IT in Financial Services (DAIBB)

Contents

Ransomware

Spyware

Phishing

Malware

VIRUS

Spamming

LAN, MAN and WAN

Difference between Internet and Intranet

Database vs Flat File

Ascii Codes

E-governance

OCR

OMR

Comparison Chart Primary Vs Secondary Memory

Computer memory and types

SWIFT for Electronic Funds Transfers

Unicode

CHIPS

Functions of Operating System

DBMS

Application and Uses of Database Management System (DBMS)

What does Disaster Recovery Site (DR Site) mean?

What does Data Center mean?

Data Warehouse

Cache Memory

Enterprise resource planning (ERP)

Smart Card

Digital Signature

What Is Business Continuity Planning (BCP)?

Stand Alone ATMs

Microcomputer System

Firewall

CIB

Network operating system

Difference between System Software and Application Software

Cyber Crime and Internet Security

Digital Bangladesh

Vision 2021

Audit Trail

Classification Of Computers By Size And Capacity

Computer Number Systems and its types

Comprehensive Security System for banks

Ransomware

Ransomware is a type of malware from cryptovirology that threatens to publish the victim's data or perpetually block access to it unless a ransom is paid. While some simple ransomware may lock the system in a way which is not difficult for a knowledgeable person to reverse, more advanced malware uses a technique called cryptoviral extortion, in which it encrypts the victim's files, making them inaccessible, and demands a ransom payment to decrypt them.[1][2][3][4] In a properly implemented cryptoviral extortion attack, recovering the files without the decryption key is an intractable problem – and difficult to trace digital currencies such as Ukash or Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency are used for the ransoms, making tracing and prosecuting the perpetrators difficult.

Ransomware attacks are typically carried out using a Trojan that is disguised as a legitimate file that the user is tricked into downloading or opening when it arrives as an email attachment. However, one high-profile example, the "WannaCry worm", travelled automatically between computers without user interaction.[5]

Spyware

Spyware is a software that aims to gather information about a person or organization, sometimes without their knowledge, and send such information to another entity without the consumer's consent. Furthermore, spyware asserts control over a device without the consumer's knowledge, sending confidential information to another entity with the consumer's consent, through cookies.[1]

Spyware is mostly classified into four types: adware, system monitors, tracking cookies, and trojans;[2] examples of other notorious types include digital rights management capabilities that "phone home", keyloggers, rootkits, and web beacons.

Spyware is mostly used for the stealing information and storing Internet users' movements on the Web and serving up pop-up ads to Internet users. Whenever spyware is used for malicious purposes, its presence is typically hidden from the user and can be difficult to detect. Some spyware, such as keyloggers, may be installed by the owner of a shared, corporate, or public computer intentionally in order to monitor users.

While the term spyware suggests software that monitors a user's computing, the functions of spyware can extend beyond simple monitoring. Spyware can collect almost any type of data, including personal information like internet surfing habits, user logins, and bank or credit account information. Spyware can also interfere with a user's control of a computer by installing additional software or redirecting web browsers. Some spyware can change computer settings, which can result in slow Internet connection speeds, un-authorized changes in browser settings, or changes to software settings.

Phishing

Phishing is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by disguising oneself as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.[1][2] Typically carried out by email spoofing[3] or instant messaging,[4] it often directs users to enter personal information at a fake website which matches the look and feel of the legitimate site.[5]

Phishing is an example of social engineering techniques being used to deceive users. Users are often lured by communications purporting to be from trusted parties such as social web sites, auction sites, banks, online payment processors or IT administrators.[6]

Attempts to deal with phishing incidents include legislation, user training, public awareness, and technical security measures (the latter being due to phishing attacks frequently exploiting weaknesses in current web security).[7]

Malware

Malware (a portmanteau for malicious software) is any software intentionally designed to cause damage to a computer, server, client, or computer network[1][2] (by contrast, software that causes unintentional harm due to some deficiency is typically described as a software bug). A wide variety of types of malware exist, including computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, adware, and scareware.

Programs are also considered malware if they secretly act against the interests of the computer user. For example, at one point Sony music Compact discs silently installed a rootkit on purchasers' computers with the intention of preventing illicit copying, but which also reported on users' listening habits, and unintentionally created extra security vulnerabilities.[3]

A range of antivirus software, firewalls and other strategies are used to help protect against the introduction of malware, to help detect it if it is already present, and to recover from malware-associated malicious activity and attacks.[4]

VIRUS

A computer virus is a type of computer program that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code.[1] When this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected" with a computer virus.[2][3]

Virus writers use social engineering deceptions and exploit detailed knowledge of security vulnerabilities to initially infect systems and to spread the virus. The vast majority of viruses target systems running Microsoft Windows,[4][5][6] employing a variety of mechanisms to infect new hosts,[7] and often using complex anti-detection/stealth strategies to evade antivirus software.[8][9][10][11] Motives for creating viruses can include seeking profit (e.g., with ransomware), desire to send a political message, personal amusement, to demonstrate that a vulnerability exists in software, for sabotage and denial of service, or simply because they wish to explore cybersecurity issues, artificial life and evolutionary algorithms.[12]

Computer viruses currently cause billions of dollars' worth of economic damage each year,[13] due to causing system failure, wasting computer resources, corrupting data, increasing maintenance costs, stealing personal information etc. In response, free, open-source antivirus tools have been developed, and an industry of antivirus software has cropped up, selling or freely distributing virus protection to users of various operating systems.[14] As of 2005, even though no currently existing antivirus software was able to uncover all computer viruses (especially new ones), computer security researchers are actively searching for new ways to enable antivirus solutions to more effectively detect emerging viruses, before they have already become widely distributed.[15]

Spamming

Spamming is the use of messaging systems to send an unsolicited message (spam), especially advertising, as well as sending messages repeatedly on the same website. While the most widely recognized form of spam is email spam, the term is applied to similar abuses in other media: instant messaging spam, Usenet newsgroup spam, Web search engine spam, spam in blogs, wiki spam, online classified ads spam, mobile phone messaging spam, Internet forum spam, junk fax transmissions, social spam, spam mobile apps,[1] television advertising and file sharing spam. It is named after Spam, a luncheon meat, by way of a Monty Python sketch about a restaurant that has Spam in every dish and where patrons annoyingly chant "Spam" over and over again.[2][3]

Spamming remains economically viable because advertisers have no operating costs beyond the management of their mailing lists, servers, infrastructures, IP ranges, and domain names, and it is difficult to hold senders accountable for their mass mailings. The costs, such as lost productivity and fraud, are borne by the public and by Internet service providers, which have been forced to add extra capacity to cope with the volume. Spamming has been the subject of legislation in many jurisdictions.[4]. A person who creates spam is called a spammer.[5]

LAN, MAN and WAN

The Network allows computers to connect and communicate with different computers via any medium. LAN, MAN and WAN are the three major types of the network designed to operate over the area they cover. There are some similarities and dissimilarities between them. One of the major differences is the geographical area they cover, i.e. LAN covers the smallest area; MAN covers an area larger than LAN and WAN comprises the largest of all.

Local Area Network (LAN) –

LAN or Local Area Network connects network devices in such a way that personal computer and workstations can share data, tools and programs. The group of computers and devices are connected together by a switch, or stack of switches, using a private addressing scheme as defined by the TCP/IP protocol. Private addresses are unique in relation to other computers on the local network. Routers are found at the boundary of a LAN, connecting them to the larger WAN.

Data transmits at a very fast rate as the number of computers linked are limited. By definition, the connections must be high speed and relatively inexpensive hardware (Such as hubs, network adapters and Ethernet cables). LANs cover smaller geographical area (Size is limited to a few kilometers) and are privately owned. One can use it for an office building, home, hospital, schools, etc. LAN is easy to design and maintain. A Communication medium used for LAN has twisted pair cables and coaxial cables. It covers a short distance, and so the error and noise are minimized.

Early LAN’s had data rates in the 4 to 16 Mbps range. Today, speeds are normally 100 or 1000 Mbps. Propagation delay is very short in a LAN. The smallest LAN may only use two computers, while larger LANs can accommodate thousands of computers. A LAN typically relies mostly on wired connections for increased speed and security, but wireless connections can also be part of a LAN. The fault tolerance of a LAN is more and there is less congestion in this network. For example : A bunch of students playing Counter Strike in the same room (without internet).

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) –

MAN or Metropolitan area Network covers a larger area than that of a LAN and smaller area as compared to WAN. It connects two or more computers that are apart but resides in the same or different cities. It covers a large geographical area and may serve as an ISP (Internet Service Provider). MAN is designed for customers who need a high-speed connectivity. Speeds of MAN ranges in terms of Mbps. It’s hard to design and maintain a Metropolitan Area Network.

The fault tolerance of a MAN is less and also there is more congestion in the network. It is costly and may or may not be owned by a single organization. The data transfer rate and the propagation delay of MAN is moderate. Devices used for transmission of data through MAN are: Modem and Wire/Cable. Examples of a MAN are the part of the telephone company network that can provide a high-speed DSL line to the customer or the cable TV network in a city.

Wide Area Network (WAN) –

WAN or Wide Area Network is a computer network that extends over a large geographical area, although it might be confined within the bounds of a state or country. A WAN could be a connection of LAN connecting to other LAN’s via telephone lines and radio waves and may be limited to an enterprise (a corporation or an organization) or accessible to the public. The technology is high speed and relatively expensive.

There are two types of WAN: Switched WAN and Point-to-Point WAN. WAN is difficult to design and maintain. Similar to a MAN, the fault tolerance of a WAN is less and there is more congestion in the network. A Communication medium used for WAN is PSTN or Satellite Link. Due to long distance transmission, the noise and error tend to be more in WAN.

WAN’s data rate is slow about a 10th LAN’s speed, since it involves increased distance and increased number of servers and terminals etc. Speeds of WAN ranges from few kilobits per second (Kbps) to megabits per second (Mbps). Propagation delay is one of the biggest problems faced here. Devices used for transmission of data through WAN are: Optic wires, Microwaves and Satellites. Example of a Switched WAN is the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network and Point-to-Point WAN is dial-up line that connects a home computer to the Internet.

Conclusion –

There are many advantages of LAN over MAN and WAN, such as LAN’s provide excellent reliability, high data transmission rate, they can easily be managed, and shares peripheral devices too. Local Area Network cannot cover cities or towns and for that Metropolitan Area Network is needed, which can connect city or a group of cities together. Further, for connecting Country or a group of Countries one requires Wide Area Network.

Difference between Internet and Intranet

Generally, most of people confused between internet and intranet. While there is exist lots of differences to differentiate them.

Internet: Internet is used to connect different network of computers simultaneously. It is a public network therefore anyone can access the internet. In internet, there are multiple users and it provides unlimited number of information to the users.

Intranet: Intranet is the type of internet which is used by privately. It is a private network therefore anyone can’t access intranet. In intranet, there are limited number of users and it provides limited number of information to its users.

Now, we shall see the difference between internet and intranet:

S.NO      INTERNET         INTRANET

1.            Internet is used to connect different network of computers simultaneously.--Intranet is owned by private firms.

2.            In internet, there are multiple users.--In intranet, there are limited users.

3.            Internet is unsafe.--Intranet is safe.

4.            In internet, there are more number of visitors.--In intranet, there are less number of visitors.

5.            Internet is a public network.--Intranet is a private network.

6.            Anyone can access Internet.--In this, anyone can’t access the Intranet.

7.            Internet provides unlimited information.--Intranet provides limited information.

Database vs Flat File

Flat File Databases: Flat file databases are typically plain text files that store one record per line, with record fields delimited by whitespace or a delimiting character. Flat file databases can be read directly by a variety of software applications.

Relational Database: In addition to the data tables, relational databases use "indexes" to quickly find records based on search criteria. Relational databases generally require a relational database management system (RDBMS) to manage and access the data.

1.       Databases can handle querying tasks, so you don't have to walk over files manually. Databases can handle very complicated queries.

2.       Databases can handle indexing tasks, so if tasks like get record with id = x can be VERY fast

3.       Databases can handle multiprocess/multithreaded access.

4.       Databases can handle access from network

5.       Databases can watch for data integrity

6.       Databases can update data easily (see 1) )

7.       Databases are reliable

8.       Databases can handle transactions and concurrent access

9.       Databases + ORMs let you manipulate data in very programmer friendly way.

Ascii Codes

Pronounced ask-ee, ASCII is the acronym for the American Standard Code for Information Interchange. It is a code for representing 128 English characters as numbers, with each letter assigned a number from 0 to 127. For example, the ASCII code for uppercase M is 77. Most computers use ASCII codes to represent text, which makes it possible to transfer data from one computer to another.

E-governance

Electronic-governance (e-governance in short) involves the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and its numerous applications by the government for the provision of information and e-services (that is services by electronic means) to the citizens of the country. Broadly speaking, e-governance can be referred to as the uses and applications of ICT in public administration to conduct processes to effectively manage data and information to enhance public service delivery for empowerment of the citizens. Digital developments of recent years like online services, big data, social media, mobile apps, cloud computing etc. now influence people and the government tremendously.

Use of e-governance can make public administration fast and effective, provide better services, and respond to the demands of transparency and accountability. It can help the government to go green by effective management of natural resources aiding sustainability to environment. E-governance stimulates economic growth and promotes social inclusion of disabled and vulnerable sections of society. E-governance can provide benefits in the form of new employment, better health, better education, knowledge sharing, skills developments and capacity building for sustainable development. Quick and fast e-services eliminate middlemen and save both time and money. Without such online services, our cities and towns would have turned into more difficult places to live and the transport services would have been impossible to manage.

This short article highlights difference between e-governance and e-government presents our achievements in ICT and e-governance and examines our status in global perspective and suggests steps to be taken for improvement of global status of Bangladesh in e-governance and e-government.

OCR

Optical character recognition or optical character reader (OCR) is the electronic or mechanical conversion of images of typed, handwritten or printed text into machine-encoded text, whether from a scanned document, a photo of a document, a scene-photo (for example the text on signs and billboards in a landscape photo) or from subtitle text superimposed on an image (for example from a television broadcast).[1]

Widely used as a form of information entry from printed paper data records – whether passport documents, invoices, bank statements, computerized receipts, business cards, mail, printouts of static-data, or any suitable documentation – it is a common method of digitizing printed texts so that they can be electronically edited, searched, stored more compactly, displayed on-line, and used in machine processes such as cognitive computing, machine translation, (extracted) text-to-speech, key data and text mining. OCR is a field of research in pattern recognition, artificial intelligence and computer vision.

Early versions needed to be trained with images of each character, and worked on one font at a time. Advanced systems capable of producing a high degree of recognition accuracy for most fonts are now common, and with support for a variety of digital image file format inputs.[2] Some systems are capable of reproducing formatted output that closely approximates the original page including images, columns, and other non-textual components.

OMR

Optical mark recognition (also called optical mark reading and OMR) is the process of capturing human-marked data from document forms such as surveys and tests. They are used to read questionnaires, multiple choice examination paper in the form of lines or shaded areas.

OMR test form, with registration marks and drop-out colors, designed to be scanned by dedicated OMR device

Many traditional OMR devices work with a dedicated scanner device that shines a beam of light onto the form paper. The contrasting reflectivity at predetermined positions on a page is then used to detect these marked areas because they reflect less light than the blank areas of the paper.

Some OMR devices use forms that are preprinted onto "transoptic" paper and measure the amount of light which passes through the paper; thus a mark on either side of the paper will reduce the amount of light passing through the paper.

In contrast to the dedicated OMR device, desktop OMR software allows a user to create their own forms in a word processor and print them on a laser printer. The OMR software then works with a common desktop image scanner with a document feeder to process the forms once filled out.

OMR is generally distinguished from optical character recognition (OCR) by the fact that a complicated pattern recognition engine is not required. That is, the marks are constructed in such a way that there is little chance of not reading the marks correctly. This does require the image to have high contrast and an easily recognizable or irrelevant shape. A related field to OMR and OCR is the recognition of barcodes, such as the UPC bar code found on product packaging.

Comparison Chart Primary Vs Secondary Memory

BASIS FOR COMPARISON	PRIMARY MEMORY	SECONDARY MEMORY
Basic	Primary memory is directly accessible by Processor/CPU.	Secondary memory is not directly accessible by CPU.
Altered Name	Main memory.	Auxiliary memory.
Data	Instructions or data to be currently executed are copied to main memory.	Data to be permanently stored is kept in secondary memory.
Volatility	Primary memory is usually volatile.	Secondary memory is non-volatile.
Formation	Primary memories are made of semiconductors.	Secondary memories are made of magnetic and optical material.
Access Speed	Accessing data from primary memory is faster.	Accessing data from secondary memory is slower.
Access	Primary memory is accessed by the data bus.	Secondary memory is accessed by input-output channels.
Size	The computer has a small primary memory.	The computer has a larger secondary memory.
Expense	Primary memory is costlier than secondary memory.	Secondary memory is cheaper than primary memory
Memory	Primary memory is an internal memory.	Secondary memory is an external memory.

Computer memory and types

Definition of Primary Memory

Primary memory is the main memory of computer system. The instructions that have to be currently executed is copied to the primary memory because CPU can directly access the data from primary memory. Accessing data from primary memory is faster as it is an internal memory and processor accesses data from primary memory using data bus.

Primary Memory

The primary memory is usually volatile in nature which means data in primary memory does not exist if not saved, in case the power failure occurs. The primary memory is semiconductor memory and is more expensive than secondary memory. The primary memory capacity is limited in computer and is always smaller than secondary memory.

Primary memory can be divided into two types of memory that are RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory).

RAM is a both read and write memory. The data which has to be currently processed is kept in RAM which can be quickly accessed by the CPU. RAM is volatile and loses data if the power is switched off. RAM can be static or dynamic.

ROM is a read only memory; its content can not be altered. It has the instructions that are used when the system is booted up. ROM is a non-volatile memory i.e. it retains its content even if the power is switched off. The types of ROM are PROM, EPROM and EEPROM.

Definition of Secondary Memory

Secondary memory is an auxiliary memory of the computer. The data that has to be permanently stored is kept in secondary memory. The CPU can not directly access the data in secondary memory. The data has to be initially copied to primary memory then only it can be processed by CPU. Hence, accessing data from secondary memory is slower. The secondary memory can be accessed using the input-output channel.Secondary MemoryThe secondary memory is nonvolatile in nature, which means that the content of the secondary memory exist even if the power is switched off. The secondary memory is magnetic memory or optical memory and it available at cheaper rates as compared to the primary memory.

Secondary memory is available in bulk and always larger than primary memory. A computer can even work without secondary memory as it an external memory. The examples of secondary memory are the hard disk, floppy disk, CD, DVD, etc.

SWIFT for Electronic Funds Transfers

Need to transfer money overseas? Today, it is easy to walk into a bank and transfer money anywhere around the globe, but how does this happen? Behind most international money and security transfers is the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) system. SWIFT is a vast messaging network used by banks and other financial institutions to quickly, accurately, and securely send and receive information, such as money transfer instructions.

Every day, nearly 10,000 SWIFT member institutions send approximately 24 million messages on the network. In this article, we will explore what SWIFT does, how it works, and how it makes money.

Inside a SWIFT Transaction

SWIFT is a messaging network that financial institutions use to securely transmit information and instructions through a standardized system of codes.

SWIFT assigns each financial organization a unique code that has either eight characters or 11 characters. The code is interchangeably called the bank identifier code (BIC), SWIFT code, SWIFT ID, or ISO 9362 code. To understand how the code is assigned, let’s look at Italian bank UniCredit Banca, headquartered in Milan. It has the 8-character SWIFT code UNCRITMM.

First four characters: the institute code (UNCR for UniCredit Banca)

Next two characters: the country code (IT for the country Italy)

Next two characters: the location/city code (MM for Milan)

 Last three characters: optional, but organizations use it to assign codes to individual branches. (The UniCredit Banca branch in Venice may use the code UNCRITMMZZZ.)

Assume a customer of a Bank of America branch in New York wants to send money to his friend who banks at the UniCredit Banca branch in Venice. The New York customer can walk into his Bank of America branch with his friend’s account number and UnicaCredit Banca’s unique SWIFT code for its Venice branch. Bank of America will send a payment transfer SWIFT message to the UniCredit Banca branch over the secure SWIFT network. Once Unicredit Banca receives the SWIFT message about the incoming payment, it will clear and credit the money to the Italian friend’s account.

As powerful as SWIFT is, keep in mind that it is only a messaging system – SWIFT does not hold any funds or securities, nor does it manage client accounts.

The World Before SWIFT

Prior to SWIFT, Telex was the only available means of message confirmation for international funds transfer. Telex was hampered by low speed, security concerns, and a free message format--in other words, Telex did not have a unified system of codes like SWIFT to name banks and describe transactions. Telex senders had to describe every transaction in sentences which were then interpreted and executed by the receiver. This led to many human errors.

To circumvent these problems, the SWIFT system was formed in 1974. Seven major international banks formed a cooperative society to operate a global network that would transfer financial messages in a secure and timely manner.

Unicode

Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard is maintained by the Unicode Consortium, and as of May 2019 the most recent version, Unicode 12.1, contains a repertoire of 137,994 characters (consisting of 137,766 graphic characters, 163 format characters and 65 control characters) covering 150 modern and historic scripts, as well as multiple symbol sets and emoji. The character repertoire of the Unicode Standard is synchronized with ISO/IEC 10646, and both are code-for-code identical.

The Unicode Standard consists of a set of code charts for visual reference, an encoding method and set of standard character encodings, a set of reference data files, and a number of related items, such as character properties, rules for normalization, decomposition, collation, rendering, and bidirectional display order (for the correct display of text containing both right-to-left scripts, such as Arabic and Hebrew, and left-to-right scripts).[1][2]

Unicode's success at unifying character sets has led to its widespread and predominant use in the internationalization and localization of computer software. The standard has been implemented in many recent technologies, including modern operating systems, XML, Java (and other programming languages), and the .NET Framework.

CHIPS

The Clearing House Interbank Payments System (CHIPS) is a United States private clearing house for large-value transactions. By 2015 it was settling well over US$1.5 trillion a day in around 250,000 interbank payments in cross border and domestic transactions. Together with the Fedwire Funds Service (which is operated by the Federal Reserve Banks), CHIPS forms the primary U.S. network for large-value domestic and international USD payments where it has a market share of around 96%. CHIPS transfers are governed by Article 4A of Uniform Commercial Code.

Unlike the Fedwire system which is part of a regulatory body, CHIPS is owned by the financial institutions that use it. For payments that are less time-sensitive in nature, banks typically prefer to use CHIPS instead of Fedwire, as CHIPS is less expensive (both by charges and by funds required). One of the reasons is that Fedwire is a real-time gross settlement system, while CHIPS allows payments to be netted.

Functions of Operating System

Prerequisite – Introduction of Operating System – Set 1

An Operating System acts as a communication bridge (interface) between the user and computer hardware. The purpose of an operating system is to provide a platform on which a user can execute programs in a convenient and efficient manner.

An operating system is a piece of software that manages the allocation of computer hardware. The coordination of the hardware must be appropriate to ensure the correct working of the computer system and to prevent user programs from interfering with the proper working of the system.

What is Operating System?

An operating system is a program on which application programs are executed and acts as an communication bridge (interface) between the user and the computer hardware.

The main task an operating system carries out is the allocation of resources and services, such as allocation of: memory, devices, processors and information. The operating system also includes programs to manage these resources, such as a traffic controller, a scheduler, memory management module, I/O programs, and a file system.

Important functions of an operating System:

Security –The operating system uses password protection to protect user data and similar other techniques. it also prevents unauthorized access to programs and user data.

Control over system performance – Monitors overall system health to help improve performance. records the response time between service requests and system response to have a complete view of the system health. This can help improve performance by providing important information needed to troubleshoot problems.

Job accounting – Operating system Keeps track of time and resources used by various tasks and users, this information can be used to track resource usage for a particular user or group of user.

Error detecting aids – Operating system constantly monitors the system to detect errors and avoid the malfunctioning of computer system.

Coordination between other software and users –Operating systems also coordinate and assign interpreters, compilers, assemblers and other software to the various users of the computer systems.

Memory Management –The operating system manages the Primary Memory or Main Memory. Main memory is made up of a large array of bytes or words where each byte or word is assigned a certain address. Main memory is a fast storage and it can be accessed directly by the CPU. For a program to be executed, it should be first loaded in the main memory. An Operating System performs the following activities for memory management:

It keeps tracks of primary memory, i.e., which bytes of memory are used by which user program. The memory addresses that have already been allocated and the memory addresses of the memory that has not yet been used. In multi programming, the OS decides the order in which process are granted access to memory, and for how long. It Allocates the memory to a process when the process requests it and deallocates the memory when the process has terminated or is performing an I/O operation.

Processor Management –In a multi programming environment, the OS decides the order in which processes have access to the processor, and how much processing time each process has. This function of OS is called process scheduling. An Operating System performs the following activities for processor management.

Keeps tracks of the status of processes. The program which perform this task is known as traffic controller. Allocates the CPU that is processor to a process. De-allocates processor when a process is no more required.

Device Management –An OS manages device communication via their respective drivers. It performs the following activities for device management. Keeps tracks of all devices connected to system. designates a program responsible for every device known as the Input/Output controller. Decides which process gets access to a certain device and for how long. Allocates devices in an effective and efficient way. Deallocates devices when they are no longer required.

File Management –A file system is organized into directories for efficient or easy navigation and usage. These directories may contain other directories and other files. An Operating System carries out the following file management activities. It keeps track of where information is stored, user access settings and status of every file and more… These facilities are collectively known as the file system.

DBMS

A database is an organized collection of data, generally stored and accessed electronically from a computer system. Where databases are more complex they are often developed using formal design and modeling techniques.

The database management system (DBMS) is the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and analyze the data. The DBMS software additionally encompasses the core facilities provided to administer the database. The sum total of the database, the DBMS and the associated applications can be referred to as a "database system". Often the term "database" is also used to loosely refer to any of the DBMS, the database system or an application associated with the database.

Computer scientists may classify database-management systems according to the database models that they support. Relational databases became dominant in the 1980s. These model data as rows and columns in a series of tables, and the vast majority use SQL for writing and querying data. In the 2000s, non-relational databases became popular, referred to as NoSQL because they use different query languages.

Application and Uses of Database Management System (DBMS)

Railway Reservation System: Database is required to keep record of ticket booking, train’s departure and arrival status. Also if trains get late then people get to know it through database update.

Library Management System: There are thousands of books in the library so it is very difficult to keep record of all the books in a copy or register. So DBMS used to maintain all the information relate to book issue dates, name of the book, author and availability of the book.

Banking: We make thousands of transactions through banks daily and we can do this without going to the bank. So how banking has become so easy that by sitting at home we can send or get money through banks. That is all possible just because of DBMS that manages all the bank transactions.

Universities and colleges: Examinations are done online today and universities and colleges maintain all these records through DBMS. Student’s registrations details, results, courses and grades all the information are stored in database.

Credit card transactions: For purchase of credit cards and all the other transactions are made possible only by DBMS. A credit card holder knows the importance of their information that all are secured through DBMS.

Social Media Sites: We all are on social media websites to share our views and connect with our friends. Daily millions of users signed up for these social media accounts like facebook, twitter, pinterest and Google plus. But how all the information of users are stored and how we become able to connect to other people, yes this all because DBMS.

Telecommunications: Any telecommunication company cannot even think about their business without DBMS. DBMS is must for these companies to store the call details and monthly post paid bills.

Finance: Those days have gone far when information related to money was stored in registers and files. Today the time has totally changed because there are lots f thing to do with finance like storing sales, holding information and finance statement management etc.

Military: Military keeps records of millions of soldiers and it has millions of files that should be keep secured and safe. As DBMS provides a big security assurance to the military information so it is widely used in militaries. One can easily search for all the information about anyone within seconds with the help of DBMS.

Online Shopping: Online shopping has become a big trend of these days. No one wants to go to shops and waste his time. Everyone wants to shop from home. So all these products are added and sold only with the help of DBMS. Purchase information, invoice bills and payment, all of these are done with the help of DBMS.

Human Resource Management: Big firms have many workers working under them. Human resource management department keeps records of each employee’s salary, tax and work through DBMS.

Manufacturing: Manufacturing companies make products and sales them on the daily basis. To keep records of all the details about the products like quantity, bills, purchase, supply chain management, DBMS is used.

Airline Reservation system: Same as railway reservation system, airline also needs DBMS to keep records of flights arrival, departure and delay status.

What does Disaster Recovery Site (DR Site) mean?

A disaster recovery site (DR site) is an alternative backup facility, usually IT in nature, that is used when a primary location becomes unusable due to failure or disaster. It contains equipment and infrastructure that can be temporarily used to manage business processes until the main site's functionality is fully restored.

What does Data Center mean?

A data center is a repository that houses computing facilities like servers, routers, switches and firewalls, as well as supporting components like backup equipment, fire suppression facilities and air conditioning. A data center may be complex (dedicated building) or simple (an area or room that houses only a few servers). Additionally, a data center may be private or shared.

Data Warehouse

In computing, a data warehouse (DW or DWH), also known as an enterprise data warehouse (EDW), is a system used for reporting and data analysis, and is considered a core component of business intelligence.[1] DWs are central repositories of integrated data from one or more disparate sources. They store current and historical data in one single place[2] that are used for creating analytical reports for workers throughout the enterprise.[3]

The data stored in the warehouse is uploaded from the operational systems (such as marketing or sales). The data may pass through an operational data store and may require data cleansing[2] for additional operations to ensure data quality before it is used in the DW for reporting.

Extract, transform, load (ETL) and Extract, load, transform (E-LT) are the two main approaches used to build a data warehouse system.

Cache Memory

Cache Memory is a special very high-speed memory. It is used to speed up and synchronizing with high-speed CPU. Cache memory is costlier than main memory or disk memory but economical than CPU registers. Cache memory is an extremely fast memory type that acts as a buffer between RAM and the CPU. It holds frequently requested data and instructions so that they are immediately available to the CPU when needed.

Cache memory is used to reduce the average time to access data from the Main memory. The cache is a smaller and faster memory which stores copies of the data from frequently used main memory locations. There are various different independent caches in a CPU, which store instructions and data.

Levels of memory:

Level 1 or Register –

It is a type of memory in which data is stored and accepted that are immediately stored in CPU. Most commonly used register is accumulator, Program counter, address register etc.

Level 2 or Cache memory –

It is the fastest memory which has faster access time where data is temporarily stored for faster access.

Level 3 or Main Memory –

It is memory on which computer works currently. It is small in size and once power is off data no longer stays in this memory.

Level 4 or Secondary Memory –

It is external memory which is not as fast as main memory but data stays permanently in this memory.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP)

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology.

ERP is usually referred to as a category of business management software — typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from many business activities.

ERP provides an integrated and continuously updated view of core business processes using common databases maintained by a database management system. ERP systems track business resources—cash, raw materials, production capacity—and the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the system share data across various departments (manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.) that provide the data.[1] ERP facilitates information flow between all business functions and manages connections to outside stakeholders.[2]

Enterprise system software is a multibillion-dollar industry that produces components supporting a variety of business functions. IT investments have become the largest category of capital expenditure in United States-based businesses over the past[which?] decade. Though early ERP systems focused on large enterprises, smaller enterprises increasingly use ERP systems.[3]

The ERP system integrates varied organizational systems and facilitates error-free transactions and production, thereby enhancing the organization's efficiency. However, developing an ERP system differs from traditional system development.[4] ERP systems run on a variety of computer hardware and network configurations, typically using a database as an information repository.[5]

Smart Card

A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC) is a physical electronic authorization device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip.[1] Many smart cards include a pattern of metal contacts to electrically connect to the internal chip. Others are contactless, and some are both. Smart cards can provide personal identification, authentication, data storage, and application processing.[2] Applications include identification, financial, mobile phones (SIM), public transit, computer security, schools, and healthcare. Smart cards may provide strong security authentication for single sign-on (SSO) within organizations. Numerous nations have deployed smart cards throughout their populations.

The universal integrated circuit card, or SIM card, is also a type of smart card. As of 2015, 10.5 billion smart card IC chips are manufactured annually, including 5.44 billion SIM card IC chips.[3]

Digital Signature

A digital signature is a mathematical scheme for verifying the authenticity of digital messages or documents. A valid digital signature, where the prerequisites are satisfied, gives a recipient very strong reason to believe that the message was created by a known sender (authentication), and that the message was not altered in transit (integrity).[1]

Digital signatures are a standard element of most cryptographic protocol suites, and are commonly used for software distribution, financial transactions, contract management software, and in other cases where it is important to detect forgery or tampering.

Digital signatures are often used to implement electronic signatures, which includes any electronic data that carries the intent of a signature,[2] but not all electronic signatures use digital signatures.[3][4] In some countries, including South Africa,[5] the United States, Algeria,[6] Turkey, India,[7] Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia,[8] Uruguay,[9] Switzerland and the countries of the European Union,[10][11] electronic signatures have legal significance.

Digital signatures employ asymmetric cryptography. In many instances they provide a layer of validation and security to messages sent through a non-secure channel: Properly implemented, a digital signature gives the receiver reason to believe the message was sent by the claimed sender. Digital seals and signatures are equivalent to handwritten signatures and stamped seals.[12] Digital signatures are equivalent to traditional handwritten signatures in many respects, but properly implemented digital signatures are more difficult to forge than the handwritten type. Digital signature schemes, in the sense used here, are cryptographically based, and must be implemented properly to be effective. Digital signatures can also provide non-repudiation, meaning that the signer cannot successfully claim they did not sign a message, while also claiming their private key remains secret. Further, some non-repudiation schemes offer a time stamp for the digital signature, so that even if the private key is exposed, the signature is valid.[citation needed] Digitally signed messages may be anything representable as a bitstring: examples include electronic mail, contracts, or a message sent via some other cryptographic protocol.

What Is Business Continuity Planning (BCP)?

Business continuity planning (BCP) is the process involved in creating a system of prevention and recovery from potential threats to a company. The plan ensures that personnel and assets are protected and are able to function quickly in the event of a disaster. The BCP is generally conceived in advance and involves input from key stakeholders and personnel.

BCP involves defining any and all risks that can affect the company's operations, making it an important part of the organization's risk management strategy. Risks may include natural disasters—fire, flood, or weather-related events—and cyber attacks. Once the risks are identified, the plan should also include:

1.       Determining how those risks will affect operations

2.       Implementing safeguards and procedures to mitigate the risks

3.       Testing procedures to ensure they work

4.       Reviewing the process to make sure that it is up to date

BCPs are an important part of any business. Threats and disruptions mean a loss of revenue and higher costs, which leads to a drop in profitability. And businesses can't rely on insurance alone because it doesn't cover all the costs and the customers who move to the competition.

Understanding Business Continuity Planning (BCP)

Businesses are prone to a host of disasters that vary in degree from minor to catastrophic. Business continuity planning is typically meant to help a company continue operating in the event of major disasters such as fires. BCPs are different from a disaster recovery plan, which focuses on the recovery of a company's IT system after a crisis.

Consider a finance company based in a major city. It may put a BCP in place by taking steps including backing up its computer and client files offsite. If something were to happen to the company's corporate office, its satellite offices would still have access to important information.An important point to note is that BCP may not be as effective if a large portion of the population is affected, as in the case of a disease outbreak.

Developing a Business Continuity Plan

There are several steps many companies must follow to develop a solid BCP. They include:

Business Impact Analysis: Here, the business will identify functions and related resources that are time-sensitive. (More on this below.)

Recovery: In this portion, the business must identify and implement steps to recover critical business functions.

Organization: A continuity team must be created. This team will devise a plan to manage the disruption.

Training: The continuity team must be trained and tested. Members of the team should also complete exercises that go over the plan and strategies.

Stand Alone ATMs

Stand Alone ATMs are not connected with any ATM network- hence their transactions are restricted to the ATM’s branch and link branches only or you may take this another way as, the ATM which allows transaction of particular bank only. Just like post office ATM which allows transaction only through ATM Card of post office, ATM Cards issued by other banks are not working with post office ATM.

The opposite of Stand alone ATMs are Networked ATMs, which are connected on the ATM Network. Just like ATM of Nationalized bank.

Microcomputer System

Firewall

In computing, a firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules.[1] A firewall typically establishes a barrier between a trusted internal network and untrusted external network, such as the Internet.[2]

Firewalls are often categorized as either network firewalls or host-based firewalls. Network firewalls filter traffic between two or more networks and run on network hardware. Host-based firewalls run on host computers and control network traffic in and out of those machines.

CIB

The Credit Information Bureau (CIB) of Bangladesh Bank is responsible among others for collection, processing

and maintaining an updated database of credit related information supplied by participants, institutions which extend credit i.e. banks (Act.14, 1991), Financial Institutions (Act.27, 1993), HBFC (Presidential Order 7, 1973), ICB (ICB Order 40, 1976). The CIB was set up on 18 August 1992 in the Bangladesh Bank. One of the objectives behind setting up of the CIB was to minimise the extent of default loans by providing the participants with timely reports on credit information based on the enquiry/request about the loan applicants so as to facilitate credit risk analysis by the banks/FIs and decide promptly on the loan applications.

Credit Information Bureau (CIB) was set up in Bangladesh Bank (BB) in the year 1992 with the objective of minimizing the extent of default credit1. CIB of BB collects credit related information of borrowers from banks and financial institutions (FIs) and maintain the information in its database. The banks and FIs can access online database of CIB and collect credit information of its customer, when needed. They use the information to analyze repayment behavior of customer and avoid financing to any defaulter.

Benefit/Uses/Necessity of CIB Report

1.       CIB report has substantial impact on decision making regarding sanctioning, renewal, rescheduling and adjustment of a credit facility by bank and FIs. It assists in knowing loan status and repayment behavior of a customer even he/she does not have any default investment/loan. It also facilitates in reducing loan-processing time, costs and probability of being default to a considerable extent.

2.       As per section 27KaKa of Bank Company Act, 1991, no bank or financial institution can extend any credit facility favoring a defaulter. To comply with the above requirement, banks collect information from CIB to ascertain default status of a customer (BRPD Circular 13, 2000). As per BRPD Circular 2 dated 16 January 2014 on single borrower exposure limit (large loan), Banks shall collect the loan information on their borrowers from Credit Information Bureau (CIB) of Bangladesh Bank before sanctioning, renewing or rescheduling loans in order to ensure that credit facilities are not being provided to defaulters.

3.       Information from CIB to be collected before taking effective steps on fresh loan-application of any borrower after receipt of the same or before renewal of regular loan account or rescheduling (CIB Circular 02, 1992 and CIB Circular 7, 1995).

4.       CIB Report is required even before allowing non-funded facilities like LC, bank guarantee (BRPD Circular 13, 2000).

5.       CIB Report should be collected though the customer provides 100% or more cash security against a facility. In fact, credit facility cannot be provided to a defaulter even if 100% or more cash margin is provided. As such, to avoid financing to a defaulter, CIB report should be obtained in such cases also.

Network operating system

A network operating system is a specialized operating system for a network device such as a router, switch or firewall. Historically operating systems with networking capabilities were described as network operating system, because they allowed personal computers (PCs) to participate in computer networks and shared file and printer access within a local area network (LAN). This description of operating systems is now largely historical, as common operating systems include a network stack to support a client–server model.

Difference between System Software and Application Software

S.No.	System Software	Application Software
1.	System software is used for operating computer hardware.	Application software is used by user to perform specific task.
2.	System softwares are installed on the computer when operating system is installed.	Application softwares are installed according to user’s requirements.
3.	In general, the user does not interact with system software because it works in the background.	In general, the user interacts with application sofwares.
4.	System software can run independently. It provides platform for running application softwares.	Application software can’t run independently. They can’t run without the presence of system software.
5.	Some examples of system softwares are compiler, assembler, debugger, driver, etc.	Some examples of application softwares are word processor, web browser, media player, etc.

Cyber Crime and Internet Security

Hacking:  It is an illegal practice by which a hacker breaches the computer’s security system of someone for personal interest.

Unwarranted mass-surveillance: Mass surveillance means surveillance of a substantial fraction of a group of people by the authority especially for the security purpose, but if someone does it for personal interest, it is considered as cybercrime.

Child pornography: It is one of the most heinous crimes that is brazenly practiced across the world. Children are sexually abused and videos are being made and uploaded on the Internet.

Child grooming: It is the practice of establishing an emotional connection with a child especially for the purpose of child-trafficking and child prostitution.

Copyright infringement: If someone infringes someone’s protected copyright without permission and publishes that with his own name, is known as copyright infringement.

Money laundering: Illegal possession of money by an individual or an organization is known as money laundering. It typically involves transfers of money through foreign banks and/or legitimate business. In other words, it is the practice of transforming illegitimately earned money into the legitimate financial system.

Cyber-extortion: When a hacker hacks someone’s email server, or computer system and demands money to reinstate the system, it is known as cyber-extortion.

Cyber-terrorism: Normally, when someone hacks government’s security system or intimidates government or such a big organization to advance his political or social objectives by invading the security system through computer networks, it is known as cyber-terrorism.

Cyber Security: Cyber security is a potential activity by which information and other communication systems are protected from and/or defended against the unauthorized use or modification or exploitation or even theft.

Likewise, cyber security is a well-designed technique to protect computers, networks, different programs, personal data, etc., from unauthorized access.

Cyber Security: All sorts of data whether it is government, corporate, or personal need high security; however, some of the data, which belongs to the government defense system, banks, defense research and development organization, etc. are highly confidential and even small amount of negligence to these data may cause great damage to the whole nation. Therefore, such data need security at a very high level.

How to Secure Data? Let us now discuss how to secure data. In order to make your security system strong, you need to pay attention to the following −

1.       Security Architecture

2.       Network Diagram

3.       Security Assessment Procedure

4.       Security Policies

5.       Risk Management Policy

6.       Backup and Restore Procedures

7.       Disaster Recovery Plan

8.       Risk Assessment Procedures

Digital Bangladesh

Digital Bangladesh implies the broad use of computers, and embodies the modern philosophy of effective and useful use of technology in terms of implementing the promises in education, health, job placement and poverty reduction. The party underscored a changing attitude, positive thinking and innovative ideas for the successes of “Digital Bangladesh”.[4][5]

The philosophy of “Digital Bangladesh” comprises ensuring people's democracy and human rights, transparency, accountability, establishing justice and ensuring delivery of government services to the citizens of Bangladesh through maximum use of technology, with the ultimate goal being the overall improvement of the daily lifestyle of general people. This includes all classes of people and does not discriminate people in terms of technology.

The government further emphasized on the four elements of “Digital Bangladesh Vision” which are human resource development, people involvement, civil services and use of information technology in business.

Vision 2021

Vision 2021 was the political manifesto of the Bangladesh Awami League party before winning the National Elections of 2008. It stands as a political vision of Bangladesh for the year 2021, the golden jubilee of the nation. The policy has been criticized as a policy emblematic of technological optimism in the context of Bangladesh and the state repression of media, low internet penetration, inadequate electricity generation.[1] The Vision 2021 is an articulation of where this nation needs to be in 2021 – the year which marks the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence.

Goals

The main goal is for Bangladesh to become a middle income country where poverty will be completely eradicated.

1. Democracy and effective parliaments

2. Political framework, decentralization of power & people's participation

3. Good governance through establishing rule of law and avoiding political partisanship

4. Transformation of political culture

5. A society free from corruption

6. Empowerment and equal rights for women

7. Economic development & initiative

a. Meeting basic needs

b. Population and labour force

c. Alleviation of poverty

d. Food & nutrition

e. Health care center

f. Education

g. Industry

h. Energy security

i. Infrastructural development

j. Housing

k. Environment

l. Water resources

8. Bangladesh in the global arena

a. Achievements of liberation

b. Culture

c. Foreign policy

d. Good Religion

Audit Trail

A record showing who has accessed a computer system and what operations he or she has performed during a given period of time. Audit trails are useful both for maintaining security and for recovering lost transactions. Most accounting systems and database management systems include an audit trail component. In addition, there are separate audit trail software products that enable network administrators to monitor use of network resources.

Classification Of Computers By Size And Capacity

Computer by capacity

Today computers come in a wide variety of sizes, capabilities, designs and what have you, that it makes it difficult for one to easily classify them. We have types of computers today ranging from:

Tiny computers embedded in consumer devices and appliances,

Pocket-sized computers and mobile phones that perform limited computing functionalities,

The powerful and versatile desktop and portable computers used in homes and businesses,

To the super powerful computers used for high demanding computing capabilities like controlling a country’s defense systems.

Generally, computers are classified into many categories based on their size, capacity, purpose and type. In this post we talk about classification of computers based on the size and capacity.

Classification Of Computers By Size And Capacity

When classified according to size and capacity, the following types of computers can be identified: supercomputers, mainframe computers, minicomputers, microcomputers and embedded computers.

Supercomputers

Supercomputers are the most powerful and physically the largest by size. These are systems designed to process huge amounts of data and the fastest supercomputers can perform over one trillion calculations in a second. Supercomputers

Supercomputers like the Cray T90 system has thousands of processors. Supercomputers cost very high and are therefore only used by large corporations, government agencies and universities that can afford them. Because of their extraordinary speed, accuracy and processing power, supercomputers are well suited for solving highly complex problems and performing tasks that demand huge amounts of calculations. The following functions are some of those performed by supercomputers: space exploration and sending of astronauts into space; controlling missile guidance systems and satellites for national defense; oil exploration; hosting extremely complex web sites and decision support systems for organizations; etc.

Mainframe Computers

Mainframe computers are very large often filling an entire room and can process thousands of millions of instructions per second. They are used in large Mainframe Computers private and government organizations like insurance companies and banks where many people need frequent access to information. In a mainframe environment, users connect to the mainframe through the many terminals wired to the mainframe. Mainframes are capable of supporting hundreds to thousands of users simultaneously. Some of the functions performed by a mainframe include: flight scheduling, reservations and ticketing for an airline; government agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, Electoral Commission and the Census Bureau use mainframes to track information about large populations, vote computations, individual tax records, payroll, etc.; many large grocery and retail companies use mainframes to register sales, update stock and manage inventory levels.

Minicomputers

Minicomputers are Minicomputer such smaller than mainframes and are also less expensive. Sometimes referred to as Midrange Server or Midrange Computer, they are typically larger, more powerful and more expensive than desktop computers. Midrange computers are usually used by small and medium-sized businesses as their servers. Users connect to the server through a network by using desktop computers, notebooks, thin clients or dumb terminals. They are also used by hospitals as well as in school computer laboratories.

Microcomputers

Microcomputers are the most frequently used type of computer. Also, known as Personal Computer (PC), a microcomputer is a small computer system designed to be used by one person at a time. The size of microcomputers range from those that can fit on a desktop, inside a briefcase, or even into a shirt pocket. The various sizes of microcomputers can be grouped into desktop computers and portable computers.

Desktop computers are the conventional ones which fit on a desk Microcomputers and usually consists of a system unit, monitor, keyboard, and a mouse. These computers have desktop cases designed to be placed horizontally on a desk’s surface, usually with the monitor sitting on top of the system unit. Today the most common type of desktop computer uses a system unit called the Tower which is designed to sit vertically on the floor or the table.

Portable computers are microcomputers designed to be carried easily around in the hand, bag, Portable Computers briefcase or pocket depending on their sizes. They run on rechargeable batteries and also use an adapter which allows them to be plugged into a power outlet to be recharged. Portable computers are essential for many workers like salespeople, agents and managers who may be off-sites and in remote locations but need computing and communications resources as they travel. Many students are also increasingly purchasing portable computers as their primary home computers. The types of portable computers that are about the size of a standard paper notebook are called Laptop or Notebook Portable Computers. They are fully functioning computers that open to reveal a screen and a keyboard. Another type of portable computer is the Tablet PC or simply Tablet which is contained in a touchscreen panel. Most Tablets are a little smaller and weigh less than the average laptop. Earlier Tablets required stylus but modern ones are operated by fingers and a stylus is an option.  Handheld computers are also portable. They are about the size of a pocket calculator and have built-in keyboard or thumb pad. Some also accept input through digital pen or touch. Examples are the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and the Smart phone or Mobile phone.

Embedded Computers

Embedded computers are fixed into products designed to perform specific functions. Such products are mostly household appliances and cars. Embedded computers are put into household appliances and electronic devices like dishwashers, microwaves, washing machines and coffee makers in order to perform designated tasks. Electronic devices around the home like watches, answering machines, sewing machines, DVD players, television sets, pen, necklace and watch recorders and so forth, also make use of embedded computers. Cars also use embedded computers to assist with diagnosing faults, notifying the user of important conditions like under inflated tires, an oil filter that need changing, and controlling the use of airbag and other safety devices.

Computer Number Systems and its types

What are the number systems in Computer?

Number systems are the technique to represent numbers in the computer system architecture, every value that you are saving or getting into/from computer memory has a defined number system.

Computer architecture supports following number systems.

1.       Binary number system

2.       Octal number system

3.       Decimal number system

4.       Hexadecimal (hex) number system

1) Binary Number System

A Binary number system has only two digits that are 0 and 1. Every number (value) represents with 0 and 1 in this number system. The base of binary number system is 2, because it has only two digits.

2) Octal number system

Octal number system has only eight (8) digits from 0 to 7. Every number (value) represents with 0,1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7 in this number system. The base of octal number system is 8, because it has only 8 digits.

3) Decimal number system

Decimal number system has only ten (10) digits from 0 to 9. Every number (value) represents with 0,1,2,3,4,5,6, 7,8 and 9 in this number system. The base of decimal number system is 10, because it has only 10 digits.

4) Hexadecimal number system

A Hexadecimal number system has sixteen (16) alphanumeric values from 0 to 9 and A to F. Every number (value) represents with 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E and F in this number system. The base of hexadecimal number system is 16, because it has 16 alphanumeric values. Here A is 10, B is 11, C is 12, D is 13, E is 14 and F is 15.

Table of the Numbers Systems with Base, Used Digits, Representation, C language representation:

Number system	Base	Used digits	Example	C Language assignment
Binary	2	0,1	(11110000)2	int val=0b11110000;
Octal	8	0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7	(360)8	int val=0360;
Decimal	10	0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9	(240)10	int val=240;
Hexadecimal	16	0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, A,B,C,D,E,F	(F0)16	int val=0xF0;

Comprehensive Security System for banks

Banks and financial institutions are generally heavily-protected facilities, with basic physical security measures such as armed guards, the bank vault, and panic buttons in case of emergency. But banks are also making use of the latest in security technology to ensure safety for bank staff, customers, and their assets. From high-end, around-the-clock video surveillance with analytics, to advanced access control systems providing easy, secure access to high-value areas of the bank, there’s a host of options to bolster security systems for banks.

1. Video Surveillance & Monitoring

CCTV security camera systems are the backbone of a financial institution’s security system. Comprehensive video surveillance, covering all parts of the bank building, serves as both a layer of both deterrence and as a virtual record of everything that happens within the bank.

Prominently placed cameras – covering doors, exits, teller windows and all-important rooms in the bank – can remind potential thieves or burglars they are being watched, and that their face is being recorded on camera.

While it’s helpful to place cameras prominently, if tampering is a concern, it may be wiser to leave some concealed, making them hard to disable. Visible cameras should also be placed high enough to deter and avoid tampering or disabling by dedicated burglars, who may seek to disable them before an attempted robbery.

Live video monitoring of video feeds is also vital. Many financial institutions already have in-house security and monitoring personnel watching the video feed for suspicious behavior and incidents, and ready to respond in real-time. Smaller banks might, however, use an external monitoring company that can surveil video feeds from a distance and dispatch authorities within minutes, giving them the manpower and security of a full-team, without the size.

To get the most out of their CCTV surveillance system, most banks will likely want to install 4k security cameras. 4k UHD will give the resolution and clarity needed to make out details such as faces, as opposed to grainy, unusable footage.

Video analytics could also play a role in security when budget and logistics allow. As with retail, where they help track and identify suspicious behavior and high-risk individuals, video analytics and software can help security officers notice suspicious behaviors and incidents, getting an early jump on the situation.

2. Video Surveillance Storage Needs

Financial institutions generally have detailed comprehensive logs of video surveillance recording in case of emergencies. While no laws or regulations determining the amount of time a bank must keep their surveillance footage exist, most institutions keep it on site for the customary 90 days, which is long enough to cover most incidents that arise. Some banks will opt for longer archives – 180 days or more – for added peace-of-mind.

After 90 or 180 days, video footage is often archived on external storage server, where it can be accessed for as far as several years down the road. This is, however, dependent on the particular bank’s preferences, needs and budget.

Depending on if the bank records in Full 1080p HD, if they’ve made the switch to 4k resolution cameras, how many cameras they utilize, and of course what bitrate and frame rate the system records in, the bank could be looking at between a few dozen terabytes of footage and several hundred for long term storage– which could require an entire server-based system.

3. Burglar Alarms & Monitoring

Security doesn’t stop when banking hours end. The safety of customers’ and bank assets depends on vigilant, around-the-clock prevention efforts. In addition to on-site rounds and monitoring from security guards, it’s also vital for banks to have proper alarm systems and monitoring. Video surveillance will continue to record throughout the night, covering the perimeter of the building, doors, windows, back entrances, the vault, as well as all hallways and the main lobby. The CCTV system should be connected to both any internal security suite with on-duty personnel and to an external monitoring service that will be able to contact the police in case of a break in.

In addition, to prevent break-ins, banks will have airtight and comprehensive burglar alarms, incorporating door and window contacts, as well as glass break detectors, to cover every potential point-of-entry. Additionally, smoke and fire detectors should be installed to protect against physical damage and disasters.

4. Access Control Systems

Modern access control systems are one area where banks are beginning to make upgrades and improvements, in addition to physical locks, keys and bolts. Role-based access control systems allowing and disallowing employees access to certain parts of the building – behind the teller counter, vault areas, offices –provide a more advanced form of protection from burglars and thieves trying to break in to high-value areas. Proximity swipe cards give employees an easy and convenient way to get in and out, while biometric credentials provide beefed up security for areas needing extra protection.

Access control parameters can be set to block employee access after the close of business hours, preventing inside jobs and late-night security breaches.

5. Other Security Measures

Additional security measures for banks include placing bulletproof glass in front of teller windows, and if budget allows, on building windows. There should, of course, be panic buttons and alarm triggers placed throughout staff areas and under teller windows, as are already found in most banks. It’s also important that each bank evaluate whether it’s better to have an audible or silent alarm, as an audible alarm could aggravate burglars further.

On a more virtual note, banks are integrating – and already make use of –

None of these systems, of course, replace the traditional feet-on-the-ground presence of security guards, who provide constant, vigilant overwatch of happenings on the bank floor and be the first to respond to incidents.

CBS

Core banking is a banking service provided by a group of networked bank branches where customers may access their bank account and perform basic transactions from any of the member branch offices.

Core banking is often associated with retail banking and many banks treat the retail customers as their core banking customers. Businesses are usually managed via the corporate banking division of the institution. Core banking covers basic depositing and lending of money.

Core banking functions will include transaction accounts, loans, mortgages and payments. Banks make these services available across multiple channels like automated teller machines, Internet banking, mobile banking and branches.[1]Banking software and network technology allows a bank to centralise its record keeping and allow access from any location.

Data Backup benefits

Banks and other financial institutions are organizations that interact with a significant number of consumers on a daily basis. Whether a person visits the physical bank location to deposit a check or tracks accounts through a mobile app, banks are a staple that govern a lot of what individuals are able to do. Financial institutions can benefit from backups for a few reasons, and they will need to seriously consider these systems if they wish to continue thriving.

Big target for data thieves

The financial sector is an area that's being hit particularly hard by data breaches. Everything from ransomware to phishing emails have been thrown at these organizations in the hopes of achieving a big payday, and some of the attacks have been successful. In early 2016, the U.S. Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council warned the industry about the flood of new threats stemming from ransomware. Infosecurity Magazine noted that most ransomware masquerades as an official-looking government sanction, and hackers gain $400,000 a month on average from using these techniques.

Personal financial data is a big target for hackers.Personal financial data is a big target for hackers.

Many organizations end up paying the fine to gain back data access because they see no other alternative. However, backups are the best answer to these threats. Since ransomware encrypts everything on a particular device, banks can simply wipe the hardware and restore it to working order using their backups. This thwarts the attacker and prevents the business from having to pay anything to access its information.

Disaster can strike at any time, "Regulations regarding data storage, maintenance and security have been put in place."

Emergencies can come in many forms, and it will be important for financial institutions to be ready for anything. In 2002, the Federal Reserve made a point to establish regulations in this sector in order for these organizations to recover quickly from a Sept. 11-type event. Network World reported that this initiative stemmed from a widespread halt of Wall Street processes that came as a result of the Sept. 11 fallout. Wall Street was unable to get back online due to inadequate backup plans, which affected all of its interconnected systems. To make it worse, many other financial institutions that had been impacted had not tested their backup systems, leaving them in the dark as well.

Regulations regarding data storage, maintenance and security have been put in place since then to ensure that financial institutions protect their information and are able to get systems up faster in an emergency. Not only did the Federal Reserve suggest adding rules about testing backups industry-wide, it also recommended a required two-hour recovery time. These rules alone serve as the basis for many other standards across sectors and have changed how banks handle their files. However, organizations cannot allow themselves to become lax in their efforts, and must maintain vigilance with their backup solutions as more threats emerge.

Banks are an essential part of everyday life, but if data is compromised, it can affect a significant number of people. In order to protect this information, financial institutions should look into backup solutions. These systems not only can help companies bounce back from attacks, they can also minimize the effect of disasters and support business continuity.

Electronic Document Storage and Retrieval System

A lot of people are often confused about the meaning and usefulness of an electronic document storage and retrieval system. This is quite simple; it is a means of storing your documents in a place different from your disk or hard drive at your home or office. With this, you will have the duplicate of your vital documents saved on an entirely different server that can be accessed via the internet.

There are many benefits attached to using this type of storage. On the general note, the major reason why people opt for this is to safeguard their very important documents against damage or theft. There are a number of ways this can happen. Your computer can develop physical or memory fault which may lead to loss of data and of course, unrecoverable. Also, such a loss can come in form of theft, house fire or flood. In this event, properties, including hard disks where vital documents might have been saved, can be lost.

One other reason why people opt for the electronic document storage and retrieval system is the convenience involved. The fact that your documents are accessible via the internet makes it possible for individuals to access these documents wherever they are provided that there is an internet connection. This is extremely useful for people who travel a lot or those who need to access documents while on a tour, vacation or visit.

Nevertheless, another major reason businesses and organizations do favor electronic document storage and retrieval system is the issue of compliance. On several occasions, companies are internally regulated in such a way that in order for them to satisfy some set of standards, there are a number of files that must be electronically available via the electronic system.

Similarly, the issue of the paper is another major reason why many offices and business opt for the electronic document storage and retrieval system. On some occasions, the sheer amount of paperwork in an office is overwhelming. Especially some businesses that operate in a leased apartment, there is a major problem of space confinement and it wouldn’t be economical to use the majority of the available spaces for storing papers. The usage of electronic storage system is the best way in this context to save as much as possible documents.

Not limited to this, the retrieval of documents from the electronic document storage and retrieval system is very much easier and faster when compared to searching through boxes and catalogs. In fact, a lot of offices are striving towards a paperless method of running the business.

Regardless of the above-mentioned benefits, the electronic document storage and retrieval system is a very good option to consider. By using this method, a lot of time, resources, and energy will be conserved. Thereafter, you will be sure of moving your business towards the maximum productivity. As you have seen above, there are lots of benefits attached to using the e-storage system.