Cyber Attacks

 Robert Tappan Morris and the Morris Worm (1988):

⚫Creator of the first computer worm transmitted through the Internet, Morris, a student at
Cornell Univeristy in the USA, claimed it his progeny was not aimed to harm but was made
for the innocuous intent to determine the vastness of the cyberspace.
⚫Things went pear-shaped when a the worm encountered a critical error and morphed into a
virus which replicated rapidly and began infecting other computers resulting in denial of
service.
⚫Damage??? 6000 computers were reportedly affected causing an estimated $10-
$100 million dollars in repair bills.
 The Melissa virus (1999)
⚫It was a very simple virus which ended up costing $80 million in damages.
⚫The Melissa virus would infect Microsoft Word documents and automatically disseminates
itself as an attachment via email. It would mail out to the first 50 names listed in an infected
computer’s Outlook email address box.
 Cyber Attacks
 Teen hacks NASA and US Defense Department (1999)
⚫Jonathan James was 15 at the time but what he did that year secured him a place in
the hacker’s hall of fame.
⚫James had managed to penetrate the computers of a US Department of Defense division
and installed a ‘backdoor’on its servers.
⚫This allowed him to intercept thousands of internal emails from different government
organisations including ones containing usernames and passwords for various military computers.
⚫Using the stolen information, James was able to steal a piece of NASA software which
cost the space exploration agency $41,000 as systems were shutdown for three weeks.
 Google China hit by cyber attack (2009):
⚫When Google's Chinese headquarters detected a security breech in mid-December, it
opened up a whole can of worms (pun intended) implicating the Chinese Government.
⚫Hackers had gained access to several Google’s corporate servers and intellectual
property was stolen.
 Cyber Attacks
In July 2013, Trend Micro discovered that members of the diplomatic community in 16
European and several Asian countries had been targeted with malware-laden e-mail
attachments suspected to have originated from China’s defense ministry.
⚫The malware exploited a vulnerability in widely-used business software
(Microsoft Office 2003-2010), installed a dropper, and created a backdoor.
⚫It then collected e-mail user names and passwords from Outlook and
Internet Explorer along with Web site login credentials and transmitted the
data to two now-defunct URLs in Hong Kong
On May 12, 2017 a strain of ransomware called WannaCry spread around the world,
walloping hundreds of thousands of targets, including public utilities and large corporations.
⚫Notably, the ransomware temporarily crippled National Health Service hospitals
and facilities in the United Kingdom, hobbling emergency rooms, delaying vital
medical procedures, and creating chaos for many British patients.
Cyber Attacks
Securing Information Systems
 Top Priorities of Business
 Security
⚫Policies, procedures, and technical
measures used to prevent unauthorized
access, alteration, theft, or physical
damage to information systems
 Controls
⚫Methods, policies, and organizational
procedures that ensure safety of
organization’s assets; accuracy and
reliability of its accounting records; and
operational adherence to management
standards
C I A of Security
 Security Challenges and Vulnerabilities

- The architecture of a Web-based application typically includes a Web client, a server, and
corporate information systems linked to databases.
- Each of these components presents security challenges and vulnerabilities.
- Floods, fires, power failures, and other electrical problems can cause disruptions at any point
in the network.
Security Risk
 System and Internet Vulnerabilities
The potential for unauthorized access or damage is not limited to a single location but can
occur at many access points in the network
⚫They can stem from technical, organizational, and environmental factors compounded by
poor management decisions
Errors in programming, improper installation, or unauthorized changes cause computer
software to fail
Domestic or offshore partnering with another company contributes to system vulnerability if
valuable information resides on networks and computers outside the organization’s control
 Network virtually open to anyone and considering the size of Internet, abuses can have wide impact
 Use of fixed Internet addresses with cable / DSL modems creates fixed targets for hackers
 Unencrypted VOIP, E-mail, P2P, IM, Interception
 Attachments with malicious software
 Transmitting trade secrets
 Wireless Security Challenges
Many Wi-Fi networks
can be penetrated easily
by intruders using sniffer
programs to obtain an
address to access the
resources of a network
without authorization.
Wireless network in
your home is vulnerable
because radio frequency
bands are easy to scan
 Wireless Security Challenges
 SSIDs (service set identifiers) -Identify access points in a Wireless network
⚫Since broadcast multiple times, can be identified by sniffer programs of
the intruders
⚫Absence of protection against War driving
⦁Eavesdroppers drive by buildings and try to detect SSID and gain access to
network and resources
 Once access point is breached
⚫Intruder can use OS to access network drives and files
⚫Set up rogue access points on a different radio channel in physical
locations close to users to force a user’s radio network interface controller
(NIC) to associate with the rogue access point.
 Malicious Software (Malware)
 Viruses
⚫Rogue software program that attaches itself to other software programs or
data files in order to be executed without the knowledge or permission of the
user
 Worms
⚫Independent programs that copy themselves from one computer to
other computers over a network.
⚫Can operate on their own without attaching to other computer program
files and rely less on human behavior
 Worms and viruses spread by
⚫Intentional or unintentional downloads (drive-by downloads)
⚫E-mail, IM attachments
⚫Downloads on Web sites and social networks
 Malicious Software (Malware)
Blogs, wikis, and social networking sites have emerged as new conduits for malware or
spyware
⚫Allow users to post software code as part of the permissible content, and such code can
be launched automatically as soon as a Web page is viewed
Many IoT devices such as sensors have simple processors and operating systems that may not
support sophisticated security approaches.
 Trojan horses
⚫Software that appears benign but does something other than expected
⚫The Trojan horse is not itself a virus because it does not replicate, but it is often a way
for viruses or other malicious code to be introduced into a computer system
 SQL injection attacks
⚫Source - User data submitted on web forms not validated or filtered
⚫Hackers exploits site’s unprotected software and sends rogue SQL query to database
 Malicious Software (Malware)
Ransomware - tries to extort money from users by taking control of their
computers or displaying annoying pop-up messages. E.g. Cryptolocker
 Spyware
⚫Small programs install themselves surreptitiously on computers to
monitor user Web surfing activity and serve up advertising
⚫Key loggers
⦁Record every keystroke on computer to steal serial numbers, passwords,
launch Internet attacks
⚫Other types:
⦁ Reset browser home page
⦁ Redirect search requests
⦁ Slow computer performance by taking up memory
 Spoofing and Sniffing
 Hacking and Cracking – Hacking with criminal intent
⚫System intrusion and cybervandalism - Intentional disruption, defacement, destruction of
Web site or corporate information system
Spoofing
⚫Misrepresenting oneself by using fake e-mail addresses or masquerading as someone else
⚫Redirecting Web link to address different from intended one with site masquerading
as intended destination
Sniffer
⚫Eavesdropping program that monitors information traveling over network
⚫Legitimately, sniffers help identify potential network trouble spots or criminal activity
on networks
⚫Hackers with criminal intent steal proprietary information such as e-mail, company
files, and so on
 DoS and DDoS
 Denial-of-service attacks (DoS)
⚫Flooding server with thousands of false requests to crash the network and
shut down the system making it unavailable
 Distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS)
DDoS Analysis
 Computer Crime
Defined by U.S. Department of Justice as “any violations of criminal law that involve a
knowledge of computer technology for their perpetration, investigation, or prosecution”
 System Vulnerabilities & Abuse
 Identity Threat
⚫Theft of personal Information (social security ID, driver’s license, or
credit card nos.) to impersonate someone else to obtain credit, merchandise
or services in the name of the victim
⚫The total losses from identity theft in 2017 is $17 billion USD
Phishing
⚫Setting up fake Web sites or sending e-mail messages that look like
legitimate businesses to steal confidential personal data
⚫Spear phishing - Messages appear to come from a trusted source, such as
an individual within the recipient’s own company or a friend.
Evil Twins
⚫Wireless networks that pretend to offer trustworthy Wi-Fi connections to the
Internet
 System Vulnerabilities & Abuse
Pharming - Redirects users to a bogus Web page, even when individual types
correct Web page address into his or her browser.
 System Vulnerabilities & Abuse
 Click fraud
⚫Occurs when individual or computer program fraudulently clicks on online ad
without any intention of learning more about the advertiser or making a purchase
⚫Some companies hire third parties to fraudulently click on a competitor’s ads
to weaken them by driving up their marketing costs.
Cyberterrorism - Attack servers for malware are now hosted in 206 countries and
territories
Cyberwarfare
⚫A state-sponsored activity designed to cripple and defeat another state or nation by
penetrating its computers or networks for the purposes of causing damage and disruption
⚫Hackers have stolen plans for missile tracking systems, satellite navigation
devices, surveillance drones and leading-edge jet fighters.
 Threat and Software Vulnerabilities
Security threats often originate inside an organization due to Sloppy security
procedures and social engineering : Tricking employees into revealing their
passwords by pretending to be legitimate members of the company in need of
information
 Commercial software contains flaws that create security vulnerabilities
⚫Hidden bugs (program code defects) - Zero defects cannot be achieved
because complete testing is not possible with large programs
⚫Flaws can open networks to intruders
 Security Patches
⚫Small pieces of software to repair flaws – Need to follow disciplined
patch management
⚫Exploits often created faster than patches can be released and implemented
 Business Value of Security and Control
 Inadequate security and controls bring forth issues of liability.
⚫Companies might face litigation for data exposure or theft, if they are
unable to protect information assets of their customers, business partners
 Sound security and control framework that protects business information assets
⚫Produce a high return on investment.
⚫Increase employee productivity and lower operational costs.
Legal and regulatory requirements for electronic records management and
privacy protection - HIPAA
⚫Medical security and privacy rules and procedures for simplifying the administration
of healthcare billing and automating the transfer of healthcare data between healthcare
providers, payers, and plans.
⚫Retain patient information for SIX years and maintain confidentiality of patient records
 Business Value of Security and Control
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act: Requires financial institutions to ensure the security and
confidentiality of customer data
⚫Data must be stored on a secure medium, and special security measures must be enforced to protect such
data on storage media and during transmittal
 Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002
⚫Designed to protect investors after the financial scandals at Enron
⚫Imposes responsibility on companies and their management to safeguard the accuracy and
integrity of financial information that is used internally and released externally
⚫Sarbanes-Oxley is fundamentally about ensuring that internal controls are in place to govern
the creation and documentation of information in financial statements.
⚫Each system application that deals with critical financial reporting data requires controls to
make sure the data are accurate.
⚫Controls to secure the corporate network, prevent unauthorized access to systems and data,
and ensure data integrity and availability in the event of disaster or other disruption of service
are essential as well
 Business Value of Security and Control
 Electronic evidence - Evidence for white collar crimes often in digital form
⚫Data on computers, CDs, Hard disks, e-mail, instant messages, e-commerce transactions
⚫Proper control of data can save time and money when responding to legal discovery
request
⚫Severe financial and even criminal penalties imposed for improper destruction of
electronic documents.
 Computer forensics:
⚫Scientific collection, examination, authentication, preservation, and analysis of data
from computer storage media for use as evidence in court of law
⚫It deals with the following problems:
⦁ Recovering data from computers while preserving evidential integrity
⦁ Securely storing and handling recovered electronic data
⦁ Finding significant information in a large volume of electronic data
⦁ Presenting the information to a court of law
 Organizational Frameworks for Security and Control
 Information System Control – General Control and Application Control
Levels of Security
 Organizational Frameworks for Security and Control

 Application Control
⚫Specific controls unique to each computerized application, such as payroll
or order processing
⚫Include both automated and manual procedures
⚫Ensure that only authorized data are completely and accurately processed
by that application
⚫Checks for data accuracy and completeness
⦁Input controls – while they are entered in the system through input
authorization, data conversion, data editing, and error handling
⦁ Processing controls – while they are being updated
⦁Output controls – results of computer processing are accurate, complete, and
properly distributed
 Organizational Frameworks for Security and Control
Risk assessment: Determines level of risk to firm if specific activity or process is
not properly controlled
⚫Types of threat and points of vulnerability
⚫Probability of occurrence during year
⚫Potential losses, value of threat
⚫Expected annual loss
Should know which assets require protection and the extent to which these
assets are vulnerable.
 Organizational Frameworks for Security and Control
Security Policy - Ranks information risks, identifies acceptable security goals,
and identifies mechanisms for achieving them
Drives other policies determining acceptable use of the firm’s information
resources and which members of the company have access to its information
assets.
 Acceptable use policy (AUP)
⚫Defines acceptable uses of firm’s information resources and computing equipment
⚫Clarify company policy regarding privacy, user responsibility, and personal use of
company equipment and networks and defines unacceptable and acceptable actions for
every user and specifies consequences for noncompliance
 Authorization policies
⚫Determine differing levels of user access to information asset
 Organizational Frameworks for Security and Control

These two examples represent two security profiles or data security patterns that might
be found in a personnel system. Depending on the security profile, a user would have
certain restrictions on access to various systems, locations, or data in an organization.
 Organizational Frameworks for Security and Control
 Disaster recovery planning
⚫Devises plans for restoration of disrupted services in the event of floods,power outages
etc...
⚫Focus primarily on the technical issues involved in keeping systems up and running,
 Business continuity planning
⚫Focuses on restoring business operations after disaster
⚫Identifies critical business processes and determines action plans for handling
mission- critical functions if systems go down
 Both DR and BC planning
⚫Needed to identify firm’s most critical systems
⚫Business impact analysis to determine impact of an outage
⚫Management must determine the priority in which systems needs to be restored
 Organizational Frameworks for Security and Control
Information systems audit - Examines firm’s overall security environment as
well as controls governing individual information systems
Trace the flow of sample transactions through the system and perform tests,
using, if appropriate, automated audit software and also examine data quality.
 Reviews technologies, procedures, documentation, training, and personnel
May even simulate disaster to test response of technology, IS staff, other
employees
Lists and ranks all control weaknesses and estimates probability of their
occurrence
 Assesses financial and organizational impact of each threat
Management is expected to devise a plan for countering significant weaknesses
in controls
 Tools and Technologies for Safeguarding Information Resources

Managing user identities using a Identity Management software - Business processes and
tools to identify valid users of system and control access to the system resources
⚫Process of keeping track of all these users and their system privileges assigning each user
a unique digital identity for accessing each system
⚫Specifies which portion of system users can access
⚫Identity management systems Captures access rules for different levels of users
⚫Authenticating users and protects identities
⚫Automates keeping track of all users and their privileges
⚫Assign each user a unique digital identity for accessing each system
⚫Provides tools to authenticates users, protecting identities, controlling access
 Prevent unauthorized access to system and data through
⚫Authentication - Ability to know that a person is who he or she claims to be
⚫Authorization – providing access permission post authentication
 Tools and Technologies for Safeguarding Information Resources

 Methods of Authentication – Passwords – not too easy and nit too rigorous
Tokens – physical device, similar to an identification card, that is designed to prove the
identity of a single user
⚫Small gadgets that typically fit on key rings and display passcodes that change
frequently
 Smart card - Device containing chip formatted with access permission and other data
Biometric authentication -Uses systems that read and interpret individual human traits in
order to grant or deny access
⚫It compares a person’s unique characteristics, such as the fingerprints, face, voice, or
retinal image, against a stored profile of these characteristics to determine any differences
between these characteristics and the stored profile.
 Two-factor authentication
⚫one of which is typically a physical token, such as a smartcard or chip-enabled bank
card,
⚫the other of which is typically data, such as a password or PIN
Identity and Access Management (IAM)
IAM Lifecycle
 Tools and Technologies for Safeguarding Information Resources

Firewall -Combination of hardware and

software that prevents unauthorized
users from accessing private networks
⚫Acts like a gatekeeper who examines
each user’s credentials before access is
granted to a network
⚫Typical process
⦁ Identifies names, IP addresses,
applications, and other characteristics
of incoming traffic
⦁ Checks this information against the
access rules that have been
programmed into the system
⦁ Prevents unauthorized communication
into and out of the network.
 Firewall Technologies
Static packet filtering - Examines selected fields in the headers of data packets flowing back and
forth between the trusted network and the Internet, examining individual packets in isolation
Stateful inspection - Provides additional security by determining whether packets are part of
an ongoing dialogue between a sender and a receiver.
⚫It sets up state tables to track information over multiple packets.
⚫Packets are accepted or rejected based on whether they are part of an approved
conversation or attempting to establish a legitimate connection.
Network address translation (NAT) - Conceals the IP addresses of the organization’s internal
host computer(s) to prevent sniffer programs outside the firewall from ascertaining them and
using that information to penetrate internal systems
Application proxy filtering - A proxy server stops data packets originating outside the
organization, inspects them, and passes a proxy to the other side of the firewall
⚫A user from outside communicates first with the proxy application which in turn
communicates with the user inside an organization
 Tools and Technologies for Safeguarding Information Resources

Intrusion detection systems: Monitors hot spots on corporate networks to detect and deter
intruders continually
⚫System generates alarm if it finds a suspicious or anomalous event.
⚫Can also be customized to shut down a particularly sensitive part of a network if it
receives unauthorized traffic.
 Unified threat management (UTM) systems
⚫Comprehensive product package of various security tools, including firewalls, VPN, IDS,
Web content filtering and antispam software
Securing wireless networks : Wired Equivalent Privacy(WEP) security can provide margin of
security while using along with the VPN technology
⚫Wi-Fi Alliance finalized WPA2 specification, replacing WEP with stronger standards
⦁ Continually changing longer keys making them harder to crack
⦁ Encrypted authentication system with central authentication server
 Encryption
Transforming text or data into cipher text that cannot be read by unintended
recipients
⚫Data are encrypted by using a secret numerical code, called an encryption key that
transforms plain data into cipher text. The message must be decrypted by the receiver
 Two methods for encrypting network traffic on the Web
⚫Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and successor Transport Layer Security (TLS) - Enables
client and server computers to manage encryption and decryption activities as they
communicate with each other during a secure Web session
⚫Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (S-HTTP) - Limited to individual messages
 Theclient and the server negotiate what key and what level of security to use.
⚫Once a secure session is established between the client and the server,
all messages in that session are encrypted
 Methods of Encryption
 Symmetric key encryption
⚫The sender and receiver establish a secure Internet session by creating a single
encryption key and sending it to the receiver so both the sender and receiver share the
same key
⚫The longer the key, the more difficult it is to break the key but takes more computing
power for legitimate users to process the information.
⚫Problem of sharing the key to the parties somehow among the senders and receivers,
which exposes the key to outsiders who might just be able to intercept and decrypt the key.
 Public key encryption
⚫Uses two, mathematically related keys: One public key (Shared) and One private key
⚫The keys are mathematically related so that data encrypted with one key can be
decrypted using only the other key
⚫Sender encrypts the message with recipient’s public key and the recipient decrypts the
same message with the private key
 Methods of Encryption

A public key encryption system can be viewed as a series of public and private
keys that lock data when they are transmitted and unlock the data when they are
received.
The sender locates the recipient’s public key in a directory and uses it to encrypt
a message.
 The message is sent in encrypted form over the Internet or a private network.
When the encrypted message arrives, the recipient uses his or her private key to
decrypt the data and read the message.
 Digital Certificate
Data file used to establish the identity of users and electronic assets for
protection of online transactions
Uses a trusted third party, certification authority (CA), to validate a user's
identity
CA verifies user’s identity offline, stores information in CA server, which
generates encrypted digital certificate containing owner ID information and copy
of owner’s public key
The recipient of an encrypted message uses the CA’s public key to decode the digital
certificate attached to the message, verifies it was issued by the CA, and then obtains
the sender’s public key and identification information contained in the certificate
Public key infrastructure (PKI) - Use of public key cryptography working with a
CA is widely used in e-commerce
 Digital Certificate
Digital
certificates help
establish the
identity of
people or
electronic assets.
They protect
online
transactions by
providing secure,
encrypted, online
communication.
 BlockChain
Chain of blocks which contain specific information (database), but in a secure
and genuine way that is grouped together in a network (peer-to-peer).
⚫Combination of computers linked to each other instead of a central
server, meaning that the whole network is decentralized.
⚫“Digital ledger” stored in a distributed network.
⚫Picture a spreadsheet that is duplicated thousands of times across a network
of computers. Then imagine that this network is designed to regularly update
this spreadsheet
With the Blockchain, a single ledger of transaction entries that both parties have
access to, can simplify the coordination and validation efforts because there is
always a single version of records, not two disparate databases.
⚫Allows digital information to be distributed, rather than copied
BlockChain
How BlockChain works
 Tools and Technologies for Safeguarding Information Resources

 Ensuring system availability - Online transaction processing requires 100% availability, no downtime
⚫Fault-tolerant computer systems - Contain redundant hardware, software, and power
supply components that create an environment that provides continuous, uninterrupted
service
 Controlling network traffic - Deep Packet Inspection (DPI)
⚫Examines data files and sorts low priority material
⚫Based on the priorities established by a network’s operators, it decides whether a specific data packet
can continue to its destination or should be blocked or delayed while more important traffic proceeds
 Security in
the cloud - Responsibility for security resides with company owning the data
⚫Firms must ensure providers provides adequate protection:
⦁ Physically where data are stored
⦁ Meeting corporate requirements, legal privacy laws
⦁ Segregation of data from other clients
⦁ Efficient DR and BCP
⦁ Audits and security certifications
Sony cloud breach case
Business Security Cycle