Brittany's Cyber Corner

Throughout this course, I’ve learned how deeply connected network security and privacy are to the fundamentals of information technology. As someone working in fraud prevention and aiming to become a cybersecurity analyst, these two areas are not just topics of interest. They are at the heart of my career path. Understanding how computers operate is essential in cybersecurity. In both my coursework and real-world job experience, I’ve seen how systems process and transmit data and how cyberattacks can exploit those processes. The textbook introduced the IPOS model (input, processing, output, and storage), which helped me understand how each stage is a potential entry point for threats. Tools like Scratch also helped me understand basic program execution by showing how logic flows in real time using motion, control, and event blocks. Hardware components such as the CPU, memory, and storage devices are critical in securing information systems. Attackers often target these components using...

For this project, I created an animated story in Scratch called Magical Fairy using block-based code. At first, I struggled to understand how the blocks were supposed to work together. My fairy wouldn't move, and some blocks were floating around doing nothing. Once I realized that every block had to be connected under the green flag to work properly, everything started to come together. After that, the process became easier and more enjoyable. In my program, I used motion blocks to make the fairy glide across the screen in a magical pattern. I added looks blocks so she could speak, think, and change costumes with glowing effects. I also used sound effects like fairy dust and magic spells to make the scene more engaging. To complete the animation, I added a forest background that matched the theme. Watching the fairy fly, talk, and sparkle in sync was my favorite part of the project. Scratch helped me understand the basics of programming logic without needing to memorize code syntax...