There are a range of measures you need to be aware of that can be used to help detect and prevent cyber security threats.
| Security measure |
Explanation |
| Biometrics |
Biometrics refers to the use of biometric data for security. This includes things like fingerprints, voiceprints, retina scans, and facial recognition that are all often used to unlock devices like phones. |
| Password system |
Enforcing the use of good passwords minimises the risk of someone breaking in. Old rules requiring uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols are no longer recommended because they result in people making obvious
and for a computer predictable swaps. At the same time the passwords would be hard for the user to remember themselves. Now either using a password manager and a very complex password or using a long password that
combines three random words but that will be memorable to you e.g. railwaycabbageoctopus. |
| CAPTCHA |
CAPTCHA stands for completely automated public turing test to tell computers and humans apart. It does just that. Tries to ensure a user of a website for instance is a human. This can help prevent DDOS attacks
where bots request the same site repeatedly to overwhelm it. It might involve identifying a phrase that is distorted so it can't be scanned and identified by a computer. Other common tasks include identifying things
in images such as traffic lights or bicycles |
| Email confirmation |
This is where those signing up to a website will be sent an email to confirm their identity. This means you cannot sign someone else up for an account by using their email address as you won't be able to confirm it.
Email confirmation also means that if you forget your password there is an address where you can be sent a link to update it. |
| Automatic updates |
Automatic updates regularly check online for updates to key programs. Many pieces of software check for updates whenever they are opened. Keeping the operating system up to date is the most important thing to avoid
known security flaws. |