AeroLab Reading room

CS / IGCSE

Security, automated systems and ethics

Threats include malware, social engineering, unauthorised access and data loss. Authentication establishes an identity; authorisation determines allowed actions. Backups and updates address different risks.

Learning objectives

The big idea

Threats include malware, social engineering, unauthorised access and data loss. Authentication establishes an identity; authorisation determines allowed actions. Backups and updates address different risks.

Automated systems combine sensors, decisions and actuators; robotics and AI raise questions about reliability, bias, privacy and accountability. Evaluate benefits and harms for specific people rather than labelling technology universally good or bad.

Worked example

An account may read but not edit a record. Which control describes this?

Follow the solution

The permissions define what the authenticated account is allowed to do.

Investigate and explain

Predict the worked result before calculating. Change one input, record the new result, and explain which assumptions still hold.

Use the prediction activity below; a local model appears only where it supports this topic.

Open the interactive investigation

Check your understanding

1. What is a strong response to a suspicious password-request message?

  1. Reply with the password
  2. Follow the message link immediately
  3. Verify through a trusted independent channel
Check the answer and reasoning

Verify through a trusted independent channel

Independent verification avoids relying on contact details supplied by a possible attacker.

2. An account may read but not edit a record. Which control describes this?

  1. Authorisation
  2. Compression
  3. Sampling
Check the answer and reasoning

Authorisation

The permissions define what the authenticated account is allowed to do.

3. Does training an AI on data guarantee unbiased results?

  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Only with more data
Check the answer and reasoning

No

Data, labels, objectives and deployment context can all introduce or amplify bias.