Chapter 8 - Privacy

Digital footprint

information about a person on the Internet as a result of their online activity

Found in Lecture 8 - Privacy

Metadata

a set of data that describes and gives information about other data

Found in zyBooks Section 8.1

strategies to protect user information

- choose apps used carefully (How much does the app collect and record information? How does the app use the collected data?)

- think before posting (Could the information you are posting harm yourself if made public?)

- get the facts (Before signing up for a "free" service, consider how the service makes money)

- check and set preferences carefully (If you don't check/set user preferences, default may be to "share")

Found in Lecture 8 - Privacy

An employer might NOT hire a candidate if employer sees the candidate...

- posts inappropriate photographs (46% of companies said yes)

- posts about drinking/using drugs (41% of companies said yes)

- posts with poor communication skills (32% of companies said yes)

NOTE: 40+% percent of employers use social-media and search engines to research job
candidates

Found in Lecture 8 - Privacy and zyBooks Section 8.7

Authentication

is the process of verifying that you really are the person who has the right to access a given computer.

Managed by the OS.

Generally handled by user ID and password

sometimes expanded to include a security question (e.g., mother's maiden name)

some really secure systems will use biometrics data as well (fingerprints)

Found in Lecture 8 - Privacy

How does OS protect passwords?

OS encrypts a password for a given user, converting it into a representation that cannot be understood without the appropriate algorithm.

Typically password encryption uses a HASH function.

Found in Lecture 8 - Privacy

Encryption

How the OS protects passwords

Analogy: sending a letter written in a secret language

Found in Lecture 8 - Privacy and zyBooks Section 8.4

Hashing

Applying a mathematical one-way function to create a "signature" of the input.

Different inputs can resolve to the same hash.

Found in Lecture 8 - Privacy

One-way function

Can easily do function one way ... but really HARD to go the other way.

Consider two LARGE prime numbers (say i and j)
- I can multiple the two prime numbers easily
- I can NOT tell you the prime factorization very easily

Found in Lecture 8 - Privacy

Protocol

A mutually agreed-upon set of rules, conventions, and agreements for the efficient and orderly exchange of information

Found in zyBooks Section 8.4