System Security 1.6

System Security 1.6

1. Forms of attack/threats posed to networks

   • malware
     • - malicious software. It is installed on ones device without their knowledge or consent. It can access device in different ways.
   • phishing
   • social engineering
     • people as the weak point in secure systems
   • brute force attacks
     • trial and error method used by application programs to decode encrypted data such as passwords or Data Encryption
   • DDOS
   • data interception & theft
   • SQL injection
     • Computer attack.Malicious code is embedded in a poorly-designed application and then passed to the backend database. The Data then produces database query results or actions that should never have been executed.
   • poor network policy
   • passive attacks
     • active attacks
       • someone attacks with malware or other planned attacks.
       • attacks are easier to detect
       • best defence is firewall
     • someone monitors data travelling on network and intercepts any sensitive info found.
     • they use network monitoring hardware and software like packet sniffers.
     • the attacks are difficult to detect, as a hacker is quietly listening.
     • best way against passive attacks is data encryption
   • viruses
     • viruses (copying themselves on files) e.g. .exe files

2. Identifying and preventing vulnerabilities

   • penetration testing
     • testing own security
   • network forensics
   • network policies
   • anti-malware software
     • anti-virus systems
   • firewalls
     • A firewall is software that will block unexpected connections coming in to the network. Most operating systems include a firewall.
   • user access levels
   • passwords
   • encryption
     • encryption encoding
     • method of changing the original numbers and characters so that they are hidden or disguised.
   • physical protection
   • optimise
     • Rearrange or rewrite data or software etc. to improve efficiency of retrieval or processing
   • virtual private network
   • hire security