Task 4

Web Architecture

How packet switching network works

If I had a file that was 2MB (file must be over 65Kb to be able to be broken down into data packets), this could be any file i.e. word document and I wanted to send this file to someone from a different country. The file would not be sent as the whole file, the file will be broken down into smaller data packets.

Before the any of the packets are transmitted, it is given a header that contains the IP of who it is being sent to; it will also have the IP from who sent it. The header will also display how many packets the document was split into.

The packets aren’t transmitted just through one computer to another.  The packets are instead sent on different paths, these paths are chosen by which one is the least busy. The router will then find out what is the next least busy and fastest direction that the packets to be sent to. During the different paths that the packets will take, if any of the branches malfunction or get too crowded, the packets will be automatically routed through to another path.

When the packet arrives to its destination it will be re assembled in order from the number it was given when the document was broken up (the header of the packet will have the number of each packet in order).

However, it is possible that some of these packets can become lost and they will most likely never arrive that their intended destination. There is a system that was created to deal with this issue, what was created is called a ‘hop’ count, and this was added to the header of the packet. What the hop does it set limit to the amount of times a packet can pass through each router. For example, if the limit was to 50, if the packet has passed just over 50 times and has not arrived at its destination the packet will be deleted by the following router.  (Teach-ICT, n.d.)

Advantages

There are no tied up lines, if the packet was to go through a direct route, there would be chance of an issue of this route and would have to go back to the start and find another route, packet switching allows the packet to go through many routes. The more customers, the network will expand slowly.

http://m.eet.com/media/1109821/TCPIPFig2.gif

Purpose and operation of Cloud Computing

The purpose of cloud computing is for users from around the world to store data online. This means that the user does need to have any external devices to move data around. This technology is relatively new to the world and has had its ups and downs. The most common use of cloud is with Apples iCloud. iDevice, users can upload there data to the Apple servers so that they don’t have to have the data on their phone.

However with this technology comes with many security risks. It has been said that it is possible that hackers can gain access to the server and can view unencrypted data. Recently celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence have said to have stored private images on the Apple iCloud service and hackers where able to breach the server and take these photos and upload them online. (STRANG, 2014)

Methods of information sharing and movements (Web 2.0)

The old web only consisted of static webpages these webpages made it hard for websites to interact with what is being hosted on a web server. This made the webpages look very dull; they were also much harder to develop. When Web 2.0 was introduced it was much easier to develop webpages and websites that where dynamic. One of the first concepts was Wikipedia, which allows information to be developed easily, unlike the old web that required code to constantly be changed when something was needed to be changed on the page. Web 2.0 has allows users to interact with communities and express their opinions on things like Blogs. Web functionality such as blogs are seen as online journals which are usually public, they allow other users to comment on them and express their feelings. Social networking sites are another method of information sharing and movement, sites such as Facebook and Twitter. These sites require people to sign up and use their own details such as name, and town they are currently living in. People can chat to one another via the chat rooms and share photos. These sites encourage the users to add more people to their friend list. (Anon., n.d.)

Another popular way for people to share information with Web 2.0 is the introduction of online applications. Usually applications will need to be installed to the clients computer, however these online applications usually only require the user to sign up. These applications most likely will use the Cloud computing technology. The cloud server will have all the users’ data they created from documents (Google Docs) however the user also has the option to save onto their local driver as well. Because these applications are online, Web 2.0 allows most popular websites to share the cloud data amongst each other, for example, Blogger allows users to embed Google Docs files. (Anon., n.d.)

Bibliography

Anon., n.d. [Online]
Available at: https://unit27and28.wordpress.com/m1-2/
[Accessed 3 December 2015].

Anon., n.d. Unit 28- website production. [Online]
Available at: https://prezi.com/847ax8jhcwhq/unit-28-website-production/
[Accessed 3 December 2015].

STRANG, F., 2014. Celebrity 4chan shock naked picture scandal: Full list of star victims preyed upon by hackers. [Online]
Available at: http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/celebrity-4chan-shock-naked-picture-4395155
[Accessed 3 December 2015].

Teach-ICT, n.d. What is .......... Packet Switching?. [Online]
Available at: http://www.teach-ict.com/technology_explained/packet_switching/packet_switching.html
[Accessed 27 November 2015].

 

 

Task 3

Introduction

In this fact sheet, I am going to be discussing the security risks that organisations like Orinoco© will face. I will also be explaining how these organisations can prevent these security issues from arising, i.e. Anti-Virus software. Finally, I will be talking about the laws and guidelines that organisations within the E-Commerce business will need to follow.

Security risks while online

E-commerce businesses such as Orinoco© will be facing a lot of security risks. The most common risks that they will be facing are, hackers attacking the site and trying to access customer information. Imposters will be downloading the layout of the site and hosting it, luring customers into thinking that is the real site, therefore stealing customer information. Hackers sending administrators/users infected programs that when ran will steal private information (passwords, bank details etc.) (UK, n.d.).

 

Viruses are a common way in which a computer can be infected, viruses can be created to steal the users passwords or to completely ruin their PC. If the use does not have an anti-virus installed, they will not know if they are infected with a virus. Viruses can also slow down the user PC considerably. RATs are a popular way in which a hacker can gain access to your PC. The hacker can watch your screen. Some RATs come with a key logger built in so they will be able to see what your key strokes are. The way the user can prevent these is to purchase a popular and reliable Anti-virus, however you are not protected fully because hackers always find a way to bypass them.

 

A very popular method that hackers use is phishing, phishing can occur when Trojan horses are installed on vulnerable machines. Keyloggers are popular and easy to use for hackers because all they have to do is target someone, make them execute the application and the victim’s keystrokes and URLs accessed will be sent to their email or FTP server address. (Tomar, 2012)

 

SQL injection is a huge security risk, if the website is not fully protected of up to date, hackers can find these loose ends in the website, and these can be found in places like URL or login boxes. If the hacker successfully abuses the bug found, they can have access to the whole database, and this includes passwords from everyone. Botnets are a huge issue for an e-commerce business because they can be used to initiate a stronger DDoS attack on the website.

Preventative Measures

There are many measures that e-commerce businesses can use to prevent hackers from causing serious damage among the business. The most common way is for the business to contact an internet security company that offers good security packages.

 By proceeding with frequent scans on the server, an organisation can identify any type of suspicious actions taking place, for example, worms, Trojans and viruses.  To further prevent security breaches, administrators for the e-commerce business should be using anti-viruses. This is because by using an anti-virus program, the users system will be scanned for any viruses and will warn the user about a file that may be infected.

 

Create a new and unique password different from any other websites you have visited, this is because if a hacker has found your password for one of the websites you logged onto, they may try to use the same password for the e-commerce business. However by using unique passwords for each website, they will not be able to gain access.

 

Be careful what you click on. If you have an anti-virus installed, you will be warned if a website that you are trying to access is untrusted. If you don’t have a security scanning program, you must be careful what you click on. Don’t download file that are hosted on sketchy websites. Or click on links sent to you via anonymous email. If you are careful, you will be able to prevent yourself from getting a virus that could damage the e-commerce business.

 

The e-commerce business should have a system in place that limits the amount of times a password can be entered incorrectly for the user targeted. This is extremely important because it would be extremely useful as the attacker will need to think wisely for which password they will attempt to use, if they keep failing they will be locked out and the administrators will be informed.

Laws and Guidelines (E-Commerce Businesses)

Guidelines that an e-commerce business must follow have been updated (Consumer Rights Act 2015 updated 1^st October 2015). The guideline was created to ensure that there are no disputes between the seller and the buyer and makes sure that both are not paranoid about losing out.

The guidelines states that the buyer must get what they paid for. The buyer has the right to reject and send back and goods that they bought that are faulty within 30 days. The services must be provided and that that they are taken seriously and carefully. If any goods are damaged, the buyer has the right to have the item returned and money sent back, or they have the right to have a replacement sent. Price reductions to goods that are not addressed after six months, i.e. second hand goods.

Consumer Protection law must be followed by the e-commerce business. If this law is not followed by the business, the business can be sued. The business must use signatures to keep data secure and not become hijacked.  These signatures can be things like encryption. Data protection act (1984, 1998, and 2000) must in place and followed as well. The act will tell the organisation what must be in place, for example back up procedures must be in place in the case of a disaster they can revert.  (Capper, 2015)

Bibliography

Capper, T., 2015. E-Commerce Guidelines for UK Online Businesses. [Online]
Available at: http://onlineownership.com/e-commerce-guidelines-for-uk-online-businesses/
[Accessed 19 November 2015].

Tomar, J., 2012. Security Threats with E-Commerce. [Online]
Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/jitendratomar/6-security-threats-with-ecommerce
[Accessed 18 Novermber 2015].

UK, F., n.d. Identifying e-commerce threats and vulnerabilities. [Online]
Available at: http://findlaw.co.uk/law/small_business/business_operations/e_commerce/securing_your_e_commerce_systems/558.html
[Accessed 18 November 2015].

 

Task 2

Introduction

In this fact sheet I am going to be outlining the factors that will have an impact on the performance of a website. Within this fact sheet I am going to describe - User Side Performance Factors - Download speed, Client hardware and software platform and Client PC Performance. I will also be talking about Server Side Performance Factors, Web server performance, Bandwidth and File Types.

 

User Side Performance Factors

Download speed

users can have different types of download speed, some uses will have wired and some will have wireless, wireless tends to cut out more for the user and wired is known to be faster. If the download speed is slow, the user will have a lot of problems trying to download the webpage. Web developers need to test out a lot of different types of internet speeds to be able to make sure their website is able to work smoothly for the slower download speed users

Client hardware and software platform

Users have different types of browsers; therefore the way the CSS looks on each browser will differ. Some of these browsers will have a smaller display area for the user therefore the CSS will change and this could make images out of proportion for the user. Also, users use tablets as well, some tablets run different OS compared to the computer. For example, Apple iPad runs iOS, this operating system does not have Adobe Flash installed for it, if a website uses Flash, and errors will be displayed for the user. However Microsoft’s Surface 3 uses Windows 10, Windows 10 has Adobe Flash installed, and therefore the website described earlier will run correctly for this tablet.

Client PC Performance

Some clients PCs may not be up to date and a lot of the hardware inside their PC is outdated or not working. For example, the user’s computer may be infected by viruses; this could cause many errors for the user. However if the user is using an antivirus, sometimes the program will use a lot of CPU, this will affect the way the users browser functions, this makes things slower.

 

Server Side Performance Factors

Web server performance

The web server’s performance all depends on how many tasks the webpage has to do. For example, if the webpage has a lot of videos, pictures, and cookies etc. the web server will take a lot longer to load these items. The performance of the website is also affected web server capacity, which is basically bandwidth. The web server performance is a also decided by how the good or up to date the hardware is. If the hardware is old the way it processes data may be a lot slower and wasn’t designed for the long run of more technological advanced systems, i.e. the ability for unlimited bandwidth.  (Anon., n.d.)

Bandwidth

If the server side has more bandwidth it will allow more people to access it, therefore the higher the bandwidth the more users can access the website. Therefore the smaller the bandwidth the fewer amounts of people can download at once from the webpage. Server side scripting uses a lot of bandwidth and is only used when it has to be, otherwise developers will use client side scripting as this is executed on their PC. Most hosting providers nowadays allow for the use of unlimited Bandwidth. More components on a website will use up more bandwidth, therefore it is best to use compressed file types. (Anon., n.d.)

File Types

Usually now, web pages load almost instantly for most users, however some file types are too big and slower operating systems may stall when trying to download the webpage, for example, by using the file type .PNG, you will see that the file size is relatively high compared to using the file type .jpeg. By using less compressed files in the webpage, the web page will take a lot longer to download for some users. Sound file types are a huge factor to server side performance, by using .WAV you will be using a lot of space that the user will need to download, this will make it so that most of the sounds on the webpage will most likely not play when the user, for example, clicks on a button. However, the best alternative that most developers use .MP3, this is because it has a much smaller size.

 

Bibliography

Anon., n.d. Server Side Factors. [Online]
Available at: http://webunit28.wikispaces.com/Server+Side+Factors
[Accessed 6 November 2015].

Anon., n.d. User side and server side factors that influence the performance of a website. [Online]
Available at: https://10mahmoodsadaf.wordpress.com/about/
[Accessed 6 November 2015].

 

 

Task 1 - 3

DNS Lookup/IP Addressing Diagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://support.netcore.co.in/images/client-trainning.jpg/how-DNS-works/how-dns-works-wm.png