EXAM 2010 Opinions

[ben92]

^Even better.

Here's another link with the spelling 'swipe' - http://lifehacker.com/5520997/slideit-is-a-pretty-accurate-swipe+based-android-keyboard

[tazza]

When does the examiners report come out? After we get our results I presume?

[ttn]

^Even better.

Here's another link with the spelling 'swipe' - http://lifehacker.com/5520997/slideit-is-a-pretty-accurate-swipe+based-android-keyboard

When it says 'swipe-based', doesn't it refer to the actual motion of swiping? And if you read the article, it's basically just an alternative to the original 'swype' keyboard for android phones.

[SixWinged]

It's one letter's difference - the brand wrote 'y' to sell it, the actual technology would be called wipe I presume. In either cases, the other options are completely bogus aside from maybe encryption software if it meant offline file encryption like WinRAR.

In either case, no one got this question right, and if they did it was a guess.

The 'brand' is actually the inventor of the input style, the technology is definitely called Swype and is clearly not what the question was referring to since it's way outside the scope of the IT course. IT isn't about keeping up with every single advance in technology by every single company. If that was the case everyone would read Engadget rather than a textbook. Consdering the course is several years old, swype was not even around then.... And in either case, I didn't "guess" the answer I choose, I still maintain that CCTV is correct and I chose it based off eliminating the options that don't make sense.

If you want to see a keyboard swipe in action, just visit your local bank branch. Pretty sure they use something similar to that suggested by Google (and I don't mean an ATM/EFTPOS type machine, an actual keyboard with a swiping part on it.)

This is how I would define a keyboard swipe too, it's merely a physical incarnation of a password as far as I'm concerned.

[nacho]

So, we have a question (mind you, probably VCAA's best m.c question for ITA in history)
Question 3
The best equipment to detect unauthorised access to a password-protected file would be
A.      keyboard swipe.
B.      encryption software.
C.      closed circuit television.
D.      virus protection software.

Let's get over a few ambiguities
Definition
Detect: to discover something, usually using special equipment
Examples :
High levels of lead were detected in the atmosphere.
Radar equipment is used to detect (= find the position of) enemy aircraft.

So we have to choose an equipment which can detect something, the equipment has to be smart.
CCTV - laggy, at best i'm assuming 30 FPS.
CCTV FOOTAGE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgHQgpNub2Q
CCTV Camera: http://www.newsbiscuit.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Outside-Camera.jpg
It may be able to record someone walk into a room, use the computer, but it will not DETECT unauthorised access to a password protected file. For this, you need something smart.
And if any of you can suggest a way to put a CCTV camera, close enough to a computer screen to see what's going on (which i don't think works anyway) without someone noticing it, you must be a genius. (What's the point of putting a CCTV in front of a computer screen? Such limited vision.)

Anyways, so it can't be C.

Anyone who studied, would know encryption is the scrambling of data during transmission, so if intercepted, it cannot be read.
An anti-virus looks for virus signatures/malicious behaviour to seek a threat out and destroy it.

VCAA didn't expect us to know what the keyboard swipe thing was, this was not mentioned anywhere in the textbook.
We are supposed to figure the question out by eliminating the obvious incorrect answers.

[ben92]

Encryption can also mean the encryption of files and protection with a password like WinRAR. I reckon it's encryption or keyboard swipe. I think both are correct.

[papertissue]

I don't know if this sounds stupid, but can virus protection software trace a Trojan horse? Can't a Trojan horse access a password-protected file and the anti-virus software will then detect the virus signatures?

[nacho]

I ended up tossing up between Virus detection software and keyboard swipe, because virus detection software will notify you of malicious virus behaviour. But it WONT tell you "Whilst you were gone, someone tried to type your password in and got it wrong"

[ben92]

Theoretically speaking, a virus (like any other program) could be programmed to break through the password (e.g. dictionary attack, brute force) but that is casting an enormous bow.

Seriously, at different measures of possibility, every one of these answers is correct.

[Jeremys]

Is a swipe card like the things that they use in banks, like in the keyboard?

[nacho]

The question asks for a software/equipment which will tell you "someone accessed this whilst you were away"
Not for something which can break through passwords.
I don't know what a keyboard swipe is, but process of elimination leads me to believe that it cannot be B, C or D
Even though i changed my answer to D at the last moment T_T

[SixWinged]

<snip>

From Myriam-Webster, the first source I tried

Detect: to discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of <detect alcohol in the blood>

Question 3
The best equipment to detect unauthorised access to a password-protected file would be
A.      keyboard swipe.
B.      encryption software.
C.      closed circuit television.
D.      virus protection software.

A - Taking any of the interpretations of A in this thread, a faster method for texting on the go is completely irrelevant. A swipe card system will prevent access for those who don't have the proper card, but it won't detect an intruder who has stolen a card or hacked the system somehow.
B - Encryption software, again will prevent access in the case of file encryption, or in the case of network encryption will prevent access to the core data that is being transmitted.
C - Closed circuit television will provide a real-time or delayed feed showing a person accessing the system. Your assumptions about being laggy and of low quality are not inherit of CCTV. For all we know they plan on using a 1080p camera pointed directly at the screen or pointing from the screen right at the intruders face. Never mind that, simply seeing a figure in the room at the computer who is not a member of staff and cannot be accounted for immediately shows that someone is using the system without authorization (detection)
D - Perhaps we can make the argument that anti-virus software is able to detect access by viruses on the system, but I don't think that was the intended interpretation. I believe "access" was by a physical human.

It's pretty obvious to me that C is the "best" answer...

[Bomb505]

An anti-virus looks for virus signatures/malicious behaviour to seek a threat out and destroy it.

Who said that the file was accessed by a person? It could have been a virus. Some virus scanners scan every file accessed by computer applications, viruses included.

The issue is that the question asks too much and the answers cannot completely match the question. If the phase "password-protected" was to be removed then virus protection could very well be the answer.

[tcg93]

Mark Kelly's answers are out: http://www.vceit.com/postmortems/2010ita/index.htm

[papertissue]

I chose C, but now I'm really leaning towards D.. "access" could be from anywhere, it just depends how you interpret it. Plus, the anti-virus software will be more specific with when it was detected, what type of virus it is etc. (assuming you've got good software)
The CCTV may not be the BEST equipment, I'm afraid..