CYBERSECURITY

Information Security Awareness

 IMPORTANCE OF CYBERSECURITY
 The internet allows an attacker to work from anywhere on the planet.

 Risks caused by poor security knowledge and practice:

 Identity Theft
 Monetary Theft
 Legal Ramifications (for yourself and your organization)
 Sanctions or termination if policies are not followed

 According to the SANS Institute, the top vectors for vulnerabilities available
to a cyber criminal are:
 Web Browser
 IM Clients
 Web Applications
 Excessive User Rights
2
CYBERSECURITY IS SAFETY
Security: We must protect our computers and data in the
same way that we secure the doors to our homes.
Safety: We must behave in ways that protect us against
risks and threats that come with technology.

3
 USER AWARENESS

Cyber-Criminals System Administrators

Some scripts appear useful
to manage networks…
Cracker:
Computer-savvy Posts to
programmer creates Hacker Bulletin Board
attack software SQL Injection
Buffer overflow
lo a ds Password Crackers
Script Kiddies: wn
Do Password Dictionaries
Unsophisticated
computer users who
R ep
know how to o rt s
execute programs Successful attacks!
Crazyman broke into …
s to
P ost CoolCat penetrated…
Criminals: Create & sell bots
-> generate spam Malware package earns $1K-2K
Sell credit card numbers, 1 M Email addresses earn $8
etc… 10,000 PCs earn $1000
4
LEADING THREATS
• Viruses
• Worms
• Trojan Horses / Logic Bombs
• Social Engineering
• Rootkits
• Botnets / Zombies

5
VIRUSES
 A virus attaches itself to a program, file, or
disk. Program
A
 When the program is executed, the virus
activates and replicates itself. Extra Code

 The virus may be benign or malignant but

executes its payload at some point (often
infects
upon contact).
Viruses can cause computer crashes and loss of
data.
Program
 In order to recover or prevent virus attacks: B
Avoid potentially unreliable websites/emails.
System Restore. 6
Re-install operating system.
Use and maintain anti-virus software.
 WORMS
• Independent program that replicates itself and sends copies from computer to computer across
network connections.
• Upon arrival, the worm may be activated to replicate.

To Joe
To Ann
To Bob

Email List:
Joe@gmail.com
Ann@yahoo.com
Bob@u.edu
7
 LOGIC BOMBS AND TROJAN HORSES
• Logic Bomb: Malware logic executes upon certain conditions.
The program is often used for otherwise legitimate reasons.
• Examples:
• Software which malfunctions if maintenance fee is not paid.
• Employee triggers a database erase when he is fired.

• Trojan Horse: Masquerades as a benign program while quietly

destroying data or damaging your system.
• Download a game: It may be fun but contains hidden code that gathers personal
information without your knowledge .

8
 SOCIAL ENGINEERING
• Social engineering manipulates people into performing actions or divulging confidential
information. Similar to a confidence trick or simple fraud, the term applies to the use of
deception to gain information, commit fraud, or access computer systems.
Email:
ABC Bank has
Phone Call: noticed a
This is John, the problem with
System In Person: your account…
Administrator. What ethnicity
What is your are you? Your I have come
password? mother’s maiden to repair your
name? machine…
and have
some lovely
software
patches!

9
 PHISHING: COUNTERFEIT EMAIL

• Phishing: A seemingly
trustworthy entity asks for
sensitive information such
as SSN, credit card
numbers, login IDs or
passwords via e-mail.

10
PHARMING: COUNTERFEIT WEB PAGES

Wiping over,
but not
clicking the
link may
reveal a
different
Misspelled address.

With whom?
Copyright
date is old

• The link provided in the e-mail leads to a counterfeit webpage

which collects important information and submits it to the owner.
• The counterfeit web page looks like the real thing
• Extracts account information 11
 BOTNET
 A botnet is a number of compromised computers used to create and send spam
or viruses or flood a network with messages as a denial of service attack.
 The compromised computers are called zombies.

12
 MAN IN THE MIDDLE ATTACK
• An attacker pretends to be your final destination on the network. When a
person tries to connect to a specific destination, an attacker can mislead
him to a different service and pretend to be that network access point or
server.

13
ROOTKIT
 Upon penetrating a computer, a
hacker may install a collection
of programs, called a rootkit.
 May enable:
 Easy access for the hacker (and
others)into the enterprise
 Keystroke logger
 Eliminates evidence of break-
Backdo
in. or
Keystro entry user
ke Logg den
er Hid
 Modifies the operating system.
14
PASSWORD CRACKING
DICTIONARY ATTACK AND BRUTE FORCE
Pattern Calculation Result Time to Guess
(2.6x1018 tries/month)
Personal Info: interests, relatives 20 Manual 5 minutes
Social Engineering 1 Manual 2 minutes
American Dictionary 80,000 < 1 second
4 chars: lower case alpha 264 5x105
8 chars: lower case alpha 268 2x1011
8 chars: alpha 528 5x1013
8 chars: alphanumeric 628 2x1014 3.4 min.
8 chars alphanumeric +10 728 7x1014 12 min.
8 chars: all keyboard 958 7x1015 2 hours
12 chars: alphanumeric 6212 3x1021 96 years
12 chars: alphanumeric + 10 7212 2x1022 500 years
12 chars: all keyboard 9512 5x1023
16 chars: alphanumeric 6216 5x1028

15
GEORGIA DATA BREACH NOTIFICATION
LAW
O.C.G.A. §§10-1-910, -911, -912
An unauthorized acquisition of electronic data that compromises
the security, confidentiality or integrity of “personal information.”
Personal Information
Social Security Number.
Driver’s license or state ID number.
Information permitting access to personal accounts.
Account passwords or PIN numbers or access codes.
Any of the above in connection with a person’s name if the information is
sufficient to perform identity theft against the individual.

16
IDENTIFYING SECURITY COMPROMISES

 Symptoms:
Antivirus software detects a problem.
Disk space disappears unexpectedly.
Pop-ups suddenly appear, sometimes selling security software.
Files or transactions appear that should not be there.
The computer slows down to a crawl.
Unusual messages, sounds, or displays on your monitor.
Stolen laptop: 1 stolen every 53 seconds; 97% never recovered.
The mouse pointer moves by itself.
The computer spontaneously shuts down or reboots.
Often unrecognized or ignored problems.
17
MALWARE DETECTION
• Spyware symptoms:
• Changes to your browser homepage/start page.
• Ending up on a strange site when conducting a search.
• System-based firewall is turned off automatically.
• Lots of network activity while not particularly active.
• Excessive pop-up windows.
• New icons, programs, favorites which you did not add.
• Frequent firewall alerts about unknown programs when trying
to access the Internet.
• Poor system performance.

18
BEST PRACTICES TO AVOID THESE
THREATS
Defense in depth uses multiple layers of defense to address
technical, personnel and operational issues.

User Account Controls

19
ANTI-VIRUS AND ANTI-SPYWARE
SOFTWARE
• Anti-virus software detects certain types of malware and can
destroy it before any damage is done.
• Install and maintain anti-virus and anti-spyware software.
• Be sure to keep anti-virus software updated.
• Many free and commercial options exist.
• Contact your Technology Support Professional for assistance.

20
HOST-BASED FIREWALLS
• A firewall acts as a barrier between your computer/private network and the
internet. Hackers may use the internet to find, use, and install applications on your
computer. A firewall prevents many hacker connections to your computer.
• Firewalls filter network packets that enter or leave your computer

21
 PROTECT YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM
 Microsoft regularly issues patches or updates to solve security problems in their software. If
these are not applied, it leaves your computer vulnerable to hackers.
 The Windows Update feature built into Windows can be set up to automatically download and
install updates.
 Avoid logging in as administrator
 Apple provides regular updates to its operating system and software applications.
 Apply Apple updates using the App Store application.

22
USE STRONG PASSWORDS
MAKE PASSWORDS EASY TO REMEMBER BUT HARD TO
GUESS
• USG standards:
• Be at least ten characters in length
• Must contain characters from at least two of the following four types of characters:
• English upper case (A-Z)
• English lower case (a-z)
• Numbers (0-9)
• Non-alphanumeric special characters ($, !, %, ^, …)

• Must not contain the user’s name or part of the user’s name
• Must not contain easily accessible or guessable personal information about the user
or user’s family, such as birthdays, children’s names, addresses, etc.

23
CREATING STRONG PASSWORDS

• A familiar quote can be a good start:

“LOVE IS A SMOKE MADE WITH THE FUME OF

SIGHS”
William Shakespeare

• Using the organization standard as a guide, choose the first

character of each word:
• LIASMWTFOS
• Now add complexity the standard requires:
• L1A$mwTF0S (10 characters, 2 numerals, 1 symbol, mixed English case:
password satisfies all 4 types).

• Or be more creative!
24
PASSWORD GUIDELINES
• Never use admin, root, administrator, or a default account or password for
administrative access.
• A good password is:
• Private: Used by only one person.
• Secret: It is not stored in clear text anywhere,
including on Post-It® notes!
• Easily Remembered: No need to write it down.
• Contains the complexity required by your organization.
• Not easy to guess by a person or a program in a reasonable time, such as several
weeks.
• Changed regularly: Follow organization standards.
• Avoid shoulder surfers and enter your credentials carefully! If a password is
entered in the username field, those attempts usually appear in system logs.
25
AVOID SOCIAL ENGINEERING
AND MALICIOUS SOFTWARE

• Do not open email attachments unless you are expecting

the email with the attachment and you trust the sender.
• Do not click on links in emails unless you are absolutely
sure of their validity.
• Only visit and/or download software from web pages you
trust.

26
AVOID STUPID HACKER TRICKS
 Be sure to have a good firewall or pop-up blocker installed.
 Pop-up blockers do not always block ALL pop-ups so always close
a pop-up window using the ‘X’ in the upper corner.
 Never click “yes,” “accept” or even “cancel.”

 Infected USB drives are often left unattended by hackers in public

places.
27
 SECURE BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS
 Always use secure browser to do online activities.
 Frequently delete temp files, cookies, history, saved passwords etc.
https://

Symbol indicating
enhanced security

28
BACKUP IMPORTANT INFORMATION
 No security measure is 100% reliable.
 Even the best hardware fails.
 What information is important to you?
 Is your backup:
Recent?
Off-site & Secure?
Process Documented?
Encrypted?
Tested?

29
CYBER INCIDENT REPORTING

If you suspect a cybersecurity incident, notify your organization’s help

desk or the USG ITS help desk immediately. Be prepared to supply the
details you know and contact information.

1. Do not attempt to investigate or remediate the incident on your own.

2. Inform other users of the system and instruct them to stop work
immediately.
3. Unless instructed, do not power down the machine.
4. Unless instructed, do not remove the system from the network.

The cybersecurity incident response team will contact you as soon as

possible to gather additional information.

Each USG organization is required to have a specific plan to handle

cybersecurity incidents. Refer to local policies, standards and guidelines
for specific information.
30
 FRAUD
 Organizations lose 5-6% of
revenue annually due to internal Internal Fraud Recovery

fraud = $652 Billion in U.S.

(2006)
 Average scheme lasts 18
months, costs $159,000
 25% costs exceed $1M $0 Recovered

 Smaller companies suffer greater Recovery<=25%

Substantial Recovery
average dollar losses than large
companies Essentials of Corporate Fraud, T L Coenen,
2008, John Wiley & Sons
31
FRAUD DISCOVERY
How Fraud is Discovered

40
35
30
25
20
%

15
10
5
0
Tip By Accident Internal Audit Internal Controls External Audit Notified by
Police

Tips are the most common way fraud is discovered.

Tips come from:
• Employee/Coworkers 64%,
• Anonymous 18%,
• Customer 11%,
• Vendor 7%
If you suspect possible fraud, report it anonymously to the USG ethics hot line at 877-516-3466.

32
C9LAB Pinak
InfoSec Pvt. Ltd.