The need for security

Editor's Notes

• #3: Upon completion of this lesson the student should be able to: Explain the business need for information security Describe the threats posed to information security and discuss the more common attacks associated with those threats Differentiate threats to information systems from attacks against information systems
• #4: INTRODUCTION Information security is unlike any other aspect of information technology. It is an arena where the primary mission is to ensure things stay the way they are. If there were no threats to information and systems, we could focus on improving systems that support the information, resulting in vast improvements in ease of use and usefulness. The first phase, Investigation, provides an overview of the environment in which security must operate, and the problems that security must address. BUSINESS NEEDS FIRST, TECHNOLOGY NEEDS LAST Information security performs four important functions for an organization: 1.Protects the organization’s ability to function 2.Enables the safe operation of applications implemented on the organization’s IT systems 3.Protects the data the organization collects and uses 4.Safeguards the technology assets in use at the organization
• #5: Protecting the Ability of the Organization to Function Both general management and IR management are responsible for implementing information security to protect the ability of the organization to function. “information security is a management issue in addition to a technical issue, it is a people issue in addition to the technical issue.” To assist management in addressing the needs for information security, communities of interest must communicate in terms of business impact and the cost of business interruption and avoid arguments expressed only in technical terms.
• #6: Enabling The Safe Operation of Applications Today’s organizations are under immense pressure to create and operate integrated, efficient, and capable applications. The modern organization needs to create an environment that safeguards applications using the organization’s IT systems, particularly the environment of the organization’s infrastructure. Once the infrastructure is in place, management must understand it has not abdicated to the IT department its responsibility to make choices and enforce decisions, but must continue to oversee the infrastructure.
• #7: Protecting Data Organizations Collect and Use Many organizations realize that one of their most valuable assets is their data, because without data, an organization loses its record of transactions and/or its ability to deliver value to its customers. Protecting data in motion and data at rest are both critical aspects of information security. An effective information security program is essential to the protection of the integrity and value of the organization’s data.
• #8: Safeguarding The Technology Assets in Organizations To perform effectively, organizations must add secure infrastructure services based on the size and scope of the enterprise. When an organization grows and more capabilities are needed, additional security services may have to be provided locally. Likewise, as the organization’s network grows to accommodate changing needs, more robust technology solutions may be needed to replace security programs the organization has outgrown.
• #9: THREATS TO INFORMATION SECURITY To make sound decisions about information security, create policies, and enforce them, management must be informed of the various kinds of threats facing the organization, its applications, data and information systems. A threat is an object, person, or other entity that represents a constant danger to an asset. To better understand the numerous threats facing the organization, a categorization scheme has been developed allowing us to group threats by their respective activities. By examining each threat category in turn, management can most effectively protect its information through policy, education and training, and technology controls.
• #10: THREATS TO INFORMATION SECURITY The 2002 Computer Security Institute/Federal Bureau of Investigation (CSI/FBI) survey on Computer Crime and Security Survey found: 90% of organizations responding, primarily large corporations and government agencies, detected computer security breaches within the last year. 80% of these organizations lost money to computer breaches, totaling over $455,848,000 up from $377,828,700 reported in 2001. The number of attacks that came across the Internet rose from 70% in 2001 to 74% in 2002. Only 34% of organizations reported their attacks to law enforcement.
• #11: THREATS TO INFORMATION SECURITY The 2002 Computer Security Institute/Federal Bureau of Investigation (CSI/FBI) survey on Computer Crime and Security Survey found: 90% of organizations responding, primarily large corporations and government agencies, detected computer security breaches within the last year. 80% of these organizations lost money to computer breaches, totaling over $455,848,000 up from $377,828,700 reported in 2001. The number of attacks that came across the Internet rose from 70% in 2001 to 74% in 2002. Only 34% of organizations reported their attacks to law enforcement.
• #12: THREATS TO INFORMATION SECURITY
• #13: THREATS TO INFORMATION SECURITY
• #14: 1.Potential Acts of Human Error or Failure 2.Compromises to Intellectual Property 3.Deliberate Acts of Espionage or Trespass 4.Deliberate Acts of Information Extortion 5.Deliberate Acts of Sabotage or Vandalism 6.Deliberate Acts of Theft 7.Deliberate Software Attacks 8.Forces of Nature 9.Potential Deviations in Quality of Service from Service Providers 10.Technical Hardware Failures or Errors 11.Technical Software Failures or Errors 12.Technological Obsolescence
• #15: Potential Acts of Human Error or Failure This category includes the possibility of acts performed without intent or malicious purpose by an individual who is an employee of an organization. Inexperience, improper training, the making of incorrect assumptions, and other circumstances can cause problems. Employees constitute one of the greatest threats to information security, as the individuals closest to the organizational data.
• #16: Potential Acts of Human Error or Failure Employee mistakes can easily lead to the following: revelation of classified data, entry of erroneous data, accidental deletion or modification of data, storage of data in unprotected areas, and failure to protect information. Many threats can be prevented with controls, ranging from simple procedures, such as requiring the user to type a critical command twice, to more complex procedures, such as the verification of commands by a second party.
• #18: Potential Deviations in Quality of Service by Service Providers This category represents situations in which a product or services are not delivered to the organization as expected. The organization’s information system depends on the successful operation of many inter-dependent support systems including, power grids, telecom networks, parts suppliers, service vendors, and even the janitorial staff and garbage haulers. Internet service, communications, and power irregularities are three sets of service issues that dramatically affect the availability of information and systems.
• #19: Internet Service Issues For organizations that rely heavily on the Internet and the Web to support continued operations, the threat of the potential loss of Internet service can lead to considerable loss in the availability of information. Many organizations have sales staff and telecommuters working at remote locations. When an organization places its web servers in the care of a Web Hosting provider, that outsourcer assumes responsibility for all Internet Services as well as for the hardware and operating system software used to operate the web site.
• #20: Communications and other Service Provider Issues Other utility services can impact organizations as well. Among these are telephone, water, wastewater, trash pickup, cable television, natural, or propane gas, and custodial services. The threat of loss of these services can lead to the inability of an organization to function properly.
• #21: Power Irregularities The threat of irregularities from power utilities are common and can lead to fluctuations such as power excesses, power shortages, and power losses. In the U.S., buildings are “fed” 120-volt, 60-cycle power usually through 15 and 20 amp circuits. Voltage levels can: spike – momentary increase or surge – prolonged increase; sag – momentary low voltage, or brownout – prolonged drop; fault – momentary loss of power, or blackout – prolonged loss; Since sensitive electronic equipment, especially networking equipment, computers, and computer-based systems are susceptible to fluctuations, controls can be applied to manage power quality.
• #22: Deliberate Acts of Espionage or Trespass This threat represents a well-known and broad category of electronic and human activities that breach the confidentiality of information. When an unauthorized individual gains access to the information an organization is trying to protect, that act is categorized as a deliberate act of espionage or trespass. When information gatherers employ techniques that cross the threshold of what is legal and/or ethical, they enter the world of industrial espionage. Instances of shoulder surfing occur at computer terminals, desks, ATM machines, public phones, or other places where a person is accessing confidential information. Deliberate Acts of Espionage or Trespass The threat of Trespass can lead to unauthorized, real or virtual actions that enable information gatherers to enter premises or systems they have not been authorized to enter. Controls are sometimes implemented to mark the boundaries of an organization’s virtual territory. These boundaries give notice to trespassers that they are encroaching on the organization’s cyberspace. The classic perpetrator of deliberate acts of espionage or trespass is the hacker. In the gritty world of reality, a hacker uses skill, guile, or fraud to attempt to bypass the controls placed around information that is the property of someone else. The hacker frequently spends long hours examining the types and structures of the targeted systems.
• #25: Hackers There are generally two skill levels among hackers. The first is the expert hacker, who develops software scripts and codes exploits used by the second category, the novice, or unskilled hacker. The expert hacker is usually a master of several programming languages, networking protocols, and operating systems and also exhibits a mastery of the technical environment of the chosen targeted system. However, expert hackers have now become bored with directly attacking systems, and have turned to writing software. The software they are writing is automated exploits that allow novice hackers to become script kiddies, hackers of limited skill who use expert-written software to exploit a system, but do not fully understand or appreciate the systems they hack. As a result of preparation and continued vigilance, attacks conducted by scripts are usually predictable, and can be adequately defended against.
• #26: Hackers/Crackers There are other terms for system rule breakers : The term cracker is now commonly associated with an individual who “cracks” or removes the software protection from an application designed to prevent unauthorized duplication. A phreaker hacks the public telephone network to make free calls, disrupt services, and generally wreak havoc.
• #27: Deliberate Acts of Information Extortion The threat of information extortion is the possibility of an attacker or formerly trusted insider stealing information from a computer system and demanding compensation for its return or for an agreement to not disclose the information. Extortion is common in credit card number theft.
• #28: Deliberate Acts of Sabotage or Vandalism Equally popular today is the assault on the electronic face of an organization, its Web site. This category of threat addresses the individual or group of individuals who want to deliberately sabotage the operations of a computer system or business, or perform acts of vandalism to either destroy an asset or damage the image of the organization. These threats can range from petty vandalism by employees to organized sabotage against an organization. Organizations frequently rely on image to support the generation of revenue, so if an organization’s Web site is defaced, a drop in consumer confidence is probable, reducing the organization’s sales and net worth. Compared to Website defacement, vandalism within a network is more malicious in intent and less public. Today, security experts are noticing a rise in another form of online vandalism in what are described as hacktivist or cyber-activist operations. A more extreme version is referred to as cyber-terrorism.
• #29: Deliberate Acts of Theft Theft is the illegal taking of another’s property. Within an organization, that property can be physical, electronic, or intellectual. The value of information suffers when it is copied and taken away without the owner’s knowledge. Physical theft can be controlled quite easily. A wide variety of measures can be used from simple locked doors, to trained security personnel, and the installation of alarm systems. Electronic theft, however, is a more complex problem to manage and control. Organizations may not even know it has occurred.
• #30: Deliberate Software Attacks Deliberate software attacks occur when an individual or group designs software to attack an unsuspecting system. Most of this software is referred to as malicious code or malicious software, or sometimes malware. These software components or programs are designed to damage, destroy, or deny service to the target systems. Some of the more common instances of malicious code are viruses and worms, Trojan horses, logic-bombs, back doors, and denial-of-services attacks. Computer viruses are segments of code that perform malicious actions. This code behaves very much like a virus pathogen attacking animals and plants, using the cell’s own replication machinery to propagate and attack. The code attaches itself to the existing program and takes control of that program’s access to the targeted computer. The virus-controlled target program then carries out the virus’s plan, by replicating itself into additional targeted systems. The macro virus is embedded in the automatically executing macro code, common in office productivity software like word processors, spread sheets, and database applications. The boot virus, infects the key operating systems files located in a computer’s boot sector. Worms - malicious programs that replicate themselves constantly without requiring another program to provide a safe environment for replication. Worms can continue replicating themselves until they completely fill available resources, such as memory, hard drive space, and network bandwidth. Trojan horses - software programs that hide their true nature, and reveal their designed behavior only when activated. Trojan horses are frequently disguised as helpful, interesting or necessary pieces of software, such as readme.exe files often included with shareware or freeware packages. Back door or Trap door - A virus or worm can have a payload that installs a back door or trap door component in a system. This allows the attacker to access the system at will with special privileges. Polymorphism - A threat that changes its apparent shape over time, representing a new threat not detectable by techniques that are looking for a pre-configured signature. These threats actually evolve variations in size and appearance to elude detection by anti-virus software programs, making detection more of a challenge. Virus and Worm Hoaxes - As frustrating as viruses and worms are, perhaps more time and money is spent on resolving virus hoaxes. Well-meaning people spread the viruses and worms when they send e-mails warning of fictitious or virus laden threats.
• #32: Compromise of Intellectual Property Many organizations create or support the development of intellectual property as part of their business operations. Intellectual property is defined as “the ownership of ideas and control over the tangible or virtual representation of those ideas.” Intellectual property for an organization includes trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks, and patents. Once intellectual property (IP) has been defined, and properly identified, breaches to IP constitute a threat to the security of this information. Most common in IP breaches involve the unlawful use or duplication of software-based intellectual property, known as software piracy. In addition to the laws surrounding software piracy, two watchdog organizations investigate allegations of software abuse: Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) formerly the Software Publishers Association, and the Business Software Alliance (BSA). Enforcement of copyright violations, piracy, and the like has been attempted through a number of technical security mechanisms, including digital watermarks, embedded codes.
• #33: Compromise of Intellectual Property Many organizations create or support the development of intellectual property as part of their business operations. Intellectual property is defined as “the ownership of ideas and control over the tangible or virtual representation of those ideas.” Intellectual property for an organization includes trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks, and patents. Once intellectual property (IP) has been defined, and properly identified, breaches to IP constitute a threat to the security of this information. Most common in IP breaches involve the unlawful use or duplication of software-based intellectual property, known as software piracy. In addition to the laws surrounding software piracy, two watchdog organizations investigate allegations of software abuse: Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) formerly the Software Publishers Association, and the Business Software Alliance (BSA). Enforcement of copyright violations, piracy, and the like has been attempted through a number of technical security mechanisms, including digital watermarks, embedded codes.
• #34: Forces of Nature Forces of nature, force majeure, or acts of God pose the most dangerous threats, because they are unexpected and can occur with very little warning. These threats can disrupt not only the lives of individuals, but also the storage, transmission, and use of information.
• #35: Forces of Nature These include fire, flood, earthquake, and lightning as well as volcanic eruption and insect infestation. Since it is not possible to avoid many of these threats, management must implement controls to limit damage and also prepare contingency plans for continued operations.
• #36: Technical Hardware Failures or Errors Technical hardware failures or errors occur when a manufacturer distributes to users equipment containing a known or unknown flaw. These defects can cause the system to perform outside of expected parameters, resulting in unreliable service or lack of availability. Some errors are terminal, in that they result in the unrecoverable loss of the equipment. Some errors are intermittent, in that they only periodically manifest themselves, resulting in faults that are not easily repeated.
• #37: Technical Software Failures or Errors This category of threats comes from purchasing software with unknown, hidden faults. Large quantities of computer code are written, debugged, published, and sold only to determine that not all bugs were resolved. Sometimes, unique combinations of certain software and hardware reveal new bugs. Sometimes, these items aren’t errors, but are purposeful shortcuts left by programmers for honest or dishonest reasons.
• #38: Technological Obsolescence When the infrastructure becomes antiquated or outdated, it leads to unreliable and untrustworthy systems. Management must recognize that when technology becomes outdated, there is a risk of loss of data integrity to threats and attacks. Ideally, proper planning by management should prevent the risks from technology obsolesce, but when obsolescence is identified, management must take immediate action.
• #39: ATTACKS An attack is the deliberate act that exploits vulnerability. It is accomplished by a threat-agent to damage or steal an organization’s information or physical asset. An exploit is a technique to compromise a system. Vulnerability is an identified weakness of a controlled system whose controls are not present or are no longer effective. An attack is then the use of an exploit to achieve the compromise of a controlled system.
• #40: Malicious Code This kind of attack includes the execution of viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and active web scripts with the intent to destroy or steal information. The state of the art in attacking systems in 2002 is the multi-vector worm. These attack programs use up to six known attack vectors to exploit a variety of vulnerabilities in commonly found information system devices.
• #42: Attack Descriptions IP Scan and Attack - Infected system scans random or local range of IP addresses and targets any of several vulnerabilities known to hackers or left over from previous exploits. Web Browsing - If the Infected system has write access to any Web pages, it makes all Web content files infectious, so that users who browse to those pages become infected. Virus - Each infected machine infects certain common executable or script files on all computers to which it can write with virus code that can cause infection.
• #43: Attack Descriptions Shares - Using vulnerabilities in file systems and the way many organizations configure them, it copies the viral component to all locations it can reach. Mass Mail - By sending e-mail infections to addresses found in the infected systems address book, copies of the infection are sent to many users whose mail-reading programs automatically run the program and infect other systems. Simple Network Management Protocol - In early 2002, the SNMP vulnerabilities known to many in the IT industry were brought to the attention of the multi-vector attack community. Hoaxes - A more devious approach to attacking computer systems is the transmission of a virus hoax, with a real virus attached.
• #44: Attack Descriptions Back Doors - Using a known or previously unknown and newly discovered access mechanism, an attacker can gain access to a system or network resource. Password Crack - Attempting to reverse calculate a password. Brute Force - The application of computing and network resources to try every possible combination of options of a password. Dictionary - The dictionary password attack narrows the field by selecting specific accounts to attack and uses a list of commonly used passwords (the dictionary) to guess with.
• #45: Attack Descriptions Denial-of-service (DoS) - the attacker sends a large number of connection or information requests to a target. So many requests are made that the target system cannot handle them successfully along with other, legitimate requests for service. This may result in a system crash, or merely an inability to perform ordinary functions. Distributed Denial-of-service (DDoS) - an attack in which a coordinated stream of requests is launched against a target from many locations at the same time.
• #47: Attack Descriptions Spoofing - a technique used to gain unauthorized access to computers, whereby the intruder sends messages to a computer with an IP address indicating that the message is coming from a trusted host.
• #49: Attack Descriptions Man-in-the-Middle - In the man-in-the-middle or TCP hijacking attack, an attacker sniffs packets from the network, modifies them, and inserts them back into the network. Spam - unsolicited commercial e-mail. While many consider Spam a nuisance rather than an attack, it is emerging as a vector for some attacks.
• #51: Attack Descriptions Mail-bombing - Another form of e-mail attack that is also a DoS, in which an attacker routes large quantities of e-mail to the target. Sniffers - a program and/or device that can monitor data traveling over a network. Sniffers can be used both for legitimate network management functions and for stealing information from a network.
• #52: Attack Descriptions Social Engineering - Within the context of information security, the process of using social skills to convince people to reveal access credentials or other valuable information to the attacker.
• #53: Attack Descriptions Buffer Overflow - an application error that occurs when more data is sent to a buffer than it can handle. When the buffer overflows, the attacker can make the target system execute instructions, or the attacker can take advantage of some other unintended consequence of the failure.
• #54: Attack Descriptions Timing Attack - relatively new, works by exploring the contents of a web browser’s cache. This could allow the designer to collect information on access to password-protected sites. Another attack by the same name involves attempting to intercept cryptographic elements to determine keys and encryption algorithms.