SOCIETY

LESSON 1
INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

EVOLUTION OF COMMUNICATION
Communication has improved and evolved to facilitate our daily activities. In
the 21st century, everything related to communication utilizes technology to
‘send out’ or disseminate information to a wider audience. Information can be
‘sent out’ in many ways. The inventions of cellular phones, television and
other electronic devices are important in enhancing communication.

WHAT IS ICT?
ICT is the technology required for information processing, in particular,
the use of electronic computers, communication devices and software
applications to convert, store, protect, process, transmit and retrieve
information from anywhere, anytime.

INFORMATION
Information refers to the knowledge obtained from reading,
investigation, study or research.

The tools to transmit information are the telephone, television and radio.

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We need information to make decisions and to predict the future. For

example, scientists can detect the formation of a tsunami using the latest
technology and warn the public to avoid disasters in the affected areas.

Information is knowledge and helps us to fulfill our daily tasks. For

example, forecasting the stock exchange market.

COMMUNICATION

Communication is an act of transmitting messages. It is a process

whereby information is exchanged between individuals using symbols,
signs or verbal interactions. Previously, people communicated through
sign or symbols, performing drama and poetry. With the advent of
technology, these ‘older’ forms of communication are less utilised as
compared to the use of the Internet, e-mail or video conferencing.

Communication is important in order to gain knowledge. With knowledge,

we are more confident in expressing our thoughts and ideas.

TECHNOLOGY
Technology is the use of scientific knowledge, experience
and resources to create processes and products that fulfill
human needs. Technology is vital in communication.

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Aiding Communication
Telephone and fax machines are the devices used in
extending communication.

Spreading Information
To broadcast information such as news or weather reports
effectively. Radio, television, satellites and the World Wide
Web (www) are powerful tools that can be used.

TECHNOLOGY TIMELINE

Technology Year

In 3500 BC, the Sumerians

developed cuneiform writing.

In 1500 BC, the Phoenicians

developed the alphabet

In 105 BC, Tsai Lun of

China invented paper.

In 1454, the first printing

began with the creation of a
printing machine.

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Technology Year

In 1793, the telegraph line

was invented.

In 1876, the first telephone

was introduced.

In 1925, television was

made known to public.

In 1941, the computer

was created.

In 1958, the photocopier

machine was introduced.

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Technology Year

In 1963, the communication

satellite was
introduced.

In 1969, the first Internet known

as ARPANET was introduced.

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LESSON 2
EVOLUTION OF COMPUTERS

In the early years, before the computer was invented, there are
several inventions of counting machines.

Year Creator Machines

200
BC

CHINESE ABACUS

500
BC

EGYPTIAN ABACUS

1620

JOHN NAPIER NAPIER'S BONES

1653

BLAISE PASCAL PASCALINE

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Year Creator Machines

1673

LEIBNIZ'S RECHNER
GOTTFRIED WILHELM VON
LEIBNIZ

1801

JOSEPH MARIE JACQUARD WEAVING LOOM

1823

MECHANICAL CALCULATOR
CHARLES BABBAGE MACHINE

1941

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
MARK 1

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COMPUTER GENERATIONS FIRST

GENERATION (1940-1956)

The first generation of computer were huge, slow, expensive and often
unreliable. In 1946, two Americans, Presper Eckert and Willian Mauchly
build the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). It use
vacuum tube instead of mechanical switches of the MARK 1.

Vacuum tube

MARK 1

Presper Eckert Willian Mauchly

In 1951, Eckert and Mauchly build the

UNIVAC, which could calculate at the
rate of 10,000 addition per seconds.

UNIVAC – UNIVERSAL AUTOMATIC COMPUTER

Hardware Technology
New invention of hardware were needed with the new computer technology.

Technology Details
The vacuum tube was an extremely
VACUUM TUBE important step of the advancement of
computers.In a computer, a vacuum tube
which is an electronic tube about the size of
light bulbs, was used as the internal
computer components. Thousands of them
were used.
PUNCHED CARD Punched card was used to store data.

MAGNETIC TAPE Magnetic tape was introduced in 1957. It

was a faster and a more compact method of
storing data. Using magnetic tape became
more reliable and cost-effective.

Problems

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· the vacuum tubes generated a great deal of heat causing

many problems in temperature regulation and climate control
· the tubes also burnt out frequently
· people operating the computer did not know that the problem was
in the programming machine
· the second generation computer scientists invented something
new due to lots of problem created by vacuum tubes

SECOND GENERATION (1956-1963)

The famous computer scientists during the second generation era were:

The creation of transistor spark the production of a wave of second

generation computer. Transistor was small devices use to transfer
electronic signals across a resister. Transistors had many advantages
compared to other hardware technology.

· transistors were smaller than vacuum tubes

· they needed no warm up time
· consumed less energy
· generated much less heat
· faster and more reliable

THIRD GENERATION (1964-1971)

In the third generation era, the IBM 370 series were

introduced in 1964. It came in several models and
sizes.It was used for business and scientific
programs. Other computer models introduced were
CDC 7600 and B2500.

The development of integrated circuit (IC), signal the

beginning of the third generation computers. Silicone
chips were manufactured in 1961 at the Silicone
Valley. Then came the integrated circuit technology,
which had reduced the size and cost of computers.

It is a complete electronic circuit on a small chip of silicone. Which is also

known as semi conductor. Other than that, the Magnetic Core Memory

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was replaced by a device called the microchip. Also the first 256 bit RAM
was introduced and it was the basis for development of 1K bit RAM.

Advantages
A new concept in this generation was that of a family of computer
which allowed computer to be upgraded and expanded as necessary.

· Silicone chips were reliable, compact

and cheaper.
· Sold hardware and software separately
which created the software industry.
· customer service industry flourished
(reservation and credit checks)

FOURTH GENERATION (1971-PRESENT)

It took only 55 years for the 4 generations to

evolve. The growth of the computer industry
developed technologies of computer inventions.
There are many types of computer models such as:
· Apple Macintosh
· IBM
· DELL
· ACER

In 1971 Intel created the first microprocessor. In 1976, Steve Jobs built
the first Apple computer. Then, in 1981, IBM introduced its first personal
computer.

Steve Jobs Bill Gates Micheal Dell

During the fourth generation, hardware technology such as silicone chips,
microprocessor and storage devices were invented. A microprocessor is a
specialized chip which is developed for computer memory and logic.

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Microprocessor

Silicone Chips
The microprocessor is a large-scale integrated circuit which contained
thousands of transistors. The transistors on this one chip are capable of
performing all of the functions of a computer's central processing unit.

Advantages
· Computers became 100 times smaller than ENIAC (Electronic
Numerical Integrator and Computer) the first computer
· Gain in speed, reliability and storage capacity
· Personal and software industry boomed

FIFTH GENERATION (PRESENT & BEYOND)

The fifth generation computers are technologically

advance and are still being development to become
more efficient.

The inventions of new hardware technology in the

fifth generation have grown rapidly including many
other modern computer devices such as :
· silicone chips
· processor
· robotics
· virtual reality
· intelligent systems
· programs which translate languages

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NEW ERA COMPUTER

After the fifth generation computer, the technology of computer has become
more advanced, modern and sophisticated. The latest invention in the era
of computers are :

· Super Computers
· Mainframe Computers
· Mini Computers
· Personal Computers
· Mobile Computers

In the new era of computers, expert system such as teleconferencing

and speech-recognition system have been invented as part of modern
world communication tools.

Super Computers

Mini Computers

Mainframe Computers

Mobile Computer

Personal Compute
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LESSON 3
USAGE OF ICT IN DAILY LIFE

EDUCATION

Today, most schools and higher educational institutions have computers in

the classroom for teacher and students. In education, teachers, students,
researchers and school administrators benefits from the usage of ICT.

Teachers use computers to

research for teaching
materials, participate in online
forums and online conferences
as well as to aid their teaching.

Teachers

Students use the computers as

a reference tool. They use
computers to browse the
Internet to look for information.

Students

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Researchers use computers

to collect and process data.

Researchers

School administrators use

computers for administrative
purposes to make sure that the
entire operation runs smoothly.

School administrators

BANKING

The computer is the nerve centre of the

banking system around the world. It functions
to control the entire banking system that also
includes 'Electronic Banking Services'.

Electronic banking provides 24 hour services.

The services include :

· Automated Teller Machine (ATM)

· Cheque Deposit
· Electronic Fund Tranfer
· Direct Deposit
· Pay by phone system
· Personal computer banking/
internet banking

In the banking sector, customers,

businessman and bank administrator benefits
from the usage of ICT.

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Customers can make any

transactions at the 24 hour service
centres or via online.These
services allow them to do
transaction at anytime they want.

Customers

Businessmen can save their time

by using the online services
offered by banks. They can
access company accounts for
loan applications, business
transactions and update on
their cash flow at any time.

Businessmen

Bank administrators can oversee

the entire banking activities such
as reconciliations, inter-branch
transactions (IBT), telegraphic
transfer and others by referring
to the banking system.

Bank administrators

INDUSTRY

Computers are used to facilitate production

planning and control systems, to support chain
management and to help in product design in
the industrial sector.In the industrial sector
,workers, researchers and administrator
benefits from the usage of ICT.

Workers use machines that

are connected to computers to
operate. In some productions,
robots are used to take over
jobs that are dangerous to the
workers.

Workers

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Researchers use computers to

analyse and collect research
data for future reference.

Researchers

Administrators use computers to

oversee the entire operations in
the plant or factory to detect
specific errors or defects that
occurred in the process.

Administrators

E-COMMERCE

E-commerce helps in boosting the economy. It

makes buying and selling activities easier,
more efficient and faster. For this application,
computers, Internet and shared software are
needed.

In the e-commerce sector ,customers r, suppliers and employees

benefits from the usage of ICT.

Customers use computers to be

connected online with suppliers
to purchase products. This
method can save time and cost
as they do not have to go to
any outlets.

Customers

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Suppliers use computers to keep

track of their transactions. All
products are bar coded and can
be read by the computer
scanner to help in determining
prices and managing inventory.

Suppliers

Employees use computers and

telephones to communicate with
their customers for any enquiries.

The system helps employees

to get the latest updates on
inventory to be informed to
the customers.

Employees

OTHER SECTOR

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LESSON 4
COMPUTERISED AND NON-COMPUTERISED SYSTEMS

COMPUTER SYSTEM

A system is an arrangement of elements that when

it is put together it becomes an organised and
established procedure. A system typically consists
of components connected together in order to
facilitate the flow of information, matter or energy.

A computer system consists of a set of hardware and software

which processes data in a meaningful way.

EDUCATION

· education is the science of teaching and learning of specific skills

· it also imparts knowledge, good judgement and wisdom

BANKING SYSTEM

BANKING BEFORE ICT

· banking was done manually by
taking deposits directly
· transactions can only be made
during working hours
· takes time to approve any loan applications

BANKING WITH ICT

· all transactions are done by computers
· transaction can be done at anytime and place
· online services, phone banking system,
credit cards are available

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INDUSTRY

INDUSTRY BEFORE ICT

Production was slow because everything was done
manually and totally depended on human labour.

INDUSTRY WITH ICT

Computers and telecommunications industry
became very opular and profitable since production
can be increased through an all day operation.

COMMERCE

Commerce is an activity of exchanging, buying and selling of commodities

on a large scale involving transportation from place to place.

COMMERCE BEFORE ICT

· Trading was made using the barter system and
it was then later developed into currency.
· Advertisement was in the form of word of
mouth, billboards and printed flyers.
· Trading globally was extremely slow, late and
expensive. Traders had to find ways to market local products
in the global market.

COMMERCE WITH ICT

E-commerce plays an important role in the economic
scene. It includes distribution, buying, selling and
servicing products that are done electronically.
LESSON 5
THE IMPACT OF ICT ON SOCIETY

FASTER COMMUNICATION SPEED

In the past, it took a long time for any news or
messages to be send. Now with the Internet, news
or messages are sent via e-mail to friends, business
partners or to anyone efficiently. With the capability
of bandwidth, broadband and connection speed on
the Internet, any information can travel fast and at
an instant. It saves time and is inexpensive.

LOWER COMMUNICATION COST

Using the Internet is cost-effective than the other modes of communication

such as telephone, mailing or courier service. It allows people to have access
to large amounts of data at a very low cost. With the Internet we do not
have to pay for any basic services provided by the Internet. Furthermore,
the cost of connection to the Internet is relatively cheap.

RELIABLE MODE OF COMMUNICATION

Computers are reliable. With the internet, information could be accessed
and retrieved from anywhere and at anytime. This makes it a reliable
mode of communication. However, the input to the computer is contributed
by humans. If the data passed to the computer is faulty, the
result will be faulty as well. This is related to the
term GIGO.

GIGO is a short form for Garbage In Garbage Out. It

refers to the quality of output produced according to
the input. Normally bad input produces bad output.

EFFECTIVE SHARING OF INFORMATION

With the advancement of ICT, information can be shared by
people all around the world. People can share and exchange
opinions, news and information through discussion groups,
mailing list and forums on the Internet. This enable
knowledge sharing which will contribute to the development
of knowledge based society.

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PAPERLESS ENVIRONMENT

ICT technology has created the term paperless environment. This term
means information can be stored and retrieved through the digital
medium instead of paper. Online communication via emails, online chat
and instant messaging also helps in creating the paperless environment.

BORDERLESS COMMUNICATION

Internet offers fast information retrieval, interactivity, accessibility and

versatility. It has become a borderless sources for services and information.
Through the Internet, information and communication can be borderless.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

There are some negative effects of ICT. It has created social problems in
the society. Nowadays, people tend to choose online communication rather
than having real time conversations. People tend to become more
individualistic and introvert.

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Another negative effect of ICT is :

· fraud
· identity theft
· Pornography
· Hacking

This will result a moral decedent and generate threads to the society.

HEALTH PROBLEMS

A computer may harm users if they use it for long hours frequently.
Computer users are also exposed to bad posture, eyestrain, physical
and mental stress. In order to solve the health problems, an ergonomic
environment can be introduced. For example, an ergonomic chair can
reduces back strain and a screen filter is used to minimize eye strain.

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LESSON 6
COMPUTER ETHICS

ETHICS IN GENERAL
A guideline is needed to stop the current technology products from being
exploited for example replicating original CDs and selling them as pirated
software, this unethical behaviour can be controlled by the code of conducts.

Unethical refers to any code of conducts that are not conforming

to approved standards of social or professional behaviour.

Computer ethics is a system of moral standards or values used as

a guideline for computer users.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF COMPUTER ETHICS

The United States Institute of Computer Ethics has come out with the Ten
Commandments of Computer Ethics. These principles consider the
effective code of conducts for the proper use of information technology.
The Ten commandments of computer ethics are :

1. You shall not use a computer to harm other people.

2. You shall not interfere with other people's computer work.
3. You shall not snoop around in other people's computer files.
4. You shall not use a computer to steal.
5. You shall not use a computer to bear false witness.
6. You shall not copy or use proprietary software for which
you have not paid.
7. You shall not use other people's computer resources
without authorisation or proper compensation.
8. You shall not appropriate other people's intellectual output.
9. You shall think about the social consequences of the
program you are writing or the system you are designing.
10. You shall always use a computer in ways that ensure
consideration and respect for your fellow humans.

GUIDELINES ON THE E-MAIL AND INTERNET USAGE

Some guidelines from the Department of Public Services of Malaysia:

· use only individual e-mail address to forward individual opinion

· keep the identity name and password a secret to avoid
the misuse of your e-mail without your knowledge
· e-mail must be active to promptly reply the necessary
actions needed for any matters
· ensure the total mail kept in the box is within the
computer storage capacity
· scan files regularly to avoid the transmission of virus from
one computer to another
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· do not send e-mails that contain classified information which can

be used to tarnish other people or country
· choose a suitable time to search the Internet to save
access time and cost
· beware of prohibited sites which could affect one's
moral, organisation or nation
· print only relevant documents that you think can be used
in future to save cost

UNETHICAL COMPUTER CODE OF CONDUCTS

With the advancement of ICT, it is easy for anyone to retrieve your
information from the Internet. You may not realise that when you fill a
form on the Internet, your information may be exposed and stolen.

Examples of unethical computer code of conducts include:

· modifying certain information on the Internet, affecting

the accuracy of the information
· selling information to other parties without the
owner’s permission
· using information without authorization
· involvement in stealing software
· invasion of privacy

Intellectual property refers to any product of human intellect that is

unique and has value in the market place. This covers ideas, inventions,
unique name, computer program codes and many more.

ETHICAL COMPUTER CODE OF CONDUCTS

Examples of ethical computer code of conducts include:

· sending warning about viruses to other computer users

· asking permission before sending any business
advertisements to others
· using information with authorization

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LESSON 7
THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ETHICS AND LAW

DEFINITION OF ETHICS
In general, ethics is a moral philosophy where a
person makes a specific moral choice and sticks
to it. On the other hand, ethics in computing
means moral guidelines to refer to when using
the computer and computer networks. This
includes the Internet.

DEFINITION OF LAW
Law is a legal system comprising of rules and principles that govern
the affairs of a community and controlled by a political authority.

Law differs from one country to another. In the era of

technology, computer law is needed to clarify goods or
actions that fall under the computer law. Computer law
refers to all areas in law that requires an understanding
of computer technology such as hardware, software and
Internet.

Examples of laws of computing in Malaysia include the Malaysian

Communication and Multimedia Act, the Computer Crime Act 1997 and
the Telemedicine Act 1997.

WHY DO WE NEED ETHICS AND LAW IN COMPUTING?

· Respecting Ownership
· Respecting Privacy
· Respecting Property

RESPECTING OWNERSHIP
We must respect ownership by not stealing other people’ s work either
by duplicating or distributing it. Duplicating and distributing copies of
audio tapes, video tapes and computer programs without permission
and authorisation from the individual or company that created the
program are immoral and illegal.

RESPECTING PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY

We should respect other people's privacy and confidentiality by refraining
ourselves from reading their mails or files without their permission. If we
do so, it is considered as violating an individual’s rights to privacy and
confidentiality.

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RESPECTING PROPERTY
Property here means ownership. Since an individual data and information
are considered as property, therefore, an act of tampering and changing
electronic information is considered as vandalism and disrespect for other
people’s property.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ETHICS AND LAW

Both ethics and law are complimentary to each other and are made:

· to guide user from misusing computers

· to create a healthy computer society, so that computers
are used to contribute to a better life
· to prevent any crime

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ETHICS AND LAWS

ETHICS
GUIDELINE As a guideline to computer users.
MORAL STANDARDS Ethical behaviour is judged by moral
standards.
FREE TO FOLLOW Computer users are free to follow or
ignore the code of ethics.
NO PUNISHMENTS No punishment for anyone who
violates ethics.
UNIVERSALS Universal, can be applied anywhere,
all over the world.
PRODUCE ETHICAL COMPUTER To produce ethical computer users.
USERS
IMMORAL Not honouring computer ethics
means ignoring the moral elements
(immoral).

LAW
CONTROL As a rule to control computer users.
JUDICIAL STANDARDS Law is judged by judicial standards.
MUST FOLLOW Computer users must follow the
regulations and law.
PENALTIES, IMPRISONMENTS Penalties, imprisonments and other
AND OTHER PUNISHMENTS punishments for those who break the
law.
DEPENDS ON COUNTRY Depends on country and state where
the crime is committed.
PREVENT MISUSING OF COMPUTERS To prevent misuse of computers.
CRIME Not honouring the law means
committing a crime.

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UNETHICAL VS. LAW BREAKING CONDUCTS

Unethical:

· using the office computer to do personal things

· reading your friend’s e-mail without his or her permission
· plagiarising and using materials from the Internet for your
class assignment without giving credit to the original author.

Law breaking:

· sending a computer virus via e-mail

· hacking into your school’s database to change your
examination results.
· selling pirated software in a night market
 LESSON 8
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

DEFINITION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Intellectual Property refers to works created by inventors, authors and
artists. These works are unique and have value in the market place. In
our daily lives, we are surrounded by things that are protected by IP.
Your school bags, your shoes and even your socks are protected by
Intellectual Property rights. Nike, Bata or Adidas, for example, are all
protected by a group of legal rights.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW

Intellectual Property laws cover ideas, inventions, literary creations, unique
names, business models, industrial processes, computer program codes
and more.

INVENTIONS PROTECTED BY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

LAWS
As businesses continue to expand globally, business owners must realise the
importance of getting professional advice on how to establish and safeguard
their intellectual property rights. These include :

· Trademarks
· Service marks
· Trade/company names
· Domain names
· Geographical indications
· Copyrights
· Patents

Example : Protected by property law.

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION

There are four types of Intellectual Property protection. They are patents
for invention, trademarks for brand identity, designs for product
appearance and copyright for material.

· Patents for inventions

· Trademarks for brand identity
· Design for product appearance
· Copyright for material

Patents for inventions

Utility, design or plant patents that protect inventions and improvements
to existing inventions

Trademarks for brand identity

Words, names, symbols, devices and images that represent products,
goods or services.

Design for product appearance

Literary and artistic material, music, films, sound recordings and
roadcasts, including software and multimedia.

Copyright for material

The features of, in particular,the lines, contours, colours,shape, texture
or material of the product itself or its ornamentation.

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LESSON 9
PRIVACY IN COMPUTER USAGE

WHAT IS PRIVACY?
Privacy in IT refers to data and information privacy. Data refers to a
collection of raw unprocessed facts, figures and symbols. Then, computer
is used to process data into information. In general, data include texts,
numbers, sounds, images and video.

Information privacy is described as the rights of individuals and companies

to deny or restrict the collection and use of information about them.

WAYS COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY THREATEN OUR PRIVACY

Every time you click on an advertisement or register a software product
online, your information is entered into a database. Computer technology
can also threaten privacy through spam. Do you know what spam is?
Spam is unsolicited e-mail messages, advertisements or newsgroup
postings sent to many recipients at once.

How does computer technology threaten the privacy of our data?

It is done through:
· Cookies
· Electronic profile
· Spyware

Computer technology threatens our privacy through electronic profiling.

For example, when we fill out a form such as a magazine subscription,
purchasing products or contest entry form on the Internet, this data is
kept in the database. It will include age, address, marital status and other
personal details.

Cookies
· are used to identify users by web casting,
e-commerce and other web applications
· contain user information and are saved in
the computer hard disk
· are used by some websites to store passwords
and track how regularly we visit a website, that’s how we
become potential targets for web advertisers
· enable web sites to collect information about
your online activities and store them for future
use, then the collected details will be sold to any company
that requests for it.

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Electronic profile
· electronic profile is the combining of data in a
database that can be sold to the Internet by the company
to the interested parties.
· this database is in a form such as magazine
subscription or product warranty cards that
had been filled by online subscribers.
· the information in electronic profile includes
personal details such as your age, address and marital status.

Spyware
· refers to a program that collects user
information without the user’s knowledge.
· can enter computers, sneaking in like a virus.
· is a result of installing new programs.
· communicates information it collects to
some outside source while we are online.

WHY DO WE NEED PRIVACY?

We need privacy for anonymity. For example, the Internet creates an
elaborate trail of data detailing a person surfing on the Web because all
information is stored inside cookies. We do not want our trail to be detected.

We also need privacy for confidentiality. For example, online information

generated in the course of a business transaction is routinely used for
a variety of other purposes without the individual’s knowledge or consent.

We do not want our private lives and habits exposed to third parties.

CAN PRIVACY BE PROTECTED?

Privacy can be protected by:

(a) Privacy law

The privacy laws in Malaysia emphasises on the following:
· Security Services to review the security policy
· Security Management to protect the resources
· Security Mechanism to implement the required security services
· Security Objects, the important entities within the
system environment

(b) Utilities software

Example: anti-spam program, firewall, anti-spyware and antivirus.
LESSON 10
AUTHENTICATIONS

Authentication is a process where users verify that they are who they say
they are. The user who attempts to perform functions in a system is in
fact the user who is authorised to do so.

For Example : When you use an ATM card, the machine will verify the
validation of the card then the machine will request for a pin number.
This is where the authentication process takes place.

AUTHENTICATION
1.0 ICT AND SOCIETY

METHODS OF AUTHENTICATION
There are two commonly used authentication methods, which are
biometric device and callback system.

Biometric device is a device that translates

personal characteristics into a digital code
that is compared with a digital code stored in
the database.

Callback system refers to the checking system that authenticates the user.

BIOMETRIC DEVICES

Fingerprint Recognition
In order to prevent fake fingers from being used, many
biometrics fingerprint systems also measure blood flow,
or check for correctly arrayed ridges at the edges of the
fingers.

Facial Recognition
Facial recognition analyses the characteristics of an
individual's face images captured through a digital
video camera. Facial recognition is widely used, touted
as a fantastic system for recognising potential threats
(whether terrorists, scam artists, or known criminals).

Hand Geometry Scanning

Hand scanning involves the measurement and
analysis of the shape of one's hand.

Unlike fingerprints, the human hand isn't unique.

Individual hand features are not descriptive enough
for identification. It is possible to devise a method by
combining various individual features and measurements of fingers
and hands for verification purposes.
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Iris Scanning
Iris scanning analyses the features that exist in the
coloured tissues surrounding the pupil which has
more than 200 points that can be used for
comparison, including rings, furrows and freckles.

The scans use a regular video camera and can be done from further away
than a retinal scan.It will work perfectly fine through glasses and in fact
has the ability to create an accurate enough measurement that it can be
used for identification purposes.

The accuracy of this method is excellent while the cost involved is high.

Retinal Scanning
Retinal biometrics involves the scanning of retina and
analysing the layer of blood vessels at the back of the
eye.

Retinal scanning involves using a low-intensity light

source and an optical coupler and can read the
patterns at a great level of accuracy.

Retina scanning requires the user to remove glasses, place their eye close
to the device, and focus on a certain point. Whether the accuracy can
outweigh the public discomfort is yet to be seen.

The accuracy in retinal scanning is very good and the cost involved is fair.

Voice Recognition
Voice recognition system compares a person’s
live speech with their stored voice pattern.

Voice recognition biometrics requires user to

speak into a microphone. What he speaks can be
his password or an access phrase.

Verification time is approximately 5 seconds. To prevent recorded voice

use, most voice recognition devices require the high and low frequencies
of the sound to match, which is difficult for many recording instruments to
recreate well. Also, some devices generate random number of sequences
for verification.

The accuracy in voice recognition is fair and the cost involved is

very reasonable.

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Signature Verification System

Signature verification system uses special pen and
tablet. After pre-processing the signature, several
features are extracted.

The authenticity of a writer is determined by comparing

an input signature to a stored reference set (template) consisting of
three signatures.

The similarity between an input signature and the reference set is computed
using string matching and the similarity value is compared to a threshold.

The accuracy in signature verification system is fair and the cost involved
is excellent.

CALLBACK SYSTEM
The callback system is commonly used in the
bank operation and business transaction.

For example, when you book for the taxi service, the
operator will ask you to hang up and she will call you
back to confirm for the service required.

WHY IS AUTHENTICATION IMPORTANT?

Authentication is important in order to safeguard against the
unauthorised access and use.

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LESSON 11
VERIFICATIONS

Verification is the act of proving or disproving the correctness of a

system with respect to a certain formal specification.

IDENTIFICATION
present what the user has (e.g ATM card) Access Granted

Valid
VERIFICATION
verify the validity of the ID

Not Valid Access Denied

IDENTIFICATION
present what the user has (e.g pin number)

METHODS OF VERIFICATION
There are two methods commonly used in
verification, which are user identification
and processed object. User identification
refers to the process of validating the user.
Processed object refers to something the
user has such as identification card, security
token and cell phone.

USER IDENTIFICATION
The examples of validating process using the user identification are:
· Key in the user name to log-in to a system and the
system will verify whether the user is valid or invalid user
· Show the exam slip to verify that you are the
valid candidate for the exam.
· show a passport before departure.

PROCESSED OBJECT
The examples of validating process using the
processed object are:
· the policeman will check on the driver’s license
to identify the valid driver
· employees have to swipe their security card to
enter the building
· buy blouses at the mall using a credit card

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LESSON 12
CONTROVERSIAL CONTENT

A controversial content is information that causes disagreement in opinions

and may cause the disruption of peace because different people or culture
will have different views about the contents.

ISSUES ON CONTROVERSIAL CONTENTS

The issues on controversial contents are always focusing on pornography
and slander. Malaysia considers pornography and slander as illegal.

Pornographic and slanderous activities can be in the forms

of plots and actions displayed on video games, controversial
rhythm or lyrics of music, controversial contents of books
and controversial issues on religion and philosophy.

Pornography Creative activity (writing or pictures or films etc.) of

no literary or artistic value other than to stimulate sexual desire.

Slander Oral communication of false statements injurious to a person's

reputation. A false and malicious statement or report about someone.

PORNOGRAPHY
What is pornography? Why is pornography considered “negative” content?

Both pictures are very cute pictures of innocent babies. Neither can
be considered pornographic by normal standards.

DEFINITION OF PORNOGRAPHY
The definition of pornography is any form of media or material (like books
or photographs) that depicts erotic behaviour and is intended to cause
sexual excitement.

Pornography tends to exploit men, women and children in a

distasteful manner.

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SLANDER
Slander is another example of controversial content.

Slander is a legal term for false and malicious

statement (meaning knowing that it is false, or
“reckless disregard” that it was false) about someone.

Examples :
You wrote an e-mail that a fellow classmate was having an affair with a
teacher, even though it was not true. You then sent it to five other friends.

Ahmad is a muslim. One day, he received a “spam” e-mail stating that his
favourite soda drink “Soda Moda” uses non-halal food colouring, but he
does not know if the source of the content is credible or true. He decides
to forward the e-mail to 50 of his friends.

Chin Wei spreads a rumour that a Government Minister is receiving

bribes from an enemy government.

IMPACTS ON MALAYSIAN SOCIETY

What can you conclude about the impact of controversial content on
the Malaysian society?

Pornography
· can lead to criminal acts such as exploitation of women and children
· can lead to sexual addiction or perversion
· can develop low moral value towards other men, women or children
· can erode good religious, cultural and social beliefs and behaviour

Slander
· can develop into a society that disregards honesty and truth
· can develop bad habit of spreading untruths and rumours
· can lead to unnecessary argument
· can cause people to have negative attitudes towards another person
 LESSON 13
THE PROCESS OF INTERNET FILTERING

INTERNET FILTERING
It is our responsibility to ensure that the teenagers are
protected from these corruptions of the mind by
filtering access to the Internet. Internet filtering is a
process that prevents or blocks access to certain
materials on the Internet.

It is our responsibility to ensure that the teenagers are protected from

these corruptions of the mind by filtering access to the Internet.

What is Internet filtering?

Internet filtering is a process that prevents or blocks access to certain
materials on the Internet. Filtering is most commonly used to prevent
children from accessing inappropriate material and to keep employees
productive on the Internet.

CONTROLLING ACCESS TO THE INTERNET

Controlling access to the internet by means of filtering software has
become a growing industry in Malaysia and elsewhere. Its use has
increase as the mandatory response to the current plague of society,
namely internet pornography, politically incorrect site, hatred, violence,
hate and in general anything viewed to be unpleasant or threatening.

The current preferred method of choice to limit access on the Internet is

to filter content either by:
· keyword blocking
· site blocking
· web rating systems

These methods require software to be installed at a client of server level.

KEYWORD BLOCKING
One of the strategies is by using the keyword
blocking method.This method uses a list of banned
words or objectionable terms.

As the page is downloading, the filter searches for any of

these words. If found, it will block the page completely,
stop downloading the page, block the banned words and even shut down
the browser.

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SITE BLOCKING
· software company maintains a list of ‘dubious Internet sites’
· the software prevents access to any sites on this list
· ‘denial lists’ regularly updated
· some software provides control over what categories of
information you block
· Who decides what goes on the ‘denial list’ and what criteria are
they using?
· can you keep track of the whole of the Internet?
· filters can use both site blocking and word blocking

WEB RATING SYSTEMS

Web sites are rated in terms of nudity, sex, violence and language. The
Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSACI) is responsible for the
rating of the websites on the content on the internet.

· ratings done either by the web page author or by

the independent bureau.
· browsers set to only accept pages with certain levels of ratings.

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LESSON 14
CYBER LAW

WHAT IS CYBER LAW?

Cyber law refers to any laws relating to protecting the
Internet and other online communication technologies.

NEEDS FOR CYBER LAW

In the recent years, many concerns and issues were raised on the
integrity and security of information, legal status of online transactions,
privacy and confidentiality of information, intellectual property rights and
security of government data placed on the Internet.

Assignment
Make a research on the cyber Act in Nigeria
 LESSON 15
COMPUTER CRIMES

COMPUTER CRIMES
A computer crime is defined as any criminal activity
that is related to the use of computers. These activities
include computer fraud, copyright infringement,
computer theft and computer attack.

COMPUTER FRAUD
Computer fraud is defined as having an intention to take advantage over
or causing loss to other people, mainly on monetary basis through the use
of computers.

There are many forms of computer fraud which include e-mail hoaxes,
programme fraud, investment schemes, sales promotions and claims
of expertise on certain fields.

Students need to be aware of other computer frauds

such as health frauds, scams and hacking. Students will
also most likely get false information while researching
information on the Internet.

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
Copyright infringement is defined as a violation of
the rights secured by a copyright. Copyright
infringement involves illegal copy or reproduction of
copyrights material by the black market group. The
open commercial sale of pirated item is also illegal.

With the current technology, the most perfect copy of the original copy
can be downloaded from the internet.

COMPUTER THEFT
Computer theft is defined as the unauthorised use of
another person’s property with the intention to deny
the owner the rightful possession of that property or
its use.

Examples of computer theft include:

· transfer of payments to the wrong accounts

· tap into data transmission lines on database at no cost
· divert goods to the wrong destination

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COMPUTER ATTACK
Computer attack may be defined as any activities taken
to disrupt the equipment of computer systems, change
processing control or corrupt stored data.

Computer attack can be in the forms of:

· physical attack that disrupt the computer facility or

its transmission lines.
· an electronic attack that uses the power of
electromagnetic energy to overload computer circuitry.
· a computer network attack that uses a malicious code to
exploit a weakness in software, or in the computer security practices of a
computer user

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LESSON 16
COMPUTER SECURITY

DEFINITION OF COMPUTER SECURITY

Computer security means protecting our
computer systems and the information
they contain against unwanted access,
damage, destruction or modification.

We need to protect our computer from any

intruders such as hackers, crackers and
script kiddie.

We do not want strangers to read our e-mail, use our computer to attack
other systems, send forged e-mail from our computer, or examine personal
information stored on our computer such as financial statements.

TYPES OF COMPUTER SECURITY

Three types of computer security are:

a) hardware security
b) software security/data security
c) network security

a) HARDWARE SECURITY
Hardware security refers to security measures
used to protect the hardware specifically the
computer and its related documents.

The examples of security measures used to

protect the hardware include PC-locks, keyboard-
locks, smart cards and biometric devices.

b) SOFTWARE AND DATA SECURITY

Software and data security refers to the security
measures used to protect the software and the
loss of data files.

Examples of security measures used to protect the

software are activation code and serial number.

An example of security measure used to protect the

loss of data files is the disaster recovery plan method. The idea of this plan
is to store data, program and other important documents in a safe place
that will not be affected by any major destruction.

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c) NETWORK SECURITY
The transfer of data through network has become
a common practice and the need to implement
network security has become significant.

Network security refers to security measures used

to protect the network system. One example of
network security measures is firewall. With firewall, network resources
can be protected from the outsiders.

PERSONAL COMPUTER SECURITY CHECKLIST

In order to make sure our computers are secured, here are the
computer security checklist to follow.

 Do not eat, drink or smoke near the computer

 Do not place the computer near open windows or doors
 Do not subject the computer to extreme temperatures
 Clean the equipment regularly
 Place a cable lock on the computer
 Use a surge protector
 Store disks properly in a locked container

 Maintain backup copies of all files
 Stores copies of critical files off sites
 Scan a floppy disk before you open it
 Do not open any unknown email received
 LESSON 17
INTRODUCTION COMPUTER THREATS

The computer is a great tool to store important information. In certain

cases, the information is very vital that losing it will harm the computer
system.

Computer threats can come from many ways either from human or natural
disasters. For example, when someone is stealing your account information
from a trusted bank, this threat is considered as a human threat. However,
when your computer is soaked in heavy rain, then that is a natural disaster
threat.

MALICIOUS CODE
Malicious code is also known as a rogue program. It is
a threat to computing assets by causing undesired
effects in the programmer’s part. The effect is caused
by an agent, with the intention to cause damage.

The agent for malicious code is the writer of the code,

or any person who causes its distribution. There are
various kinds of malicious code. They include virus, Trojan horse, logic
door, trapdoor and backdoor, worm and many others.

a) VIRUS
· a program that can pass on the malicious
code to other programs by modifying them
· attaches itself to the program, usually
files with .doc, .xls and .exe extensions
· destroys or co-exists with the program
· can overtake the entire computing
system and spread to other systems

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b) TROJAN HORSE
· a program which can perform useful and unexpected action
· must be installed by users or intruders
before it can affect the system’s assets
· an example of a Trojan horse is the login
script that requests for users’ login ID and password
· the information is then used for
malicious purposes

c) LOGIC BOMB
· logic bomb is a malicious code that goes
off when a specific condition occurs.
· an example of a logic bomb is the
time bomb
· it goes off and causes threats at
a specified time or date

e) TRAPDOOR OR BACKDOOR
· a feature in a program that allows
someone to access the program with special
privileges

f) WORM
· a program that copies and spreads
itself through a network

Primary Differences Between Worms And viruses

Worm Virus

Operates through the network Spreads through any medium

Spreads copies of itself as Spreads copies of itself as a program

a standalone program that attaches to other programs

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HACKER
Hacking is a source of threat to security in computer.
It is defined as unauthorised access to the computer
system by a hacker.

Hackers are persons who learn about the computer

system in detail. They write program referred to as
hacks. Hackers may use a modem or cable to hack
the targeted computers.

NATURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS

Computers are also threatened by natural or environmental disaster. Be it
at home, stores, offices and also automobiles.Examples of natural and
environmental disasters:
 Flood
 Fire
 Earthquakes, storms and tornados
 Excessive Heat
 Inadequate Power Supply

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THEFT
Two types of computer theft:

1) Computer is used to steal money,

goods, information and resources.
2) Stealing of computer, especially notebook
and PDAs.

Three approaches to prevent theft:

1) prevent access by using locks, smart-card

or password
2) prevent portability by restricting the
hardware from being moved
3) detect and guard all exits and record
any hardware transported

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LESSON 18
SECURITY MEASURES

Today, people rely on computers to create, store and manage critical

information. It is important that the computer and the data they store
are accessible and available when needed. It is also important that
users take measures to protect their computers and data from lost,
damage and misused.

Security measures mean the precautionary measures taken toward

possible danger or damage. There are 6 type of security measures.

1) DATA BACKUP
Data Backup is a program of file duplication.
Backups of data applications are necessary so that
they can be recovered in case of an emergency.

Depending on the importance of the information,

daily, weekly or biweekly backups from a hard
disk can be performed.

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2) CRYPTOGRAPHY
Cryptography is a process of hiding information
by altering the actual information into different
representation, for example, an APA can be
written as I ?

Almost all cryptosystems depend on a key such as a

password like the numbers or a phrase that can be used to encrypt
or decrypt a message.

The traditional type of cryptosystem used on a computer network is called

a symmetric secret key system.

3) ANTIVIRUS
An antivirus program protects a computer against
viruses by identifying and removing any computer
viruses found in the computer memory, on storage
media or incoming e-mail files.

An antivirus program scans for programs that

attempt to modify the boot program, the operating
system and other programs that normally are read from but not modified.

IDENTIFYING VIRUS
Two technique are used to identify the virus.

VIRUS SIGNATURE INOCULATING A PROGRAM FILE

Also called a virus definition is a The antivirus program records
specific pattern of the virus code. information such as the file size and
file creation date in a separate
inoculation file.

The antivirus program then uses this

information to detect if a virus
tampers with the data describing the
inoculated program file.

If an antivirus program identifies an infected file, it attempts to remove

its virus, worm or Trojan horse. If the antivirus program cannot remove
the infection, it often quarantines the infected file. Quarantine is a
separate area of a hard disk that holds the infected file until the infection
can be removed. This step ensures other files will not become infected.
Patents for inventions Utility, design or plant patents that protect
inventions and improvements to existing inventions

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4) ANTI-SPYWARE
Spyware is a program placed on a computer without
the user’s knowledge. It secretly collects information
about the user.

The spyware program communicates information

to the outside source.

An anti-spyware application program sometime called tracking software or

a spybot is used to remove spyware.

Among of the popular anti-spyware programs are:

• Spybot Search and Destroy

• Ad-aware
• Spyware Blaster

5) FIREWALL
Firewall is a piece of hardware or software which
functions in a networked environment to prevent
some communications forbidden by the security
policy.

Firewall implement a security policy. It might permit

limited access from in or outside the network perimeters
or from certain user or for certain activities.

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6) HUMAN ASPECTS OF SECURITY MEASURES

Human aspects refer to the user and also the

intruder of a computer system.

It is one of the hardest aspects to give protection to.

The most common problem is the lack of achieving

a good information security procedure.

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LESSON 19
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SECURITY THREATS AND
SECURITY MEASURES

Security threats may come from in many forms. For example, when
someone is invading your account information from a trusted bank, this
act is considered as a security threat.

Security measures can be used to prevent this invader

from getting the account information. For example, the
bank can use a firewall to prevent unauthorised access
to its database.

SECURITY THREATS
Security threats may come from in many forms. For example, when
someone is invading your account information from a trusted bank, this
act is considered as a security threat.

Security measures can be used to prevent this invader from getting the
account information. For example, the bank can use a firewall to prevent
unauthorised access to its database.

MALICIOUS CODE THREATS VS. ANTIVIRUS AND ANTI-

SPYWARE
Security threats include virus, Trojan horse, logic bomb, trapdoor
and backdoor, and worm.

Antivirus and anti-spyware can be used to protect the computer from

the threats by:

 limiting connectivity
 allowing only authorised media for loading data and software
 enforcing mandatory access controls
 blocking the virus from the computer program

HACKING VS. FIREWALL

Hacking is an unauthorised access to the
computer system done by a hacker. We can use
firewall or cryptography to prevent the hacker
from accessing our computers.

A firewall permits limited access to unauthorised

users or any activities from the network environment. Cryptography is
a process of hiding information by changing the actual information into
different representation, for example, an APA can be written as 7&*.

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NATURAL DISASTER VS. DATA BACKUP

The natural and environmental disasters may include:
• flood
• fire
• earthquakes
• storms
• tornados

Natural disasters may threaten a computer’s hardware and software

easily. Computers are also sensitive to their operating environment such
as excessive heat or the inadequacy of power supply.

The backup system is needed to backup all data and applications in the
computer. With the backup system, data can be recovered in case of
an emergency.

THEFT VS. HUMAN ASPECTS

Computer theft can be of two kinds:

 can be used to steal money, goods,

information
 and computer resources
 the actual stealing of computers,
especially notebooks and PDAs

Measures that can be taken to prevent theft:

 prevent access by using locks, smart-card or password

 prevent portability by restricting the hardware from being moved
 detect and guard all exits and record any hardware transported

BE SUSPICIOUS OF ALL RESULTS

There are many instances where non-programmers
develop applications which are not built with proper
understanding of software engineering practices.

Data produced by such applications may not be

correct and may risk corrupting data received
from other sources that are not compatible with
the application.
 LESSON 20
SECURITY PROCEDURES

Computers should have alarm systems to guard them from any attacks
such as viruses and data corruption. The alarm system is the security
measures that we take to ensure its safety.

DATA PROTECTION
We need to protect the data in the computer as it
may somehow get lost or corrupted due to some
viruses or mishap like fire, flood, lightning,
machine failures and even human errors.

There are a few ways to protect the information namely:

• make backup files
• detect the virus and clean the computer
• warn others on virus attacks

1) BACKUP FILES
Users can do backups of file systems by:
 keeping the duplicated files in external storage
such as in the floppy disk and thumb drive
 do backup frequently

2) DETECT VIRUS AND DO CLEANUP
A computer virus is able to affect and infect the way
the computer works. Viruses can be detected when
we run an antivirus program.We can also delete the
infected files and documents.

3) WARN OTHERS ON VIRUS ATTACK

We can warn others on virus attacks or new
viruses by sending e-mails to them.

DETECTING ILLEGAL ACCESS TO SYSTEMS

The computer system is able to detect any illegal access to the system by a
user who does not have any authorisation. Basically, a corporation will
simply use tcpwrappers and tripwire to detect any illegal access to their
system. User's access will be reviewed periodically by computer operations.
On going internal audits will be made to ensure detection of violations of
security and unauthorised modifications to software and data .

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TCPWRAPPERS

Tcpwrappers stop the attempted connection

examines its configuration files

will decide whether to accept or reject the request.

Tcpwrappers will control access at the application level, rather than at

the socket level like iptables and ipchains. The system will run
tcpwrappers to log access to ftp, tftp, rch, rlogin, rexec and telnet.

TRIPWIRE
Tripwire will detect and report on any changes in
the thousands of strategic system files.

The system will run tripwire to determine if

system files have changed.

PREVENTING ILLEGAL ACCESS TO SYSTEMS

Have any of you ever been to an airport? Do you know the do’s and
don’ts when you are at the airport?

There are things that cannot be taken inside the airplane. It is for
the purpose of security procedures.

It is the same as computer systems. It would not allow any

unauthorised users to simply access the system.

Ways to prevent illegal access to systems:

1. Run anlpassword to make password cracking difficult.

2. Run tcpwrappers to check if the name for an ip address can
be provided by DNC
3. Use a callback system to prevent unauthorised use of
stolen passwords.

PREVENTING ILLEGAL ROOT ACCESS

To prevent any illegal root access, we should have
Sudo, so that people can perform on some
machine without getting access to the entire root if
that is not required. In addition, with Sudo we did
not have to give out the root password.

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Sudo stands for (Superuser do) and is a program in Unix, Linux and similar
operating systems such as Mac OS X that allows users to run programs in the
form of another user (normally in the form of the system's superuser).

Sudo allows a permitted user to execute a command as the superuser

or another user, as specified in the sudoers file.

PATCH
Patch supplies small updates to software,
provided that the source code is available.

Patch is a name of an UNIX utility. It applies a

script generated by the different program to a set
of files that allows changes from one file to be
directly applied to another file.

Resources are not enough to patch all security holes that we hear
about through the bugtraq list.

(Bugtraq is a full disclosure mailing list dedicated to the issues of computer

security. On-topic discussions are new discussions about vulnerabilities,
methods of exploitation and how to fix them. It is a high volume mailing list
and almost all new vulnerabilities are discussed there.)
DATA PROCESSING
Introduction
 Data refers to the raw facts that do not have much meaning to the user and may
include numbers, letters, symbols, sound or images.
 Information refers to the meaningful output obtained after processing the data.
 Data processing therefore refers to the process of transforming raw data into
meaningful output i.e. information.
 Data processing can be done manually using pen and paper. Mechanically using
simple devices like typewriters or electronically using modern data processing
tools such as computers.

Data processing cycle

o It refers to the sequence of activities involved in data transformation from

its row form to information. it is often referred to as cycle because the
output obtained can be stored after processing and may be used in future
as input.
o The four main stages of data processing cycle are:
 Data collection
 Data input
 Data processing
 Data output

1. Data collection

 Also referred to as data gathering or fact finding ,it involves looking for crucial
facts needed for processing.

Methods of data collection

 Include interviews; use of questionnaires, observation, etc.in most cases the

data is collected after sampling.
 Sampling is the process of selecting representative elements (e.g. people,
organizations) from an entire group (population) of interest. Some of the tools
that help in the data collection include source documents such as forms, data
capture devices such as digital camera etc.

Stages of data collection

  The process of data collection may involve a number of stages depending on the
method used. These include:
o Data creation: this is the process of identification and putting together
facts in an organized format. This may be in the form of manually
prepared document or captured from the source using a data capture
device such as a barcode reader and be inputted easily in a computer.
o Data preparation: this is the transcription (conversion) of data from
source document to machine readable form. This may not be the case for
all input devices. Data collected using devices that directly capture data in
digital form do not require transcription.
o Data transmission: this will depend on whether data need to be
transmitted via communication media to the central office.
4. Data input:
o Refers to the process where the collected data is converted from human
readable from to machine readable form (binary form). The conversion
takes place in the input device.
o Media conversion: data may need to be transmitted from one medium to
another e.g. from a floppy disk to a computer’s hard disk for faster input.
o Input validation: data entered into the computer is subjected to validity
checks by a computer program before being processed to reduce errors as
the input.
o Sorting: in case the data needs to be arranged in a predefined order, it is
first sorted before processing.
9. Processing
o This is the transformation of the input data by the CPU to a more
meaningful output (information).Some of the operations performed on the
data include calculations, comparing values and sorting.
11. Output
o The final activity in the data processing cycle is producing the desired
output also referred to as information. This information can
be distributed to the target group or stored for future use. Distribution is
making information available to those who need it and is sometimes
called information dissemination. This process of dissemination may
involve electronic presentation over the radio or television, distribution of
hard copies, broadcasting messages over the internet or mobile phones
etc.

Description of errors in data processing


1. Computational errors
o Occurs when an arithmetic operation does not produce the expected
results. The most common computation errors
include overflow, truncation and rounding
o Overflow errors
o Occurs if the result from a calculation is too large to be stored in the
allocated memory space. For example if a byte is represented using 8 bits,
an overflow will occur if the result of a calculation gives a 9-bit number.
o Truncation errors
o Result from having real numbers that have a long fractional part which
cannot fit in the allocated memory space. The computer would truncate or
cut off the extra characters from the fractional part. For example, a number
like 0.784969 can be truncated to four digits to become 0.784

The accuracy of the computer output is critical. As the saying goes garbage in
garbage out (GIGO),the accuracy of the data entered in the computer directly
determines the accuracy of the information given out.

 Some of the errors that influence the accuracy of data input and information
output include

 Transcription,
 Computation and
 Algorithm or logical errors.

 2.Transcription errors

 Occurs during data entry. Such errors

include misreading and transposition errors
 Misreading errors
 Are brought about by the incorrect reading of the source by the user and hence
entering wrong values. For example a user may misread a handwritten figure
such as 589 and type S89 instead i.e. confusing 5 for S.

 Transposition errors
 Results form incorrect arrangement of characters i.e. putting characters in the
wrong order. For example the user might enter 396 instead of 369.
 These errors may be avoided by using modern capture devices such as bar code
readers, digital cameras etc which enter data with the minimum user intervention.
  Rounding errors
 Results from raising or lowering a digit in a real number to the required rounded
number. for example, to round off 30.666 to one decimal place we raise the first
digit after the decimal point if its successor is more than or equal to five. In this
case the successor is 6 therefore 30.666 rounded up to one decimal place is
30.7.if the successor is below five,e.g.30.635,we round down the number to 30.6

1. Algorithm or logical errors

o An algorithm is a set of procedural steps followed to solve a given
problem. Algorithms are used as design tools when writing programs.
Wrongly designed programs would result in a program that runs but gives
erroneous output. Such errors that result from wrong algorithm design are
referred to as algorithm or logical errors.

Data integrity
 Data integrity refers to the accuracy and completeness of data entered in a computer or
received from the information system. Integrity is measured in terms
of accuracy, timeliness and relevance of data.

 Accuracy
 It refers to how close an approximation is to an actual value. As long as the correct
instructions and data are entered, computers produce accurate results efficiently. In
numbers, the accuracy of a real number depends on the number. For example, 72.1264 is
more accurate than 72.13.

 Timeliness
 This is the relative accuracy of data in respect to the current state of affairs for which it is
needed.
 This is important because data and information have a time value attached to them. If
received late, the information may have become useless to the user. For example,
information in the newspaper that is meant to invite people for a meeting or occasion
must be printed prior to the event and not later.

 Relevance
 Data entered into the computer must be relevant so as to get the expected output. In this
case, relevance means that the data entered must be pertinent to the processing needs at
hand and must meet the requirements of the processing cycle. The user also needs
relevant information for daily operations or decision making.

Threat to data integrity

 Threats to data integrity can be minimized through the following ways:

  Backup data preferably on external storage media.
 Control access to data by enforcing security measures.
 Design user interfaces that minimize chances of invalid data entry.
 Using error detection and correction software when transmitting data
 Using devices that directly capture data from the source such as bar code readers, digital
cameras, and optical scanners.

Data processing methods

 As mentioned earlier, data can be processed manually, mechanically and electronically.

1. Manual data processing

 In manual data processing, most tasks are done manually with a pen and a paper. For
example in a busy office, incoming tasks (input) are stacked in the “tray” (output). The
processing of each task involves a person using the brain in order to respond to queries.
 The processed information from the out tray is then distributed to the people who need it
or stored in a file cabinet.

1. Mechanical data processing

 Manual is cumbersome and boring especially repetitive tasks. Mechanical devices were
developed to help in automation of manual tasks. Examples of mechanical devices
include the typewriter, printing press, and weaving looms. Initially, these devices did not
have electronic intelligence.

1. Electronic data processing

 For a long time, scientists have researched on how to develop machine or devices that
would stimulate some form of human intelligence during data and information
processing. This was made possible to some extent with the development of electronic
programmable devices such as computers.
 The advent of microprocessor technology has greatly enhanced data processing efficiency
and capability. Some of the micro processor controlled devices include computers,
cellular(mobile) phones, calculators, fuel pumps, modern television sets, washing
machines etc

Computer files
 A file can be defined as a collection of related records that give a complete set of
information about a certain item or entity. A file can be stored manually in a file cabinet
or electronically in computer storage devices.
 Computerized storage offers a much better way of holding information than the manual
filing system which heavily relies on the concept of the file cabinet.
  Some of the advantages of computerized filing system include:

1. information takes up much less space than the manual filing

2. it is much easier to update or modify information
3. it offers faster access and retrieval of data
4. It enhances data integrity and reduces duplication
5. It enhances security of data if proper care is taken to secure it.

Elements of computer file

 A computer file is made up of three elements: characters, fields and records.

 Characters
 A character is the smallest element in a computer file and refers to letter, number or
symbol that can be entered, stored and output by a computer. A character is made up of
seven or eight bits depending on the character coding scheme used.

 Field
 A field is a single character or collection of characters that represents a single piece of
data. For example, the student’s admission number is an example of a field.

 Records
 A record is a collection of related fields that Represents a single entities, e.g. in a class
score sheet, detail of each student in a row such as admission number, name, total marks
and position make up a record.

Logical and physical files

 Computer files are classified as either physical or logical

 Logical files
 A computer file is referred to as logical file if it is viewed in terms of what data item it
contains and details of what processing operations may be performed on the data items. It
does not have implementation specific information like field, data types, size and file
type.

 Physical files
 As opposed to a logical file, a physical file is viewed in terms of how data is stored on a
storage media and how the processing operations are made possible. Physical files have
implementation specific details such as characters per field and data type for each field.

Types of Computer Processing Files

 There are numerous types of files used for storing data needed for processing, reference
or back up. The main common types of processing files include
  Master files,
 Transaction,
 Reference,
 Backup, report and
 Sort file.

1. Master file

 A master file is the main that contains relatively permanent records about particular items
or entries. For example a customer file will contain details of a customer such as
customer ID, name and contact address.

1. Transaction (movement) file

A transaction file is used to hold data during transaction processing. The file is later used to
update the master file and audit daily, weekly or monthly transactions. For example in a busy
supermarket, daily sales are recorded on a transaction file and later used to update the stock file.
The file is also used by the management to check on the daily or periodic transactions.

Reference file

A reference file is mainly used for reference or look-up purposes. Look-up information is that
information that is stored in a separate file but is required during processing. For example, in a
point of sale terminal, the item code entered either manually or using a barcode reader looks up
the item description and price from a reference file stored on a storage device.

Backup file

A backup files is used to hold copies (backups) of data or information from the computers fixed
storage (hard disk). Since a file held on the hard disk may be corrupted, lost or changed
accidentally, it is necessary to keep copies of the recently updated files. Incase of the hard disk
failure, a backup file can be used to reconstruct the original file.

Report file

Used to store relatively permanent records extracted from the master file or generated after
processing. For example you may obtain a stock levels report generated from an inventory
system while a copy of the report will be stored in the report file.
Sort file
It stores data which is arranged in a particular order.

 Used mainly where data is to be processed sequentially. In sequential processing, data or

records are first sorted and held on a magnetic tape before updating the master file.

File organization methods

  File organization refers to the way data is stored in a file. File organization is very
important because it determines the methods of access, efficiency, flexibility and storage
devices to use. There are four methods of organizing files on a storage media. This
include:

 sequential,
 random,
 serial and
 indexed-sequential

1. Sequential file organization

 Records are stored and accessed in a particular order sorted using a key field.
 Retrieval requires searching sequentially through the entire file record by record to the
end.
 Because the record in a file are sorted in a particular order, better file searching methods
like the binary search technique can be used to reduce the time used for searching a file .
 Since the records are sorted, it is possible to know in which half of the file a particular
record being searched is located, Hence this method repeatedly divides the set of records
in the file into two halves and searches only the half on which the records is found.
 For example, of the file has records with key fields 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and the computer is
searching for a record with key field 50, it starts at 40 upwards in its search, ignoring the
first half of the set.

Advantages of sequential file organization

 The sorting makes it easy to access records.

 The binary chop technique can be used to reduce record search time by as much as half
the time taken.

Disadvantages of sequential file organization

 The sorting does not remove the need to access other records as the search looks for
particular records.
 Sequential records cannot support modern technologies that require fast access to stored
records.
 The requirement that all records be of the same size is sometimes difficult to enforce.

1. Random or direct file organization

 Records are stored randomly but accessed directly.

 To access a file stored randomly, a record key is used to determine where a record is
stored on the storage media.
 Magnetic and optical disks allow data to be stored and accessed randomly.

Advantages of random file access

  Quick retrieval of records.
 The records can be of different sizes.

1. Serial file organization

 Records in a file are stored and accessed one after another.

 The records are not stored in any way on the storage medium this type of organization is
mainly used on magnetic tapes.

Advantages of serial file organization

 It is simple
 It is cheap

Disadvantages of serial file organization

 It is cumbersome to access because you have to access all proceeding records before
retrieving the one being searched.
 Wastage of space on medium in form of inter-record gap.
 It cannot support modern high speed requirements for quick record access.

1. Indexed-sequential file organization method

 Almost similar to sequential method only that, an index is used to enable the computer to
locate individual records on the storage media. For example, on a magnetic drum,
records are stored sequential on the tracks. However, each record is assigned an index
that can be used to access it directly.

Electronic data processing methods

 There are several ways in which a computer, under the influences of an operating system
is designed to process data.
 Examples of processing modes are:

1. online processing
2. real time processing
3. distributed processing
4. Time sharing
5. Batch processing
6. multiprocessing
7. multitasking
8. interactive processing

1. Online processing
 In online data processing data is processed immediately it is received. The computer is
connected directly to the data input unit via a communication link. The data input may be
a network terminal or online input devices attached to the computer.

1. Real-time processing

 Computer processes the incoming data as soon as it occurs, updates the transaction file
and gives an immediate response that would affect the events as they happen.
 This is different from online in that for the latter an immediate response may not be
required.
 The main purpose of a real-time processing is to provide accurate, up-to-date information
hence better services based on a true (real) situation.
 An example of a real time processing is making a reservation for airline seats. A
customer may request for an airline booking information through a remote terminal and
the requested information will be given out within no time by the reservation system. If a
booking is made, the system immediately updates the reservation file to avoid double
booking and sends the response back to the customer immediately.

 Distributed data processing

 Multiprogramming, also referred to as multitasking refers to a type of processing where
more than one program are executed apparently at the same time by a single central
processing unit.Distributed data processing refers to dividing (distributing) processing
tasks to two or more computer that are located on physically separate sites but connected
by data transmission media.
1. MultiprogrammingFor example, a distributed database will have
different tables of the same database residing on separate computers and
processed there as need arises.
 This distribution of processing power increases efficiency and
speed of processing. An example is in the banking industry where
customers’ accounts are operated on servers in the branches but all
the branch accounts can be administered centrally from the main
server as if they resided on it. In this case, we say that the
distributed database is transparent to the user because the
distribution is hidden from the user’s point of view.
1. Time sharing
 In a time sharing processing, many terminals connected to a central
computer are given access to the central processing unit apparently
at the same time. However in actual sense, each user is allocated a
time slice of the CPU in sequence. The amount of time allocated to
each user is controlled by a multi-user operating system. If a user’s
task is not completed during the allocated time slice, he/she is
allocated another time slice later in a round robin
1. Batch processing
 Data is accumulated as a group (batch) over a specified period of
time e.g. daily, weekly or monthly. The batch is then processed at
once.
 For example in payroll processing system, employees details
concerning the number of hours worked, rate of pay, and other
details are collected for a period of time say, one month. These
details are then used to process the payment for the duration
worked. Most printing systems use the batch processing to print
documents.
1. Multiprocessing
 Refers to the processing of more than one task at the same time on
different processors of the same computer. This is possible in
computers such as mainframes and network servers.
 In such systems a computer may contain more than one
independent central processing unit which works together in a
coordinated way.
 At a given time, the processors may execute instructions from two
or more different programs or from different parts of one program
simultaneously.
 This coordination is made possible by a multi-processing operating
system that enables different processors to operate together and
share the same memoryThe users of the distributed database will
be completely unaware of the distribution and will interact with the
database as if all of it was in their computer.