Information Technology Security Issues

Day 4 – Module 8

Text MaterialsChapter 8 – Protecting People and Information

IT Security Issues

• The IT security issue.

• Different types/categories of Cybercrime and IT security threats.

• Some popular historical viruses and worms.

• Security Precautions.

IT Security Issues

IT Security Issues

Threats are escalating!

• 90% of all businesses affected each year.• $17B+ annual cost.• 5% - 10% of IT budget.

U.S. Corporations Top Security Concerns

Source: Adapted from InfoWorld, November 16th, 2001

Percent of respondents concerned in each category.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Viruses ExternalHacking

FinancialFraud

SiteVandalismSystems

PenetrationDoSAttacks

DataTheft

Financial Loss Areas

Source: Adapted from CSI/FBI Security Survey, 2002, 2007

Theft of Proprietary Information

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Representative growth of data theft

FBI, $Several Billion

all U.S. organizations

Millions of dollars, 503

organizations

IT Security Issues

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1999 2000 2001 2002

% Reported

% Know n

0

100

200

300

400

500

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Losses in Millions

Losses

503 RespondentsCross-Section of Organizations

Intrusions, Not reported Dollar Losses are soaring

FBI, $10B annual losses total-2002Some estimates go much higher

Profile of a Computer Criminal

Source:Information Technology for Management & nsca.com

Business Week 2/21/2000

•1900 Web Sites•Easy to write

•Male 19-30, no criminal record•Computer specialist, clerical, student, manager•Self confident, eager, energetic•High IQ, personable, creative•Egocentric•Ax to grind•Anti-establishment•Doesn’t view himself as a criminal

Easy to Obtain Tools for Cyber Criminals

Identity Theft

Identity theft occurs when someone uses the personal information of another (i.e., name, date of birth, social security number, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, etc.), fraudulently and without permission. Criminals usually do this to obtain money or goods and services, but identity theft is also perpetrated to obtain false drivers’ licenses, birth certificates, social security numbers, visas and other official government papers.

Source: Motes, K. “Identity Theft”, http://www.odl.state.ok.us, December 27, 2002.

Calling it the largest such bust ever, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan and the FBI apprehended an alleged ring of identity thieves, accusing three men of stealing tens of thousands of credit reports.

The ring is alleged to have operated over a period of three years, suspected of pilfering credit reports from the three major commercial credit reporting agencies and using that information to siphon funds from bank accounts and make fraudulent purchases. Authorities have accounted for $2.7 million in losses so far.

At the center of the scheme as outlined Monday by Justice Department and FBI officials is a help-desk employee of Teledata Communications (TCI), a company in Bay Shore, N.Y., that lets banks and other lenders access credit histories compiled by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

The TCI employee, Philip Cummings, stands accused of wire fraud and conspiracy in filching lenders' passwords and subscriber codes that let a network of identity thieves obtain tens of thousands of credit reports of more than 30,000 individuals.

TCI declined to comment.

The government has fingered two other defendants, Linus Baptiste and Hakeem Mohammed, in related cases.

"The defendants took advantage of an insider's access to sensitive information in much the same way that a gang of thieves might get the combination to the bank vault from an insider," Kevin Donovan, assistant director in charge of the FBI's New York field office, said in a statement. "But the potential windfall was probably far greater than the contents of a bank vault, and using 2lst century technology, they didn't even need a getaway car. Using the same technology, we determined what was done and who did it, proving that technology is a double-edged sword."

Experts on identity theft said the existence of such a ring was the natural by-product of the existing system of computerized credit information.

"This situation was a problem waiting to happen," said Linda Foley, executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego. "We know that there are many cases of computer breaches where information (is stolen) leading to identity theft."

Experts also blamed TCI and the credit agencies for their roles in the identity theft problem.

"How much screening did (Cummings) go through before being hired for the help desk?" Foley said.

A Gartner analyst pointed out the problem of too many low-level employees having access to consumers' personal information.

"The fact that lower-tier employees, people who don't have as high a degree of accountability, have access to such information is a problem, and it's one we see on a regular basis," Gartner analyst Doug Barbin said.

 

Among the TCI clients whose passwords and subscribers codes the identity thieves used are Ford Motor Credit's Grand Rapids, Mich., branch; Washington Mutual Bank in St. Augustine, Fla.; Washington Mutual Finance in Crossville, Tenn.; Dollar Bank in Cleveland; and Central Texas Energy Supply.

ID Theft - CNET News.comNovember 25, 2002, 2:34 PM PT

“Hi, I’m Philip, may I help you?”

Hakeem MohammedLinus Baptiste

IT Security Threats

                     

(3) Basic Categories of Threats

1. Network Attacks2. Intrusions3. Malicious Code

Data Interception: Old Model Versus New Model

Private Network

R

Increased Opportunityfor Data Interception > 10X Public Network

1. Network Attacks

Degrades Services

Slows Network Performance

Does Not Breach Internal IT Workings

Can be Started by People with only Modest IT Skills

DoS Attack

• Denial of Service Attack• Easy to Mount• Difficult to Defend Against

Denial of Service Attack High Threat

• Users are denied service to a server

• Can tie up an organization’s network

$$$•Lost commerce•Image

Message/Request

IP Packet

SourceAddress

DestinationAddress

111.111.11.33 212.212.75.86

Normal Service

Message/Request

IP Packet

SourceAddress

DestinationAddress

111.111.11.33 212.212.75.86

111.111.11.33 212.212.75.86

Denial of Service Attack

Message/Request

IP Packet

SourceAddress

DestinationAddress

Bogus.bogus.bogus 212.212.75.86

212.212.75.86111.111.11.33

2. Intrusions

3. Malicious Code

Love Bug VirusMay 4th, 2000 45 Million Users

300,000 Internet host computers

E-Mail Replication

VBScriptProgram

Medium Threat

Characteristics:

Wide-Spread

Deletes Files

Replicates

Changes Home Page

Anna Kournikova Virus

Low Threat

VBScriptProgram

Characteristics:

Replicates attachment

February 12th, 2001

E-Mail Replication

Slammer WormJanuary 25th, 2003 100,000+ Servers

Buffer Overflow

Network Outages involving:

* Airline flights & ATM’s

* Internet backbone disruption – S. Korea

Medium Threat

Characteristics:

Wide-Spread Attacked specific port

Smallest, efficient, 376 bytes Easy to detect

Filled Internet Bandwidth, Overloaded Networks Random, went after every server

Very Rapid Spread, doubling time 8 seconds Took DB Servers out of operation

Did not destroy files

Buffer

OriginatingComputer

Random Scanning

Vulnerable ServerPort 1434

Security Precautions and Recommendations

• Firewalls• Access Logs• Anti-virus software• Access Authentication• Encryption

Firewalls

Source: Vicomsoft (www.vicomsoft.com)

Access Logs

AccessLog

Encryption

Encryption

The “s” in https and the padlock

Anti-virus software

Access Authentication