10-08-2012, 03:16 PM
DATA AND INFORMATION SECURITY
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ABSTRACT
According to FBI Director Robert Mueller, cyber-crime is on track to surpass terrorism as the
most serious security threat. Businesses in particular face an increasing risk of exposing
themselves to cyber-attacks. Here is a list of the top five cyber threats that threaten businesses
today:
1. Web Application Security
2. Social Media
3. Phishing
4. Wireless devices
5. Advanced persistent threats
The purpose of our project is to create awareness among the upcoming entrepreneurs and to
give them the basic knowledge of these threats so that they can deal with the situation when it
arises.
INTRODUCTION
Cybercrimes are defined as: "Offences that are committed against individuals or groups of
individuals with a criminal motive to intentionally harm the reputation of the victim or cause
physical or mental harm to the victim directly or indirectly, using modern telecommunication
networks such as Internet (Chat rooms, emails, notice boards and groups) and mobile phones
(SMS/MMS)".
Such crimes may threaten a nation’s security and financial health.
Internationally, both governmental and non-state actors engage in cybercrimes. Activity
crossing international borders and involving the interests of at least one nation state is
sometimes referred to as cyber warfare. The international legal system is attempting to hold
actors accountable for their actions through the International Criminal Court.
Computer crime is known by lots of different names, including cybercrime, e-crime, or
electronic crime. All of these are crimes where computers or networks are used or attacked.
These electronic crimes are being used to steal identities and huge sums of money. Many
traditional crimes such as theft, blackmail, forgery, embezzlement and fraud today are all
conducted on the internet.
HISTORY
The first recorded cyber-crime took place in the year 1820! That is not surprising considering
the fact that the abacus, which is thought to be the earliest form of a computer, has been
around since 3500 B.C. in India, Japan and China. The era of modern computers, however,
began with the analytical engine of Charles Babbage.
In 1820, Joseph-Marie Jacquard, a textile manufacturer in France, produced the loom. This
device allowed the repetition of a series of steps in the weaving of special fabrics. This
resulted in a fear amongst Jacquard's employees that their traditional employment and
livelihood were being threatened. They committed acts of sabotage to discourage Jacquard
from further use of the new technology. This is the first recorded cyber-crime.
CYBER THREATS TO BUSINESS
Web Application Security
According to the Web Hacking Incident Database, Web application exploits, specifically
SQL injection, account for 27.1% of reported attacks. SQL injection attacks use
vulnerabilities in a website’s code to obtain access to data in the site’s database. Such attacks
are commonly used to obtain sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, addresses,
Social Security numbers, and other information which can then be used or sold.
When you hear talk about Web application security, there is a tendency to immediately think
about attackers defacing Web sites, stealing credit card numbers, and bombarding Web sites
with denial of service attacks. You might also think about viruses, Trojan horses, and worms.
These are the types of problems that receive the most press because they represent some of
the most significant threats faced by today's Web applications.
These are only some of the problems. Other significant problems are frequently overlooked.
Internal threats posed by rogue administrators, disgruntled employees, and the casual user
who mistakenly stumbles across sensitive data pose significant risk. The biggest problem of
all may be ignorance.
The solution to Web application security is more than technology. It is an ongoing process
involving people and practices.
We Are Secure — We Have a Firewall
This is a common misconception; it depends on the threat. For example, a firewall may not
detect malicious input sent to your Web application. Also, consider the scenario where a
rogue administrator has direct access to your application.
Do firewalls have their place? Of course they do. Firewalls are great at blocking ports. Some
firewall applications examine communications and can provide very advanced protection.
Firewalls are an integral part of your security, but they are not a complete solution by
themselves.
The same holds true for Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). SSL is great at encrypting traffic over
the network. However, it does not validate your application's input or protect you from a
poorly configured server.
What Do We Mean By Security?
Security is fundamentally about protecting assets. Assets may be tangible items, such as a
Web page or your customer database — or they may be less tangible, such as your company's
reputation.
Security is a path, not a destination. As you analyze your infrastructure and applications, you
identify potential threats and understand that each threat presents a degree of risk. Security is
about risk management and implementing effective countermeasures.
How Do You Build a Secure Web Application?
It is not possible to design and build a secure Web application until you know your threats.
An increasingly important discipline and one that is recommended to form part of your
application's design phase is threat modeling. The purpose of threat modeling is to analyze
your application's architecture and design and identify potentially vulnerable areas that may
allow a user, perhaps mistakenly, or an attacker with malicious intent, to compromise your
system's security.
After you know your threats, design with security in mind by applying timeworn and proven
security principles. As developers, you must follow secure coding techniques to develop
secure, robust, and hack-resilient solutions. The design and development of application layer
software must be supported by a secure network, host, and application configuration on the
servers where the application software is to be deployed.
Secure Your Network, Host, and Application
"Vulnerability in a network will allow a malicious user to exploit a host or an application.
Vulnerability in a host will allow a malicious user to exploit a network or an application.
Vulnerability in an application will allow a malicious user to exploit a network or a host."
Securing Your Network
A secure Web application relies upon a secure network infrastructure. The network
infrastructure consists of routers, firewalls, and switches. The role of the secure network is
not only to protect itself from TCP/IP-based attacks, but also to implement countermeasures
such as secure administrative interfaces and strong passwords. The secure network is also
responsible for ensuring the integrity of the traffic that it is forwarding. If you know at the
network layer about ports, protocols, or communication that may be harmful, counter those
potential threats at that layer.
Securing Your Host
When you secure a host, whether it is your Web server, application server, or database server,
this guide breaks down the various secure configuration settings into separate categories.
With this approach, you can focus on a specific category and review security, or apply
security settings that relate to that specific category. When you install new software on your
servers with this approach, you can evaluate the impact on your security settings. For
example, you may address the following questions: Does the software create new accounts?
Does the software add any default services? Who are the services running as? Are any new
script mappings created?
Securing Your Application
If you were to review and analyze the top security issues across many Web applications, you
would see a pattern of problems. By organizing these problems into categories, you can
systematically tackle them. These problem areas are your application's vulnerability
categories.