Computer Science Test 3 Nddc Scholarship

A honeypot is a security tool designed to look like a vulnerable and high-value target to lure in hackers. While the attacker believes they are successfully infiltrating a system, security professionals are actually monitoring their every move to study their methods, tools, and intentions without putting the organization's real data at risk.

Computer crime, or cybercrime, refers to any illegal act where a computer is either the tool used to commit the crime or the target itself. Intentional breaches—such as hacking into a private server, stealing financial data, or launching a malware attack—fall under this category and are subject to criminal prosecution under modern digital laws.

A backdoor is a method of bypassing normal authentication or encryption in a computer system, a product, or an embedded device. While sometimes used by developers for troubleshooting, they are highly dangerous if discovered by hackers, as they provide a 'secret entrance' that allows persistent, unauthorized access to a network without the owner's knowledge.

A drive-by download occurs when a user simply visits a malicious or compromised website, and malware is automatically installed on their system through browser vulnerabilities. This is particularly dangerous because it requires no active participation from the user, such as clicking a link or downloading a file, making it a favorite tool for distributing spyware.

A botnet is a collection of internet-connected devices that have been infected with malware and are controlled as a group by a malicious actor. These 'zombie' computers can be used to send massive amounts of spam, steal data, or launch Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, often without the owners ever realizing their machines are compromised.

The internet is a public network, and by its very design, information sent across it passes through multiple servers and routers. While encryption (like HTTPS) can keep the content of your messages private, your general activity, IP address, and metadata are often visible to ISPs, websites, and potential interceptors. Privacy is something that must be actively managed rather than assumed.