Systems Security BIC3263

Chapter 1
Security Problem
 Chapter 1
Objectives
Discuss some of the basic principles of security such as CIA
and AAA.
Understand the terms confidentiality, integrity, and availability, how
they apply to computers, and how they interact with each other.
Discuss some basic threats and the ways to mitigate those
threats.
Identify threats to computers such as malicious software,
unauthorized access, system failure, social engineering, and so on.
Understand how to mitigate those threats through methods such as
antimalware, authentication, user education, and so on.
Describe the various hats worn by hackers in our society.
Know the various hats worn by hackers, especially the difference
between white, black, and gray hats. Understand the mindset of the
hacker.

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Define IT Security
What is computer security?
Computer security, or information security, is the protection of data
while keeping the data accessible to users.
Complete security is a utopiasomething that can be imagined but
never achieved.
Define the importance of the following:
Protection from unauthorized access
Prevention of the modification, destruction, or theft of data
Define the various roles of a security administrator.
locating risks and vulnerabilities to your information, and eliminating
those risks, or at least reducing them to a point acceptable to your
organization.

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BASIC SECURITY CONCEPTS
Vulnerability:
is the susceptibility of a situation to being compromised.
It is a potential, a possibility, a weakness, an opening.
Note: A vulnerability in and of itself may or may not pose a serious
problem, depending on what tools are available to exploit that
weakness.
Greek Mythology, story of Achilles!
Threat:
is an action or tool which can exploit and expose a vulnerability and
therefore compromise the integrity of a given system.
Not all threats are equal in terms of their ability to expose and exploit
the vulnerability.

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BASIC SECURITY CONCEPTS
Attack:
defines the details of how a particular threat could be used to
exploit a vulnerability.
It is possible that situations could exist where vulnerabilities are
known and threats are developed, but no reasonable attack can be
conceived to use the specific threat upon a vulnerability of the
system.
Adversary/threat agent:
entity that attacks, or is a threat to, a system.

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BASIC SECURITY CONCEPTS
Risk:
An expectation of loss expressed as the probability that a
particular threat will exploit a particular vulnerability with a particular
harmful result.
Security Policy:
A set of rules and practices that specify or regulate how a system
or organization provides security services to protect sensitive and
critical system resources.

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BASIC SECURITY CONCEPTS
System Resource (Asset):
Data contained in information system;
or a service provided by a system;
or a system capability, such as processing power or communication
bandwidth;
or an item of system equipment (i.e., a system component
hardware, firmware, software, or documentation);
or a facility that houses system operations and equipment.
Countermeasures:
are those actions taken to protect systems from attacks which
threaten specific vulnerabilities.
countermeasures consist of tools such as virus detection and
cleansing, packet filtering, password authentication, and
encryption.
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Security Attacks
We classify security attacks, in terms of passive attacks and active
attacks.
Passive attack attempts to learn or make use of information from the
system but does not affect system resources.
Active attack attempts to alter system resources or affect their
operation.
Passive Attacks
Employ eavesdropping on, or monitoring of, transmissions.
The goal of the opponent is to obtain information that is being
transmitted.

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Security Attacks
Two types of passive attacks are release of message contents and
traffic analysis.
1. The release of message contents.
A telephone conversation, an electronic mail message, and a
transferred file may contain sensitive or confidential information.
We would like to prevent an opponent from learning the
contents of these transmissions.

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Security Attacks
2.Traffic analysis.
Suppose that we mask the contents of messages or other
information traffic so that opponents, even if they captured the
message, could not extract the information from the message.
The technique for masking contents is encryption.
If we had encryption protection in place, an opponent might still be
able to observe the pattern of these messages.
The opponent could determine the location and identity of
communicating hosts and could observe the frequency and length
of messages being exchanged.
This information might be useful in guessing the nature of the
communication that was taking place.

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Security Attacks
Passive attacks are very difficult to detect because they do not involve
any alteration of the data.
The message traffic is sent and received in normal fashion and neither
the sender nor receiver is aware that a third party has read the
messages or observed the traffic pattern.
Its feasible to prevent the success of these attacks, by means of
encryption.
Thus, the emphasis in dealing with passive attacks is on prevention
rather than detection.

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Security Attacks
Active Attacks
Involve modification of the data stream or the creation of a false stream
Can be subdivided into 4 categories: masquerade, replay, modification of
messages, and denial of service.
1. Masquerade:
when one entity pretends to be a different entity.
A masquerade attack usually includes one of the other forms of
active attack.
E.g, authentication sequences can be captured and replayed after
a valid authentication sequence has taken place, thus enabling an
authorized entity with few privileges to obtain extra privileges by
impersonating an entity that has those privileges.
2. Replay: the passive capture of a data unit and its subsequent
retransmission to produce an unauthorized effect .
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Security Attacks
3. Modification of messages: some portion of a legitimate message
is altered, or that messages are delayed or reordered, to produce an
unauthorized effect.
E.g, a message meaning "Allow John Smith to read confidential file
accounts" is modified to mean "Allow Fred Brown to read
confidential file accounts."
4. The denial of service: prevents or inhibits the normal use or
management of communications facilities .
This attack may have a specific target; e.g., an entity may suppress
all messages directed to a particular destination (e.g., the security
audit service).
Another form of denial of service is the disruption of an entire
network, either by disabling the network or by overloading it with
messages so as to degrade performance..

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Security Attacks
Note:
Passive attacks are difficult to detect, but measures are available to
prevent their success.
Its difficult to prevent active attacks absolutely, because of the wide
variety of potential physical, software, and network vulnerabilities.
Instead, we detect active attacks and recover from any disruption
or delays caused by them.
If the detection has a limiting effect, it may also contribute to
prevention.

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The CIA triad of Computer Security
Confidentiality
Preventing the disclosure of information to unauthorized persons.
As a security professional, confidentiality should be your number one goal.
In keeping data confidential, you remove threats, absorb vulnerabilities, and
reduce risk.
Integrity
The reliability of data. Authorization is necessary before data can be
modified.
Availability
Data is obtainable regardless of how information is stored, accessed, or
protected.
Data should be available regardless of the malicious attack that might be
perpetrated on it.
Note: These three principles should be applied whenever dealing with
the security of hardware, software, or communications.
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The CIA of Computer Security
The three security servicesconfidentiality, integrity, and availability
counter threats to the security of a system.
Threats can be divided into 4 classes:
1. Disclosure: unauthorized access to information;
2. Deception: acceptance of false data;
3. Disruption: interruption/ prevention of correct operation;
4. Usurpation: unauthorized control of some part of a system.
These four broad classes encompass many common threats.

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Threat Consequences, and the Types of Threat Actions that Cause Each
Consequence.

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Chapter 1
The CIA of Computer Security

The CIA triad of Computer Security

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The AAA of Computer Security
Authentication
When a persons identity is established with proof and confirmed by
a system
Authorization
When a user is given access to certain data or areas of a building
Accounting
The tracking of data, computer usage, and network resources
When you have indisputable proof of something users have done
and they cannot deny it, it is known as nonrepudiation.

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Security Services
A security service: a service provided by a protocol layer of
communicating open systems, which ensures adequate security of the
systems or of data transfers.
or
A processing or communication service that is provided by a system to
give a specific kind of protection to system resources;
security services implement security policies and are implemented by
security mechanisms.
6 Security services:
Authentication,
Access Control,
Data Integrity,
Data Confidentiality,
Nonrepudiation,
Availability
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Security Services
1. AUTHENTICATION SERVICE
The assurance that the communicating entity is the one that it claims to
be.
A. Peer Entity Authentication: Used in association with a logical
connection to provide confidence in the identity of the entities
connected.
B. Data Origin Authentication: In a connectionless transfer,
provides assurance that the source of received data is as claimed.

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Security Services
2. ACCESS CONTROL SERVICE
The prevention of unauthorized use of a resource (i.e., this service
controls who can have access to a resource, under what conditions
access can occur, and what those accessing the resource are allowed
to do).

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Security Services
3. DATA CONFIDENTIALITY SERVICE
The protection of data from unauthorized disclosure.
A. Connection Confidentiality: The protection of all user data on a
connection.
B. Connectionless Confidentiality: The protection of all user data
in a single data block
C. Selective-Field Confidentiality: The confidentiality of selected
fields within the user data on a connection or in a single data block.
D. Traffic Flow Confidentiality: The protection of the information
that might be derived from observation of traffic flows.

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Security Services
4. DATA INTEGRITY SERVICE
The assurance that data received are exactly as sent by an authorized
entity (i.e., contain no modification, insertion, deletion, or replay).
A. Connection Integrity with Recovery: Provides for the integrity
of all user data on a connection and detects any modification,
insertion, deletion, or replay of any data within an entire data
sequence, with recovery attempted.
B. Connection Integrity without Recovery: As above, but
provides only detection without recovery.
C. Selective-Field Connection Integrity: Provides for the integrity
of selected fields within the user data of a data block transferred
over a connection and takes the form of determination of whether
the selected fields have been modified, inserted, deleted, or
replayed.

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Security Services
D. Connectionless Integrity: Provides for the integrity of a single
connectionless data block and may take the form of detection of
data modification. Additionally, a limited form of replay detection
may be provided.
E. Selective-Field Connectionless Integrity: Provides for the
integrity of selected fields within a single connectionless data block;
takes the form of determination of whether the selected fields have
been modified.

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Security Services
5. NONREPUDIATION SERVICE
Nonrepudiation prevents either sender or receiver from denying a
transmitted message.
Thus, when a message is sent, the receiver can prove that the alleged
sender in fact sent the message.
Similarly, when a message is received, the sender can prove
that the alleged receiver in fact received the message..
A. Nonrepudiation, Origin: Proof that the message was
sent by the specified party.
B. Nonrepudiation, Destination: Proof that the message
was received by the specified party.

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Security Services
AVAILABILITY SERVICE
Availability: property of a system or a system resource being
accessible and usable upon demand by an authorized system entity,
according to performance specifications for the system (i.e., a system is
available if it provides services according to the system design
whenever users request them).
A variety of attacks can result in the loss of or reduction in availability.
Some of these attacks are amenable to automated countermeasures,
such as authentication and encryption, whereas others require some
sort of physical action to prevent or recover from loss of availability of
elements of a distributed system.

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 Chapter 1
Security Mechanisms
SPECIFIC SECURITY MECHANISMS: May be incorporated into the
appropriate protocol layer in order to provide some of the OSI security
services.
1. Encipherment: The use of mathematical algorithms to transform
data into a form that is not readily intelligible. The transformation
and subsequent recovery of the data depend on an algorithm and
zero or more encryption keys.
2. Digital Signature: Data appended to, or a cryptographic
transformation of, a data unit that allows a recipient of the data unit
to prove the source and integrity of the data unit and protect against
forgery (e.g., by the recipient).
3. Access Control: A variety of mechanisms that enforce access
rights to resources.

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Chapter 1
Security Mechanisms
4. Data Integrity: A variety of mechanisms used to assure the
integrity of a data unit or stream of data units.
5. Authentication Exchange: A mechanism intended to ensure the
identity of an entity by means of information exchange.
6. Traffic Padding: The insertion of bits into gaps in a data stream
to frustrate traffic analysis attempts.
7. Routing Control: Enables selection of particular physically
secure routes for certain data and allows routing changes,
especially when a breach of security is suspected.
8. Notarization: The use of a trusted third party to assure certain
properties of a data exchange.

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Security Mechanisms
PERVASIVE SECURITY MECHANISMS: Mechanisms that are not
specific to any particular OSI security service or protocol layer.
1. Trusted Functionality: That which is perceived to be correct with
respect to some criteria (e.g., as established by a security policy).
2. Security Label: The marking bound to a resource (which may be
a data unit) that names or designates the security attributes of that
resource.
3. Event Detection: Detection of security-relevant events.
4. Security Audit Trail: Data collected and potentially used to
facilitate a security audit= an independent review and examination
of system records and activities.
5.Security Recovery: Deals with requests from mechanisms, such
as event handling and management functions, and takes recovery
actions.

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Security Threats
6. Malicious software
Known as malware, this includes computer viruses, worms, Trojan
horses, spyware, rootkits, adware, and other types of unwanted
software.
7. Unauthorized access
This is access to computer resources and data without consent of the
owner. Broken down into three categories.
8. System failure
This refers to computer crashes or individual application failure.
9. Social engineering
The act of manipulating users into revealing confidential information
or performing other actions detrimental to the user.

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Ways to Mitigate These Threats
1. User awareness
The wiser the user, the less chance of security breaches.
Employee training and education, easily accessible and
understandable policies, security-awareness emails and online
security resources all help to provide user awareness.
2. Authentication
This is the verification of a persons identity and helps protect against
unauthorized access.
It is generally broken down into 3 categories:
1. Something the user knows: e.g. a password or PIN
2. Something the user has: e.g. a smart card or other security token
3. Something the user is: e.g. the biometric reading of a fingerprint or
retina scan
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Ways to Mitigate These Threats
(cont.)
3. Antimalware software
This is software that protects a computer from the various forms of
malware and, if necessary, detects and removes them.
4. Data backups
Backups wont stop damage to data, but they can enable you to
recover data after an attack or other compromise or system failure.
5. Encryption
This is the act of changing information using an algorithm known as a
cipher to make it unreadable to anyone except users who possess the
proper key to the data.
6. Data removal
Proper data removal goes far beyond file deletion or the formatting of
digital media.
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 Chapter 1
Types of Hackers
1. Script Kiddies
These hackers have limited or no training and know how to use only basic
techniques or tools.
Even then they may not understand any or all of what they are doing.
2. White hats
These are nonmalicious, e.g., IT people who attempt to hack into a system
before it goes live to test it.
3. Black hats
These are malicious and attempt to break into computers and computer
networks without authorization. Black hats are the ones who attempt identity
theft, piracy, credit card fraud, and so on.
4. Gray hats
These are individuals who do not have any affiliation with a company but risk
breaking the law by attempting to hack a system.
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Types of Hackers (cont.)
5. Suicide Hackers
These hackers try to knock out a target to prove a point.
They are not stealthy, because they are not worried about getting caught or
doing prison time.
6. Blue hats
These are individuals who are asked to attempt to hack into a system by an
organization, but the organization does not employ them.
7. Elite
They first find out about vulnerabilities.
Only 1 out of an estimated 10,000 hackers wears the Elite hat.

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Types of Hackers (cont.)
8. Ethical hackers
Are employed through contracts or direct employment to test the security of an
organization.
Use the same skills and tactics as a hacker but with permission from the
system owner to carry out their attack against the system.
They do not reveal the weaknesses of an evaluated system to anyone other
than the system owner.
Work under contract for a company or client, and their contracts specify what
is off-limits and what they are expected to do.
Their role depends on the specific needs of a given organization.
Some organizations keep teams on staff specifically to engage in ethical
hacking activities.

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Types of Hackers (cont.)
Hacktivism
is any action that an attacker uses to push or promote a political agenda.
Targets of hacktivists have included government agencies and large
corporations

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Cracking
Cracking:
Act of breaking into a computer.
It is usually done on a secured network.
Some reasons for a cracker to crack into a computer:
for entertainment purposes,
for his/her profit, or
as a challenge.
for pointing out a websites security flaws.
They break and enter into a site and report to the administration
of the website about the security flaw.

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Cracking(cont.)
For a person to perform cracking, strong hacking skills arent a necessity.
One can be a cracker with the help of popular tools which are used on
known flaws in the site's security.
With these tools, anyone can crack by searching for known weaknesses of
certain websites.
So most crackers are not professionals but mediocre level hackers.
Hacking and cracking are different terms and one should not be confused
with the other.
Cracker
A person who breaks into a persons computer on a network without
permission.
intentionally break into the computer breaching the security of the system.
bypass passwords and compromise the license of the programs in the
computer.
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Hacking vs. Cracking
Hacking:
An act of forcibly retrieving or stealing data that could be either personal
or private.
Is done without the knowledge of the owner.
Includes stealing of passwords or any other malicious action which
disturbs the privacy of a person without their consent or knowledge.
Cracking:
creating original programs and using them for personal purposes.
One can edit source codes of program or create own programs which
can be used for breaching the security of a program or a system.
Programs like key generators and patches are all part of cracking.
These programs will trick the software application into thinking that
a process occurred.
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Chapter 1
The Challenges of Computer Security
Computer security is fascinating and complex.
Some of the reasons follow:
1. Computer security is not simple as it might appear to the novice.
The requirements seem straightforward; most of the requirements for
security services can be given one-word labels: confidentiality,
authentication, nonrepudiation, integrity.
mechanisms used to meet those requirements can be complex, and
understanding them involve rather intelligent reasoning.
2. In developing a security mechanism or algorithm, consider potential
attacks on those security features.
Successful attacks are designed by looking at the problem in a
completely different way, therefore exploiting an unexpected
weakness in the mechanism.

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Chapter 1
The Challenges of Computer Security
3. Because of point 2, the procedures used to provide particular services
are often counterintuitive.
A security mechanism is complex, and it is not obvious from the
statement of a particular requirement that such elaborate measures
are needed.
It is only when the various aspects of the threat are considered that
elaborate security mechanisms make sense.
4. Having designed various security mechanisms, it is necessary to
decide where to use them.
This is true in terms of physical placement (e.g., at what points in a
network are certain security mechanisms needed) and in a logical
sense [e.g., at what layer or layers of an architecture such as TCP/IP]

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Chapter 1
The Challenges of Computer Security
4. Security mechanisms involve more than a particular algorithm or
protocol.
5. Computer security is a battle of wits between a perpetrator who tries
to find holes and the designer or administrator who tries to close them.
7. Users and system managers notice little benefit from security
investment until a security failure occurs.
8. Security requires regular, constant monitoring, and its difficult in
todays short-term, overloaded environment.
9. Security is still too often an afterthought to be incorporated into a
system after the design is complete rather than being an integral part of
the design process.
10. Many users and security administrators view strong security as an
weakness to efficient and user-friendly operation of an information
system or use of information.
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Chapter 1
Student Assessment
Chapter 1 Student Quiz

END.

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