System Security 1.6

System Security 1.6

1. Network Threats

   • Malware
     • Adware
       • Adware is software that downloads unwanted internet adverts, often observing your online behaviour in order to target you more specific and related advertisements.
     • Spyware
       • Spyware is software that aims to gather information about a person or organization, sometimes without their knowledge, that may send such information to another entity without the consumer's consent. Spyware is usually hidden in free games
     • Trojans
       • A Trojan horse or Trojan is a type of malware that is often disguised as legitimate software. Trojans can be employed by cyber-thieves and hackers trying to gain access to users' systems. Users are typically tricked by some form of social engineering into loading and executing Trojans on their systems.
     • Worms
       • A worm is another type of malware. It is a standalone program that does not need to attach itself to an existing program in order to spread. It may scan the internet looking for vulnerable computers to infect.
     • Viruses
       • A computer virus is one type of malware (malicious software) which is installed without your knowledge with the purpose of doing harm. A virus is a programme which infects (embeds itself within) other programmes or data files. It is easily spread if a user innocently sends an infected file to someone else. They can commonly be found in email attachment with macros.
   • Social Engineering
     • Phishing
       • A phishing email is one that tricks you into handing over sensitive or personal information (login details, bank details, etc.) You receive what looks like a legitimate email, for example from a bank or an organisation such as paypal or ebay. The website urges you to visit a bogus website and enter your personal details, which are then captured by the Phishers.
     • Shoulder Surfing
       • Shoulder surfing, also known more simply as ‘Shouldering’, involves direct observation of a user entering their security details.
     • Pretexting
       • Pretexting involves fabricating a scenario in order to gain unauthorised access to a system. A person might pretend to be from IT support in order to persuade an employee of a company or other organisation to surrender their password to them.
   • Other Attacks
     • Brute Force Attacks
       • In a brute force attack, a hacker may go through a list of passwords until access to a account is gained.
     • SQL Injection
       • SQL commands can be input into web forms instead of the expected ‘real’ data. This can be interpreted by vulnerable web applications as an additional instruction to operate in the hackers favour.
     • Denial of Service Attacks
       • A DoS attack attempts to flood a website server with an overwhelming number of data requests. It may: Flood the victim’s site with spam emails (an email bomb) Disrupt access to a victim’s website or entire geographical area by recognising software by configuring software to crash network sites The motive is often revenge, blackmail or terrorism.
     • • The unauthorized taking or interception of computer-based information. Data theft is the act of stealing computer-based information from an unknowing victim with the intent of compromising privacy or obtaining confidential information.

2. Identifying And Preventing Vulnrabilities

   • software
     • firewalls
       • A firewall is software that checks data from coming from the internet or a network. It is not the same as anti virus software - you need both to protect your data. It either blocks the data or allows it to pass through, depending on the firewall settings. Acts as a filter or barrier between your own trusted network and another. Only certain data packets that meet set filtering rules are allowed to pass through.
     • anti-malware
       • Automatic updates are commonly used to keep it up-to-date. New viruses are constantly being created and spread.
     • encryption
       • the process of converting information or data into a code, especially to prevent unauthorized access
     • User Access Levels
       • Access rights may be set on disks, folders and even individual files. Students cannot save files to pupil shared whereas teaches have a different access level so they are allowed.
     • Network Policies
       • Network security compromised by employee behaviour can be addressed with correct user policy Most organisations have an acceptable usage policy which employees (or students) are required to sign and agree to before using the network system.
   • other
     • network forensics
       • Similar to police forensics, network administrators can use audit trail data to solve data mysteries. An intrusion detection system can alert administrators in real-time This can identify data leaks and prevent security attacks
     • physical security
       • Physical security is the protection of personnel, hardware, software, networks and data from physical actions and events that could cause serious loss or damage to an enterprise, agency or institution. This includes protection from fire, flood, natural disasters, burglary, theft, vandalism and terrorism.
     • passwords
       • A strong password consists of at least six characters (and the more characters, the stronger the password) that are a combination of letters, numbers and symbols (@, #, $, %, etc.) if allowed. Passwords are typically case-sensitive, so a strong password contains letters in both uppercase and lowercase.
     • penetration testing
       • ‘Pen’ testing is the practice of deliberately trying to find security holes in your own system holes in your own systems. The goal of penetration testing is: Identify the target of potential attacks Identify possible entry points Attempt to break in Report back the findings