OCR J277 1.4.2: Identifying and preventing vulnerabilities
The free BugBot lessons that teach this point, a robot to try it on, and the past-paper questions that test it.
What it covers
Authentication is proving you are who you say you are, before a system lets you in. The most common way is a password, but there are others, and a strong password matters more than any of them. This lesson covers ways to authenticate, what makes a password strong, and ends by locking the robot behind one.
- Ways to prove who you are
- What makes a password strong?
- Storing passwords safely
- Locking the robot
Or do it in the simulator, with tasks that mark themselves
Lessons that teach it
- F11.5 Passwords and authentication Cyber security
Ways to authenticate, strong passwords, 2FA, CAPTCHA and hashing. - F11.6 Encryption Cyber security
Plaintext, keys and ciphertext, the Caesar cipher, symmetric and asymmetric, and a secret over the radio. - F11.7 Defending a network Cyber security
Firewalls, anti-malware, access levels, updates, backups, penetration testing and policies. - F11.8 Writing secure programs Cyber security
Validating input, access levels in code, and testing for security. - F11.9 Project: secure the robot Cyber security
Authenticate with a password, decrypt an encrypted command, and act on it.
Try it on a robot
The task from F11.5 Passwords and authentication, running here. Change the program and press Run.
Past paper questions on this
Real exam questions that test this, each worked through with a program you can run.
The specification is OCR's own document; this page says which of our lessons teach point 1.4.2 and is not endorsed by the board.