Module 2 / Unit 1 - Using Data Types and Units

security control.

A mechanism designed to protect an information asset or processing system is called a security control typically they are designed to prevent, deter, detect, and/or recover from attempts to view or modify data without authorization. Security controls can be costly, both in terms of purchasing hardware and software and in terms of more complex procedures and staff training.

Return on Security Investment (ROSI

The business case for investing in security is made by a calculation called Return on Security Investment (ROSI). To calculate ROSI, you perform risk assessments to work out how much the loss of data would cost your organization and how likely it is that data loss might occu

Unicode

Unicode has become more prevalent. Unicode enables you to handle character data and express that data across platforms in a uniform way. Unicode comprises: ■ A set of code charts that handle visual reference. ■ A data encoding method. ■ A set of standard character encodings. ■ A set of reference data files. ■ Additional properties, including: ● Character properties. ● Rules to handle normalization, rendering, display order (for languages that display right to left instead of left to right). There are a number of different Unicode character encoding standards, including UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32. UTF-8 is used by many websites.

Characters

a character (or char) is a single textual character, and can be a letter of the alphabet, a symbol, or, indeed, a numerical character. For example: a, D, 7, $, @, #. These consume one byte of storage. Note that when a number is entered as a character data type, you cannot perform any mathematical operations on it.

Strings

a string is a collection of text characters. For example: XYZ, Hello world. There is no real limit on the amount of storage that can be used by a string. Generally, you define the string length when you define the data type.

place value.

You will notice that the rightmost column is worth one, while the second column is worth ten times that (10). The third column is worth ten times the second column (100), and so on. In other words, each digit as we move from right to left (from least to most significant) is worth the base number (ten) times more than the preceding digit. This is referred to as place value.

binary digit or bit

which can represent two values (zero or one). Computer memory and file sizes in Windows are measured in multiples of bits. The first multiple is the byte, which is eight bits. A double byte is 16 bits.

decimal

base 10

binary

computers use binary to calculate and process information. Binary is a numbering system where each single digit can express only two values, in the range 0 to 1

analytics

data, info, insights data capture/collection, data correlation, meaningful reporting

hexadecimal

ften shortened to "hex." The hex notation system enables you to express 16 different numbers using a single digit in the range 0 to F. used in programming

Intellectual Property (IP)

often the most valuable information asset that an organization owns

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

systems have been invented to try to enforce "pay-per-use" for digital products

Boolean values

these are a special numeric data type indicating that something is either TRUE or FALSE (with a 1 or 0). They consume a single bit of storage.

Integers

these are whole numbers. For example: 5, 21, or 65536. An integer data type consumes 1 to 8 bytes of computer storage.

Floating-point numbers

this type can support decimal fractions such as 4.1, 26.4, or 5.62. A floating-point number (or just "float") consumes between 4 and 8 bytes of storage. Note that the floating-point type could store a whole number too (4.0 for instance).

asset

An asset is something of commercial value. Therefore, it is important that you take steps necessary to protect this asset.

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange),

each number or character in a text file or string variable is represented by a seven-bit binary number. With seven bits of binary, you can express 128 different values (0 through 127).

trademark

As copyright is not given to the selection of a name, if a company wants to promote its goods it will normally trademark its name and/or logo. A trademark must be distinctive within the industry in which the company is selling goods and services. An ordinary trademark is indicated by the ™ symbol. A registered trademark is indicated by ®.

data types

It is important to understand the different data types that a computer program can use. This is especially important when you start to write your own programs (coding) or work with database systems.

base 2

The reason binary works well with computers is that these two values can represent the off/on states of the transistors that make up computer memory. Binary can also be referred to as base 2.

throughput rate

When data is transferred between components in the computer or between computers over a network, the throughput rate that a particular connection can sustain is measured in bits per second (bps). Kbps (or Kb/s)—1000 bits per second. Older computer peripheral interfaces (or buses) and slow network links would be measured in Kbps. ■ Mbps (or Mb/s)—1,000,000 bits per second. Many internal computer interfaces have throughputs measured in Mbps. Wireless networks and residential Internet links also typically have this sort of throughput. ■ Gbps (or Gb/s)—1,000,000,000 bits per second. The latest PC bus standards and networks can support this higher level of throughput. ■ Tbps (or Tb/s)—1,000,000,000,000 bits per second. This sort of capacity is found in major telecommunications links between data centers, cities, and countries. Throughput units are always base 10. Throughput is not always the same as the signaling rate. System memory and network technologies can transmit more than one bit per cycle for instance

Copyright

is automatic legal protection granted to certain types of work indicating that the copyright holder owns the right to control the use of the work, including rights of publication, distribution, or sale.

patent

is legal protection for some kind of invention. Unlike copyright, a patent can apply to an idea so long as the idea is original (or novel), useful, and distinctive or non-trivial. If you have registered the patent, you do not actually have to have made a copy of the invention or put it into practice. A patent must be applied for and registered; however, there is no automatic protection, as there is for copyright.

digital product

is one that is sold or distributed as binary computer data. Examples of digital products include software, computer games, ebooks, music tracks, streaming video, video downloads, and so on. Digital products typically have low manufacturing and distribution costs, though hosted products can have substantial infrastructure costs. The downside is that digital products are quite easy to copy and steal.

notational system

one used to represent different quantities or characters. Notational systems used to represent values and quantities include decimal, binary, and hexadecimal.