CYBER SAFETY CLASS IX 19 NOV 2024

 

CYBER SAFETY CLASS 9

Question 1

What is cyber safety ? Why is it important ?

Answer

Cyber Safety refers to the safe and responsible use of Internet so as to ensure safety and security of personal information and not posing threat to anyone else's information.

Although Internet has made things easier but at the same time it has posed many security risks too, if not used in a proper way. Thus, it is important to know about possible threats, challenges and risks of working on Internet to ensure personal safety and information security. Hence, cyber safety becomes very important to know and prevent possible threats to personal safety online.

Question 2

What should you do to protect your identity on Internet ?

Answer

We can protect our identity on the Internet by using the following solutions:

1. Anonymous Browsing — Anonymous browsers allow users to view websites without revealing any personal information of the user like their IP address, machine type, location etc.
2. Private browsing — We can use the following to safely browse internet:
   1. Incognito browsing — It opens up a version of the browser that will not track our activity.
   2. Proxy — It works by acting as a middleman between our computer and the website we want to access.
   3. Virtual Private Network — It is a method used to protect our system from hackers trying to access our sensitive information.

Question 9

How do websites track you online ?

Answer

Various types of information used by websites to track us online are as follows:

1. IP Address — From our IP address, a website can determine our rough geographical location.
2. Cookies and Tracking Scripts — They can identify and track our browsing activity across a website.
3. HTTP Referrer — When a link to an outside website on a webpage is clicked, then the linked website will get opened and internally our information will be provided to the linked website.
4. Super Cookies — Super Cookies are persistent cookies that come back even after we delete them.
5. User Agent — It tells websites our browser and operating system, providing another piece of data that can be stored and used to target ads.

Question 3

What are cookies ? How are they used by websites to track you ?

Answer

Cookies are small text files on our computer storing small pieces of information related to our online habits.

Cookies are of two types:

1. First party cookies — These store our own login id, passwords, auto fill information etc. for some websites that we frequently visit. They can identify us and track our browsing activity across a website.
2. Third party cookies — The websites store these cookies to know about our search history and web browsing history so as to place advertisements as per our interests. Third party cookies may result in many unwanted advertisements on our webpages.

Question 4

What is Private browsing ? Why is it considered a better way of browsing the Internet?

Answer

A type of browsing wherein browser opens in incognito mode or through proxy or VPN, and does not store cookies about our online activity, is called Private browsing.

It is considered a better way of browsing the Internet as it allows the user to use the Internet without revealing his/her search history and sharing data.

Question 5

Why are passwords considered an important safety tool?

Answer

Passwords are considered an important safety tool as a password helps to :

1. Keep our personal information safe.
2. Protect our emails, files, and other content.
3. Prevent someone from breaking into our account.

Question 6

What should you keep in mind while choosing an effective password?

Answer

We should keep the following things in mind while choosing an effective password:

1. Use different passwords on different systems and accounts.
2. Don't use passwords that are based on personal information that can be easily accessed or guessed.
3. Use a combination of capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.
4. Don't use words that can be found in any dictionary of any language.
5. Develop mnemonics such as passphrases for remembering complex passwords.

Question 7

What is confidentiality of information ? How do you ensure it ?

Answer

Confidentiality of information ensures that only authorized users get access to sensitive and protected data.

To ensure confidentiality of information, we must follow the following best practices:

1. Use firewall wherever possible to ensure only authentic users connect to the computer.
2. Control Browser settings to block tracking.
3. Browse privately whenever possible to avoid tracking by websites by not storing cookies.
4. Be careful while posting on Internet and avoid sharing personal information like address, mobile number, bank details, etc on public Internet sites.
5. Ensure safe sites while entering crucial information by checking for https and padlock sign.
6. Carefully handle emails by not opening attachments from unknown senders and avoid clicking on links contained in the email.
7. Do not give sensitive information on wireless networks.
8. Avoid using public computers while dealing with crucial data.

Question 8

What is a computer virus ? How can it affect your computer ?

Answer

A computer virus is a computer program that can infect other computer programs by modifying them in such a way as to include a copy of itself.

Viruses can alter, corrupt and delete files, freeze the computer, flash unknown or unasked messages or display unwanted graphics on the computer screen, play unwanted music and interfere with the computer operation.

Question 9

Why are antivirus software considered important ?

Answer

An antivirus software is considered important because it scans our disk for viruses and removes them, if any virus is found. Moreover, some antivirus software remains present in memory all the time so that they can detect the viruses and counterattack them.

Question 10

What type of damages can be caused by viruses to your computer?

Answer

A virus can damage our computer in the following ways:

1. Some viruses may delete or damage random documents or specific files that are crucial to the operating system.
2. Viruses can run in the background, without being seen, and may cause the computer to run extremely slow.
3. Some forms of viruses may infect the email program and spread themselves to the contacts in the address book.