Email

What is email?
• Email is a method of exchanging messages and files over the internet
• The main uses of email are:
o Personal communication
o Professional correspondence
o Marketing
• Companies provide guidelines about acceptable use of emails
• Guidelines about emails from a company include:
o Purpose of the email
o Using acceptable language
o Email security, including anti-virus software

Email Guidelines & Constraints

Acceptable Language Guidelines
• Acceptable and appropriate language must be used depending on
the recipient and purpose of the email
• An example of this includes using a professional tone when sending a work-
related email
• No offensive or obscene language or images should be used
• No racism or violent content should be in email messages
• No illegal material should be sent
• The laws within a country can see that emails are monitored and people can
be punished for what they write
• Some additional rules to follow regarding email language include:
o Include a clear subject line
o Use a professional email address
o Use professional salutations
o Do not use all capitals as it implies shouting

Need for Security

• Email security is crucial to protect sensitive information from being
accessed or altered
• Email inboxes should be protected by strong passwords which are frequently
changed
• Spam filters and antivirus software should be in place at all times to protect
users' inboxes from both passive attacks and active attacks

Netiquette
• Netiquette (Internet etiquette) is the need to respect others online
• It is an agreement to respect the opinion of others in online forums, internet
messages and emails
 • Some common examples to remember are:
o Most posts are public and can potentially be read by anyone
o A clear, inoffensive and succinct language will be used
o Give a good impression of yourself, considering, the tone of writing,
spelling, punctuation and grammar

Sending Emails
Email Groups
• Email groups allow for mass communication with a defined set of recipients
• It is easier to send out multiple emails if the addresses are grouped together
• The benefit of doing this is that it ensures no one misses out on an
email containing key information
• A drawback of email groups is that spammers can utilise them to target a large
group of people with ease

Email Operations
• There are three key email operations to be aware of:
o Carbon Copy (CC) - this is used when you want to include additional
recipients to view the email
o Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) - this is used when you want additional
recipients to view the email without other recipients knowing
o Forward - This allows you to send an existing email to a new recipient
o Attachments - These allow files to be sent along with the email message
Spam
What is spam?
• Spam is unwanted/unsolicited junk mail which is sent in large numbers to
inboxes
• Spam fills the users' inboxes, often with advertising content or
for phishing/spreading malware
• Phishing emails will be used to act as a reputable company or organisation in
the aim of getting your personal details such as usernames and passwords
How can spam emails be detected?
• Spam emails often has multiple spelling or grammatical errors
• They often use broken English, though this is now improving with the use of AI
• Spam emails will not address you by name
• Often spam emails will ask you to enter your details by clicking a link
o Reputable companies have now stopped doing this to make identifying
spam a lot easier

How can spam emails be prevented?

• Preventing spam emails is becoming easier as email providers' anti-spam
filters become stronger and more efficient
• Users can ensure they do not agree to marketing emails from companies they
register with
• Users can also ensure they do not reply to emails with sensitive data or
complete online forms for websites by clicking links in an email
o Instead, they should visit the website of their own accord and then log in
as usual

Worked Example
Describe the ways that a user can recognise spam and methods to help prevent it. [6]

How to answer this question:

Give a maximum of 4 bullet points on how users can recognise spam content and then
a maximum of 4 points on how they can prevent spam content.

Answers:

Recognising spam (max 4):

• Multiple spelling/grammatical errors

• Asked to carry out tasks immediately such as click on a link
• Does not ask for you by name
• Stored in a SPAM folder
• Email asks for personal information
• Large amount of repeated emails from the same user
• Lots of other similar email addresses in the send-to-box

Prevention methods (max 4):

• Use a spam filter

• Not filling in your details on the online form
• Not replying to spam emails
• Not having an auto-reply set
• Not consenting to marketing when providing details to a company
The Internet

What is the Internet?

The Internet is a network of networks which allows users to

Share and distribute information outside of an organisation

Send and receive emails

The internet has many features to it which users can use to communicate and share
information with others

Blogs, Forums & Wikis

What is a blog?

Web logs (blogs) are journals shared on the internet by a writer (blogger)

They are regularly updated and often written in an informal or conversational style like a
journal, managed by individuals or small groups

People can share their views and opinions on a variety of topics including

Movies

Food and restaurants

Game releases

Blogs are usually presented in reverse chronological order

They allow for reader comments, facilitating some level of discussion

Other internet users can’t change the content of the blogs, they can only read them

What is a forum?

A forum is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of
posted messages

They are often organised around specific topics or interests, and divided into categories
known as threads

Unlike blogs, forums are primarily focused on peer-to-peer interaction

They may require users to create an account before posting

Forums can be moderated or unmoderated

A moderated forum is under the control of an administrator who determines what can and
can’t be posted, preventing inappropriate or hurtful content from being published

An unmoderated forum means that no one is in charge and the moderation of the forum
relies upon voluntary action between the users of the site
What is a wiki?

A wiki is a website or web application that allows users to add or edit content

It is designed to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing from many people

It holds information on many topics which can be searched

Posts are not in chronological order

The structure is determined by the content or its users

Changes can be tracked and reverted if necessary

Social Networks

What is a social network?

A social network website is a platform where users can connect with others and share
content

They include platforms such as

Facebook

TikTok

X (Twitter)
Instagram

LinkedIn

Social networking platforms usually require users to create a profile and allow them to
share text, images, videos, and links

They facilitate interaction, collaboration, and information sharing on a large scale

Privacy settings allow users to control who can see their content

Internet Service Providers (ISP), URLs & Web Browsers

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

An Internet Service Providers (ISP) is a company that provides access to the Internet to
users and businesses

The ISP provides internet access by leasing equipment and telecommunication lines to
users that are required to access the internet

Web browsers

A web browser is a software application used to locate, retrieve, and display content on the
WWW

Web browsers are used to display web pages which include images, videos and other files

A hyperlink is a word/phrase/image which references data that the reader can follow by
clicking or tapping, usually taking you to another web page
Most web browsers have the following features:

Home page

Ability to bookmark favourites

Keep a history of visited websites

Hyperlinks which allow users to navigate between pages

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) are the web address a user types into a web browser

Websites are stored in the form of an IP address however, these are not user friendly

Instead, an alphanumeric format is used for the benefit of humans

An example is www.savemyexams.com

Search Engines, Evaluating Information and Risks of the Internet

What are search engines?

Search engines are tools that locate and display web pages related to the search terms
entered by the user

They are essential for navigating the vast amount of information on the internet
They index millions of web pages and use algorithms to rank the relevance of each page to
the search terms

How do search engines work?

Search engines work in three stages:

Crawling

Indexing

Ranking

Crawling is when web crawlers scour the internet daily to retrieve new websites

Indexing is how websites are categorised based on the content of their web pages,
keywords and metadata

Ranking is how websites are ranked and listed on search engine pages – this depends on
many factors to display the most relevant results

Amount of information

Search engines can provide an overwhelming amount of information, making it crucial to

use specific and relevant search terms

Using quotation marks for exact phrases, plus signs for mandatory terms, or minus signs
for excluding terms can help refine the search
Finding relevant and reliable information

The relevance of information is determined by the search engine’s algorithm, which

considers factors such as keyword frequency, page quality and EEAT

Reliable information typically comes from reputable sources such as educational

establishments, governments, or well-established industry websites

Evaluating information found on the internet

The internet offers a wealth of information, but not all of it is accurate or reliable

Assess the reliability of information by considering the reputation and credibility of the
source

Determine the validity of information by checking it against other reputable sources

Consider whether the information is biased, looking for perspectives that may be
promoting a particular viewpoint

Check how up-to-date the information is, as outdated information can be misleading

Risks of the internet

There are a variety of arguments for policing the internet

Arguments for policing the internet

Arguments against policing the internet

The internet contains a large amount of inappropriate and criminal material

Data restriction: Parental, educational, and ISP controls could limit access to certain
information or websites

The internet can expose users to harmful or illegal content

It can be argued that it would go against freedom of speech

More control would prevent younger users and vulnerable groups from being exposed to
undesirable content

It is not up to one person to define what people find offensive

Protocols

What is a protocol?

A protocol is a set of rules that govern communication on a network

There are protocols for different purposes, some of them include:

HTTP & HTTPS

FTP

SSL & TLS

VoIP

SMTP

HTTP & HTTPS

What is HTTP & HTTPS?

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) allows communication between clients and servers for
website viewing

HTTP allows clients to receive data from the sever (fetching a webpage) and send data to
the server (submitting a form, uploading a file)

HTTPS works in the same way as HTTP but with an added layer of security. All data sent and
received using HTTPS is encrypted

HTTPS is used to protect sensitive information such as passwords, financial information

and personal data

http

FTP

What is FTP?

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) allows sending and receiving files between computers

Uploading and downloading files to/from a web server is often completed using FTP

FTP offers greater efficiency and support for bulk transfers and large files such as resuming
interrupted transfers
FTP clients are software applications that use the FTP protocol to make the process easier
for users

ftp

SSL & TLS

What is SSL & TLS?

Secure socket layer (SSL) is a security protocol developed to provide secure

communication over the internet

TLS is a successor to SSL and is also a security protocol used to provide secure
communication over the internet

They both use a combination of symmetric and asymmetric encryption to secure data and
ensure data integrity

SSL operates by encrypting a user’s data using a public key

This is done by sending a digital certificate to the user’s browser

This contains the public key which can be used for authentication

Where is SSL used?

SSL is used in a variety of situations where a secure connection is required, some

examples of this include:

Online banking
Online shopping

Using cloud storage

Messaging

Social networking websites

Intranets/extranets

Worked Example

Protocols are associated with the internet and an intranet.

Identify three protocols and for each one, identify a use. [6]

Answers

Matched pairs:

HTTP/HyperText Transfer Protocol

Transfer data between a webserver and the browser//display/loads pages//connect to a

webpage [1]

HTTPS/ HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure variant

One from:

Transfer data between a webserver and the browser securely [1]

Display/loads secure pages [1]

Connect to a secure webpage [1]

Secure variant of HTTP [1]

FTP/File Transfer Protocol

Transfers files between computers/website [1]

SSL/TLS

Determines variables of the encryption for both the link and the data being transmitted [1]