Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Using Information Technology, 10e

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Chapter Topics

6.1 From the Analog to the Digital Age

6.2 Networks
6.3 Cyberthreats, Hackers, & Safeguards

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

6.1 From the Analog

to the Digital Age

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Analog versus Digital Electrical Signals:

Continuous Waves versus Discontinuous Bursts
• Digital
• Computers use digital signals—0s and 1s, off and on.
• All the data that a computer processes is a series of
0s and 1s.
• Each signal is a bit.
• Analog
• But most phenomena in life are analog.
• Analog signals use wave variations.
• Sound, light, and temperature are analog forms.
• Traditional TV and radio use analog signals.
• Humans’ vision operates in analog mode.

But analog data can be converted into digital form. Even though
digital data is not as exact as analog data, it is easier to
manipulate. 4
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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Purpose of the Modem: Converting Digital

Signals to Analog Signals & Back
• For data transmission over telephone lines and
cables, modems are needed to convert analog
data into digital data that computers can use.

• Modem is short for modulate/demodulate.

Modems modulate (convert) a computer’s digital
data to analog data, transmit it, then demodulate
(reconvert) it back to digital data for the receiving
computer.

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

• Converting Reality to Digital Form:

• Tape recorders, voices, and musical instruments are
analog; CDs are digital
• To burn a CD, the digital recording equipment must
convert from analog to digital

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

6.2 Networks

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Network
• A network, or communications network, is a system of
interconnected computers, telephones, and/or other
communications devices that can communicate with one
another and share applications and data.
• Benefits of Networks
• Share peripheral devices, such as printers,
scanners, disk drives
• Share programs and data
• Better communications, including email
• Access to shared databases

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Network
• Some disadvantages of networks:
• Expense: The initial set up cost of a computer
network can be high depending on the number of
computers to be connected and the number of
connecting devices and NICs .
• Security Issues: If a computer is on a network, a
computer hacker can get unauthorized access by
using different tools.
• Rapid Spread of Computer Viruses: If any computer
system in a network gets affected by computer virus,
there is a possible threat of other systems getting
affected, too.
• Dependency on the Main File Server: If the main file
server of a computer network breaks down, the
entire system can become useless.
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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Main types of networks

Networks differ in size of coverage and degree of specialty of
application.
• A wide area network (WAN) is a communications network that
covers a wide geographic area, such as a country or the world.
• The best example of a WAN is the Internet, which may be
privately owned or rented (or use both private and leased
lines), including public (shared-user) networks.
• A WAN may use a combination of
satellites, fiber-optic cable, microwave,
and copper-wire connections and link
a variety of computers, from
mainframes to terminals.
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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Main types of networks

• A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a communications
network covering a city or a suburb. Many cellphone systems
are MANs, and some cities set up wireless MANs to connect
local area networks to the Internet.
• A local area network (LAN) connects computers and devices
in a limited geographic area, such as one office, one building,
or a group of buildings close together.
• LANs are the basis for most office networks and are usually
proprietary—the organization that runs the LAN owns it.
• A newer example of a LAN is a home area
network , which links a household’s digital
devices —computers, printers, DVD players,
television sets, and home security systems.
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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Network Architectures: How Networks Are

Structured — Client-Server & Peer to Peer
1. Client/Server
• Consists of clients, which are
computers that request data, and
servers, which are computers that
supply data.
• Different servers may be used to
manage different tasks such as Mail
Server, File Server, Web Server, etc.

2. Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
• All computers on the network are
“equal” and communicate directly
with one another, without relying on
servers.
• Peer-to-peer networks are easy to
set up, less expensive than client-
server networks, for small firms.
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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

WHICH ARCHITECTURE IS BETTER?

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Intranets, Extranets, VPNs, & Firewalls

Intranets & Extranets: use the Internet as their base

• Intranets—use infrastructure and standards
of the Internet and the web, but for an
organization’s internal use only. For example,
company policy, email addresses, news,
schedules, medical and insurance forms,
employee benefit information, jobs available,
etc.
• Extranets—similar to intranets but allows use
by selected outside entities, such as suppliers
and other strategic parties; purchasing,
supporting a mobile sales force, product
plans, obtaining customer feedback via the
public communications systems. 14
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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Intranets, Extranets, VPNs, & Firewalls

• VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS
(VPNs)— a private network that uses
a public network (usually the Internet)
to connect remote sites.
• VPN works by using the shared public
infrastructure of the Internet while
maintaining privacy through special
security procedures.
• FIREWALLS FOR SECURITY— is a
system of hardware and/or software
that protects a computer or a network
from intruders.
• There are two types of firewalls—
software and hardware
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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Components of a Network
• HOSTS & NODES (The client-server type of network)
• A host computer, a central computer that controls the
network.
• A node is any device that is attached (wired or wireless) to a
network—for example, a microcomputer, storage device,
scanner, or printer.

• PACKETS — is a fixed-length block of data for transmission. Each

packet typically contains 1,000–1,500 bytes. The various packets
are sent through a communications packet-switching network,
such as the Internet.

• PROTOCOLS — or communications protocol, is a set of

conventions governing the exchange of data between hardware
and/or software components in a communications network.
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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Network linking devices

• Backbone—Main Internet highway that connects all networks in
an organization; includes switches, bridge, gateways, routers, etc.
• Switch— A device that connects computers to a network; sends
data between sender and receiver nodes, which allow data to be
transmitted back and forth at the same time, inspect data
packets as they are received.
• Bridge—Interface device that connects same type of networks.
For instance, similar LANs can be joined together to create larger
area networks.
• Gateway—Interface device that connects dissimilar networks.
For instance, between a LAN and a WAN or between two LANs
based on different network operating systems or different
layouts.
• Router—Device that directs messages among several networks,
wired and/or wireless, , used as devices in offices and home
offices to connect cable or DSL. 17
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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Backbone

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Network topologies
Star network
• is one in which all microcomputers and other
communications devices are directly connected to a central
network switch.
• The central switch monitors the flow of traffic. A PBX
system—a “private branch exchange” telephone system.
• The Ethernet communications protocol is embedded in
software and hardware devices intended for building LAN,
and it is commonly used in star topologies.

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Network topologies
Ring network
• A ring network is one in which all microcomputers and other
communications devices are connected in a continuous loop.
• Electronic messages are passed around the ring until they
reach the right destination. There is no central server.

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Network topologies
Bus network
• All nodes are connected to a single wire or cable, called the
bus. The bus has two endpoints, or terminators, which stop
the network signal. Each communications device on the
network transmits electronic messages to other devices.
• Works like a bus system at rush hour, with various buses
pausing in different bus zones to pick up passengers

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Network topologies
Tree network
• Often used by corporations to share organization-wide data,
a tree network is a bus network of star networks.
• A tree network might be found on a university campus in
which each department has its own star network with its
own central computer.

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Network topologies
Mesh network
• is based on the principle that each node has more than one
connection to the other nodes so that a message can take
any possible shortest, easiest route to reach its destination.
• There must be at least two paths to any individual computer
to create a mesh network. (Wireless networks are often
implemented as a mesh, and the Internet is a mesh.)

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

Network topologies

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

6.3 Cyberthreats,
Hackers, & Safeguards

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

• Problem: Internet was begun to foster collaboration

among universities and scientists. They trusted one
another. No security was built into the Internet.
• Problem: The Internet is open-access and is used by
criminals who take advantage of the lack of built-in
safeguards.
• Problem: Most people connect to the Internet and use
their computers in LANs. All it takes is one computer on
a LAN that has been compromised for all computers on
it to be vulnerable to malware and other threats.
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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

• Cyberthreats
• Denial of Service Attacks
• Consist of making repeated requests of a computer or
network device, thereby overloading it and denying access
to legitimate users
• Used to target particular companies or individuals
• Viruses
• Deviant program that hides in a file or a program on a disk,
flash memory drive, in an e-mail, or in a web link that
causes unexpected effects such as destroying or corrupting
data

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

• Cyberthreats (continued)
• Trojan Horses
• Programs that pretend to be a useful program such as a
free game or a screensaver but that carry viruses or
malicious instructions that damage your computer or
install a backdoor or spyware
• Backdoors and spyware allow others to access your
computer without your knowledge
• Worms
• A program that copies itself repeatedly into a computer’s
memory or disk drive
• May copy itself so much it crashes the infected computer
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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

• Cyberthreats (continued)
• How they spread
• Via e-mail attachments
• By infected disks and flash drives
• By clicking on infiltrated websites
• By downloading infected files from websites
• From one infected PC on a LAN to another

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

• Cybervillains
• Hackers are either
• Computer people who enjoy learning
about programming and computers
• People who gain unauthorized access to
computers or networks, often for fun or
just to see if they can

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

• Online Safety
• Use antivirus software, and keep it current
• Install a firewall to monitor network traffic and filter out
undesirable types of traffic and undesirable sites
• Don’t use the same password for multiple sites
• Don’t give out any password information
• Use robust passwords:
• Minimum 8 characters with letters, numbers, characters
• 4cats is not a good password; f0UrK@tTz is safer

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

• Online Safety (continued)

• Install antispyware software
• Back up your data, so if your PC is attacked and must
be reformatted, you can restore your data
• Never download from a website you don’t trust
• Consider biometric authentication

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 Introduction to Information Technology: Your Digital World

• Online Safety (continued)

• Biometrics: science of measuring individual body
characteristics
• Used in security devices
• Examples; hands, fingerprints, iris recognition, face
recognition, voice recognition
• Now available on laptops

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