J277/01 Trickiest — Rank 12

Question

4 (a) Tick (✓) one or more boxes on each row to identify all of the methods that can help to prevent each threat.

Threat	Anti-malware	Encryption	Firewall	Penetration testing
Spyware	☐	☐	☐	☐
Brute-force attack	☐	☐	☐	☐
Data interception	☐	☐	☐	☐
SQL injection	☐	☐	☐	☐

[4]

Why this question is tricky

A common misconception was that a firewall and penetration testing could stop data interception. Both of these methods would prevent access to a computer system, but if data is being transferred between computers (for example on the internet) then there will be no firewall to stop the interception.— J277_01_ER_Jun2023.txt lines 284-288

MS complexity 4/10: Cross-topic 1.4.1 + 1.4.2. Bracketed ticks (secondary acceptable answers) cause confusion.

Full-marks model answer

Threat	Anti-malware	Encryption	Firewall	Penetration testing
Spyware	✓		(✓)
Brute-force attack			✓	(✓)
Data interception		✓
SQL injection			(✓)	✓

Tick the primary cell (shown ✓). Bracketed (✓) cells are also accepted by the MS.

Mark allocation (4 marks — one per correct row)

Spyware → Anti-malware (primary). Firewall accepted as alternative.
Brute-force attack → Firewall (locks out repeated attempts). Penetration testing accepted as alternative.
Data interception → Encryption only. Critical: firewalls and pen-testing do NOT prevent interception of data in transit.
SQL injection → Penetration testing (tests for vulnerable input). Firewall accepted as alternative.

Watch out for...

Data interception is prevented only by encryption. A firewall protects a system; encryption protects data in transit. The wire still carries the bits — encryption ensures they are meaningless if intercepted. Don't tick firewall or pen-test for data interception.