MSIS 4123 Exam 2 Questions with Correct Answers Latest Update 2025/2026
Higher languages - Answers Computer languages that are more easily human-readable; further
away from machine code
Slack space - Answers Space remaining in unused clusters; can hide data there; may have old
data still there
Programmer - Answers Focuses on knowing how the code works at a low level; machine
learning; Artificial Intelligence
Assembly language - Answers One step up from machine code; Uses words like "push" and
"pop" and "add"
Developer - Answers Typically uses programming languages to build business (or other)
solutions; focus is on what the code can do
Instruction Set - Answers The basic things a CPU can do; unique to CPU families
ASCII - Answers American Standard code for info interchange
A standard for representing binary values as human-interpreted characters; a code sheet
Hard Drive - Answers Disks or platters spinning at 7200 or 5400 rpms; access with heads
moving perpendicular to disk rotation; old tech; holds data magnetically
FAT v NTFS - Answers Both are methods of file allocation; FAT is like big Joe's cups; NTFS like
shot glasses
Master Boot Record (MBR) - Answers The first sector on a hard drive; identifies location of
operating system; chained to other sectors
Interpreted code - Answers Each line of code is turned into machine code and executed in turn;
Python is interpreted
CPU - Answers The Central Processing Unit; brains of a computer
Optical media - Answers no 0s and 1s, pits and lands
ROM - Answers Read Only Memory; can "flash" it
Machine code - Answers Code written to directly use the instruction set on a CPU
Unallocated space - Answers The space not used on your hard drive
Solid State Drive - Answers No moving parts; faster than hard drive; more difficult to do
forensics on
, Counting in binary - Answers Number right to left starting with 1 and doubling to 256. Add all the
numbers over a "1" in binary
Motherboard - Answers The central piece of a computer; has audio, those inputs sticking out
the back of the computer
Master File Table (MFT) - Answers Holds a record of where digital objects are on your drive;
deleting a file just deletes the MFT entry and makes the clusters writable again
Compiled code - Answers All the code is turned into machine code at once; An .exe file is
compiled code
BIOS - Answers The first set of instructions ran by a computer; stored in ROM
RAM - Answers Random Access Memory; fast; single best upgrade; loses data when not
powered
Power Supply - Answers Most important part; bad power leads to hard to trace problems
UTF-8 - Answers The most popular code sheet used on the internet; ASCII is part of UTF-8
Parallel vs Serial data flow - Answers Parallel is like many highway lanes; serial is like a single-
lane dirt road
Hexadecimal - Answers Base 16; Uses A-F in place of 10-15 in decimal
Black Box Testing - Answers Trying to break a program without looking at the code
Time of Check to Time of Use - Answers Changes that occur between when access rights are
checked and those rights are used
Separation of Duty - Answers Different people do parts of the process, which is well
documented; no single person has control end to end
"Secure", as in secure programs - Answers No single definition; never 100% secure
Cohesion - Answers We want high cohesion; all code in a module relates to that module
Sony XCP - Answers Rootkit in music cds; found by Mark Russinovich; hid all files beginning
with $sys$
Internet Worm - Answers Network code designed to use up all resources
Active fault detection - Answers Prorgrams should watch for errors; redundant (duplicate)
systems should take the place of failed systems if possible
Code Red - Answers Very bad virus; exploited IIS; used buffer overflow; different actions on
different days
Higher languages - Answers Computer languages that are more easily human-readable; further
away from machine code
Slack space - Answers Space remaining in unused clusters; can hide data there; may have old
data still there
Programmer - Answers Focuses on knowing how the code works at a low level; machine
learning; Artificial Intelligence
Assembly language - Answers One step up from machine code; Uses words like "push" and
"pop" and "add"
Developer - Answers Typically uses programming languages to build business (or other)
solutions; focus is on what the code can do
Instruction Set - Answers The basic things a CPU can do; unique to CPU families
ASCII - Answers American Standard code for info interchange
A standard for representing binary values as human-interpreted characters; a code sheet
Hard Drive - Answers Disks or platters spinning at 7200 or 5400 rpms; access with heads
moving perpendicular to disk rotation; old tech; holds data magnetically
FAT v NTFS - Answers Both are methods of file allocation; FAT is like big Joe's cups; NTFS like
shot glasses
Master Boot Record (MBR) - Answers The first sector on a hard drive; identifies location of
operating system; chained to other sectors
Interpreted code - Answers Each line of code is turned into machine code and executed in turn;
Python is interpreted
CPU - Answers The Central Processing Unit; brains of a computer
Optical media - Answers no 0s and 1s, pits and lands
ROM - Answers Read Only Memory; can "flash" it
Machine code - Answers Code written to directly use the instruction set on a CPU
Unallocated space - Answers The space not used on your hard drive
Solid State Drive - Answers No moving parts; faster than hard drive; more difficult to do
forensics on
, Counting in binary - Answers Number right to left starting with 1 and doubling to 256. Add all the
numbers over a "1" in binary
Motherboard - Answers The central piece of a computer; has audio, those inputs sticking out
the back of the computer
Master File Table (MFT) - Answers Holds a record of where digital objects are on your drive;
deleting a file just deletes the MFT entry and makes the clusters writable again
Compiled code - Answers All the code is turned into machine code at once; An .exe file is
compiled code
BIOS - Answers The first set of instructions ran by a computer; stored in ROM
RAM - Answers Random Access Memory; fast; single best upgrade; loses data when not
powered
Power Supply - Answers Most important part; bad power leads to hard to trace problems
UTF-8 - Answers The most popular code sheet used on the internet; ASCII is part of UTF-8
Parallel vs Serial data flow - Answers Parallel is like many highway lanes; serial is like a single-
lane dirt road
Hexadecimal - Answers Base 16; Uses A-F in place of 10-15 in decimal
Black Box Testing - Answers Trying to break a program without looking at the code
Time of Check to Time of Use - Answers Changes that occur between when access rights are
checked and those rights are used
Separation of Duty - Answers Different people do parts of the process, which is well
documented; no single person has control end to end
"Secure", as in secure programs - Answers No single definition; never 100% secure
Cohesion - Answers We want high cohesion; all code in a module relates to that module
Sony XCP - Answers Rootkit in music cds; found by Mark Russinovich; hid all files beginning
with $sys$
Internet Worm - Answers Network code designed to use up all resources
Active fault detection - Answers Prorgrams should watch for errors; redundant (duplicate)
systems should take the place of failed systems if possible
Code Red - Answers Very bad virus; exploited IIS; used buffer overflow; different actions on
different days
