DATA VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION:

A. Fill in the blanks. 

1. Integrity 2. Transposing 3. Errors 4. Range 5. Verification 
B. State whether the following statements are true or false. Rewrite the false statements to make
them  true. 
1. True. 
2. False. Errors that occur while data travels over a network are called transmission errors.
3. True. 
4. True. 
5. True. 
C. Select the correct option for each question. 
1. A 2. A 3. C 4. D 5. A
D. Answer the following questions. 

1 What is meant by data integrity? 

Data integrity is a quality that makes data useful and reliable. Data that is complete, accurate, and lies  within
a sensible range has integrity. Data that has integrity produces accurate results. 
2. How does the double-entry method help a computer to verify data? 
The double-entry method enables a computer to verify data by asking the user to enter the same data   twice.
The computer then compares the two entries to see if they match. If the entries match, the data is  verified.
The computer then processes the data. If the two entries do not match, the data is not verified.   The computer
asks the user to make sure that he has entered the correct data. 
3. What is meant by data validation? 
Data validation is a method of checking that data being processed by a computer is complete, accurate,  and
within a sensible range. Data validation can be performed at any stage of the data-processing cycle.  
4. Describe three types of checks used to validate data. 
Data validation uses several checks to validate data. Three types of checks are described below.
1. Alphabetic check 
An alphabetic check is used to make sure that only letters of the alphabet are entered as input. For  example,
the name of a person should contain only letters and not numbers. 
2. Completeness check 
A completeness check is used to make sure that all the data that needs to be processed is entered.  For
example, on a student’s report card, the marks of all the subjects should be entered. If the marks  of any one
subject have been left out, the computer will not process the data. 
3. Range check 
A range check is used to make sure that data that is entered lies within a sensible range. For example,   the
date on a particular day can lie within the range 1-31. If 32 has been entered as a date, the   computer will not
process it. 
5. Choose a sensible maximum value that could be used as a data validation check in the following
cases:
A. The age of students at a secondary school 
16 years 
B. The height of officers at a police station 
195 centimetres 
C. The weight of members of a swimming club 
80 kilograms 
6. Give an example of data on which the following validation checks would be carried
out: a. Alphabetic check 
The name of a country 
B. Numeric check 
The age of a person 
C. Consistency check 
The manufacturing and expiry dates of a product 
D. Completeness check 
An admission form 
E. Table lookup 
An order placed at a restaurant 
E. Write paragraphs to answer the following questions. 
1. Sometimes even after data has been verified and validated, it can be wrong when entered into a 
computer system. Give an example of how this could happen. 
Sometimes input data can remain incorrect even after it has been verified and validated. This might be  
because of human error. Such an error might occur when a shopkeeper adds an amount to the bill of   another
customer. The computer could verify the amount and validate it by using a range check, but an   incorrect bill
would still be produced.
  
2. Dates of birth were entered into a computer program. The data was stored in the form
Day/Month/ Year. The program rejected this date of birth as incorrect. 
06/13/2014 
Why was this not accepted? 
It was not accepted because the month that was entered was invalid. Months can only lie within the range  of
1–12. 
Why do you think this error occurred? 
This error probably occurred because the person entering the data did not follow the format for the date.  He
or she probably thought that the date 13 th June was being entered in the Month/Day/Year format.
 DATA PROTECTON AND SECURITY

A. Fill in the blanks. 

1. Privacy 2. Identity theft 3. Fraud 4. Viruses, worms 5.
Pirated 
B. State whether the following statements are true or false. Rewrite the false statements to make
them  true. 
1. False. A Trojan horse is a harmful program that appears to be useful. 
2. True. 
3. True. 
4. False. Worms are not transmitted through carrier files. 
5. True. 
C. Select the correct option for each question. 
1. A 
2. C 
3. C 
4. D 
5. C 
D. Answer the following questions. 
1. What harm might result from identity theft? 
An identity thief can gain access to a person’s personal information without his knowledge. Such personal 
information includes his password, bank account number, credit card number, etc. He might then use this  
information to commit crimes. When the police try to trace the criminal, they end up arresting the person  
whose identity was stolen. 
2. What is a hacker? How might a hacker misuse private information? 
A hacker is a person who gains access to a person’s computer without his knowledge. The hacker might  then
steal important data from the computer. He might also destroy the data or change it. He might even   sell that
information to someone else.  
3. How does a phisher acquire personal information from Internet users? 
A phisher acquires personal information from Internet users by creating a website that is similar to a  reliable
website, like that of a bank. He then sends email messages to the customers of the bank and asks  them to
visit his website. After logging on to his website, the users give away personal information because   they think
the information is being given to the bank. 
4. What is the difference between a worm and a virus? 
The difference between a worm and a virus is that a worm steals information from a computer. It does not 
need a carrier file to move from one computer to another. On the other hand, a virus needs to attach itself to
a carrier file to move from one computer to another. Viruses do not steal information from a computer  but
destroy data stored on it.  
5. How does adware work? 
Adware displays online advertisements on a user’s computer screen whenever the user visits a website. It 
displays advertisements in the form of pop-up windows that appear automatically on the computer screen. 
6. Describe some common ways in which a computer might become infected by a computer
virus.
A computer might become infected by a virus in several ways.A computer can become infected by a virus
if a drive or device infected by a virus is connected to it.  Common drives and devices include hard drives,
cds, and USB drives.  
Some viruses also travel in the form of email attachments. A computer can become infected by such a  virus if
the user downloads and opens such an email attachment. 
Cds that contain pirated software can also contain viruses. A computer can become infected by such  viruses if
the user installs pirated software on the computer from such cds.  
7. What is the purpose of antivirus software? Why should it be updated regularly? 
The purpose of antivirus software is to detect viruses that have infected the computer, and prevent them  
from destroying the files stored on the computer. It should be updated regularly because each antivirus  
program can only identify a limited number of viruses. To identify as many types of viruses as necessary,  we
need to add new virus definitions to its database. 
8. When does an antivirus program delete an infected file? 
An antivirus program deletes an infected file after it has failed to disinfect or quarantine it.
E. Write paragraphs to answer the following questions. 
1. Salman’s computer was infected by a virus. He is confused and cannot understand how the virus
could  infect his computer because he has had antivirus software installed for several years. What
could be  the possible reasons for the software failing to detect and block the virus? 
The virus may have infected Salman’s computer because he may not have updated the antivirus software 
installed on his computer. He has had the antivirus software for several years and it may not contain the  virus
definition of newer viruses. The virus attacking Salman’s computer may have been developed recently   and
was able to escape detection by the antivirus software. 
2. Explain some ways in which one can guard against phishing. 
One can guard against phishing by ensuring that the website is an authentic website. The URL of the   secure
and genuine website begins with https and usually has the picture of a lock in the address bar. It is  important
to be cautious and avoid entering confidential or sensitive data. 
ACTIVITY:

I. Why…? 

1. Why is data privacy important?

 2. Why is Internet fraud becoming increasingly common?

3. Why do some companies use spyware?

 4. Why should we be careful about opening email attachments?

 5. Why is it difficult to detect a Trojan horse? 

Answers to activity sheet 

I. Why…? 
1. Data privacy is important because private information can easily be obtained by criminals. 
2. Internet fraud is becoming increasingly common because more and more people and companies are using 
the Internet for shopping and banking. 
3. Some companies use spyware to find out what type of websites Internet users like to visit.
4. We should be careful about opening email attachments because they might contain viruses.
5. It is difficult to detect a Trojan horse because it appears to be a useful program.