STUDY GUIDE · GKU 4
Component security: architecture, vulnerabilities and environments study guide (Cybersecurity)
A system is not attacked as one object; it is attacked at its weakest component and then used to reach the next. This unit looks at the pieces. It describes what each component does — client, server, database and DBMS, directory, router, switch, firewall, load balancer, operating system, hypervisor — and how they are arranged into tiers, a DMZ and segments so that a compromise of one does not hand over the rest. It then examines the vulnerabilities that belong to each component and the controls, including compensating controls where a fix is impossible, that reduce them. The second section moves from the component to its environment: the software supply chain and CI/CD pipeline, the physical building with its badges, cameras and environmental controls, the critical OT and ICS world where availability and safety come first, and IoT systems of sensors, gateways and cloud dashboards whose default passwords and unencrypted radio links have created both a business opportunity and a new attack surface. Every section opens with a quick-revision card and works through a containment or design decision of the kind the exam asks.
Structured by the official ETEC subject standard for this topic: every listed topic and learning outcome, with formulas, figures and worked examples. The full sections are available to members in the app.
SKU 4.1 · IT system components
Architecture and functions of IT system components
What each component is for — client, server, database and DBMS, directory, network devices, operating system, hypervisor and cloud service models — how tiers, a DMZ and segmentation contain a compromise, and the vulnerabilities of each component with the controls that reduce them.
Cybersecurity in software, physical and critical environments
The environment changes the threat and the priority: software supply chains and CI/CD, buildings with badges and cameras, OT and ICS where availability and safety come first, and IoT systems whose sensors, gateways and cloud dashboards create both business opportunity and new exposure.
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