In the previous section, 1.4.1 – Threats to Computer Systems and Networks, we looked at a fairly comprehensive rundown of the most common and prevalent attacks that exist to compromise system security, steal data and gain access to computers. This…
As the number of network connected devices increases, so does the proportion of poorly designed and insecure devices. Many people do not understand the significance of poor security, whether that is in devices they own or their own personal security…
In the last section we focussed on what networks are, why they are used and covered a broad range of related topics such as how networks are categorised, topologies, performance factors, internet technologies and more. The second half of this…
In this section (click to jump): Performance Factors People that look after networks are odd people. I once convinced a student that every network had a guardian figure called the Server Room Urchin, a being that only existed in networking…
Today, our world is connected in ways which were unimaginable a generation ago. We take for granted the ability to communicate in real time, across the world using both audio and video. In recent times it is possible for anyone…
Compression is all about making things smaller and take up less space. The need to make things take up less space is certainly not unique to computing and there are countless examples in history of clever techniques and innovations designed…
The final stop on our encoding journey is sound. In this section we learn how sound waves are translated into a digital, binary form and conversely, how a computer transforms digital data back in to analogue sound. If you have…
Nearly all computer systems from the simplest of smart TVs or a smartwatch to a fully featured PC make heavy use of graphics or images to display information. We take for granted the fact that a computer can create photo…
In the 1980’s “home computers” first became widely available and affordable from popular brands such as Sinclair, Commodore, Acorn and Atari. This isn’t too different to today, if you want a computer you can buy one from Dell, Asus, Lenovo,…
This section of the specification has the potential to be very large as it covers four distinct topics. I’ve split it up into those four sections, so this is 1.2.4 – Data Storage Part 1 – Numbers. That’s nice and…