Learning Aim B: Cyber Security

Learning Aim B: Cyber Security

1. Key terms

   • Cyber security
     • The measures taken to protect computer systems, networks and data from unauthorised access or cyberattacks.
       • Unauthorised access
         • Someone gaining entry without permission to an organisations system, software or data.
   • Threat
     • An action that is deliberate that causes disruption or data loss.
       • Internal threat
         • Caused by an incident inside the organisation.
       • External threat
         • Caused outside the organisation
   • Attack
     • A deliberate action, targeting an organisations digital system or data.
     • Hacker
       • Someone who seeks out and exploits security vulnerabilities.
         • Type of hacker:
           • Black hat
             • They try to inflict damage by compromising security systems.
           • Grey hat
             • They do it for fun and not with malicious intent.
           • White hat
             • Working with organisations to strengthen the security of a system.

2. Why systems are attacked

   • Fun/challenge
     • Hacking systems can be fun or a challenge
     • There is a sense of achievement
     • Friends may give respect of hacking achievements
   • Financial gain
     • Ransoms can be made to prevent attacks from happening
     • Ransomeware can be used to encrypt a computer until you pay
     • A payment is given to carry out an attack on an organisation
   • 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
     • Spying in companies: The aim is to find intellectual property such as designs or blueprints for products, business strategies or software source code

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 is 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 it own, without help from humans.
     • Worms get around by exploiting vulnerabilities in operating systems and attaching themselves to emails.
     • 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. Users are tricked into downloading it to their computer. Once installed the Trojan works undercover to carry out a predetermined task.
       • Backdoor for hackers to use
       • Installing harmful programs
       • Harvesting sensitive data
   • Rootlet
     • Is a set of tools that give a hacker a high level administrative control, of a computer, often come bundled with legitimate software.
       • Encrypt files
       • Install programs
       • Change system configuration
       • Steal data
   • Ransomware
     • Encrypts files stored on a computer to extort or steal money from organisations.
       • Victims must then 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
     • Spyware works in the background on someones computer without it being noticed. Secretly installed to collect information from someone else's computer
       • Cyber criminals harvest personal information such as:
         • Email addresses
         • Credit card numbers and other details
           • With this information they can steal someone's identity, making purchases on their credit card etc
         • Passwords
     • Keyloggers
       • 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 as 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

   • Involves tricking people into divulging valuable information about themselves.
     • Passwords
     • PIN numbers
     • Credit card details
   • Phishing
     • a way of attempting to acquire information, by pretending to be from a trustworthy source. examples are email 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 blagger invents a scenario to engage a targeted victim in a manner that increases the chance the victim will divulge information.
   • 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 use of technology such as video cameras, drones etc.
   • 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 independent connection between two victims and steals information to use fraudulently.