learning aim B Cyber security

learning aim B Cyber security

1. key terms

   • threat
     • an incident or an action that is deliberate or unintended that results in disruption,down time or data loss.
       • external
         • caused outside the organisation
       • internal
         • caused by an incident inside an organisation
   • attack
     • is a deliberate action,targeting an organisation's digital system or data
   • cyber security
     • refers to the range of measures that can be taken to protect computer systems,networks and data from unauthorised access or cyber attack
   • unauthorised access
     • this is someone gaining entry without permission to an organisation's system,software or data this is achieved by exploiting a security vulnerability
       • hacker
         • someone who seeks out and exploits these vulnerabilities
         • types of hacker
           • black
             • they try to inflict damage by compromising security systems
           • grey
             • do it for fun and not with malicious intent
           • white
             • working with organization's to strengthen the security of a system

2. why are systems attacked

   • fun/challenge
     • hacking systems can for fun or a challenge
     • there is a sense of achievement
     • friends may give respect of hacking achievments
   • financial gain
     • ransom can be made to prevent attacks from happening
     • ransomware can be used to encrypt a computer until you pay
     • a payment is given to carry out an attack on an organiation
   • disruption
     • attacks such as denial-of-service stop websites working
     • viruses can slow down computers and delete files
   • information/ data theft
     • credit card and financial details are stolen to gain money
     • company information may also be stolen
   • personal attack
     • employees that are unhappy may attack the company
     • friends/family may attack each other if upset over something
   • industrial espionage
     • the aim is to find intellectual property such as designs or blueprints for products,business strategies or software source codes

3. MALWARE

   • malicious software
     • this is an umbrella term given to software that is designed to harm a digital system,damage data or harvest sensitive information
   • virus
     • a piece of malicious code that attaches to a legitimate program. it s capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer
   • worm
     • similar to virus but unlike a virus it is a self contained program. it is capable of spreading on its own , whithout hep from humans. worms get around by exploiting vulnerabilities in operating systems and attaching themselves to email. they self replicate at a tremendous rate,using up hard drive space and bandwidth, overloading servers
   • trojan horse
     • is a type of malware that is often disguised as legitimate software. it is named after the wooden horse by the ancient Greeks to infiltrate the city of troy.
       • users are tricked into downloading it to their computer. once installed the trojan works undercover to carry out a predetermined tasks like. -a backdoor to hackers to use -installing harmful programs -harvesting sensitive data
   • rootkit
     • is a set of tools that give a hacker a high level administrative control, of a computer. much like a trojan, rootkits often come bundled with legitimate software.
       • they can then use this privileged position to -encrypt files -install programs -changes system configuration -steal data
   • ransomware
     • encrypts files stored on a computer to extort or steal money from organisations. victims must the pay a ransom to have the encrypted files unlocked, there is normally a deadline for the transaction to happen . bitcoin is usually asked for as a form of payment as they are difficult to trace.
       • if the payment is not made then the amount demanded may increase or the files are permanently locked. ransomware is usually spread through e-mails or through infected websites.
   • spyware
     • malicious software secretly installed to collect information from someone else's computer. spyware works in the background on someones computer without being noticed.
       • cyber criminals harvest personal information such as. -passwords -credit card numbers and other detail -email addresses with this information they can steal someones's identity, making purchases on their credit card ect
   • key loggers
     • spyware that records every keystroke made on a computer to steal personal information
   • botnet
     • is an army of 'zombie' devices. they are used to carry out mass attacks such a emailing spam to millions of users
   • distributed denial-of-service attack (ddos attack)
     • flooding a website with useless traffic to inundate and overwhelm the network

4. social engineering

   • phishing
     • a way of attempting to acquire information, by pretending to be from a trustworthy source, examples are emailing spoofing, fake websites, spoof phone calls.
   • spear phishing
     • involves bespoke emails being sent to well-researched victims eg. where somebody who holds a senior position within an organisation with access to highly valuable information uses it to target victims
   • blagging
     • a bigger invents a scenario to engage a targeted victim in a manner that increases the chance the victim will divulge information for example a blagger might pretend to be a member of the IT department to inform them something is wrong with your pc and require access to fix the problem
   • shoulder surfing
     • acquiring sensitive information by someone peering over a users shoulder when they are using a device. it can also be done from a distance with the user of technology such as video cameras, drones stc
   • pharming
     • involves redirecting people to bogus, look-a-like websites without realising it has happened. the objective is to acquire sensitive personal information or to install malware
   • man in the middle attack
     • a form of eavesdropping where the attacker makes an independant connection between two victims and steals information to use fraudulently