Network Security

Network Security

1. Network Vulnerabilites and Risks

   • Malware
     • Short for malicious software.
     • This is an umbrella term used to refer to a variety of forms of harmful or intrusive software.
   • Ransomware
     • Will hold sensitive or private information and Data for "Ransom" and will only stop once paid.
     • Ransomware attacks are typically carried out using a Trojan that is disguised as a legitimate file that the user is tricked into downloading.
   • Phishing
     • Phishing is the attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and money), often for malicious reasons.
     • This is usually done by disguising itself as an email from a banking website, or other such things, and usually involves asking the victim to "confirm" sensitive information.
   • Trojan Horse
     • A Trojan Horse is usually some malicious software disguised as something else, and the victim unknowingly allows it access into it's computer.
     • The name comes from the tale of how the Greeks used subterfuge to capture the Independent city of Troy.
   • Brute Force Attack
     • Brute Force attacks work by trying to guess and test every single possible option for a password.
     • This only works for short weak passwords, as longer more complex passwords take exponentially longer to crack.
   • Denial of Service
     • A denial-of-service attack (DOS attack) is a cyber-attack where the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host connected to the Internet.
     • A DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) the network is flooded with loads of requests from a lot of different sources. This renders the Network useless as it can not hope to block the all of the services.
   • Social Engineering
     • Social Engineering is manipulating someone into giving sensitive information, rather than using false website.
   • Man in the Middle
     • This is an attack where the attacker secretly relays and possibly alters the communication between two parties who believe they are directly communicating with each other.
     • The entire conversation is controlled by the attacker.
   • Data Interception
     • The unauthorised taking or interception of computer-based information.
     • This is done with the intent of compromising privacy or obtaining confidential information.
   • Packet Sniffing/Easvesdropping
     • A sniffer program which targets packets of data transmitted over the Internet.
     • This is done in the hopes it catches sensitive information.
   • Message Tampering
     • Tampering is the act touching or making changes to something when you should not.
       • This is done to messages.
   • SQL Injection
     • Is a computer attack in which malicious code is embedded in a poorly-designed application and then passed to the back end database.
     • The malicious data then produces database query results or actions that should never have been executed.

2. Security Measures

   • Anti-Malware Software
     • Antimalware (anti-malware) is a type of software program designed to prevent, detect and remove malicious software (malware) on IT systems, as well as individual computing devices.
   • Firewalls
     • A firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules.
   • User Access Levels
     • Part of an access control procedure for computer systems, which allows a system administrator to set up a hierarchy of users.
       • The low level users can access only a limited set of information, whereas the highest level users can access the most sensitive data on the system.
   • Password Strength Checker
     • This is a program that tests and then estimates how long it would take brute force hacking to get the password.
   • Data Encryption
     • The Data Encryption Standard is a symmetric-key algorithm for the encryption of electronic data.
     • Now considered insecure.
   • Storage Device Virus Scanning
   • Penetration Testing
   • Network Forensics
   • Network Security Policies.
     • This is a unique code to your IP Adress