Cambridge IGCSE™ Information and Communication Technology

Student's Book answers

Exam-style questions and sample answers have been written by the authors. In examinations,
the way marks are awarded may be different. References to assessment and/or assessment
preparation are the publisher’s interpretation of the syllabus requirements and may not fully
reflect the approach of Cambridge Assessment International Education.
Cambridge Assessment International Education bears no responsibility for the example answers to
questions taken from its past question papers which are contained in this publication.

4 Networks and the effects of using them

Answers to exercises
4a Student needs to print out result of running ‘tracert’.
4b i 25-May-2020 – weak; dates are not good passwords
ii Pas5word – weak; one of the top ten passwords used
iii ChapTer@15 – strong; upper and lower case + numbers + other characters
iv AbC*N55! – strong; upper and lower case + numbers + other characters
v 12345X – weak: easy to guess password

Answers to exam-style questions

Answers to question 1 in this section are example answers for past paper questions. The details of the
relevant past paper can be found with the corresponding exam-style question in the Student’s Book.

1 a Three from:
• video camera/webcam
• microphone
• keyboard
• large screen/monitor/data projector
• speakers/headphones.
b A web conference:
• is held over the internet using TCP/IP connection/in real time, for example,
webinar/webcasts/VoIP
• can be point to point (VoIP) or multicast (i.e. source data is sent from one computer to
many different receiving computers)
• allows text communication
• allows video communication
• uses web browsers.

Cambridge IGCSE Information and Communication Technology Teacher's Guide 1

© Graham Brown and David Watson 2021
Cambridge IGCSE Information and Communication Technology Student's Book answers

2 Bluetooth – data transfer rate of 3.1 Mbytes/second

WiFi – data transfer rate of 31 Mbytes/second
Bluetooth – effective range of ~30m
WiFi – effective range of ~100m
Bluetooth – maximum number of connected devices is 7
WiFi – infinite (depends on router used)
Bluetooth – key matching encryption security
WiFi – WEP and WPA security
3 a • hub and switch both used to connect devices to form a LAN
• both use data packets
• switch is a type of hub
• both check/read data packets
• in a hub, data packet sent to every device on a LAN
• in a switch, data packet sent to a specific device
• security is lower in a hub as all data is broadcast
• in a switch, the destination address is looked up before data is sent
• in a hub, all data packets are sent to all devices
• a switch uses a MAC address to locate the destination device.
b a bridge:
• connects LANs together
• scans for a device’s MAC address
• sends data out using data packets
• connects networks together that use the same protocols
• does not make use of routing tables
• only has two ports.

c • data packets are sent from the computer in network ‘A’ to the nearest router
• the router checks IP address and notes the data packets that aren’t intended for any
devices on network ‘A’
• data packets are forwarded to other routers in network
• data packets are forwarded to the router linked to network ‘B’ using its IP address
• the router recognises the IP addresses of data packets referred to network ‘B’
• data packets are forwarded to the destination computer on network ‘B’.

d • bridges only connect LANs using the same protocols

• routers can connect networks using different protocols
• routers can join LANs over the internet
• bridges only have two ports but routers have more than two.

Cambridge IGCSE Information and Communication Technology Teacher's Guide 2

© Graham Brown and David Watson 2021
Cambridge IGCSE Information and Communication Technology Student's Book answers

4 a Zero login:
• allows users to log into a computer system without the need to type in a password
• relies on biometrics …
• … and on behavioural patterns …
• biometrics: fingerprints, facial recognition
• behavioural: typing speed, location, how the user swipes the screen
• the systems use the above information to build up complex user profiles.
b Physical token:
• a type of hardware security device
• form of authentication …
• … to prove user has possession of the token
• when the PIN is entered into token, a one-time password (OTP) is created and shown
on screen
• the code changes every 30 sec or so
• the OTP is typed into another device as part of a security authentication process
• can be connected or disconnected (for example, through USB).
c Electronic token:
• software installed on user's device as an app
• used to authenticate a user
• the user opens the app on a device which generates random numbers (OTP) …
• … which is valid for a limited amount of time
• the user enters the OTP onto the website using this type of authentication; often
includes a PIN, touch ID or face ID in addition
• the website server runs the same app
• both the user and the website use synchronised clocks and therefore generate the
same OTP.

Cambridge IGCSE Information and Communication Technology Teacher's Guide 3

© Graham Brown and David Watson 2021
Cambridge IGCSE Information and Communication Technology Student's Book answers

5 Router Switch Hub

Feature
() () ()
Used to connect devices together to form a local area
 
network (LAN)
The destination MAC address is looked up before the data

packet is sent to the correct device

Used to connect LANs to other, external networks 

Uses both MAC and IP addresses to enable data packets to


be sent to the correct device on another network

All data packets are sent to all the devices on the network 

Data packets are sent only to a specific device on the same


network

6 a Virus – a program which replicates; the intention is to delete, corrupt or alter files/data to
prevent normal running of a computer.
b Three from:
• checks software or files before they are run or loaded onto a computer
• compares a potential virus against database of known viruses
• carries out heuristic checking (checking on behaviour of a program/file that could
indicate it is a virus)
• puts infected files or programs into quarantine
• automatically deletes the virus or allows the user to make the decision
• runs in the background

7 a • a magnetic stripe card is swiped through a reader.

• data, such as name, ID, sex, date of birth will be read
• might also request other authentication such as PIN, finger ID, face ID
• scanned data matched with data stored on a database
• if they match, entry is permitted.

b • require use of PIN, for example

• include a chip making them contactless, a chip can contain data such as PIN or
biometric data
• use holographic image on cards to stop photocopying
• photographic image of user printed on cards; this could also be stored on the chip to
prevent fraudulent use.

Cambridge IGCSE Information and Communication Technology Teacher's Guide 4

© Graham Brown and David Watson 2021
Cambridge IGCSE Information and Communication Technology Student's Book answers

9 a Cloud computing:
• computing resources that can be accessed on separate and remote servers
• cloud computing can refer to storage or applications
• may be hundreds of servers in several locations
• the same data is stored on more than one database in case of maintenance and/or repair
(data redundancy)
• three types of cloud storage: public, private, hybrid.
b Three from:
• files can be accessed at any time, in any location, on any device
• there is no need to carry external storage with you; not even necessary to take a
computer containing files with you
• the cloud provides users with remote, automatic back-up
• the cloud allows recovery of data if the customer’s hard drive fails on their
own computer
• it offers unlimited storage capacity.

Cambridge IGCSE Information and Communication Technology Teacher's Guide 5

© Graham Brown and David Watson 2021
Cambridge IGCSE Information and Communication Technology Student's Book answers

c Three from:
• it is not always secure
• if there is a poor internet connection, or none, the cloud cannot be used
• it can be expensive if large amounts of storage needed
• the potential failure of cloud storage companies is always possible; poses risk of losing
all back-up data.
10 a "A" = hub
b "B" = hub/switch, "C" = hub/switch, "D" = bridge
c "E" = hub/switch, "F" = router

Cambridge IGCSE Information and Communication Technology Teacher's Guide 6

© Graham Brown and David Watson 2021