Cyber Threat

Dr. John P. AbrahamProfessor

University of Texas Pan American

Intelligence threat Why it is difficult to implement security

and counter intelligence Open nature of our society Technology and information is easily obtained People travel with ease

Both friends of the country and foes are looking to gain economic edge Seek technological, financial & commercial

information Target political, economic, military and

scientific information.

Exporting Technology there is concern that too much high

technology is being freely traded around the world, too easily.

Source:2007 - Remarks of Assistant Secretary Christopher Padilla Computer & Communications Industry Association

The United States sees more organized efforts to obtain and illegally export controlled U.S. technology to China than to any other country.

Threats to homeland National infrastructure is vulnerable

Physical threat Computer attack

Infrastructure is interdependent Attack against one sector would impact other

sectors Example – attack against electric grid

Coordinated attack against selected critical nodes

Is there Security Threat in Outsourcing? Outsourcing

Reduces cost – tremendous savings to corp. Eliminates American jobs

Is development of software outside the country threat to national security? Yes it could. Scripts (malicious code) can be

placed inside a program. On the other hand, it could be argued,

Microsoft can place malicious code to spy on other countries.

It is not good business practice to do so.

Can hardware be used to spy? Yes. Computers contain chips that contain

programs. Malware can be programmed into these

chips. Can we trust computers manufactured

outside USA? Capitalism is motivated by profits. While

corporations do cooperate with governments, it does not make sense to jeopardize own business.

Present major concern Attacks by foreign hackers (increasingly

from China and Russia) Sabotaging networks Opening secret back doors for spying

Source:(http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2006/tc20061102_797312.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives)

How Hackers gain access

Directly Leaving computers accessible in your home or

office. Theft of computer Shoulder surfing

Indirectly Through Internet connection

Open ports (USB, serial etc are physical ports, but they use logical ports assigned to the IP address)

Example: port 80 for HTTP, e-mail port 25, etc. http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers

Information Security as developed by the National Security Telecommunication and Information Systems Security Committee

Protection of: Information Hardware that store information Hardware that transmit information

From direct and indirect attacks Without affecting availability to authorized

users

Deliberate Security Threat Espionage (national security) Industrial Espionage

Competitive intelligence (could be legal) Shoulder surfing Hacking

Sabotage (ex.denial of service by zombies) Vandalism Theft

Some techniques Port scanning – enter through an open port Password crack (brute force or dictionary) Software scanning (what software is run) Write scripts that can be used by software

(malware) Back doors (system passwords not changed) Get access to a site and go from there to a

trusted site Man in the middle

Protection Take all precautions Also have backup plans (contingency plan)

Off site systems Disaster recovery

How can we protect our computers Recognize that “your” computer is being

targeted. University computers are “doors” to more

secure sites.“Open proxy servers are used by spammers to send unwanted emails. Proxy

servers can also be abused for bypassing access restrictions and limitations such as in case of users in one country not allowed to access a website in another country can go through a third country’s proxy server. There are websites dedicated to provide and hourly updated list of free anonymous proxy server sites.” Abraham, John. “A Proxy Server for Mirrored Sites.”, ASEE 2007

Information Security as developed by the National Security Telecommunication and Information Systems Security Committee

Protection of: Information Hardware that store information Hardware that transmit information

From direct and indirect attacks Without affecting availability to authorized

users

Computer Security step1. Firewalls

Prevents a specific type of information from moving between the outside world (untrusted network) and the inside world (trusted).

Packet filtering – every packet header is examined for address, packet type and port request.

Dynamic packet filtering. Allows only a particular packet with a particular source, destination and port address to enter through the firewall.

Computer Security step2. Application firewall (proxy server). An intermediary between a client and a

server Proxy server intercepts all requests to a server

routed through it. Keeps the user from interacting directly with

the server. Ref: Abraham, John. “A Proxy Server for Mirrored Sites.”, ASEE 2007.

Computer Security step3 Intrusion detection systems (IDS)

Like a burglar alarm. Works by examining network traffic. Performs protocol analysis, content

searching/matching, and is commonly used to actively block or passively detect a variety of attacks and probes, such as buffer overflows and port scans.

Can detect if attack has occurred and if the attack was successful. This information is emailed to the administrator.

Computer Security step4. Network Address Translation

A computer needs a public IP address to attach to a public network.

Private IP addresses are not visible from the outside world.

It makes sense to use only private IP to secure your computer.

When outside communication is needed the private IP is mapped to public IP address using a port number.

DHCP – not as good as NAT

Computer Security step5. Encrypt transmissionsThe word cryptography in Greek means “secret writing.” The The word cryptography in Greek means “secret writing.” The

term today refers to the science and art of transforming term today refers to the science and art of transforming messages to make them secure and immune to attacks.messages to make them secure and immune to attacks.

Encryption contd.Encryption contd.

Encryption Cont. One secret key is used by both - known as

symmetric encryption. (example DES) Both sender and receiver must know the key. Challenge is to send the key to the receiver. Must

be send over another channel. Two keys – public and private. Also known as

Asymmetric encryption. Public key is stored in a public location, anyone can use it. Use public key to encrypt and private to decrypt. If Alice uses bob’s public key to encrypt, only bob with his private key can decrypt.

Encryption Cont. Public Key .

Encryption cont. Non-repudiation When a digital signature is encrypted

using a private key – it can be read by anyone with a public key. But the message was sent by only one who has the private key.

Digital certificates are used to authenticate the source of a file.

If alice encrypts with her private key, it could be re-encrypted with bob’s public key so that only bob can open it.

Computer Security step6 Install Current Version of Antivirus

software. Virus - A small program that attaches to

another program and replicates itself onto other programs. This activity itself slows down the computer. The virus may do annoying activities, damaging activities or information theft.

Anti-virus programs are always trailing actual virus.

Computer Security Step7 Apply all latest operating system patches. Malware exploits weakness in OS. OS developers fix these holes as they

become aware of it.

Computer Security Step8 Assign complex passwords to your

computer. Avoid dictionary words. Use different passwords for different

accounts you have. Assign passwords for your user files and

turn on encryption.

Computer Security Step9 Assign CMOS password http://www.newschannel5.tv/2007/11/28/9

83060/Computer-Hard-Drive-Search

Computer Security Step10 Have a disaster recovery plan including

backups.

Controlling Access Following slides will deal with mechanisms

for controlling data and applications. Authentication Authorization

Options for Implementing Authentication and Authorization

Authentication Process of identifying a user who is

legitimate. Login process, access card or other

biometric techniques. Evidence that the requesting user is who

he/she claims to be.

Authorization The process of deciding which resources

the user is permitted to access. Different degrees of access.

In B2B applications consider Identity Employer Role Company type

Options for implementing Authentication and Authorization Network Operating System

LDAP OR OTHER LOCAL DATABASE The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is a

directory service protocol that runs on a layer above the TCP/IP stack. It provides a mechanism used to connect to, search, and modify Internet directories.

Active Directory is a database based system that provides authentication, directory, policy, and other services in a Windows environment.

B2B applications may not be able to use LDAP because of number of users.

Other authorization mechanisms Access Control Lists (ACLs) Third Party such as Microsoft HailStorm Application specific –customized database

to hold user information. SQL based authentication

Security for Customers Use SSL and digital certificates Protect Customers info including credit card

Firewall, malware, anti-virus, etc. Patch os and apps. set up strong passwords

Encrypt card information, restrict who has access to it, restrict physical access to computer

Monitor and track all accesses to cardholder data file.

Screen your employees.

More on SSL Two parties can establish an encrypted

communication channel Designed to protect against man-in-the-

middle attacks During initial stages (Handshake) a public key

algorithm is used to share a premaster secret Each party then uses the premaster secret to

generate a master secret This secret is now used to exchange

symmetric key encrypted massages.

SSL certificates Both server and the browser need to be

SSL enabled (https) On the Webserver side a server certificate

is obtained from the certification authority first generate a CSR (Certificate Signing

Request) for your server Order the certificate (about $200 per year) Validate SSL certificate and install on the

server