.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1

What do you mean by online identity? List some threats to your online identity.

Answer

Online identity is a social identity that an internet user establishes in online communities and websites.

Some threats to our online identity are as follows:

1. Phishing — It is the illegal acquisition of personal and sensitive information (such as, online banking details, credit card details, and other login details) through deceptive emails or fake web pages that mimic well-known organizations.
2. Dumpster Diving — It is a method cybercriminals use to obtain personal information from discarded documents like bills, credit cards, and passwords, which they can then exploit to steal the online identity of the targetted person.
3. Shoulder Surfing — It is obtaining personal information, such as a PIN at an ATM machine, personal details while filling up a form, or the lock code of a smartphone through direct observation by looking over a person's shoulder.
4. Employment Scam — In this scam, job seekers are promised high-paying jobs in exchange for money and personal information, targeting them via email, leading to identity theft and financial losses.
5. Pretexting — It is the practice of obtaining a person's personal information using a fake name or fake company and then selling that information to people who use it to steal that person's online identity.

Question 2

How can you safeguard your confidential information from getting hacked?

Answer

We can use the following measures to safeguard our confidential information from getting hacked:

1. Build strong passwords — It is important to create strong passwords for all our online accounts. A strong password should contain both uppercase and lowercase characters, as well as digits and punctuation. It should be atleast eight characters long.
2. Use multifactor authentication — Multifactor authentication is one of the simplest and the most effective ways to secure data, which adds an extra layer of protection.
3. Be suspicious of unsolicited e-mail — Be aware of nuisance ads and unsolicited e-mails from unknown sources. Try not to open any attachments that are along with such messages and do not reply to such messages.
4. Be Aware of Online Posting — One should never post any personal details or one's location online. Keep the mobile tracking or location tracking feature off, if possible.
5. Protect our mobile devices — Updating the mobile software on a regular basis will mitigate the risk of a cyber­ criminal exploiting a hole in mobile system.
6. Engage in safe web browsing — Do not open any link from unknown sources or any pop up that appears. Both could be spyware used to plant tracking cookies on our machine, which can steal our information, direct us to bogus phishing sites, and pound us with pop-ups.
7. Use safe sites to surf the internet — Always use the sites that start with https:\\. The letter 's' specifies that it is a safe site to be browsed.
8. Use firewall — A firewall should be implemented to safeguard our computer system and data from any unauthorized external source.
9. Avoid using computers in public — Avoid using public computers to access private data like e-mails or sharing the private information like credit/debit card details.

Question 3

What is the relevance of private browsing? Explain with the help of an example.

Answer

Private browsing is a means by which we can safeguard our identity and browsing details when online. By enabling incognito browsing mode in our web browsers, we can prevent:

1. Saving of our details as in the autofill feature
2. Accidental saving of username and passwords
3. Saving of browsing history when accessing the web from a public domain
4. Saving of data in cookies
5. Location tracking

For example, when we search for flights tickets or hotel rooms online, tracking cookies are generated through which websites remember our travel plans. If we don't do the booking in that browsing session, it can lead to higher prices when we return. In incognito mode, prices typically stay the same because the site can't track our previous visits.

Question 4

Mention any two ways by which websites can track you.

Answer

Two ways by which websites can track us are as follows:

1. IP Address — Data transfer on a network happens through unique numerical addresses called IP addresses, similar to home or office addresses. When we visit a website, our device shares its IP address, allowing the website to roughly estimate our geographical location.
2. Cookies — Cookies are small data files, which are sent by the website we visit and are generated by our browser. These are then stored on our device. Cookies are used to track our record of visit to a particular website/webpage. There are three types of Cookies —
   1. First Party Cookies — These kinds of cookies are generally used to store login id, password, autofill information etc. for the frequently visited websites.
   2. Third Party Cookies — These are the cookies that websites store to get details of one's search history and web browsing history. These are most often used by advertising companies to track users across multiple websites that they visit.
   3. Session Cookies — These are temporary cookies that are deleted after we close our browser.

Question 5

Explain the term malware and its types. What precautions should be taken to prevent the entry of malware?

Answer

Malware is a malicious program that enters into a computer and damages it without the user's knowledge. It not only interrupts the normal working of a computer, but also steals important information of a user.

The different types of malware are:

1. Adware — Adware are programs that send unwanted advertisements to the user's computer. These advertisements generally appear in the form of pop ups, which can disrupt user's working.
2. Spyware — Spyware is malicious software that can collect various types of personal information, such as tracking the internet surfing habits and visiting web pages by the user or changing the configuration of our system.
3. Virus — A virus is a contagious program or code that attacks the user's system and causes damage to data and files on a system.
4. Worm — A worm is a program which can create multiple copies of itself and can consume large portion of system memory.
5. Trojan Horse — Trojan Horse is a program that at first glance seems to be useful but once it is activated, it harms the system by deleting files or by modifying useful information.
6. Denial-of-service attack — It is a harmful program meant to slow down a system. It can block a computer network and makes the software inaccessible to the user.
7. Rootkit — A malware designed to remotely control our system without being noticed. Once installed it will remotely access and modify sensitive system information without being tracked by any security program.
8. Backdoors — This software helps the other malware to enter our system and harm it.
9. Keyloggers — These are software designed to capture keystrokes without being identified by the user or security program.
10. Ransomware — It sends messages on a user's system that the system is locked and the user will not be able to work on it until one pays a certain amount.

Some precautions that should be taken to prevent the entry of malware are:

1. Security Programs — Reliable and updated anti-virus program should be installed on the computer. It should also be programmed to regularly scan and quarantine the system.
2. Secure Internet access — Only secure sites should be used for financial transactions avoiding sharing of personal information. Installation and download from unauthorised sources should be avoided.
3. Regular security updates — Always update your applications and OS and pay special attention to security patches and bulletins for each software.
4. Avoid Spams — Delete and avoid opening emails from unwanted or suspicious sources. Never download or open any attachments from such emails.
5. Scanning All Portable devices — All Portable devices should be scanned before use.
6. Backups — Regular backups are essential for data protection and integrity restoration.
7. Disable cookies, if possible — Cookies should be disabled on the browser to ensure safety of personal information.

Question 6

Explain any four types of Cybercrimes.

Answer

Four types of Cyber crimes are:

1. Cyber stalking — It is a crime in which the attacker harasses a victim by using electronic communication, such as e-mail, instant messaging, or messages posted to a website or a discussion group for reason of anger, revenge, or control. A stalker may be an online stranger or a person whom the target knows.
2. Cyber bullying — It is an act of harming or harassing using information technology in a deliberate manner. This includes insulting remarks and threatening messages sent by e-mail, spreading rumours about the person either by e-mails or social networking sites, posting embarrassing photos and videos to hurt the person, derogatory remarks against gender, race, religion, or nationality.
3. Cyber espionage — It is the practice of using information technology to obtain secret information without permission from its owners or holders. Cyber espionage is most often used to gain strategic, economic, political, or military advantage, and is conducted using cracking techniques and malware.
4. Cyber Extortion — It is a crime that involves an attack coupled with a demand for money to stop further attacks. Cyber Extortion may involve a DoS (Denial of Service) attack or installation of Ransomware to access and block the system resources of the victim.

Question 7

What is confidentiality of information? Mention any three practices to protect your confidential information.

Answer

Confidentiality of information means that only authorized users can access the personal and sensitive information of any person like their bank details, credit card numbers, aadhaar number, etc.

Three practices to protect our confidential information are as follows:

1. All our online accounts should be protected with strong passwords.
2. An extra layer of protection should be added to our online accounts through multi-factor authentication.
3. A firewall should be implemented to safeguard our computer system and data from any unauthorized external source.

Question 8

Write a note on User Agent.

Answer

User agent refers to the software program such as our browser or a session initiating application. When we initiate a web session, these applications pass our information such as application type, operating system used, software source, version, etc. This information can be tracked and stored by web servers to determine the user's web activities and behaviour.

Question 9

Write down the steps to protect your password from being hacked.

Answer

We should follow the following steps to protect our password from being hacked:

1. Make sure that the password is minimum eight characters long.
2. Use a combination of upper and lower-case letters. Include at least one numeric character and one special character.
3. Never use personal information like your name, birthday, driving license number or passport number.
4. Never store the password on computer or mobile phone.
5. When we are signing in to our account, deselect the auto selected option, "keep me signed in" or "remember me".
6. Clear browsing history or cache after online banking and shopping, so that no one can access it.
7. Always ensure that the site is genuine and secured before providing one's credentials.
8. Avoid using passwords like words spelt backwards, misspelt words, abbreviations, and single dictionary words that are easy to figure out.
9. Do not repeat numbers and letters. Do not include simple sequences or letters that appear in a row on the keyboard, instead use complex sequence.
10. Always create a unique password for each account. Avoid using the same password for multiple sites to prevent data loss.
11. The answers we provide for the security questions, should be as strong as our passwords.
12. Pay attention to the browser's security signals. If there is anything suspicious, we should refrain from using that resource.

Question 10

Write down the ways to report a cyber-crime.

Answer

In case of any cyber crime, the matter should immediately be reported to either parents or school authorities.

1. Parents can visit a nearby police station and can lodge a complaint.
2. The Information Technology Act has global jurisdiction. It means that we can lodge a complaint against the crime from any state or city.
3. To know more about cyber law or to register a complaint, we can visit the following link: http://www.cybercrimehelpline.com/.