solved

™
Cambridge IGCSE

Asmita Parnami

I A 1 4 5 0 2 0 9

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY 0417/12

*3882223209*

Paper 1 Theory May/June 2023

1 hour 30 minutes

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

INSTRUCTIONS
• Answer all questions.
• Use a black or dark blue pen.
• Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
• Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
• Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
• Do not write on any bar codes.
• You may use an HB pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working.

INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 80.
• The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].
• No marks will be awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.

This document has 12 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

06_0417_12_2023_1.13
© UCLES 2023 [Turn over
 2

1 A book contains a bar code whose number is 503619309903

Tick (✓) the most appropriate validation check to test the validity of the bar code.

A check digit

B format check

C range check

D spell check
[1]

2 Identify the most appropriate hardware from the descriptions given:

(a) non-volatile internal memory used to store the start-up instructions

Random access memory
........................................................................................................................................... [1]

(b) an internal component that provides the input and output of audio signals
Sound card
........................................................................................................................................... [1]

(c) an internal component that is composed of the main memory, the control unit and the arithmetic
logic unit.

CPU/Central processing unit

........................................................................................................................................... [1]

3 A headteacher is producing a web page about the history of her school. She has been given some
old hard-copy photographs which she will include on the web page. She has a digital camera and
a scanner to use to convert the hard-copy photographs into a digital format.

Compare the use of a digital camera with a scanner in this scenario. Your answer must include
similarities and differences.
Similarities
..................................................................................................................................................
Both capture images
Both store digital data
..................................................................................................................................................
Both create digital images
..................................................................................................................................................
Differences
Digital camera is more portable
..................................................................................................................................................
Scanner captures the image in more detail
Scanners do not have a keystone effect
..................................................................................................................................................
Digital camera may capture glare/shadow off the image
Digital camera has faster data capture
..................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................. [4]

© UCLES 2023 06_0417_12_2023_1.13

 3

4 A company uses an extranet.

(a) Explain what is meant by an extranet.

...........................................................................................................................................
1 An extranet is part of a company's intranet
2 The company gives permission for customers and suppliers to access it
...........................................................................................................................................
3 Enables businesses to exchange information over the internet in a secure way
4 Requires credentials/username and password to access it
...........................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... [2]

(b) Describe the differences between the internet and an extranet.

Internet allows public access to information whereas Extranet allows limited
...........................................................................................................................................
access
Extranet is more secure
...........................................................................................................................................
The internet is not owned by anyone whereas the Extranet is owned by a
company
...........................................................................................................................................
More information on the internet
........................................................................................................................................... [2]

5 State which health issue is most likely to occur from each description shown. Your answer must
be different in each case.

(a) typing on a keyboard for long periods of time

Repetitive strain injury
........................................................................................................................................... [1]

(b) looking at a computer screen for a long time

Eye strain/Headache
........................................................................................................................................... [1]

(c) sitting with poor posture

Back ache
........................................................................................................................................... [1]

© UCLES 2023 06_0417_12_2023_1.13 [Turn over

 4

6 A company requires its employees to regularly change their login passwords for the company’s
computer systems. Passwords must be strong and cannot be reused.

(a) Explain three problems that may occur when the employees change their passwords regularly.

1 The passwords could become similar …

........................................................................................................................................
… security/passwords could be weakened
...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

2 May
........................................................................................................................................
be more difficult to find a different password …
… the passwords/security could be weakened
...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
Users could easily forget the current password … leading to system lock out
3 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
4 It may be typed incorrectly as the password is like the previous one …
...........................................................................................................................................
… could lead to login errors
[6]
5 Users may have to write the passwords down so they are not forgotten …
… this may lead to others seeing the passwords
(b) The company has a website which uses a digital certificate.

Explain the purpose of the digital certificate.

1 To ensure a website is trusted/authentic/genuine

...........................................................................................................................................
2 Verifies if the company owns the website
........................................................................................................................................... [1]

(c) A digital certificate is attached to an email.

State three items contained in a digital certificate.

Company/owner's name
1 ........................................................................................................................................

Owner's/company public key

2 ........................................................................................................................................

Date issued
3 ........................................................................................................................................
4 Expiry date
5 Company/owner's digital signature [3]
6 Issuer's/Sender’s name
7 Serial number

© UCLES 2023 06_0417_12_2023_1.13

 5

7 A student is creating a spreadsheet that includes a formula to check a number entered in a cell is
between two values.

• The number is entered in cell A10 as an integer.

• If the number is between the two values then a message ‘OK’ is displayed, otherwise ‘error’
is displayed.

The formula the student has created is:

=IF(AND(A10>1,A10<32),"OK","error")

Data will be used to test the formula.

(a) Identify two items of extreme test data the student should use and give the reason why this
data was chosen.

2
Extreme test data 1 ..........................................................................................................

32
Extreme test data 2 ..........................................................................................................

To test the boundaries (of the formula)

Reason .............................................................................................................................
//To test the comparisons are correct
...........................................................................................................................................

[3]

(b) The student has entered an item of abnormal test data.

Explain why abnormal test data is used.

1 To test that data outside the range is not acceptable

...........................................................................................................................................
2 To test that the correct data type is entered
3 To test that the error message works
...........................................................................................................................................
4 To test that the errors are trapped correctly
...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... [3]

© UCLES 2023 06_0417_12_2023_1.13 [Turn over

 6

8 A teacher provides revision lessons during the holidays. The teacher plans to use web-conferencing
for the lessons.

(a) Explain what is meant by web-conferencing.

1 Form of real-time/live/online communication

...........................................................................................................................................
2 Multiple users/devices connect … using the internet
3 All users see the same screen.
...........................................................................................................................................
4 Communication using video cameras/microphones
...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... [3]

(b) Evaluate the use of web-conferencing in this scenario.

Positives
...........................................................................................................................................
The students save time as they do not need to travel to the school
The students save the cost of travelling to the school.
...........................................................................................................................................
The school saves costs as it does not need to open in the holidays
Students and teachers can work from anywhere in the world
...........................................................................................................................................
Can be recorded for students who miss the lesson
...........................................................................................................................................
Negatives
Hardware/software could be expensive
...........................................................................................................................................
Requires a good/reliable internet connection
...........................................................................................................................................
There could be issues with child protection
...........................................................................................................................................
More difficult to concentrate/motivate
...........................................................................................................................................
If the hardware breaks/loss of connection/lack of hardware then the student cannot
...........................................................................................................................................
participate
...........................................................................................................................................
Only students with the correct specialist devices will be able to access
...........................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... [6]

© UCLES 2023 06_0417_12_2023_1.13

 7

9 (a) The products in a warehouse contain either a bar code or a Radio Frequency Identification
(RFID) tag.

The data about each product is read electronically.

Compare bar code readers and RFID readers. Your answer must include similarities and
differences.

Similarities
...........................................................................................................................................
Both readers scan the product code
Both readers use direct data entry
...........................................................................................................................................
Both readers allow tracking of products
Both readers are contactless
...........................................................................................................................................

Differences
...........................................................................................................................................
Bar code readers only scan one bar code at a time whereas RFID readers
read multiple tags at the same time
...........................................................................................................................................
Bar code readers require a direct line-of-sight with the code
RFID readers use near-field technology
...........................................................................................................................................
Bar code readers need to be close to the bar code
...........................................................................................................................................
Bar code needs to be in the correct position for reader to be able to read it
...........................................................................................................................................
Bar codes readers might not be able to read a damaged/scratched bar code
...........................................................................................................................................
whereas RFID can read data as long as chip/tag is not severely damaged.
...........................................................................................................................................
Bar code reader might have read errors if the bar code is damaged/scratched
...........................................................................................................................................
whereas RFID readers are more likely to read damaged/scratched tags
........................................................................................................................................... [6]
Bar code readers emit/use light whereas RFID uses electromagnetic/radio waves
(b) Identify two other uses of RFID.

Race timing Tracking

1 ........................................................................................................................................

Event Attendee Tracking

2 ........................................................................................................................................
3 Livestock Tracking
4 Library book Tracking [2]
5 Contactless/credit/debit card payment
6 Passports/ID cards

© UCLES 2023 06_0417_12_2023_1.13 [Turn over

 8

10 Metatags can be used in a web page.

(a) A metatag can be used to define the viewport settings.

Identify three other items that can be defined in metatags.

Name attributes
1 ........................................................................................................................................

Charset//Character set
2 ........................................................................................................................................

Content attributes
3 ........................................................................................................................................

[3]

(b) Metatags are used in the HTML of web pages.

State the section of the HTML which contains the metatags.

The <head> element

........................................................................................................................................... [1]

11 Some gaming systems use gesture based user interfaces to operate a game.

(a) Describe what is meant by a gesture based user interface.

1 Where the human body interacts with the device

...........................................................................................................................................
2 Where a human gives a command ...
… without using a keyboard/mouse/pointing device
...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... [2]

(b) Describe the drawbacks of using gesture based user interfaces in this way.
Fatigue/gorilla arm
...........................................................................................................................................
User can unintentionally activate the device …
… by moving their arms/fingers
...........................................................................................................................................
Not as accurate as other interfaces
Issues with stopping the gesture …
...........................................................................................................................................
… if user touches a button, interface knows the command is completed
Have to learn what the gestures do//Having to remember the gestures
...........................................................................................................................................
Could cause damage if in restricted space
May have a limited number of gestures that can be used
...........................................................................................................................................
Users with physical disabilities may not be able to make the gestures
Have to use/learn the gestures accurately otherwise they may not be
...........................................................................................................................................
identified
...........................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... [4]

© UCLES 2023 06_0417_12_2023_1.13

 9

12 Movies can be stored on Blu-ray discs or an internal hard disk.

(a) Describe why Blu-ray discs are preferred to an internal hard disk for storing movies.

1 Data cannot be erased/edited

...........................................................................................................................................
2 Blu-ray discs are portable
3 As it is on an external device it does not take up internal storage
...........................................................................................................................................
4 You can have large number of Blu-ray discs therefore more storage
5 Hard Disk is fixed in the computer
...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... [4]

(b) Hard disks and Blu-ray discs are examples of backing storage.

(i) State two characteristics of backing storage.

Non-volatile
1 ............................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................

Stores data permanently

2 ............................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................
3 Slower to access than internal memory
[2]

(ii) Identify two other types of backing storage.

Magnetic tape
1 ............................................................................................................................

CD
2 ............................................................................................................................
3 DVD
4 DVD RAM [2]
5 Memory cards
6 Pen drives
7 SSD
8 Cloud storage
9 Flash memory

© UCLES 2023 06_0417_12_2023_1.13 [Turn over

 10

13 Weather forecasters use computer modelling.

(a) Explain why computer modelling is used to forecast the weather.

1 The large number of variables makes it more difficult for a human to forecast
...........................................................................................................................................
correctly/accurately
2 Can predict long range weather trends/global warming
...........................................................................................................................................
3 Faster ways of producing weather patterns than using a human
4 Can deal with the more complex calculations quicker
...........................................................................................................................................
5 More accurate results produced
6 Can give residents early warning of severe weather
...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... [4]

(b) Data is collected by different types of sensor and then input to the computer model to be
processed.

Identify two sensors that could be used to collect weather data.

Pressure
1 ........................................................................................................................................

Temperature
2 ........................................................................................................................................
3 Moisture/Humidity
4 Wind speed [2]

(c) The processed data is then output.

Identify two output devices that could be used.

Printer
1 ........................................................................................................................................
Monitor
2 ........................................................................................................................................

3 Plotter [2]

© UCLES 2023 06_0417_12_2023_1.13

 11

14 ePublishing software is used to create an ePublication to display a school’s yearly magazine.

(a) Describe the characteristics of an ePublication.

1 Allows multimedia to be embedded in the pages

...........................................................................................................................................
2 Allows auto change of pages
3 It is digital so can be used in other documents
...........................................................................................................................................
4 Sections can be linked internally/externally
5 Readers can interact with the ePublication
...........................................................................................................................................
6 Can be used by many users simultaneously
7 More up-to-date than physical magazines
...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... [4]

(b) The ePublishing software is subject to software copyright legislation.

Give two methods that could be used to prevent software copyright legislation being broken.

Users type in a unique license key/serial number/authorisation key

1 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Users install DRM (parts of the code which stop you from copying it)
2 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
3 Use of license agreements
4 Getting permission from the owner [2]

© UCLES 2023 06_0417_12_2023_1.13