O Level Computer Science 2210 · Topic 5

The internet and its uses: past paper questions

116 real questionsasked in 10 of the last 10 exam series2019–2025usually: Give, Identify, State, Describe, Explain

Real questions on the internet and its uses

The newest 20 of 116 written questions. Open one to see it on the real paper.

2210/12 · October/November 2025 · Q6a[3]
Write down the three different parts of the URL shown by the labels a, b and c. https://www.cieclothes.com/index.html a a b b c c
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2210/12 · October/November 2025 · Q6b[3]
The web pages are stored on a web server. A proxy server is used to stop distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on the web server. Describe how the proxy server can stop a DDoS attack reaching a web server.
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2210/12 · October/November 2025 · Q6c[5]
Customers use the website to buy clothing from the company. Complete the table with the missing terms and descriptions about retrieving and displaying web pages. Term Description domain name server (DNS) It is a numerical address used to locate the web server. It is a secure protocol that can be used to transmit data s...
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2210/12 · October/November 2025 · Q6d[3]
The clothing company uses cookies to store customer details. Complete the statements about cookies. Use terms from the list. Not all terms need to be used. You should only use a term once. asymmetric static DNS symmetric dynamic user persistent utility software session web browser Cookies are stored and managed by the...
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2210/13 · October/November 2025 · Q4a[6]
Identify two security solutions that can be provided to help prevent hackers being successful. Explain how each solution helps prevent hackers being successful. Solution Solution Explanation Explanation
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2210/13 · October/November 2025 · Q4b[3]
The company also has a web page that provides information to improve people’s awareness of social engineering. Describe what is meant by social engineering. Include an example of social engineering in your answer.
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2210/11 · May/June 2025 · Q6a[8]
Complete the paragraph about asymmetric encryption. Use the terms from the list. Some of the terms in the list will not be used. You may use a term more than once. algorithm hardware binary cipher text hexadecimal public meaningless readable transmission compression plain text error private unreadable Data is encrypted...
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2210/11 · May/June 2025 · Q6b[1]
Data can also be encrypted using symmetric encryption. Give one reason why a person would use asymmetric encryption instead of symmetric encryption.
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2210/11 · May/June 2025 · Q9b(i)[2]
Describe how the hacker would perform the brute-force attack.
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2210/11 · May/June 2025 · Q9b(ii)[3]
Give three cyber security solutions that could be used to help prevent a brute-force attack from being successful.
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2210/11 · May/June 2025 · Q9c(i)[1]
State what is meant by a digital currency.
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2210/11 · May/June 2025 · Q9c(ii)[1]
The digital currency uses a process that involves a digital ledger. The ledger has time stamped transactions that cannot be altered. Give the name of this process.
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2210/12 · May/June 2025 · Q5c(i)[6]
The patient enters the uniform resource locator (URL) for the web page into their browser and the web page is requested and displayed. Complete and annotate the diagram to show how the web page is requested for the patient. Patient’s computer www.cihospital.com URL input into patient’s computer
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2210/12 · May/June 2025 · Q5c(ii)[6]
A patient is making a payment through a secure connection. The secure connection is created using the secure socket layer (SSL) protocol. Explain how a secure connection is created using the SSL protocol.
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2210/13 · October/November 2024 · Q2g(i)[1]
Give one reason why the email data is encrypted. (i)
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2210/13 · October/November 2024 · Q2g(ii)[1]
Give one similarity between symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption.
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2210/13 · October/November 2024 · Q2g(iii)[2]
Give two differences between symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption.
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2210/13 · October/November 2024 · Q4[6]
Complete the table to give the missing term or description for the internet terms. Internet term Description the collection of web pages accessed using the internet the address given to a device when it connects to the internet web browser the hardware that stores a database of matching website and IP addresses a type...
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2210/13 · October/November 2024 · Q6a[7]
Complete the statements about cookies. Use only terms from the list. Not all terms need to be used. Some terms may be used more than once. hexadecimal permanent close image denary malware persistent temporary session expire operating system binary sound web browser Cookies are small text files that are stored by a . th...
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2210/13 · October/November 2024 · Q6b[3]
Give three examples of the use of cookies.
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What examiners said

Most candidates were able to give another type of malware. The most common incorrect answers were anti-malware and anti-virus.
— Examiner report, October/November 2023, 2210/12 Q1(b) (Cambridge)

Few candidates were able to provide an accurate diagram about the process of data interception. Many candidates demonstrated the data being transmitted from one device to another. They also demonstrated that a third party intercepted the data mid transmission. Very few candidates referred to the data packets being examined by a packet sniffer.
— Examiner report, October/November 2023, 2210/12 Q8(a) (Cambridge)

Some candidates demonstrated understanding that encryption could help keep the data safe. The most common incorrect answer was firewall; however, a firewall cannot help keep the data safe mid-transmission.
— Examiner report, October/November 2023, 2210/12 Q8(b) (Cambridge)

Practise this topic

Answer these questions online and get each one marked against the official mark scheme, with what you missed and how to fix it.

Practise the internet and its uses

In the syllabus

5.1 The internet and the world wide web

Understand the difference between the internet • The internet is the infrastructure
• The world wide web is the collection of websites and web pages accessed using the internet
Understand what is meant by a uniform • A URL is a text-based address for a web page;
it can contain the protocol, the domain name and the web page/file name
Describe how web pages are located, retrieved • Including the role of:
– the web browser
– IP addresses – the domain name server (DNS) – the web server – HTML
Explain what is meant by cookies and how • Cookies are used for functions, including:
– saving personal details
– tracking user preferences – holding items in an online shopping cart – storing login details

5.2 Digital currency

Understand the concept of a digital currency • A digital currency is one that only exists
electronically
Understand the process of blockchain and how • Blockchain, in its basic form, is a digital ledger,
that is a time-stamped series of records that cannot be altered

5.3 Cyber security

Describe the processes involved in, and the • Including:
– brute-force attack
– data interception – distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack – hacking – malware (virus, worm, Trojan horse, spyware, adware, ransomware) – pharming – phishing – social engineering
Explain how a range of solutions are used to • Including:
– access levels – anti-malware, including anti-virus and anti-spyware – authentication (username and password, biometrics, two-step verification) – automating software updates – checking the spelling and tone of communications – checking the URL attached to a link – firewalls – privacy settings – proxy-servers – secure socket layer (SSL) security protocol

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