-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site ITACS 5206 7 years, 12 months ago
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site ITACS 5206 7 years, 12 months ago
Provide an example of a measurement used in quantitative information security risk analysis.
What challenges are involved in calculating such a measurement?
-
Quantitative Information Security Risk Analysis is when you are able to examine a risk by looking at its risk factors in order to place a dollar amount or another type of value to the specific risk.
An example is having 100 employee’s sensitive bank account numbers, bank router numbers, and other direct deposit information in a database in order to allow the employees to directly deposit their pay-checks into their accounts. When the board of directors analyzed the option to allow the employees to use direct deposit or not, they determined that if this data was stolen, it would cost the company $500 per employee. This $500 dollar cost is an average that was calculated by looking at a population/sample of people, their bank account info (like amount), and several other factors. The $500 amount would include: investigating to determine exactly which employees were affected, contacting the employees to notify them, replenishing the amount of actual money stolen, and the cost it would take to pay for the employee to change the information that was stolen. The max loss for this particular risk is $50,000.
In my above example, I made the risk value in terms of a dollar amount and I made the elements of the risk fairly simple. This is not always the case. In fact, risk can have more elements and there is not always an element that you can put a dollar amount to. Complexity of risk and the likelihood of partial or full risk loss are two factors that also make risk difficult to quantify. Lastly, there is no standard in each industry that tells you what each risk element is worth in terms of money or any type of value and that makes determining the quantitative risk value very difficult because each risk situation is unique.
-
In your simplified example, how might you approach attempting to quantify the loss to the business of “good will” from a data loss scenario (i.e. hacking data)? Would the business have to also quantify the loss due to compliance lawsuits like Target did in its security breach a couple years ago?
-
Sean to answer your query, you can study provided by one of SANS whitepaper, Quantitative Risk Analysis Step- by- Step
[ https://www.sans.org/reading-room/whitepapers/auditing/quantitative-risk-analysis-step-by-step-849 ]To summarize the steps are as below,
1. Determine risk factors
2. Determine values of assets under risk
3. Determine historical data of incident occurrence and loss
4. Determine Annualized rate of occurrence (ARO)
5. Determine counter measures to overcome risk
6. Determine Annualized Loss Expectancy (ALE)
7. Conduct safeguard cost analysis by calculating difference between ALE before and after implementing countermeasures
8. Using values in step 6 & 7 calculate Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
9. Present summarized results to managementFormulas you will need
Exposure factor (ex 40%), Single loss expectancy (ex 1000$ at 20% likelihood), Annualized Rate of occurrence (ex. 01. In 10 years), Annualized Loss Expectancy, Safeguard cost/benefit analysis,To answer your question, “loss of goodwill” will come under calculating risk factor for intangible assets .
There is an example given in the whitepaper that you can read. -
Quantitative Data-Data derived from mathematical and statistical figures
Risk Assessment-Process to identify potential risk to a business process.
So as the name suggest quantitative information security analysis is placing mathematical figure in terms of dollar value to the threat or asset involved in information security analysis.An example of quantitative information security analysis is an organization XYZ is using a software or a tool worth $300 which has a risk of being hacked down by potential hackers.
The department analyzes that the hacking may result in 90% software corruption
So the true asset value is 300*90/100=270.
The organization may incur a loss of $270 in case of software being hacked and results are a part of information security analysis
Furthermore challenges involved in such risk measurement is posed in a question “How can you identify the estimate of loss occurred until the actual threat occurred”.The risk can be greater or even lesser than the actual threat estimated and there can be lot of other elements and subject getting involved when actual threat occurs -
I agree with Shukla. Simply to say, the quantitative information security risk analysis is use mathematical and statistical way to figure out the potential risk of information of a business process. and the example is very clearly to show the risk and the loss. And I more think that this analysis is like a expect of loss, and the result will show the maximum outcome to us.
-
What is quantitative information security risk analysis? Provide an example of a measurement used in quantitative information security risk analysis. What challenges are involved in calculating such a measurement?
Quantitative information security risk analysis tries to estimate monetary value (dollar value) for each data leak event with potential data loss. Example: in case of health care company, Quantitative information security risk analysis produces estimated loss of 150K for every data loss of 10K patient personal information. Estimating expected loss requires calculating probability of data loss, and the extent of data loss if breach does happen.
Expected loss $ = Expected Consequence * Expected Frequency (probability)What challenges are involved in calculating such a measurement?
The apparent issue will be accuracy of both measures needed to calculate Expected Loss $ (Consequence and Frequency) , in addition to difficulty calculating probability of breach event when multiple data loss events can and are interdependent.
-
When communicating metrics, it is important to remember that Baseline Defenses Coverage is not the only line of defense that an organization has. Looking through these numbers would frighten any executive who is being told that this firewall that they are spending a lot of money to maintain has flaws. They must be informed of the importance of having layers of security so that even if an attach breaches the firewall, they are prevented or detected in another way. Communicating metrics is a delicate conversation and using industry averages and numbers from outside trusted sources such as the Computer Security Institute is helpful for them to understand that the situation is not as bleak as the numbers initially may appear. knowing best practices and what others in the industry are doing can help when deciding if paying for various baseline defense technologies is worth it to an organization.
-
Magaly,
Great McDonalds example. The most difficult thing in economics is to put a cost on the impact of a policy. For example, how do you put a price on carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere? The risks of burning coal are known but putting a value on it and selling it to an emerging country is a difficult thing because all they see is short-term profits, rather than long-term tragedy.
Similar to companies who don’t value the risks of IT. It may not end well.
-
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site ITACS 5206 7 years, 12 months ago
Is information security a technical problem, a business problem that the entire organization must frame and solve, or both? Explain the nature of the problem in the context(s) you chose.
-
Information security is both a technical problem and a business problem in which both parties need to work together on establishing and solve. It’s a technical problem because the technical side know that without a proper framework in place, a business can go down if it’s not well protected against threats from technology or other outside forces. It’s a business problem because management is a key stakeholder and needs to work with the IT team to figure out how to keep the business safe. Management has the business knowledge, such as revenue and access to resources to help with these projects. IT Security alone can’t be an IT issue because they can only go so far to try and mitigate these problems. The business side has to get involved so they know how to provide ways to maintain it.
-
Information security is a technical problem and a business problem. Since information is digitized to such a degree today, its security is in the hands of IT professionals. Their training and expertise is needed to properly secure data and to create safe and reliable methods to access and transport data. The IT personnel need to develop training plans to train employees how to properly control information security at their individual levels and how to safeguard data in their control. IT personnel need to constantly stay up-to-date on the latest threats to the security of data and to institute physical and software updates to safeguard the data.
Information security is just as much in the hands of the rest of the business too. Again, with the digital nature of data today, businesses have a key role to safeguard data. The data plays a significant role in profitability to both its business and its competitors. Employees need to be properly trained to safeguard the data at all times, and to understand the importance of the integrity of the data. If employees are not properly trained, or get careless, their actions can cause significant interruptions to a business to the point of halting operations and potentially even as far as bankruptcy.
Since information security is both a technical and business wide issue, all employees should be invested with its importance. IT personnel can do everything possible on the technical side, but without employees doing their part in security the data can be lost, destroyed, or fall into a competitor’s hands. If employees have the keenest senses of security, but the IT personnel lack the ability to institute proper protocols and security measures, data can be just as easily, lost, destroyed, or fall into a competitor’s hands. Information security is a technical problem that the entire business must properly understand and address collectively to properly safeguard.
-
I agree with your opinion. An organization that can demonstrate an infrastructure protected by robust security mechanisms can potentially see a reduction in insurance premiums. A secure organization can use its security program as a marketing tool, demonstrating to clients that it values their business so much that it takes a very aggressive stance on protecting their information. Therefore, the company should combined the technical problem and business problem.
-
I agree with you. The company should provide security training for IT staff now and forever. Because management does not understand technology, they are not in a very good position to judge a person’s depth of knowledge and experience in the field. Decisions are often based on the certifications a person has achieved during his or her career. Many certifications require nothing more than some time and dedication to study and pass a certification test. IT staff meet the new technology, they will figure it out, however, a strong security posture requires significant training and experience. In addition, very few organizations have a stagnant infrastructure; employees are constantly requesting new software, and more technologies are added in an effort to improve efficiencies. Each new addition likely adds additional security vulnerabilities. (CAIS CH1)
-
Is information security a technical problem, a business problem that the entire organization must frame and solve, or both? Explain the nature of the problem in the context(s) you chose.
Information security is a technical problem and a business problem. Information security is the practice of defending information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, inspection, recording or destruction. If the company lost important data, it will be lead to business problem. When we implement any security mechanism, it should be placed on the scale where the level of security and ease of use match the acceptable level of risk for the organization. For example, employees can easily copy data from the devices to their devices to their home computers before the devices are returned. it easily lead to data leak. If the employees left their position, they may take the important information leave to competitor company. So the problem is the technique problem and the a technique problem. The company should invest employees’ background before recruiting, and it is important for an organization to establish policies outlining the acceptable use of these devices as well as implement an enterprise-grade solution to control how, when, or if data can be copied to them. Using some products that can protect against this type of data leak, such as DeviceWall from Frontrange Solutions and GFI Endpoint Security.
-
2. Is information security a technical problem, a business problem that the entire organization must frame and solve, or both? Explain the nature of the problem in the context(s) you chose.
Information security is not solely a technical problem as it involves not just technical glitches but also the intention of the intruder. More that considering Information Security as a technical problem, I would consider it as an ethical issue where people tend to misuse the privileges for financial gains or getting proprietary ideas or are just ignorant of the best practices or want to try new things out of curiosity endangering critical and confidential data. It is a business problem as security of the confidential data or PII’s is important for the reputation of the firm and also building trust with the clients. If a company loses it credibility it looses it business.
The employees whether current, former employees or contractors who have the knowledge about the company policies, processes, procedures and technology can exploit this knowledge to provide the information to external attackers for gain or they themselves can facilitate attacks or accidently reveal information to potential attackers. A company can have the best infrastructure in place with the latest and the costliest security controls and still be a victim to data security breach because of one user who forgot to lock his machine while going for a break or by an employee who decides to save the PII content on his personal desktop which does not have the same security policies and is exposed to malwares and information theft.
Yes it is a technical issue with open ports available or no latest update on anti-virus protection in place which makes the system vulnerable for threats but more than that I think it is the human factor involved here that can make a difference. So everyone in the organization: management, IT department and employees should make sure that they are complaint with the organizations policies and make effort to make sure that their machines are compliant too. The management should educate its employees of the consequences and take necessary steps to mitigate the risks involved and thus provide a secure business to the client that they can rely on. -
Question: Is information security a technical problem, a business problem that the entire organization must frame and solve, or both? Explain the nature of the problem in the context(s) you chose.
The information security is a technical and a business problem. First of all, the information security of an organization requires some basic technical devices like hardware and software to protect the information assets. For example, in order to prevent the unethical hacking or unknown internet attack, a firewall is necessary for the core servers. Besides, the antivirus software on each PCs in the organization also needs technical support. From this perspective, the IS is a technical problem. Moreover, the IS is also a business problem. For example, according to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Section 302 and 404, the management of an organization must take the responsibility of Internal Control System in writing, and disclose the effectiveness and weakness of the organization’s internal control in the ICS report with confirmation from external auditor. After the accounting scandals in several major public corporations like Enron and Worldcom, the importance of the control environment and internal control of an organization was enhanced. Furthermore, a weak information security system may cause a huge loss of company’s information assets. For instance, without the data backup and disaster recovery plan, the organization may lose all information about contracts, orders, and clients’personal information by the damage of core servers. Therefore, the information security is both a technical and a business problem.
-
In an organization both technical and business problem of Information security must be solved.
Many businesses believe that by implementing secure infrastructure and utilizing security tools such as firewall, IDS and anti virus program, they can create secure organization. However, the security chain is as strong as the weakest link, and the weakest link in the IT security chain are the employees.Security is process, all security products are as secure as people who configure and maintain them. In order to get most effective result of implementing security tool in an organization, IT strategy should be aligned with business strategy. For example, IT professionals mostly focus on technical view of security, and the management mainly focus on revenue, profitability and ROI.
IT professional should Implement the technical infrastructure in a cost-effective manner that would be beneficial to the organization.
-
Is information security a technical problem, a business problem that the entire organization must frame and solve, or both? Explain the nature of the problem in the context(s) you chose.
Information security is business problem that must be solved by an organization but it requires adequate technical support by the information security manager. A business needs the proper security in place to manage business risk and mitigate intrusion. The organization could face a huge risk in data breach if it does not maintain a clear perspective of all areas of business that require IS protection through collaboration with other department.
According to Computer and Information Security Handbook By John R. Vacca, “through collaboration with all business units, security manager must work security into the proves of all aspects of the organization, from employee training to research and development. Security is not an IT problem, it is a business problem.”
-
I agree with you Neil and Wenlin. Every business is different and thus the threats it will face be business dependent. That is why it is necessary for security team members to understand the business processes in order to formulate risk analysis and form a secure IT framework.
Also as rightly pointed out by Wenlin, robust security can be used for marketing. Acquiring certifications and being complaint to global standards increases brand value of the company. Adhering to the standard, company follows best practices and that helps gain trust from the users.
-
Information security is not just a technical problem anymore. It is a technical and business problem that the entire organization must frame and solve. Data breach has become a significant security risk to all business. I have done a case study of Home Depot data breach in 2014 which could be the largest breach after Target. They detected the crisis after 6 months. 56 million cards’ information were stolen and they lost at least $62 million. This is also an example of what might happen if organizations didn’t pay enough attention on their information security. Data breach is only one risk of information security and it can’t be protected only by IT department. Information is one of the most important asset in a company and many people have accesses, therefore it is hard to control and protect. Usually, many executives believe “information security” is the same as “IT security” and is therefore the responsibility of the IT manage. This belief might explain why the question “Is our information secure?” is often answered with “Yes, we have firewalls.” The lack of incentives for businesses to invest in cyber security and lack of understanding from business about the nature of information flows play important role in this. If any organizations want to completely protect their information, the whole organization needs to be aware of the threatens and look beyond the risk. Therefore, information is a business problem more than a technical problem now.
-
Question 2
Is information security a technical problem, a business problem that the entire organization must frame and solve, or both? Explain the nature of the problem in the context(s) you chose.
In my opinion, information security is both a technical and business problem that an organization has to frame and solve. Information security, as most know, is the practice of protecting information from those who do not have authorized access. While the concept might sound simple, protecting information can require a great deal of technical skill since most information today is kept and transferred via computers and networks. Due to this, positions such as Chief Information Officers, Security Directors, and many others require employees to have the technical knowledge to prevent access to this information. What makes this a business problem as well is that information security is only as good as its weakest link, in which case in the non-technical computer user within an organization.
In protecting information, there is one limitation which is those who have authorized access to the information. Since you can’t restrict everyone from having access to that secured information, those who want to steal information generally take advantage of those who have this authorized access. This is often done through phishing scams or having susceptible users download malware. Regardless, since these authorized users have access to information but don’t necessarily have the technical skill to best protect valuable information, they are often the avenue that those trying to steal information go through. Even despite an organization have a well-designed IT policy, these users most of the time do not follow these IT policies and don’t care to understand the risk since they are not “technical”.
With all that being said, information security is certainly both a technical problem and business problem. You need to have technically skilled employees who have the computer and network knowledge to protect information from a wide range of attacks as well as create certain policies that prevent attacks. On top of that, there needs to be education and enforcement of these policies, making sure that even the least technical individual who has authorized access to information know the importance and consequences of not following the IT policies.
-
Information security is an everyone problem. Everyone at every level in an organization must work together to protect the information of an organization. A breach could come from anywhere in the organization, from a physical breach to the building, to a phishing scam, to a port breach. While protecting the information of an organization often times has a technical solution, that does not make it just a technical problem. If a breach occurs, it does not matter how the breach occurred, the entire organization will suffer as a result. Because the breach can come from anywhere, the entire organization must frame and solve the problem of protecting the information assets it possesses. The information that can be lost can affect the organization in a number of detrimental ways, reputational damage, competitors gaining proprietary information, using organizational resources for nefarious activities, and more. The entire organization must create a plan to define what they see as the highest risks and the most important to be addressed and a plan to address the risks. IT is used as a means to address many of these risks, and they will work together with the business to address them, but they alone cannot secure all of the organization’s information. Business processes must also be in place to secure the information and protect the organization from breaches.
-
I agree with Shahle, In the company security link, there has a lot of ways to protect the informationa safety by computer programs and employees. Like Vacca said in Computer and Information Security Handbook “Security is not an IT problem, it is a business problem.” IT problem can sloved by computer, but business problem need to slove by money and person. Company spent money and time to training their employees in order to decline the risk of the security.
-
I agree with Binue that think about the information security is a ethical issue. In fact, employees following the company framewor is like government staff fllowing the country rules, And under a complete system, there has a lot of rules to limit the staffs in order to decline the sefaty of a company. Employees may disclosure of confidential carelessly or on purpose for benefits, and the company will pay the loss. so it is a business decision that company need to have a baisc cost to imporve their employees` ethical.
-
Is information security a technical problem, a business problem that the entire organization must frame and solve, or both? Explain the nature of the problem in the context(s) you chose.
Information security is a business and a technical problem. Organization must solve the information security due to it will cause many internal problems, such as data breach. In order to decline the risk of organization safety, organization should be training their employees about the information security aspect, which is not just a IT behavior at all.
-
Information security primarily being just a technical problem is indeed a myth. It all dials down to human behavior. The core security issue is that the computers were created without a thought to security and the computer users are unsophisticated but the people breaching security are very smart.
The role of IT from being in the basement as an “engine room” has changed and information/data has taken up the role of a business enabler. The value of a firm is in its data: customer details, product information, financial information’s CIA (confidentiality, integrity and availability) should be protected; failure to do so may result in legal repercussions & loss of goodwill in the market. Information is now the engine of global enterprise and information security should be viewed as a business problem and it should be a significant part organization’s overall enterprise risk management.
In addition to proper employee training, an organization’s information security must be aligned with its business goals and strategy.
-
Information security is both a technical problem and a business problem, however, is not necessarily a mutually exclusive argument. That is to say each individual security related event will always be a business problem, but not all security events will be a technical problem. Security can be compromised by a myriad of internal and external factors, some we can control while others are outside of any one human’s ability to control. While it is everyone’s responsibility inside the organization to be aware of and follow the policies and procedures put in place to minimize the vulnerability to a malicious attack there are certain events that can occur that no level of technical preparation or expertise would be able to prevent. For example, while it is critical to examine components such as environmental risks when creating a business continuity plan and determining where your most business critical information should be housed there is no guarantee that anyone can provide that there will be no force majeure to impact the datacenter location. As we all know, in recent years while we can do our best to predict where certain natural disasters can occur the exist is not exhaustive and definitive. Year after year additional exceptions are made and added. Therefore security risk can be strictly a business problem, but can never be strictly a technical problem because the analysis is always how it impacts the overall business.
-
Good point that the employee may become the weakest link in the IT security chain. Information security is a complex problem which related both technical and business. As what you mentioned about security process, IT professionals and the management sometimes focus on different strategies. Indeed, the technical tools like hardware, antivirus software, and firewall may cost a lot as a basic support for the IT security, but management should also realize the significance of protecting information assets instead of thinking the IT protection is wasting money. Therefore, I think employees and even management need to take a training about why information asset is so important for an organization and how to enhance the IT security.
-
Sean, thanks for the post. I think that people are the weakest link in any security program. Even with the right technology (hardware or software), if not configured or implemented correctly, can cause business disruptions. Like you have mentioned, IT personnel must stay abreast on all current attacks, vulnerabilities, and technology to become of any value to a company. It is no doubt that lack of training and awareness is a contributing factor with data breaches, but I don’t think it’s enough. Information security requires a certain mindset and a belief that nothing is ever completely secure. It requires a tone at the top, a organizational culture that is security sensitive. For example, how many times have we sat through cyber security PowerPoint and web applications that tells us not to open emails from unknown resources. Yet, a good amount of malware that are present in an organization’s network can be traced back to just that. Without strict enforcement of company’s policies, I believe that people just go through the motion.
-
Information Security is both a technical and a business problem that an organization must frame and solve. It doesn’t matter if you’re in IT, HR, or customer service. The information that you access to carry out your duties is the responsibility of the entire organization. IT(Technical) has the responsibility to secure that information within the bounds the organizations security policies. Their challenge is to provide a balance between security and accessibility. Even if IT have the resources and knowledge to employ all the latest and greatest security technology, it does not guarantee a 100% secure IT infrastructure. Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems are only good for known vulnerabilities and cannot prevent Zero day attacks. In an effort to improve efficiency, companies will add new software and applications which adds new vulnerabilities to their security program.
Cybercriminals are far more sophisticated and persistent at finding new ways to exploit vulnerabilities with any given technology. If they can’t attack the system directly they will go to the next best thing, the people. People are the weakest link in any security program. They can be the victims and the perpetrators of adding malicious components into an organization’s network. Phishing, malware, and viruses can be added to an organizations network by unknowingly clicking a link on an email or downloading a word document.
The organization must create a security sensitive culture that enables collaboration between IT and its businesses. Technology can be implemented, but people need more than training and awareness. People need to be encouraged to practice security controls set forth in policies and processes. Having a policy is meaningless unless it is enforced and this has to be set from the tone at the top. -
There is no doubt that information security is both a technical and business problem and everyone should be responsible for it.
From the technical view, physical protection is greatly needed, proper information protection infrastructure ought to be established, such as the technology of firewall, encryption, identification, etc, so as to achieve that valuable information within the organization is only accessible to those authorized group, even though it would cost extra steps to process which may lead to certain inconvenience.
From the business view, a favorable security environment is very helpful to strengthen awareness and attitude of personnel toward information security, complements professional training to prevent both intentional and unintentional information leakage. Besides, based on existent resources, after assessing risk and balancing return and costs, how to formulate a most favorable information security strategy is also a critical issue from business aspect. So, it is clear that information security is a multifaceted problem.
-
I agree with Binu. This is a very good example to show how information security is not just a technical but a business problem. The example which you gave about the current and ex employees of the organisation, I would like to add one more thing to your point.
It is important to keep the entries of the present as well ex employees up to date in the risk register. For example, If an employee leave the organisation, the status of the employee should be changed in the risk register so that there are no more access privileges available in the name of that employee. If the risk register is not updated, it can be a big security issue for the business as anyone can use the access rights to fetch information. This can be a big loss to the business if any important information goes into the hands of an unauthorized person.
Many organisations fail during the audits as they don’t keep their risk registers updated. -
Is information security a technical problem, a business problem that the entire organization must frame and solve, or both? Explain the nature of the problem in the context(s) you chose.
Information security is a technical problem and a business problem. IT security technical team ensures systems and network security through fortifying Operating Systems, firewalls, authentication and authorization systems. The business side should be concerned with human factor that may impact the company data. The business should have proper controls in place for data access and handling. Business develop policies for access data, levels of authorization, processes for data handling, in addition to business continuity planning in case of data leak. Business should be concerned with user’s education to prevent data leakage due to user’s error.
.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/03/why-information-security-is-not-just-a-technical-problem/ -
I believe that information security is both a technical problem and a business problem.
Information security is kind of IT issues. In term of risks, all the enterprise risk is related to IT. There is about 6 kind of enterprise risk, and they all have an IT component to IT. Like operational risks (the financial industry in the Basel II framework), Credit risk (poor IT security), strategic risk (enbler of new business initiatives) etc. IT risk should be treated like other key business problem. As business managers determine what IT needs to do to support their business and the use of IT can provide significant benefits to the enterprise, but also involves risk do, so IT issues is important, if IT risk occur, the failure of business objectives do as well.
The entire organization must frame and solve it. -
Information security is not only a technical problem but also a business issue. It is true that for an organization to be very secure, some software and hardware may be needed to protect the assets of the company. However, as the book (VACCA) mentioned in chapter 1, thinking that information security is only a technical matter is a myth; “firewall […] antivirus program …are just some of the tools available to assist in protecting a network and its data” (pp9). In fact, most of the time employees are the main reason why there are data breaches in organizations. A lack of awareness and training on information security can lead to severe losses for the organization.
Similarly, failure to immediately terminate former employees’ access to data can potentially be dangerous for a company especially if the former employees work for competitors. Security measures can be implemented, but the human factor must be taken into consideration. Management should educate employees about their impact on security programs. That is why in addition to be a technical issue, information security should also be seen as a business problem that must be solved to prevent tremendous risks. -
I agree with Wenlin. Good point raised. I have seen this happening in one of the organisation’s I have worked with. Not only employees but interns who were not permanent were allowed to use Personal USB Drives on their office laptops and computers.
In an incident one intern was caught copying some of important official data from project onto his personal USB drive. So this is a big security concern for which personal devices should not allowed in the premises of the organisation.
-
Rightly pointed Shahla. But just to say your point in a different way, employees are not the weakest link rather they can be the weakest link in an organisation if the organisation doesn’t have good security policies and standards.
I would like to quote an example to this to explain my point. I would differentiate the experiences which I had with two of the organisations I have worked. In my first organisation, Security policies were strong and employees were not allowed to enter inside the premises of the organisation without the ID’s and with any kind of personal devices such as pen drives. For this reason the environment was secure enough for any kind of security breach that may lead to data leakage.
On the other hand, with one more organisation I have worked with, there were some interns who were temporary and for the three months they worked, they were not issued any ID’s. They use to enter inside the office zone by just making an entry in the register. Also all the employees were allowed to bring any kind of personal devices. In this way due to weak standards and policies this organisation was vulnerable to any kind of security breach from employee’s end. -
I agree, IT in general are merely tools used to make business process run quicker and smoother. IT itself can never cause any harm or damage to the business. It is usually the human operating the IT systems will cause harm.As you mentioned, employees who are negligent towards IT are one of the main reason for data breaches in an organization. This can be avoided by fostering proper IT awareness and culture within an organization. This will tremendously reduce the risk of IT failures internally.
On the other hand, in order to avoid external breaches, the employees responsible for IT within an organization should always be aware of their own IT system’s security. They have to constantly update and audit their own system to prevent external intrusions.
-
I agree. It is crucial to have the entire company invest in Information Security. There needs to be a cross department collaboration to successfully implement the company’s Information Security plan. It definitely is a technical issue as well but that is part of the company’s plan that directly affects the company’s business and the ability to conduct their business most efficiently.
-
I agree with Mengxue, Information security is a techical and a business probelm. Information security problem such as dara breach will cost company not only just economic loss, but also the company reputation. You said Information hard to control and protect due to people can accesses it. It is very clearly to show company managers should pay more attention to this part and need to spend more to decline the risk, that`s why we said infromatyion security is not just a techical problem but also treat as a business problem.
-
I agree with Mengxue, Information security is a technical and a business problem. Information security problem such as data breach will cost company not only just economic loss, but also the company reputation. You said Information hard to control and protect due to people can accesses it. It is very clearly to show company managers should pay more attention to this part and need to spend more to decline the risk, that`s why we said information security is not just a technical problem but also treat as a business problem.
-
At the two companies I have worked for, all employees (in all departments) were required to take training on “Safe computer use”, IT security, etc. The training went through many of the same things as the video and had the same corny jokes too haha! It was definitely needed though and I think it definitely did help a lot of the employees that were not in the IT department. I think along with this, putting controls in place to safeguard and make sure that employees are practicing what they were trained on is important to success.
-
I agree with your opinion that the information security both related technical and business problems. You mentioned the potential risk in information leak because of the authorized access issues. If management barely have basic understanding in technical operation, they might underestimate the importance of protecting information assets. Without an effective control environment, the organization may be hacked through ineffective information security protection, which may cause huge lose for organization’s information assets.
-
Good point in mobile device management (MDM). Indeed, mobile device has potential risks in data leak includes personal information or even sensitive business documents. If the mobile device with internet connection information is stolen, the remoter attacker may have the access authority and replace the firmware on a device like router and take complete control over it. Therefore, the MDM is very important to enhance the information security in an organization.
-
Paul,
I completely agree with you. I would say, that information security is both a technical and business problem. The two entities overlap in many instances within an organization and must conjoin together to frame and solve the information security problems at hand. Even though, in some instances the issue may start off as a technical issue, eventually it will protrude/ evolve into a business problem, vice versa.
An example being:
-leaky repositories: firewalls are implemented to prevent intrusive hacking yet information doesn’t also live in the digital environment but also in the business environment as a hard physical copy. -
Laly,
Exactly. While physical copies of information might not be as easily accessible, they are still controlled as well with physical security. For large organizations, you have security monitoring who enters and exits the buildings as well as file rooms where the entrance to the room is locked by each department. Not only that, many companies try to implement a clean desk policy where all important information should be stored and locked when not at the desk. In fact, when I worked my Internal Audit internship, two of the auditors performed a walk through of the building to just see what exactly they could find that was out in plain site. Unfortunately, too much information was left out in the open and corrective actions had to be made. This is another example of how securing information is not only a technical problem but a business problem as a whole.
-
Paul,
You bring up a really good point that all information security is a business problem but not always a technical problem. You provided the example of a non-technical problem that can affect information security being how a natural disaster can affect a data center. Another example could be that a disgruntled worker who remains working for the organization and has access to information, decides to steal that information either to sell or damage the organization. No amount of technical knowledge could identify who is a disgruntled worker or not, therefore this would fall under as a business problem.
-
Great post, Tran!
I completely agree with you that if the latest and best security technology is being employed, it does not mean you are 100% safe. The new technology for now will become old obsolete in one day soon. Companies need to keep an eye on the zero day attack because it is hard to be detected by newest security.
When I was taking the cyber security class, I was taught that “people” is the weakest element because they like to click on insecure email or website and increase the profitability of getting hacked. Only through training sessions can really help people learn how to protect the organization from malwares and viruses.
-
Information security is a technical problem and a business problem everyone individual must be involved with the solution.
The technical problem lies with the equipment and network infrastructure. The proper system configurations, authentications, policies and security must be checked and tested on a regular basis to ensure proper functionality. It is a business problem because the business reputation is on the line. The business must protect all sensitive information to give, not just the shareholders, but also the stakeholders peace of mind. A security breach could ruin the reputation of an organization and raise doubt when using technological equipment from the company, from an investor, employee and customer aspect.
We can’t be passing the buck or keep saying, “it’s not my problem”. One of my favorite quotes from a movie is, “Information is the most valuable commodity in this world”. I may not agree with the character who said this but I do agree with the statement. Information is very valuable to many people and it needs to be protected by technological and business best practices.
-
Haozhu,
I strongly agree with you. There is a need of managers to proactively include information security in their risk management plan and make sure it is aligned with the organization’s objectives.
-
Ahbay,
I completely agree with your point that human factor is one of the biggest issue for information security. Every business is different so that an organization security is necessary to align with its business goals and strategy. How to defense the information from data breach is a technical problem. However, If the company lost its most valuable data, it will lead to a business problem such as loss of revenue, reputation and goodwill. Company should invest heavily on its internal training for those unsophisticated employees or the company can background check before recruiting to ensure the employees have basic security training and knowledge.
-
Yu Ming,
Yes, and in addition to training and workshops, I firmly believe that there has to be a mechanism in place that checks if they training is updated and in order to keep the employees updated, there should be half yearly or even quarterly security workshop setup by the IT team.
-
Rightly pointed out, Amanda. I too believe that it all comes down to human behavior. Even though an organization implements the highest security standards, if the employees are ignorant and are putting passwords on sticky notes, then there is very little standards and policies can do.
In my internship experience, even a top level executive had a habit to put his NetSuite ERP access information on his keyboard. And I agree, the mindset has to be changed and employees need to realize that not just the company’s information is at stake, it is also going to affect their identity.
-
Paul that’s a great point. I’m glad you guys agree with my stance. I think that it’s very easy for people that work in IT tend to start viewing things as tunnel vision when it’s absolutely critical that they keep an open mind and think outside of the box when analyzing problems or trying to determine where their vulnerabilities may lie. This is why social engineering is always a big part of any penetration testing that I sold through Verizon. It’s also definitely one of the most interesting subtopics in the overall umbrella of IT/IS Security posture.
-
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site ITACS 5206 7 years, 12 months ago
Do ITACS students represent information security vulnerabilities to Temple University, each other, or both?
Explain the nature of the vulnerabilities ITACS students represent in the context(s) you chose?
-
In my opinion, ITACS students do represent information security vulnerabilities to Temple University, and Temple represents information security vulnerabilities to ITACS students as well.
Based on the readings, Information security vulnerabilities can be considered to anywhere, anyone and anytime. First, Temple students can access to secured and sensitive information easier through internal way. For example, an ITACS student studying at Temple University, has some access passwords and codes for some rooms, software and public laptops, etc., so he would steal some sensitive information of Temple University by accessing from internal internet through these ways, and Temple would lose its secured and sensitive information because of this ITACS student uses internal way, rather than other outside people use external way, which is harder. Second, the trust from a professor would also be an information security vulnerability. If a person has the trust from a professor, the professor may behave negligence by allowing this student to access to some accounts which would be considered not allow to students. For example, if a professor wants to show something through his account, the student is there to watch the professor to access the account, and then, the professor may act negligence by typing his account name and password in front of this student, and the account may be stolen easily. Third, students or professors may have bad behaviors and collude with classmates and friends to steal information of Temple University. The possibility of this is tiny small but I think it can be also considered as information security vulnerabilities to Temple University.
In addition, Temple University also represents information security vulnerabilities to ITACS students as well in several ways. First, Temple University experts who control sensitive information of students and colleges may behave negligence and errors of operations to exposure information. Second, Upper management of Temple University also has a possibility to behave badly if the person is angry and criminal. Third, the change of MIS department dean or upper management may also bring some information loss and errors, because if the previous management person left, he may not have everything (information, account passwords, or secret system controls) to the new person.
-
ITACS students and Temple University both represent information security vulnerabilities to each other. Temple University stores Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of each student, which include grades, and financial information, and in some instances health-care information. A data breach to Temple University could target student’s social security numbers, personal banking account information, and medical information if a student is enrolled in a university sponsored plan. Temple University stores large amounts of sensitive information about students, which creates an attractive target for cyber criminals. Medical identity theft is a growing exposure for Temple University because medical information is more lucrative than financial information. Not all students enroll in the sponsored plans, some do, and others may use a medical service during their tenure at Temple. Students trust the university with sensitive data, which poses a risk to Temple because it is now responsible to safeguard the data.
While Temple represents vulnerabilities to students, students also pose security risks to Temple. The university must create a tuportal account for every enrolled student, from which campus computers, and many other university services are accessed. There are over 30,000 students at Temple University, not including faculty and staff, which is a lot of accounts to monitor. Any student can find a flash drive on the ground, and then immediately connect it to a campus computer to download documents. Flashdrives can contain viruses and malware and can potentially spread to the network from a single access point. Prevalent use of removable storage is an important security vulnerability to Temple. Students can also access file attachments through email on the university network. If an attachment is infected with malware, it can now spread to the computer and then network. It would be difficult for Temple to limit access through the network because many departments rely on online software, require students to submit work online, and need to access data themselves. The same methods that are used to augment student academics also increase security vulnerabilities. -
I think everyone at Temple University represents information security vulnerabilities to Temple University. In fact, ITACS students and regular students do more than sending emails while on Temple internet connection. Even though, the university blocks some sites it does not stop students to go to insecure sites. I have been seeing some students shopping on the school computers. Somebody can voluntary or involuntary download a virus on the computers or the network.
Also, the laptops in MIS labs in rooms 602 and 603 are not really password protected as everyone knows the password. The only really credentials you need is your TU access username and password for the Wi-Fi. Once again an ill-intentioned individual can take advantages of this system. He/she can do bad things without being traced.
Temple University and its third parties’ partners can represent information security vulnerabilities for its students. What will happen if someone can hack the university system? In fact, some students have received phishing emails asking them to provide their passwords. The University system contains a lot of sensitive information like medical records, payments information… If there is a data breach, more than 30,000 persons will be affected. -
I believe when we are entering into any account, we might have lot of people around and we do enter our credentials in front of them. That is the reason why passwords are masked.
I agree with your point that eavesdropping can happen. Hence being alert while handling sensitive data is important. -
ITACS students represent vulnerabilities to Temple university and vice versa.
Both entities have access to confidential and restricted data of each other.
Vulnerabilities that students bring in:
1. University provides wifi to all students. The laptops, mobiles phones via which they connect to wifi is a door for hackers to plan Wireless network attacks. ex. Denial of Service, man in the middle, eavesdropping on the wifi, If data is not encrypted they payload is exposed and a sniffer can capture emails, passwords etc2. Students have access to confidential university data. If a student does not follow basic security practices university data like university intranet, contacts of faculty and other students, university news and events details is at threat.
3. Students have access to course work, assignments, lectures, power point presentations which are IP of the university.
4 Students can bring in visitors and if visitors if have malicious intend can cause harm.
5. If students use illicit software to develop a university software, it can cause huge damage.
How is student data vulnerable while it resides on university servers
1. University servers can be prone to data attacks on which student confidential and restricted data resides. Ex. student personal identifiers(SSN,address, contact numbers), financial details like bank details, transactions etc.
2. Student grades, resumes, photographs, medical information is also with the university. Data is present with the university not only in digital format but in form of paperwork which is easily vulnerable.
-
Am I the only one not being able to enter answer to other questions?
Anyways below is questions 2 and my answer :
Is information security a technical problem, a business problem that the entire organization must frame and solve, or both? Explain the nature of the problem in the context(s) you chose.
Information security is not only a technical problem but also a business issue. It is true that for an organization to be very secure, some software and hardware may be needed to protect the assets of the company. However, as the book (VACCA) mentioned in chapter 1, thinking that information security is only a technical matter is a myth; “firewall […] antivirus program …are just some of the tools available to assist in protecting a network and its data” (pp9). In fact, most of the time employees are the main reason why there are data breaches in organizations. A lack of awareness and training on information security can lead to severe losses for the organization.
Similarly, failure to immediately terminate former employees’ access to data can potentially be dangerous for a company especially if the former employees work for competitors. Security measures can be implemented, but the human factor must be taken into consideration. Management should educate employees about their impact on security programs. That is why in addition to be a technical issue, information security should also be seen as a business problem that must be solved to prevent tremendous risks. -
I agree with Priya, Temple represent information security vulnerabilities to students because they have sensitive data, such as social security or bank account number, about us. Should a data breach happen we will all suffer consequences.
-
Said made a good point here. Temple university system doesn’t seem to be well protected and i’m not sure not all students are aware of the importance of information security. I personally went couple of times to the computer lab and witnessed students watching movies on third party website, shopping or networking on social media. Logically , one would think that an ITACS student is aware of information security and should be careful. However, that is not always the case. Human beings can be negligent and this is why students represent information security vulnerabilities to Temple.
-
Good point Alexandra. While doing activities like online shopping or online banking, a cross site request forgery attack can be launched. CSRF is combination of social engineering along with.
It becomes easy to launch CSRF attack when user session cookie details are stored. ex. IP address or credentials. The server will not know if it is a forged request.
Sometimes a attack can be launched with a hidden image which executes while the page is loading. The user does not understand the difference. If credentials are already stored by the browser, it becomes easy to authenticate.
-
In my opinion ITACS students represent vulnerabilities to Temple university and vice versa. Temple ITACS students are vulnerabilities to the university because they are they constantly logged into the system and are active users and therefore, their actions while on the system affect the university directly. The users ability to nagviate through the web without domain regulations not only, contribute but enable threats such as malware, which may affect the computers operation systems and the protection of personal information. However, the students aren’t the only ones who provide vulnerabilies, the university has an abundant amount of personal files of its students and employees, which can be accessed through hacking and software breeches. Thus, versatile vulnerabilities that are result of ITACS students and the university are subjected to human error. Human errors affect both entities as a whole and therefore, they are both to blame for vulnerabilities.
-
Do ITACS students represent information security vulnerabilities to Temple University, each other, or both?
Explain the nature of the vulnerabilities ITACS students represent in the context(s) you chose?
I do believe that ITACS students represent information security vulnerabilities to Temple University and the other way round.
Some vulnerabilities that ITACS students may bring in to Temple:
1. Computer hardware that students bring in such as flash drives or laptops may contain viruses that could infect Temple’s system when the hardware connects to Temple’s computers or wifi.
2. ITACS students will eventually learn how to hack. A student may attempt to try their newly attained skill on Temple’s computers or sites which may or may not cause harm.
3. A student may accidentally download malware, spyware or virus into Temple’s system when the visit insecure sites or click on suspicious links.
Some vulnerabilities that Temple may bring to students:
1. Temple University is a host to all students data and private information. Students can link their bank information in order to pay their tuition bills. Student Personal identifiable information such as SSN, contact information and address are all in Temple’s database. This can post as a target to potential hackers.
2. Temple employees who have access to all students data may not adhere to Temple’s control and may perform activities that increase the risk of security threats
3. Temple employees may also be negligent when handling students’ data. Wrong data may be inputted which may cause a chain reaction that can affect the student.
-
I believe ITACS students represent information vulnerabilities to Temple University; on the other hand, Temple University represent information vulnerabilities to ITACS students as well.
As Temple students, we have access to Temple’s wifi and computers. Everyone could possibly bring viruses to Temple’s network system when he or she connects hardware such as USB drives to Temple computers. This not only damage the computer that has the viruses, but it will also spread the viruses to other computers in the school because they all sharing the same network. In addition, a student may accidentally entering a website when they are click on links that they are not aware of. It is very essential that students should have awareness of the websites they are viewing. In addition, one other vulnerabilities that students may bring into Temple University is we all have access to blackboard and MIS Community site, students are able to download or make a copy of any documents that they have and share it with someone else who are not a part of the class or even not a part of Temple community.
Of course, Temple University represent information vulnerabilities to ITACS students as well. Temple has not only students’ unrestricted and sensitive information, but also restricted information such as social security number, Temple University ID, as well as billing information. The database that Temple has storing student information can rise a major potential target to hackers
-
Do ITACS students represent information security vulnerabilities to Temple University, each other, or both? Explain the nature of the vulnerabilities.
The ITACS students represent information security vulnerabilities due to several reasons. The students connect different types of devices to network (Laptops, Cell phones) that may not be secured and potentially spread viruses, malware, smart dust, or BOTNET on temple network proper. Students access university wide network and applications from their personal devices, opening the door for data leakage in case student device is hacked. -
ITACS students are a great vulnerability to Temple University. Vacca points out that power users, in this case students who have just started an advanced program, may know enough to install software while ignoring security policies. Bad guys looking to exploit vulnerabilities will target these users to get access to a network (Vacca, 4). Unless all students undergo security training, some may not understand the significance of some policies that are in place. There has been times where Temple has had to send out mass emails warning of phishing attacks targeted at Temple emails, meaning that someone must have let something bad in at some point. Another vulnerability that students have is their passwords. Some students may make theirs very weak or save them in obvious locations. The requirement to change your password every few months may make Temple systems less secure as students may lean towards easier passwords. An article I read a while ago showed how a hacker may try to decrypt hashed password files by comparing changes knowing that the user is only changing theirs slightly (https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/techftc/2016/03/time-rethink-mandatory-password-changes).
Temple University is a security vulnerability to ITACS students as well. Large organizations are seen as more lucrative targets for cybercrime groups. Temple holds a lot of PII, and for some students, PHI, which criminals can sell for a profit. Students need to trust that temple is taking all the steps to keep their information safe. Is Temple conducting background checks on IT employees? Are they spending money on security as a priority? Does Temple require IT professionals to continue to learn as the security environment changes? The real list that Temple has to do to stay secure is much longer than I can list here. The security issue is compounded by the multiple devices Temple must support. There are multiple buildings, multiple Wi-Fi networks across campus, and many new cellphones and tablets being hooked into the network every day. If a bad guy ever finds a way in, they can take a student’s information and exploit it. -
Agreed. Bringing in visitors may be a big concern to Temple University. because these people may be your friends, however, people’s behaviors are hardly to see clearly.
Software development is also a concern. Universities always develop new and professional students in the world. So if these kind of students want to try their solution of their new creation, Temple’s internal internet and all Temple computers and laptops may result in risks.
-
You are correct that Temple students are a security vulnerability to the university. On the other side, the university is also a security vulnerability to students. Temple stores a large amount of personal identifiable information on its students, from social security numbers to payment information and anything in between. Because the university has so many students and faculty connecting to its network with various personal devices, the university must be more vigilant in protecting its information. While students can bring viruses and other nefarious software to the university, the university has a lot more sensitive information about its students that if lost, would cost its students, and by result the university.
-
Your comment about larger organizations being more lucrative targets for cybercrime made me think about what a unique situation universities are in as opposed to other large organizations. In your average company the employees are supplied with the devices that they will use to connect to the organization’s network. At universities students all have their own devices. Even at organizations that have bring your own device policies, generally IT has some screening processes on the personal devices that are allowed to be used. The university has no control over what devices students are connecting to their network. They can monitor the traffic and prevent a student from downloading malware while on the network, but if they student picked up the malware while on another network and then connects to Temple’s network, Temple must have strong defenses in place to protect itself. Employees are also generally not downloading as many things from random websites on their work computers. People are generally more couscous with what they download onto their work computer than their personal computer. Since students are on their personal computers they may be less couscous with what they download.
-
As a student it is easy to see how your information is at risk and take that side. Priya, do you think that the university is more at risk with all of the students on their network or do you think that students are more at risk that their information could be stolen and held for ransom?
I just hope Temple practice what their Information Security professors teach. I hope that Temple invests an appropriate amount to keep their students’ data safe. I hope they invest in educating their employees and their students who are not in the IS field, I hope they have cross-department collaboration on this effort because successful Info Security takes an “all-in” approach. .
-
Hi Wenting,
I think you bring up some valid points as to how a data breach can be a problem with all the PII of students on the server. To go with that, restricting access to worker students is a huge issue too. For those say working in admissions, you need to make sure that access to PII is restricted from those student workers. Likewise, if students do have access to that information, you need to make sure that those student workers have the integrity to not steal that information or not be negligent enough to allow someone else access by not practicing standard computer security policies. A hacker can easily see a student worker as the weakest link and use them as an avenue to steal information.
-
I agree with you all. Not only ITACS students but everyone at Temple represents information vulnerabilities to Temple, and Temple represents information security vulnerabilities for all students as well because Temple stored our sensitive data in its database where it can be the target to hackers. Let’s say the “TUpay” got hacked, our payment card information including our account numbers or routing numbers may get stolen.
Temple should work with professors to offer workshops for students to learn about how to protect their personal information from being stolen at Temple.
-
Nice post Priya,
I just want to add some of my thoughts to your point 1. Temple provides wifi and printing services to all students. We can get access to the networked printing servers through Temple’s computers or our personal computer by sending email. It is easy, convenient and comfortable. However, the printer will store our documents in its hard drive which can easily become a target to hackers. Some students even print their sensitive information at Temple. We often ignore and overlook the vulnerability of the security of networked printer. Hacker with malicious intent may hack the printing system if it is not encrypted.
-
Yulun,
Great post! It reminded me about an incident that happened in one of the dorms at the Temple University. As you know that students living in dorms have access to use “TURESNET,” which is Temple’s own network for its dorm students. One of the students had connected his Xbox or Playstation onto the network and he got into an argument with a player online. Turns out that other player wanted to retaliate, and Temple student’s IP was tracked and there was a series of DDOS attacks, which disturbed the Temple’s network for a couple of days until they identified the cause. Student was not allowed to connect his Xbox/PlayStation on the network again.
This story was told by Prof. Larry Brandolph in the MIS intro class.
-
Ian,
Nicely point out, I think students are more at risks, and all personal or financial information might be stolen. I think these processes are not properly implemented and the network are properly secured!
-
Ian, I agree with Shahla
I also think that as students, we are more at risks.
The reason is that Temple has database that store over 30,000 students’s confidential data such as SSN# and bank information. If someone hack in Temple’s database, then it will bring a tremendous impact on students because all of their restricted information are stolen. In addition, Temple’s reputation will also be ruined. -
Wow! Inspired me!!!!! My professor said in MIS 2501(Mart Doyle) before, you can always plug a cord to the internet of your apartment’s building and see what your neighbors do. Trust me, for majority (like 99% of our students and professors) are still good to trust!
Thanks for sharing!
-
I was going to bring that study up but see you already mentioned it. I’ve seen other studies conducted where the percentage was extremely high, The one I’m linking below shows that the Department of Homeland Security found 60% of ‘dropped’ flash drives plugged in. I think people see them as if someone dropped a wallet and want to check to see if they can find the owner by identifying the files on the drive. If its blank, its like picking up a lottery ticket. People who have never heard of these risks will just plug it in to check to see if they’ve won.
-
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site ITACS 5206 7 years, 12 months ago
Below are all the questions for this week. Pick a question to answer, and go to that
Questions:
Do ITACS students represent information security vulnerabilities to Temple University, each other, or both? […]
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site ITACS 5206 8 years ago
In this course you will learn key concepts and components necessary for protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA) of information assets. You will gain an understanding of the importance and […]
-
David Lanter's profile was updated 8 years, 1 month ago
-
David Lanter changed their profile picture 8 years, 1 month ago
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site Temple Univ. ISACA Student Group 8 years, 1 month ago
The IBIT Report – Threats & Opportunities in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) authored by ITACS Director David Lanter provides an insightful history of the development of GIS and related technologies, out […]
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site Advanced Penetration Testing 8 years, 4 months ago
DoD is about to be under siege from hackers – and it plans to pay – New Department of Defense Bug Bounty kicks off April 18, by Michael Morisy, WindowsIT Pro, March 31, 2016
The military is seeking the help […]
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site Advanced Penetration Testing 8 years, 5 months ago
Reading: Aircrack-ng Tutorial: Getting Started, I followed this tutorial, and Tutorial: Is My Wireless Card Compatible referenced, did some additional research and confirmed that my old LINKSYS WUSB600N was c […]
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site Advanced Penetration Testing 8 years, 5 months ago
Readings: Microsoft’s Technet Library: How 802.11 Wireless Works, March 28, 2003. Provides a detailed overview of the elements of the IEEE 802.11 protocol architecture and associated technologies. The art […]
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site Advanced Penetration Testing 8 years, 5 months ago
DROWN Vulnerability Still Unpatched by Most Cloud Services, SecurityWeek News – March 11, 2016
DROWN (Decrypting RSA with Obsolete and Weakened eNcryption) enables man-in-the-middle attackers to intercept, c […]
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site Advanced Penetration Testing 8 years, 5 months ago
WireShark-Introduction: WireShark is an open source network packet capture, display and analysis tool that runs in many versions of Linux, UNIX, and Windows. It can be used to achieve many positive outcomes, i […]
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site Advanced Penetration Testing 8 years, 6 months ago
It looks like I may be confused about what’s expected this week…
Reading: Metasploit Unleashed – MSF Extended Usage and Metasploit GUIs. This weeks’ reading introduced us to a broad range of tools and t […]
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site Advanced Penetration Testing 8 years, 6 months ago
Reading: MSF Post Exploitation, Meterpreter Scripting, Maintaining Access This week’s reading covered a broad array of penetration testing techniques, tools, and capabilities available within the Metasploit Fr […]
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site Advanced Penetration Testing 8 years, 7 months ago
Reading: Metasploit-Unleashed: The Ultimate guide to the Metasploit Framework, Offensive Security
The Metasploit Framework is a stable platform for executing information security exploits providing a base for […] -
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site Introduction to Ethical Hacking 8 years, 9 months ago
Reading: Dyrmose, M. (2013). Beating the IPS. SANS Institute InfoSec Reading Room. The paper: describes how to build an intrusion protection system research laboratory, introduces four evasion techniques, and […]
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site Introduction to Ethical Hacking 8 years, 9 months ago
Burns, S. (2001). “Web Services Security – An Overview”. SANS Institute, InfoSec Reading Room. Web services are software functions provided at a network address that enable machine to machine communication over t […]
-
David Lanter wrote a new post on the site Introduction to Ethical Hacking 8 years, 9 months ago
Reading: Marezzi@gmail.com (2008), “Full SQL Injection Tutorial”. The tutorial describes SQL injection as a code insertion technique for attacking poorly implemented data-driven client-server and n-tier appl […]
- Load More
http://www.securityweek.com/kelihos-botnet-triples-size-overnight
This article is about how a low profile botnet distributor, Kelihos, managed to infected over 34,000 computers by sending spam. Kelihos’ botnet was only affecting users in low numbers, but recently, it started to drastically increase and affect people by the thousands. It used something called Ransomware, a type of malware that infects email unless users pay a ransom to get back access. Since it has no targeted geography, it seems almost anyone can get affected. This is a major security issue because any email that doesn’t look threatening may pose a threat because it looks like a real company sent it. For example, if an user received an email from UPS and they open it, it could be fake if the user hasn’t ordered anything to be delivered. It is something we should look out for more carefully since some email accounts do not filter spam properly.
Kimpton Hotels was subject to a credit card breach at over 60 of their restaurants and hotels from February to July 2016. A high risk in the hospitality industry is the loss of customers’ data. In the past other breaches to hospitality companies have come from malware on the point-of-sale system. The malware for this breach, however, was was installed on the servers that process the payment card information. They currently do not know what the source of the malware was. The most troubling thing about the breach is how long it took to identify. Because the hospitality industry is such a hot target for criminals looking to steal customer data and payment card information companies must do everything they can to prevent and detect cyber breaches. Kimpton Hotels cyber security program failed its customers as they did not have vigorous enough protocols in place to prevent or detect this breach for 6 months.
http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/kimpton-hotels-hit-6-month-card/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
That is huge damage! As posted by Mandiant in 2015, on an average hackers spend 146 days on the system before the attack is noticed. This is a positive sign considering the average time of 205 days in 2014.
In the news you posted, the attackers probably used the data to exploit users. Mandiant has claimed that since 2014 the number of disruptive attacks have increased where hackers delete all critical business data.
The accident is supposed to have happened in May 2016 which was published around August 1st 2016.
Hacker Claims to have access to 200m Yahoo user records! Yahoo says they are investigating!
A hacker named Peace has claimed that he has access to 200m credentials of Yahoo users. The hacker confirmed with the Motherboard that he was selling these accounts privately and now they are on the dark web for sale. The cost of each credential is around 3 bitcoins that is $1860.
This dataset is from year 2012 as per the investigations from Motherboard..
The verification:
Motherboard had around 5000 records that were tested. Most of the accounts (around 100) returned values that said that the account does not exist. This proves that the data is not current or accounts have been disabled. There is a possibility that the users must have changed passwords and hence the result.
What Yahoo says:
Yahoo has neither accepted nor denied the claim. They say they are investigating the matter to confirm.
What users must do:
Generally when accounts are compromised, providers ask users to reset the account passwords. Users must rest the credentials to be on safer side.
Source : [https://motherboard.vice.com/read/yahoo-supposed-data-breach-200-million-credentials-dark-web]
A Canada-based PoS (Point of Sale) vendor, Light Speed suffered a hacker attack to it’s central database which contained customer information. Lightspeed has more than 38,000 customers across 100 countries, processing transactions to the tune of $12 billion annually. As per Eduard Kovacs at Securityweek.com, Lightspeed stated that there was no evidence of information being taken or misused. Despite the central database containing sales, products, and customer information such as encrypted passwords and electronic keys, the attackers wouldn’t have been able to get the Credit card numbers or other sensitive data due to the encryption technology in place. The card data is encrypted at the PoS and Lightspeed does not store the encryption keys thereby preventing access to Credit card info.
This could serve as an example of how having multiple types of control in place is beneficial in case of failure/breach of one control.
Original article at : http://www.securityweek.com/pos-vendor-lightspeed-suffers-data-breach
I read the article: “Why Your Firm Should Demonstrate Information Security”. It was written by the Chief Information and Security Office at Dickinson Wright PLLC, Michael P. Kolb. The article described how law firms are finding an increase in audits and as a result how firms are starting to commit to information security. For Dickinson Wright, this commitment involves being ISO/IEC 27001 certified and three key steps: Inter-Departmental Cooperation, Educating Employees on the Importance of Information Security, and Developing a Proactive Approach to Information Security. The ISO/IEC 27001 was designed to: “preserve the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information by applying a risk management process while providing confidence to interested parties, particularly clients, that risks are being adequately managed.” The team was able to get certified and as a result Michael has already seen some of the payoffs. He has seen his company have increased inter-departmental support as well as an increased mindfulness among his employees regarding the importance of information security management. The firm is also better prepared to respond to audits and secure their data.
These issues tend to scare me. It reminds me of a 2015 story (to a lesser degree) that involved the US government being hacked of 21 million social security numbers. The government is now notifying and helping the individuals that were affected. The affected individuals have to do way more than the above Yahoo users. Just shows how important cyber security is these days. Everyone (including the Government) needs to invest more in the cyber field to secure their medical records, social security numbers, bank account info, ect.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/07/09/more-than-21-million-affected-by-government-hacking
^here is an article that goes over what I was referring to. Thanks, Priya. Great article post!
Article: “Inteno Router Flaw Could Give Remote Hackers Full Access.”
According to this article, a critical new router vulnerability could allow “remoter attackers to replace the firmware on a device to take complete control over it, and monitor all internet traffic flowing in and out.”There are three models confirmed exist the potential risk to give hackers full access of the system include Inteno EG500, FG101, and DG201 routers. The F-Secure believes that there are more other models may have the same issue. According to F-Secure cybersecurity expert, Janne Kauhanen, if the attackers change the firmware, they can change any rules of the router, which means the internet traffic flowing no longer safe. But Janne also points out the importance of the users keep browsers and other software updated to prevent hackers attack the router. In addition, the antivirus software can also prevent many malware downloads, which can also prevent hackers gaining the initial foothold into the network.
Source: http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/inteno-router-flaw-remote-hackers/
Thank you for sharing the link Ian. I read the article and I think declining a attack would be the worst mistake. Even if there is a possibility of attack, organizations should alert the users so that they can take preventive steps.
ex. Changing the credentials so that the hacked data is obsolete.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/83860.html
The article reveals how information security is important to the defense sector.The hackers have stolen more than 22000 secret pages pertaining to scorpene class submarine.
Its a submarine which has been acquired as a part of defence purchase by Indian Navy from french defense Contractor DCNS.
The defense manufacturer was expected to deliver the 6 submarines by end of year and there were definite talks within the Indian Navy to order more submarines from the defense manufacturer in the coming time.
But with the leakage of critical data the submarine manufacturer may loose its future contracts for submarine manufacturing from Indian Gov as well as other countries like Australia who were thinking of purchasing the Scorpene class submarines from the contractor.
Article: “Modernizing Security”; Topic: Understanding an Organization’s Risk Environment
The clear business security issues were shown:
-Most employees steal proprietary data when quitting or getting fired from an organization.
-Nearly all employees are vulnerable to exploit kits.
-Four out of five breaches go undetected for a week or more. Some take up to a year.
-Just over a third of global organizations feel they are prepared for a sophisticated cyberattack.
-Generally, when an organization is targeted for attack, the attackers need only minutes to bring about a compromise.
-Most organizations lack the means to track and control their most sensitive data.
-Most organizations lack clear security guidelines, policies, and reinforcement through training.
It is time for each person to know that every action must be viewed through the prism of security, and activity must be conducted in accordance with defined, attendant, values and standards. Today, the organization must value security: it must train to, and perform to, specific security standards in direct match to the organization’s business, environment, risk, and related needs – actually in excess of those – being that risk is escalating all the time. Security must occupy a priority in new employee orientation, with updated refresher trainings, internal organizational newsletters, and addressal in various meetings and internal forums. Be aware that data security is not the sole-province of IT. It is the province of the organization.
Source: http://windowsitpro.com/security/modernizing-security
Synopsis of “Report on Cardiac Device Cyber Vulnerabilities Fuels Debate”
It is no doubt that technology has expanded into great lengths, especially in the medical industry. Researchers are working with pacemaker and implanted defibrillators that is as susceptible to cyber attacks as any new technology on the market. This article specifically talks about St. Jude’s Medical implantable devices that were “ethnically” hacked by security research company MedSec. Instead of reporting the vulnerabilities to the manufacturer and the FDA, MedSec released the information to Muddy Water’s Capital, which later short sell St. Jude’s medical stock.
MedSec CEO, explained that St. Jude Medical failed to correct known vulnerabilities of their devices and basically took matters into their own hand. They publicly announced that their were vulnerabilities, but the details were not revealed, leaving doubts in the public. Although MedSec did nothing illegal, they are criticized on how they went about reporting the problem and legitimacy of their findings due to their ties with Muddy Water Capital.
Source: http://www.databreachtoday.com/report-on-cardiac-device-cyber-vulnerabilities-fuels-debate-a-9365
Do you think that MedSec did the right thing?
The article I chose is about Dropbox and, the lessons learned from the data breach they suffered from, 4 years ago. For those of you who were not aware, in 2012, millions of stolen usernames and passwords were used to successfully access some Dropbox accounts that had crucial information on individuals and businesses.
Following that incident Dropbox reinforced their information security. Below is a list of what Dropbox and users can do differently in order to protect sensitive data.
1. Never re-use a password
2. Change passwords regularly
3. Enable two-factor authentication or 2FA (which is an extra layer of security that in addition to requiring a simple username and password, ask user for something that only the user know)
4. Never completely trust service providers (which adopting a customer –first approach and have an open dialogue about security.)
5. Take responsibility for data protection: users should be responsible for what they decide to store in Dropbox and not entirely rely of third party security measures.
6. Use data-centric security
7. Get visibility of enterprise data in the cloud: firms need to monitor and control the type of data exposed in the cloud
8. Monitor for anomalous activity: businesses, Dropbox included need to carefully monitor technology
As we can see from this article, users represent information security vulnerabilities for Dropbox and vice versa.
http://www.computerweekly.com/news/450303585/Lessons-from-the-Dropbox-breach
All of my information was captured in that OPM hack from my SF-86 data for my govt clearances.
“Creating a Risk Intelligent Organization”
This article discusses how many businesses have spent a lot of time building risk frameworks and processes to mitigate risks, but how they often fail from a lack of risk oriented culture. The author describes the importance of how risk awareness throughout a business’s culture, from the top to the bottom, is the most important part of risk control because as employees take a meaningful and committed approach to risk awareness it filters positively to their individual jobs and processes they have roles in for the business. Key elements of a “Risk Intelligent Organization” are given to provide a better understanding of the concept and to be able to identify a successful implementation.
“Creating a Risk Intelligent Organization”
This article discusses how many businesses have spent a lot of time building risk frameworks and processes to mitigate risks, but how they often fail from a lack of risk oriented culture. The author describes the importance of how risk awareness throughout a business’s culture, from the top to the bottom, is the most important part of risk control because as employees take a meaningful and committed approach to risk awareness it filters positively to their individual jobs and processes they have roles in for the business. Key elements of a “Risk Intelligent Organization” are given to provide a better understanding of the concept and to be able to identify a successful implementation.
The New Security Mindset: Embrace Analytics To Mitigate Risk
This article relates how security professionals have been working to find weaknesses in their system. According to the author Todd Thibodeaux, “fewer than half of information security professionals feel their organizations’ security is completely up to par”. In fact, businesses spent millions on their enterprise security. However, investing in infrastructure and security solution is not enough today. The mindset has been “think like a hacker to stop a hacker”, and yet systems are still vulnerable. IT leaders have to innovate and initiate a different way of thinking.
The new approach, according to Thibodeaux, would be “to properly analyze today’s networks to see where traditional security measures fail”. In other words, security professionals should conduct a deep analysis of their network and then analyze the results in order to identify key areas of risks. He also recommends that security professionals must figure out what makes their organization an attractive target and tackle cybersecurity from a data-driven viewpoint. The bottom line is to be as much as creative than hackers in order to protect networks and systems.
http://www.darkreading.com/analytics/the-new-security-mindset-embrace-analytics-to-mitigate-risk/a/d-id/1326812
The first point in the article is very important and why controls around terminating employee access are so important. When an employee leaves an organization their access needs to be disabled as quickly as possible to prevent them from taking as much proprietary information with them as possible. Most companies have a termination control in place that says something to the effect of ‘when a user is terminated their access is deactivated in a timely manner’ and every organization defines timely differently. One company I worked with went a step further with their termination control which I thought was very smart. They split out people who were leaving the company into two different groups, people who resigned and people who were fired. For people who resigned the termination control was that their access would be terminated within 2 days of them leaving. For people who were fired their control stated that the aces would be terminated before the user was informed that they were being fired. They did this because they believed that users who voluntarily left were a lower risk than those who were being fired. They believed that users who were fired would be more disgruntled and therefore more likely to try to steal proprietary information before leaving.
Cyber Threat Grows for Bitcoin Exchanges
The article describes a recent hack of a bitcoin exchange of $70 million and the risks of bitcoin exchanges. The hack is the largest since a 2014 when hackers stole $350 million from a Tokyo bitcoin exchange. According to the article, between 2009 and 2013 approximately 33% of bitcoin exchanges have been hacked, and 48% of bitcoin exchanges closed between 2009 and 2015. Many exchanges also allow customers to hold virtual currency in the exchanges, similar to a traditional banks. Unlike banks, bitcoin exchanges are not required to purchase federal deposit insurance, leaving customers with little recourse to recoup lost assets.
Each loss is handled differently. In the hack referenced in the article customers lost 36% of assets on the exchange, and were compensated with equity in the parent company. The bigger the exchange, the larger target they become for hackers.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/08/29/business/29reuters-bitcoin-cyber-analysis.html
This article goes into explanation on how this past Thursday, Apple fixed critical vulnerabilities in its Safari desktop browser and their OS X operating system. This security issue revealed that iOS system let malware spy on and monitor a users’ phone calls and text messages. This flaw not only affected Safari’s mobile devices but the desktop version as well due to sharing the same codebase. Apple’s advisory stated, “Safari 9.1.3 bug could allow a hacker to execute arbitrary code on an unsuspecting victim’s Mac by tricking the person into visiting “a maliciously crafted website.”
Unfortunately, this vulnerability was made aware when human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor’s iPhone was penetrated by hackers, who used the same hacking technique. Ahmed stated, “He received a text message from a cyber war company with a link to malware that would have jailbroken his handset and installed surveillance software”. If activated, Ahmed would have allowed NSO access to the phone’s camera, microphone, and GPS. According to Citizen Lab researcher Bill Marczak, “Not only could NSO infect iPhones at the touch of a link, but it seems that the vulnerabilities they were exploiting could be weaponized to target many different platforms”.
Conversely, due to Ahmed Mansoors willingness to share his story; he allowed Apple to form security improvements. Apple was able to fix the issue, by improving how iOS devices access memory, as well as a reinforcement, which prevents visits to malware-laden websites.
http://www.pcmag.com/news/347562/apple-patches-safari-os-x-flaws-to-prevent-snooping
Sensitive User Data Exposed in OneLogin Breach
This article is about a breach in one of OneLogin’s service Secure Notes, which allows users to store sensitive information such as passwords and license keys. You would think that such service would keep security their number one priority but apparently a bug caused the data to be visible in clear text in OneLogin’s log management system before it was encrypted and stored in the database. Hackers were able to tap into this vulnerability and viewed the logs containing the information after stealing an employee’s password. 1,400 enterprises were affected but OneLogin responded by limiting login access to limited IP addresses and resetting password.
Source: http://www.securityweek.com/sensitive-user-data-exposed-onelogin-breach
Kimpton Hotels Hit with 6-Month Card Data Breach
This accident happened between February and July 2016 and it was published recently. The hotel chain confirmed that a credit card breach at its 60+ restaurants and hotels front desks. The details of the damage is still unknown. Kimption said the malware was installed in its servers that processed credit cards. The malware which is different from the normal Point of Scale malware, is able to track, read and record data from the magnetic stripe of a credit card as it was routed through the affected server. Also, free wifi is also profitable breach target because it is easy to install malware with low protection.
This control risk environment is very important for an organization especially the hospitality companies. The must deploy the latest developments in endpoint protection in place to protect its customers. Securing the web gateways that actually prevent breaches through the most advanced methods available to the industry today is also a very effective way to protect sensitive data.
http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/kimpton-hotels-hit-6-month-card/
The news that I wanted to share for this week is related to vulnerability of web-based accounts demonstrated by Romanian hacker.
A former Romanian taxi driver was able to hack emails and social media accounts of celebrities and political late may this year. He gained access through weak password and then accessing their corresponded.
In this article password management is explained. It was mentioned that although the authentication of web-based systems is week, however he was able to access accounts from rural Romania to U.S. account holders. Including revealing Hillary Clinton using private email.
In order to mitigating authentication risk, implementing unique and strong tow-factor authentication process and using password manager, is suggested.
http://www.databreachtoday.com/guccifer-hacker-sentenced-to-52-months-a-9379
Paul,
It is funny you mention this article because I was going to post the same incident. I can’t seem to find the episode, but I remember watching Bill Mahar last season and he was talking about Hillary’s private server and how other high level officials are using similar private systems for government business. The reason was mentioned by an FBI technology expert who suggested our governments system is so outdated, it is more efficient to use a private network.
I am not expert but if this is true, will ever be secure if we don’t modernize our systems, and implement higher level security solutions?
INCIDENT: It is required by all businesses that handle cardholder information to comply with PCI-DSS, which is Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Despite implementing PCI-DSS, Hutton Hotel’s payment processor notified a possible breach compromising their customer’s credit card information.
According to the breach notification, “Findings from the investigation show that unknown individuals were able to install a program on the payment processing system at the Hutton Hotel designed to capture payment card data as it was routed through the system.”
To make the matter worse, the customer’s payment card details were compromised since more than three years as the breach included payment card information of the people who placed reservations with the hotel from September 19th, 2012.
RESPONSE: Hutton Hotel is now using a stand-alone payment processing drive; they didn’t explain how that will be a better solution. Hutton Hotel is also working with the payment card companies to identify its affected customers.
MALWARE: Just like in the case of Hutton Hotel, POS malware has been targeting processing points inside the payment systems: A point where card gets swiped, but before it gets stored is where the data maybe unencrypted. POS malware attacks have stolen card data before from POS retailers like Target, Michaels, Staples and even mom-and-pop shops. It is for the criminals who are seeking best returns with the lowest associated risk.
Source: http://www.databreachtoday.com/nashville-hotel-suffered-pos-breach-for-three-years-a-9381
Amanda,
This sound like a POS Malware that also affected Hutton Hotel on September 4th. After Kutton Hotel, Noble Hotel and now Kimpton, it looks like POS has gained popularity.
As I mentioned in my post, I believe that one of the reasons could also be that the risk associated for the attacker is low and rewards are more. Even back in 2014, over a thousand businesses ranging from big corporate retail stores to mom-and-pop shops were affected by Backoff, a POS malware.
Source: http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/1000-businesses-hit-by-pos-malware-a-7230
100 Million Accounts Stolen From Russian Web Portal Rambler
This article talks about hackers stole the detail of more than 98 million user accounts from Rambler, one of Russia’s largest web portals. For those of you who are not familiar with Rambler, it is like the “Russian version of Yahoo”, which offers web search, news aggregation, email, e-commerce and other services. Breach notification service LeakedSource learned recently that Rambler.ru was hacked on February 17, 2012. Interestingly, the data set was provided by same individual who revealed that the 2012 Last.fm mega breach impacted at least 43 million accounts. Each record contain: a username/email address, password, ICQ# and some other internal data. The passwords on rambler.ru were stored with plain text, no encryption or hashing. The most common passwords found in the dump are “asdasd,” “asdasd123,” “123456” and “000000.”
I think Rambler should take the responsibility of leaving users extremely vulnerable to hackers. It surprised me that Rambler still uses plain text to store password like VK.com, which was hacked before this taking place. Data breaches like these are extremely valuable to hackers because they can use the login details to try login other services that users have account with. Most likely, it will be the same password because we are having the habit of re-use the same password for all the accounts we have. What I learned from this article is everyone should has different passwords for different accounts, no matter it’s for work or personal. The passwords that one sets up must be strong and unique. In addition, organizations should provide trainings to employees and awaken them how risky it is to use simple passwords, or even re-use passwords.
Source: http://www.securityweek.com/100-million-accounts-stolen-russian-web-portal-rambler
The article talks about a malware designed for Android users by using Twitter instead of command-and-control (C&C) servers for an Android botnet, it’s innovative and even harder to discover or block. The threat spreads through SMS or malicious URLs sent to its victims, then may download malicious application without victims’ consciousness, switch to a different C&C Twitter account. and cause victims’ information disclosure.
It represents how vulnerabilities personal information are, even our social accounts could be a breakthrough for hacker to access to our personal information. More worse, to normal people, there’s no effective technology methodologies to block such malware, what we can do seems only be caution to those untrusted apps and URLs, keep our devices updating timely.
Finally, as a very popular word in China, on the way to information age, each of us are streaking.
http://www.securityweek.com/android-botnet-uses-twitter-receiving-commands
This is a news called “FBI denies denies claims of Apple ID hack”. In this news, it talks about the hackers have stolen more than 1 million iPhones and iPads information and post more than 12 million IDs. And this claimed had been viewed 370,000times in less than 24 hours.
After I read this news, I have to think about how important about the information and how much Apple.inc have to pay this data breach problem if the hackers claimed is true. However, the interesting in this news is about people think about this is not a true thing. In fact, Apple Inc still keep the silence, is that means Apple is so confidence of their own protect information safety system?
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/04/tech/web/fbi-apple-id-hack/index.html
At the G20 summit in Hangzou, China, there are a number of US Senators strongly urging President Obama to open up a dialogue and start on an international action plan to address cyber-security on a global scale with partners. Due to the nature of hackers not having any real geographic boundaries, an international coalition against hackers is an imperative. The most recent activities that have driven this request are a number of thefts from a system called SWIFT. Apparently, this is the system that financial institutions use to transfer funds between one another. The most recent cases have been the theft of almost $1 Billion from Bangladesh central bank and another $87 Million heist from Federal Reserve of New York. The money was then subsequently moved to the Philippines and laundered through casinos. These are just 2 of the numerous thefts that occurred after the SWIFT (messaging system used by financial institutions to transfer funds) system was compromised. They interviewed the CEO of CyberGRX asking what good a discussion would be at G-20 and from his take the failure occurred was in “third-party cyber risk management.” Ultimately due to the real-time nature and ever changing nature of hte threat it is critical to open up lines of communication across the globe in order to try to stay on top of the ever changing dynamic that are cyber criminals. In his mind, “Collaboration and information-sharing at all levels are the keys to effectively mitigating the persistent and potentially damaging threats from cybercriminals.” This just goes to show the real threat that these criminals pose to everyone. It is real damage and not just a hacking of someone’s Twitter account and posting some distasteful tweets to the world.
http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/us-senators-urge-obama-cyber-g20/
Hackers claim to have stolen important hacking tools straight from the NSA. This group, calling themselves the Shadow Brokers, have decided that its more profitable to sell the tools than to keep this hack secret to themselves. Being the only ones who know of an exploit can earn a bad guy a lot of money. The group has set the asking price at what seems to be a Dr. Evil-inspired 1 million bitcoins, which has a street value of roughly half a billion dollars. The hackers posted a manifesto claiming that the tools are from the creator of the infamous stuxnet virus. The names of some of the tools, such as EPICBANANA corresponds with information that Edward Snowden had previously leaked, lending credibility to the hackers’ story.
I think this news is a reflection of how dangerous hackers can be. They are able to demand multi-millions of dollars because someone else is willing to pay that price to break into secure systems. This shows just how hard it will be to work against persistent hackers when they are backed by money.
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/hackers-hack-nsa-linked-equation-group