CMPS 319
The Need For Security
Chapter 2
Our bad neighbor makes us early stirrers,
Which is both healthful and good husbandry.
-- William Shakespeare (1564–1616), King
Henry, in Henry V, act 4, sc. 1, l. 6-7.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter, you should be able to:
Understand the business need for information
security.
Understand a successful information security
program is the responsibility of an organization’s
general management and IT management.
Understand the threats posed to information security
and the more common attacks associated with those
threats.
Differentiate threats to information systems from
attacks against information systems.
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 2
Business Needs First, Technology
Needs Last
Information security performs four
important functions for an organization:
Protects the organization’s ability to function
Enables the safe operation of applications
implemented on the organization’s IT systems
Protects the data the organization collects and
uses
Safeguards the technology assets in use at the
organization
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 3
Protecting the Ability to Function
Management is responsible
Information security is
a management issue
a people issue
Communities of interest must argue
for information security in terms of
impact and cost
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 4
Enabling Safe Operation
Organizations must create integrated,
efficient, and capable applications
Organization need environments that
safeguard applications
Management must not abdicate to the IT
department its responsibility to make
choices and enforce decisions
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 5
Protecting Data
One of the most valuable assets is data
Without data, an organization loses its record
of transactions and/or its ability to deliver
value to its customers
An effective information security program is
essential to the protection of the integrity and
value of the organization’s data
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 6
Safeguarding Technology Assets
Organizations must have secure
infrastructure services based on the size
and scope of the enterprise
Additional security services may have to
be provided
More robust solutions may be needed to
replace security programs the organization
has outgrown
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 7
Threats
Management must be
informed of the various kinds
of threats facing the
organization
A threat is an object, person,
or other entity that represents
a constant danger to an asset
By examining each threat
category in turn, management
effectively protects its
information through policy,
education and training, and
technology controls
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 8
Threats
The 2002 CSI/FBI survey found:
90% of organizations responding detected computer security
breaches within the last year
80% lost money to computer breaches, totaling over $455,848,000
up from $377,828,700 reported in 2001
The number of attacks that came across the Internet rose from 70%
in 2001 to 74% in 2002
Only 34% of organizations reported their attacks to law enforcement
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 9
Threats to Information Security
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 10
Acts of Human Error or Failure
Includes acts done without
malicious intent
Caused by:
Inexperience
Improper training
Incorrect assumptions
Other circumstances
Employees are greatest
threats to information
security – They are closest
to the organizational data
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 11
Acts of Human Error or Failure
Employee mistakes can
easily lead to the following:
revelation of classified data
entry of erroneous data
accidental deletion or
modification of data
storage of data in unprotected
areas
failure to protect information
Many of these threats can
be prevented with controls
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 12
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 13
Deviations in Quality of Service by
Service Providers
Situations of product or services not delivered as
expected
Information system depends on many inter-
dependent support systems
Three sets of service issues that dramatically affect
the availability of information and systems are
Internet service
Communications
Power irregularities
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 14
Internet Service Issues
Loss of Internet service can lead to considerable
loss in the availability of information
organizations have sales staff and telecommuters
working at remote locations
When an organization outsources its web
servers, the outsourcer assumes responsibility for
All Internet Services
The hardware and operating system software used to
operate the web site
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 15
Communications and Other Services
Other utility services have potential impact
Among these are
telephone
water & wastewater
trash pickup
cable television
natural or propane gas
custodial services
The threat of loss of services can lead to inability to
function properly
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 16
Power Irregularities
Voltage levels can increase, decrease, or cease:
spike – momentary increase
surge – prolonged increase
sag – momentary low voltage
brownout – prolonged drop
fault – momentary loss of power
blackout – prolonged loss
Electronic equipment is susceptible to fluctuations,
controls can be applied to manage power quality
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 17
Espionage/Trespass
Broad category of activities that
breach confidentiality
Unauthorized accessing of
information
Competitive intelligence vs.
espionage
Shoulder surfing can occur any
place a person is accessing
confidential information
Controls implemented to mark the
boundaries of an organization’s
virtual territory giving notice to
trespassers that they are
encroaching on the organization’s
cyberspace
Hackers uses skill, guile, or fraud
to steal the property of someone
else
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 18
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 19
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Espionage/Trespass
Generally two skill levels among hackers:
Expert hacker
develops software scripts and codes exploits
usually a master of many skills
will often create attack software and share with others
Script kiddies
hackers of limited skill
use expert-written software to exploit a system
do not usually fully understand the systems they hack
Other terms for system rule breakers:
Cracker - an individual who “cracks” or removes
protection designed to prevent unauthorized duplication
Phreaker - hacks the public telephone network
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 21
Information Extortion
Information extortion is
an attacker or formerly
trusted insider stealing
information from a
computer system and
demanding
compensation for its
return or non-use
Extortion found in credit
card number theft
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 22
Sabotage or Vandalism
Individual or group who want to
deliberately sabotage the
operations of a computer system
or business, or perform acts of
vandalism to either destroy an
asset or damage the image of
the organization
These threats can range from
petty vandalism to organized
sabotage
Organizations rely on image so
Web defacing can lead to
dropping consumer confidence
and sales
Rising threat of hacktivist or
cyber-activist operations – the
most extreme version is cyber-
terrorism
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 23
Deliberate Acts of Theft
Illegal taking of another’s property - physical,
electronic, or intellectual
The value of information suffers when it is copied
and taken away without the owner’s knowledge
Physical theft can be controlled - a wide variety of
measures used from locked doors to guards or
alarm systems
Electronic theft is a more complex problem to
manage and control - organizations may not even
know it has occurred
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 24
Deliberate Software Attacks
When an individual or group
designs software to attack
systems, they create malicious
code/software called malware
Trojan
Designed to damage, Horse
destroy, or deny service to
the target systems M
Includes: R
O
macro virus
W Virus
boot virus
worms
Trojan horses
logic bombs
back door or trap door Bomb
denial-of-service attacks
polymorphic
hoaxes
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 25
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 26
Compromises to
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is “the ownership of ideas
and control over the tangible or virtual
representation of those ideas”
Many organizations are in business to create
intellectual property
trade secrets
copyrights
trademarks
patents
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 27
Compromises to
Intellectual Property
Most common IP breaches involve software
piracy
Watchdog organizations investigate:
Software & Information Industry Association
(SIIA)
Business Software Alliance (BSA)
Enforcement of copyright has been attempted
with technical security mechanisms
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 28
Floods Earthquakes
Windstorms Thunderstorms
Forces of Nature
Humidity Tornadoes
Avalanche Volcanoes
Hurricanes
Landslides
Fire Snowstorms
Forces of nature, force majeure, or acts of God are
dangerous because they are unexpected and can
occur with very little warning
Can disrupt not only the lives of individuals, but also
the storage, transmission, and use of information
Include fire, flood, earthquake, and lightning as well
as volcanic eruption and insect infestation
Since it is not possible to avoid many of these
threats, management must implement controls to
limit damage and also prepare contingency plans
for continued operations
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 29
Technical Hardware Failures
or Errors
Technical hardware failures or errors occur when a
manufacturer distributes to users equipment containing
flaws
These defects can cause the system to perform outside
of expected parameters, resulting in unreliable service
or lack of availability
Some errors are terminal, in that they result in the
unrecoverable loss of the equipment
Some errors are intermittent, in that they only
periodically manifest themselves, resulting in faults that
are not easily repeated
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 30
Technical Hardware Failures
or Errors
This category of threats comes from purchasing
software with unrevealed faults
Large quantities of computer code are written,
debugged, published, and sold only to determine that
not all bugs were resolved
Sometimes, unique combinations of certain software
and hardware reveal new bugs
Sometimes, these items aren’t errors, but are
purposeful shortcuts left by programmers for honest or
dishonest reasons
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 31
Technological Obsolescence
When the infrastructure becomes antiquated or
outdated, it leads to unreliable and untrustworthy
systems
Management must recognize that when technology
becomes outdated, there is a risk of loss of data
integrity to threats and attacks
Ideally, proper planning by management should
prevent the risks from technology obsolesce, but when
obsolescence is identified, management must take
action
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 32
Attacks
An attack is the deliberate act that exploits
vulnerability
It is accomplished by a threat-agent to damage or
steal an organization’s information or physical asset
An exploit is a technique to compromise a system
A vulnerability is an identified weakness of a controlled
system whose controls are not present or are no longer
effective
An attack is then the use of an exploit to achieve the
compromise of a controlled system
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 33
Malicious Code
This kind of attack includes the
execution of viruses, worms,
Trojan horses, and active web
scripts with the intent to destroy
or steal information
The state of the art in attacking
systems in 2002 is the multi-
vector worm using up to six
attack vectors to exploit a variety
of vulnerabilities in commonly
found information system
devices
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 34
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Attack Descriptions
IP Scan and Attack – Compromised system scans
random or local range of IP addresses and targets
any of several vulnerabilities known to hackers or
left over from previous exploits
Web Browsing - If the infected system has write
access to any Web pages, it makes all Web content
files infectious, so that users who browse to those
pages become infected
Virus - Each infected machine infects certain
common executable or script files on all computers
to which it can write with virus code that can cause
infection
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 36
Attack Descriptions
Unprotected Shares - using file shares to copy
viral component to all reachable locations
Mass Mail - sending e-mail infections to addresses
found in address book
Simple Network Management Protocol - SNMP
vulnerabilities used to compromise and infect
Hoaxes - A more devious approach to attacking
computer systems is the transmission of a virus
hoax, with a real virus attached
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 37
Attack Descriptions
Back Doors - Using a known or previously unknown and
newly discovered access mechanism, an attacker can gain
access to a system or network resource
Password Crack - Attempting to reverse calculate a
password
Brute Force - The application of computing and network
resources to try every possible combination of options of a
password
Dictionary - The dictionary password attack narrows the
field by selecting specific accounts to attack and uses a list of
commonly used passwords (the dictionary) to guide guesses
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 38
Attack Descriptions
Denial-of-service (DoS) –
attacker sends a large number of connection or
information requests to a target
so many requests are made that the target system cannot
handle them successfully along with other, legitimate
requests for service
may result in a system crash, or merely an inability to
perform ordinary functions
Distributed Denial-of-service (DDoS) - an attack
in which a coordinated stream of requests is
launched against a target from many locations at
the same time
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 39
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Attack Descriptions
Spoofing - technique used to gain unauthorized
access whereby the intruder sends messages to
a computer with an IP address indicating that the
message is coming from a trusted host
Man-in-the-Middle - an attacker sniffs packets
from the network, modifies them, and inserts
them back into the network
Spam - unsolicited commercial e-mail - while
many consider spam a nuisance rather than an
attack, it is emerging as a vector for some
attacks
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 41
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Attack Descriptions
Mail-bombing - another form of e-mail attack that is
also a DoS, in which an attacker routes large
quantities of e-mail to the target
Sniffers - a program and/or device that can monitor
data traveling over a network. Sniffers can be used
both for legitimate network management functions
and for stealing information from a network
Social Engineering - within the context of
information security, the process of using social
skills to convince people to reveal access
credentials or other valuable information to the
attacker
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 44
Attack Descriptions
“People are the weakest link. You can have
the best technology; firewalls, intrusion-
detection systems, biometric devices ... and
somebody can call an unsuspecting
employee. That's all she wrote, baby. They
got everything.”
“brick attack” – the best configured firewall in
the world can’t stand up to a well placed brick
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 45
Attack Descriptions
Buffer Overflow –
application error occurs when more data is sent to a buffer than
it can handle
when the buffer overflows, the attacker can make the target
system execute instructions, or the attacker can take advantage
of some other unintended consequence of the failure
Timing Attack –
relatively new
works by exploring the contents of a web browser’s cache
can allow collection of information on access to password-
protected sites
another attack by the same name involves attempting to
intercept cryptographic elements to determine keys and
encryption algorithms
Principles of Information Security - Chapter 2 Slide 46
