Asset&ThreatsModels

Matsuzaki ‘maz’Yoshinobu<maz@iij.ad.jp>

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Thanks

Mostcontentswereprovidedby:

StevenM.Bellovin• https://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb

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StartingOff

•Whatareyoutryingtoprotect?• Againstwhom?

• Allsecuritysystemdesignsshouldstartbyansweringthosetwoquestions.

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ThreatsModeling

Threat:Anadversarythatismotivatedandcapableofexploitingavulnerability

• Whatvulnerabilitiesdoyouhave?• Whomightattackthem?• Aretheycapableofexploitingthosevulnerabilities?

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Assets

• Myhousehaseasily-breakableglasswindows

• Banksstoretheirmoneyinvaults

• BankshavemoremoneythanIdo…

(CreativeCommons licensed by Flickruser mbrand)

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YourAsset

• $moneyand$valuables• credentialsandaccountsinformation• servicesitself• cpu power/bandwidth• software• secretcontents

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WhoAreYourEnemies?

• Scriptkiddies:littlerealability,butcancausedamageifyou’recareless

• Moneymakers:hackintomachines;turnthemintospamengines;etc.

• Governmentintelligenceagencies

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TheTreatMatricSkill

DegreeofFocus

Joyhacks

Opportunistichacks

Targetedattacks

AdvancedPersistentThreats

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JoyHacks

• Hacksdoneforfun,withlittleskill• Somechancefordamage,especiallyonunpatchedcomputers

• Targetsarerandom;noparticularrisktoyourdata(atleastifit’sbackedup)

• Ordinarycarewillsuffice• Mosthackersstartthisway

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OpportunisticHacks

• Mostphishers,viruswriters,etc• Oftenquiteskilled,butdon’tcaremuchwhomtheyhit–Mayhavesome“0-days”attacks

• Theeffectsarerandombutcanbeserious• Consequences:bankaccounttheft,computersturnedintobots,etc.

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TargetedAttacks

• Attackerswantyou– Sometimes,youhavesomethingtheywant;othertimes,it’ssomeonewithagrudge

• Backgroundresearch-- learnalotaboutthetarget–Maydophysicalreconnaissance

• Watchforthingslike“spear-phishing”orothercarefully-targetedattacks

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AdvancedPersistentThreats(APT)

• Veryskillfulattackerswhoareaimingatparticulartargets

• Sometimes-- thoughnotalways-- workingforanation-state

• Very,veryhardtodefendagainstthem• Mayusenon-cybermeans,includingburglary,bribery,andblackmail

• Note:manylesserattacksblamedonAPTs

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AreYouTargeted?

• Ifyou’rebig,someoneisprobablytargetingyou,especiallyifyou’reunpopular

• Ifyouhavesomethingsomeonewants--includingmoney-- youcanbetargeted

• Oritcouldberandomchance

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ACrazyNeighbor

• Afamilytoldpoliceaboutaneighbor’s(serious)misbehavior

• Theneighborretaliated:hehackedintotheirWiFi,stoletheirpasswords,createdfacepornographicMySpacepages,sentthreateningandharassingletters“from”them,etc.

• Eventually,theFBIwascalledinbecauseofthethreats,buttheyfoundwhowasreallydoingit

• Conclusion:Afamilywastargeted,fornorationalreason

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APaintCompany

• Apaintmanufacturerwastargeted,apparentlyforpurposesofindustrialespionage

• Therewerehints-- orclaims-- offoreigngovernmentinvolvement

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DefenseStrategies

• Defensestrategiesdependontheclassofattacker,andwhatyou’retryingtoprotect

• Tacticsthatkeepoutteenagerswon’tkeepoutanintelligenceagency

• Butstrongerdefensesareoftenmuchmoreexpensive,andcausegreatinconvenience

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JoyHackers

• Bydefinition,joyhackersuseexistingtoolsthattargetknownholes

• Patchesexistformostoftheseholes;thetoolsareknowntoA/Vcompanies– Thebestdefenseisstayinguptodatewithpatches– Also,keepantivirussoftwareuptodate

• Ordinaryenterprise-gradefirewallswillalsorepelthem

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OpportunisticHackers

• Sophisticatedtechniquesused– Possiblyevensome0-days

• Youneedmultiplelayersofdefense– Up-to-datepatchesandanti-virus–Multiplefirewalls– Intrusiondetection– Lotsofattentiontologfiles

• Goal:contain theattack

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TargetedAttacks

• Targetedattacksexploitknowledge;trytoblockordetectthereconnaissance– Securityproceduresmattersalot– Howdoyourespondtophonecallers?–Whatdopeopledowithunexpectedattachments?

• Hardestcase:disgruntledemployeeorex-employee

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AdvancedPersistentThreats

• Very,veryhardproblem!• Useallofthepreviousdefenses• Therearenosureanswers-- evenairgapsaren’tsufficient

• Payspecialattentiontoprocedures• Investigateall oddities

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VaryingDefenses

• Don’tusethesamedefensesforeverything• Layerthem;protectvaluablesystemsmorecarefully

• Maybeyoucan’taffordtoencrypteverything-- butyouprobablycanencryptallcommunicationsamongandto/fromyourhigh-valuemachines

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AllMachinesAreValuable

• Evenmachineswithnointrinsicvaluecanbeturnedintobots– Sendspam,launchDDoS,hostphishingsite,etc.– Spyonyourlocaltraffic– Defense:watchoutboundtrafficfromyoursite

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ComparisonamongTargets

• Values– Higherisbetterforattackers

• Defense–Weakerisbetterforattackers

• Ifhevaluesarethesame,attackermaywanttotargetweakersystems– Youareweakerwhenothersgetsafer

• Conclusion:followBCPsandreviseyourprocedurestokeepituptodate

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CaseStudy:AlbertoGonzales

• PenetratedmajorAmericancorporations,startingwithunprotectedWiFi reachablefromtheparkinglot– Stolepasswordsfromloginsessions– UsedSQLinjectionattacks

• Stole180millioncreditcardnumbers• TotaldamagesclaimedtoexceedUS$400million

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Lessons

• Usepropercrypto• Don’tuseplaintextpasswordswhenloggingin• Don’tmakesimpleprogrammingmistakes• Theregenerallyweren’tmultiplelinesofdefense

• Noonewaswatchingfordataexfiltration

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CaseStudy:Stuxnet

• TargetedIraniannuclearcentrifugeplant• Usedfour0-days;targetedSCADAsystemsaswellasWindows

• StartedwithinfectedUSBdrive-- butunknownhowthatdrivegotintotheplant

• Attackershaddetailedknowledgeoftheplant’sequipment

• GenerallyattributedtotheUSand/orIsrael

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Lessons

• Someonepluggedinaninfectedflashdrive– Anagent?(Betterpersonnelsecurity)– Afewinfecteddrivesinaparkinglot?(Betterprocedures)

• Don’tassumethatairgapsandobscuresystemwillprotectyou– 0-dayswereused:patchesandantiviruswon’thelp

• Detectedwhensomeonethoroughly investigatedsomesystemcrashes

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Morecases

• SonyPicturesEntertainment– wasstolenunreleasedfilms– wasdemandedthecancelationofreleasingacomedyfilm

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Summary

• Usepropercrypto• Usemultilayersecurity– Up-to-datepatchesandanti-virus– firewall– IDSandanomalydetection

• Revisesecurityprocedure

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Andagain

•Whatareyoutryingtoprotect?• Againstwhom?

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