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- 1. M A T T H E W H O R R I G A N HOW TO MINIMISE SECURITY BREACHES IN A NETWORK
- 2. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES Within an organisation, there must be policies set which govern what can be done by who, without these there would be several problems: Unsecure network, unsecure data, anyone can access anywhere. A data policy can be used to govern what kinds of data should be stored on the network as well as what happens to that data; Encryption, destruction or distribution. A Backup & Restore policy and procedure should be set in place so that the correct steps are taken when doing a backup (and when It should be done). There should also be a security policy on the network, this would govern how/what antivirus and antimalware software is run. A UAL (User Access List) can be put in place to control what a user can access this could include: Website Access, Network Access(networked drives), Software Installation and/or external media privileges. A leaving policy and procedure can help protect the network for when someone has left the company , their accounts and access methods should be disabled.
- 3. USER RESPONSIBILITY After a user has signed the policy sheet, what they do on the network is up to them and whether they will coincide with the agreement they have signed or not. This would include things like how they use their email account (for example, sending out confidential data to a personal email), how they keep their data (On a USB data stick is not as secure as on an encrypted network) or whether they are going to try and access any unauthorised materials (websites, downloads) through avoidance techniques like a proxy.
- 4. TRAINING Training all staff members is a basic thing that any company should do, this training will teach them the basics on how to keep their data safe and how to keep the network safe whilst using it. However, there is also the matter of keeping them trained, employees should be regularly trained to ensure that they have knowledge on the latest techniques that are used inside the network so that they can use them to their full advantage. This is often called “Continuous Professional Development”.
- 5. PHYSICAL SECURITY Physical Security involves protecting the physical access points of the network: Data storage rooms and network rooms (or any room that should not be access by everyone) should have a secure locking mechanism (ID scan or lock and key). The network should have limits on how many resources can be shared among the computers, to prevent one or two from eating up the entire network’s resources and crashing it. Secure entrance/exits, with a locking mechanism to access them as well as a security guard. This will prevent unauthorised access to grounds. CCTV cameras can help to prevent unlawful action, or to find the culprit if something has happened.
- 6. RISK ASSESSMENT & PENETRATION TESTING Risk assessment involves a thorough look at how the network can be damaged, this process is used to create new policies and procedures for the future protection of the network. Penetration testing should be used to help detect any faults or vulnerabilities in the physical access points of the network. Before this is run there should be policies set that determine what kind of backups and restore points should be generated, to prevent any accidental data loss. (or that the penetration testing should be run on a proxy network).
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- 8. IDENTIFICATION, AUTHENTICATION & AUTHORISATION When using any service, a user will be required to identify themselves, this is when they give something to the server that the server will then need to authenticate (to check whether it is real or fake, or ask for further details like unique numbers related to the person or a physical form of identification) and then the user will be authorised, if the details they entered are authentic and they are allowed to use the service.
- 9. TWO FACTOR AUTHENTICATION The two factor standard of authentication is when the user will need to provide two different types of authentication. This is much more secure than a single piece of authentication as it can be very hard to either forge two pieces or to find out what the second piece is. This type of authentication is used in many places, one of the most used places would be in ATM machines where a physical card is required as well a personal identification number.
- 10. USERNAME AND PASSWORD AUTHENTICATION The use of a username and password authentication method is that the username is unique and will only relate to one user. The password is not unique (as that may indicate to someone that the password is being used by someone else) but it should have minimum requirements for complexity. This access and authentication method is widely used across the internet, with accessing secure data areas or just accessing an online forum.
- 11. BIOMETRICS Biometrics is another authentication method. It is a very secure method of authenticating as it requires physical body parts of a human being (Which can be very hard to copy). Biometrics will use unique parts of the human body like feet, hands, finger prints, iris, ears and facial structure. Some biometric scanners are not as good as their expensive counterparts and as such, they will have a much higher FAR (False Acceptance Rate, where people are allowed access yet they are not on the database.) and FRR (False Rejection Rate, where people who have access are not allowed access.).
- 12. CRYPTOGRAPHY & DIGITAL CERTIFICATES Digital Certificates are where web pages are assigned a certificate that will tell the user that the webpage is secure and should be trusted. These certificates will contain information about what type of encryption (cryptography, the data is changed so that it cannot be read with being decrypted). These certificates are assigned by third party companies, which are also listed on a database so that the computer will be able to tell if the certificate was assigned by a verified company. The benefit of this is that it is easy for a user to determine whether the website they are visiting is the correct one (for example, when logging into an online banking webpage you may in fact be on a phishing website). A disadvantage of cryptography is that it can take a long time to encrypt and decrypt the data, or if the encryption is inadequate then a hacker can easily find out what the data was originally.
- 13. SCENARIO Suitable authentication methods for Internal Users: • Employees • Physical card to scan on entrance and exit of building. (security of on- site access, as well as in case there is an emergency a list of those who are on-site can be gained) • Login ID and password to access any system (user rank determines what they can access). (Limits who can access where and can prevent unauthorised access) • Physical card to scan to enter high security areas. (Prevent access to data storage or network rooms). • Network Manager • The same as Employees. • Number authenticator for administrative access (Generate random number based on PIN). (A unique number will help to prevent someone from being able to access the administrator account without having the physical device as well as the PIN number)
- 14. SCENARIO EXT. Suitable authentication methods for external users: • Digital Certificates for authenticity. This helps to tell the user that the website is secure and the correct one to be one for what they want. • User ID and password for user unique sections. This can prevent someone from obtaining personal information easily.