Reflections
Every day we have a speaker. Our speaker for today was Dr. Woo. He told us about the Cybersecurity major at ODU. I was split into the hardware group today. Mr. Carl about the Motherboard and its parts. The Motherboard’s parts are the R.A.M sticks, C.P.U, and U.S.B. We also learned other parts. For example the Z.I.F (zero input force), D.D.R. (double data rate), H.D.D (hard disc drive), P.S.U (power supply unit), R.O.M (read only memory), and the V.G.A (video graphic array) . The Motherboard is the part that is in every laptop, T.V., and in a thermostat. Motherboards can vary in size and shape. There are a lot of parts and explaining for each one, so I’ll try to keep it simple. The R.A.M stands for random access memory. It is like the school bus of the Motherboard. It take the data drops is off at the C.P.U, which is another part of the Motherboard, to transmit the signal and decipher it. Afterward it take the data back to the monitor which is how we access sites and games on a computer. The C.P.U is the part that deciphers the transmitted signal from the R.A.M. It stands for central processing unit. When you think of New York City, the C.P.U would be Central Park. It also goes in the center of the Motherboard. The last part is the U.S.B. It stands for universal serial bus. It is used to plug things up, like your charger for example.
Today we had a hacking class with Mr. Chris. We learned about the different types of hackers. There are white, gray, and black hat hackers. White hat hackers are the good hackers. They get permission from companies, to try and find the black hat hackers. Black hat hackers are the bad guys. They hack illegally into businesses and peoples phones, laptops, or their tablets. Last but not least, is the gray hat hackers. They are neither black nor white hat hackers. They hack for good intentions, but the wrong way. Hackers have different ranks based on their skills and resources. Script kiddies are very unskilled hackers. They have limited resources. Like YouTube. Hacktivists are like the terrorists of hacking. They attack organizations. Organized criminals are in the financial game. They try to steal money for example. Competitors usually attack their competitors or rivals. Insiders are employees or former employees. Nation states are hackers in the cyber warfare. The last are the A.P.T. This stands for ‘Advanced persistent threat’. They are the most skilled hackers. The intent is what they’re after. Weather they looked it up or not is the sophistication. Resources is how much money/ expense there is. Where ever their victim is in the world is their location. The target info is info about the target. This class was really fun!!
Ms. Nikkia taught us about software today. We learned about the different computer features. The Windows (7/8/10) has A.E.R.O (Authentic Energetic Reflective Open), XP mode, Pinning, side by side apps, Compatibility mode, Metro UI, Multitask bar, and Charms. Security wise, Windows has Windows Defender, Windows Firewall, User Account Control, Windows Security Center. The Mac series has Mission Control, Keychain, Spotlight, iCloud, Gestures, Finder, Remote Disc, Remote Camp, Time Machine, Terminal, Force Quit, Screen Sharing, Disk Utility. Linux only has 2 features. The two features are Workspace and Gestures. For Windows, there are 2 transfer types. In place Upgrade and Clean Installation. In place Upgrade is easy transfer. You keep everything with it. Clean Installation is everything on your computer id deleted, nothing is saved.
Today we learned about social engineering. Mr. Chris taught us the different types of social engineering. There is vishing and whaling (the big Ouhuna). Vishing is when someone phishes over the phone. They can steal your information and change your password. Whaling is going for the CEO of a company or any other rich people.
Today is my last day here. I am really glad I came to this camp! I enjoyed learning about all things cyber!!!