The free dataset that came with a virus
An analyst needs a file of town populations. A page offers "free data, click to download". The file opens, and the laptop starts to behave strangely.
The numbers were bait. Safe searching protects you and your data. Cross-checking protects your answer.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Secure | protected from harm and from people who should not see it |
| Malware | software made to harm a computer or steal from it |
| HTTPS | a web address that starts with https, which means the link to the site is encrypted |
| Phishing | a trick message or page that pretends to be trusted, to steal logins |
| Cross-referencing | checking a fact in more than one independent source |
| Independent | not copied from the other source |
| Bias | an unfair lean towards one side |
| Margin | the gap you accept before two figures count as different |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can search safely, cross-check a fact across sources and judge each source for reliability, validity and bias.
Starter
Have a go
Starter
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Search safely and securely
| Rule | Why |
|---|---|
| Read the web address and check the spelling | Fake sites copy real names with one letter changed |
| Look for https, but do not trust it alone | It protects the link, not the facts, and fake sites use it too |
| Prefer official and known sources first | They are easier to check |
| Do not download files from pages you do not know | A file can carry malware |
| Never type work passwords on a page you reached from a result | It may be a phishing page |
| Keep private or customer data out of search boxes and public online tools | You may share it with strangers |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Cross-reference to corroborate
Cross-referencing means checking a fact in more than one independent source. If a statistics site, a journal and a survey agree, you can trust the fact more.
Three pages that copy one blog are not independent. They are one source three times.
Run it: do three sources agree?
figures = [4100, 4250, 4180]
margin = 200
lowest = figures[0]
highest = figures[0]
for figure in figures:
if figure < lowest:
lowest = figure
if figure > highest:
highest = figure
print("Gap between sources:", highest - lowest)
print("Agree within margin:", highest - lowest <= margin)