Unit 4: Cyber Security
Unit 4: Chapter 1
·
What is a Threat in Cyber security?
The term, ‘cyber’, in the 1950s used to refer to
cybernetics, which involves the science of understanding the control and
movement of machines and animals. Later on, it was used to refer to something computerized.
With the start of the 90s, ‘cyberspace’ became a popular term that referred to
a physical space that was believed to exist behind the electronic activities of
computing devices. It was coined to set the online world as a distinct space.
Nowadays, everyone likes to think of it as the global network of interdependent
IT infrastructures.
A cyber security threat is a malicious
and deliberate attack by an individual or organization to gain
unauthorized access to another individual’s or organization’s network to
damage, disrupt, or steal IT assets, computer networks, intellectual property,
or any other form of sensitive data.
A Cyber
Threat or a Cyber Security Threat is a malicious act performed by hackers to
intentionally steal data or other assets, misuse them, or simply cause
disruption in digital life in general. Cyber Threats can come from remote
locations by unknown parties or even within an organization by trusted users.
While many cyber attacks are intended to be nuisances, some are actually quite
serious, and can even potentially harm human lives.
·
Types of Cyber security Threats
While
the types of cyber threats continue to grow, there are some of the most common
and prevalent cyber threats that present-day organizations need to know about.
The top 10 cyber security threats are as follows:
1) Malware: Malware attacks are the
most common cyber security threats. Malware is defined as malicious software,
including spyware, ransomware, viruses, and worms, which gets installed into
the system when the user clicks a dangerous link or email. Once inside the
system, malware can block access to critical components of the network, damage
the system, and gather confidential information, among others.
2) Phishing: Cyber criminals send
malicious emails that seem to come from legitimate resources. The user is then
tricked into clicking the malicious link in the email, leading to malware
installation or disclosure of sensitive information like credit card details
and login credentials.
3) Spyware: Spyware
is a form of malware that stays concealed on a device and transmits real-time
data like bank details and passwords covertly to its host.
4) Spam: Spam is any kind of unwanted, unsolicited digital
communication that gets sent out in bulk. Often spam is sent via email, but
it can also be distributed via text messages, phone calls, or social media.
5) Man in the Middle Attack:
Man
in the Middle (MitM) attack occurs when cyber criminals place themselves
between a two-party communications. Once the attacker interprets the
communication, they may filter and steal sensitive data and return different
responses to the user.
A MITM attack is when an attacker inserts himself in the
middle of a communication between two parties like a user and an application
and attempts to steal information. Attackers can eavesdrop or impersonate one
of the parties, making it appear as if a normal exchange of information is
underway.
6) Denial of Service Attack:
Denial
of Service attacks aims at flooding systems, networks, or servers with massive traffic,
thereby making the system unable to fulfill legitimate requests. Attacks can
also use several infected devices to launch an attack on the target system.
This is known as a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack.
·
Security
on the Internet-
Internet security is a
branch of computer security which comprises various security measures exercised
for ensuring the security of transactions done online. In the process, the
internet security prevents attacks targeted at browsers, network, operating systems,
and other applications. Today, businesses and governments are more concerned
about safeguarding from Cyber-attacks and malware programs that originate from
the internet.
The main aim of Internet
security is to set up precise rules and regulations that can deflect attacks
that arise from the Internet. Internet security relies on particular resources
and criteria for safeguarding the data that is communicated or transferred
online. The safeguarding techniques include different kinds of encryption such as
Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). Besides, the other features of a secure Web setup
can include firewalls that prevent undesired traffic,
and anti-spyware, anti-malware, and anti-virus programs that
work from particular networks or devices to watch online traffic for malicious
attachments.
·
Email Security:
Email security refers to the collective
measures used to secure the access and content of
an email account or service. It allows an individual or organization
to protect the overall access to one or
more email addresses/accounts. Email
security is a broad term that encompasses multiple techniques used to secure an
email service. From an individual/end user standpoint, proactive email security
measures include:
- Strong
passwords
- Password
rotations
- Spam
filters
- Desktop-based anti-virus/anti-spam applications
Similarly, a service
provider ensures email security by using strong password and access control
mechanisms on an email server; encrypting and digitally signing email messages
when in the inbox or in transit to or from a subscriber email address. It also
implements firewall and software-based spam filtering applications to restrict
unsolicited, untrustworthy and malicious email messages from delivery to a
user’s inbox.
·
Concept of Firewall:
In
computing, a firewall is a
network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing
network traffic based on predetermined security rules.
A firewall typically establishes a barrier between a trusted internal
network and untrusted external network, such as the Internet.
A firewall is software used to maintain the security of a
private network. Firewalls block unauthorized access to or from private
networks and are often employed to prevent unauthorized Web users or illicit
software from gaining access to private networks connected to the Internet. A
firewall may be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination of both.
The main purpose of a firewall is to separate a secure area from a less secure
area and to control communications between the two. Firewall also controlling
inbound and outbound communications on anything from a single machine to an
entire network.
·
Components of Firewall:
Network policy,
Advanced authentication mechanisms,
Packet filtering, and.
Application Gateways.
· Network Policy: A network policy defines
what types of services will be allowed or denied. Ideally, it is specified
before the firewall system is set up.
· Advanced
authentication mechanisms: Advanced authentication measures such as smart cards,
authentication tokens, bio metrics, and software-based mechanisms are
designed to counter the weaknesses of traditional passwords. While the
authentication techniques vary, they are similar in that the passwords
generated by advanced authentication. Most popular advanced authentication
device used is called one time password (OTP).
· Packet
Filtering: Firewalls filter packets that attempt to enter or leave a
network and either accept or reject them depending on the predefined set of
filter rules. The most basic feature of a firewall is the packet filter.
Older firewalls that were only packet filters were essentially routing devices
that provided access control functionality for host addresses and communication
sessions.
· Application
Gateway: Application Gateway is also called as application proxy. The
application gateway technique employs security methods applied to certain
applications such as Telnet and File Transfer Protocol servers. These
firewalls contain a proxy agent that acts as an intermediary between two hosts
that wish to communicate with each other, and never allows a direct connection
between them. Each successful connection attempt actually results in the
creation of two separate connections—one between the client and the proxy
server, and another between the proxy server and the true destination.
Benefits of Firewall:
· Firewall monitors all of the traffic entering
your computer network.
· Firewall provides good security for computers.
· Firewall
prevents unauthorized access to resources on external networks.
· Firewall
provides good security for computers.
· Firewall
can guard both personal computers and commercial networks from security
threats.
·
E-Cash
A method used to transfer funds over the
Internet as payment for goods and services. Also commonly referred to as
e-cash. The user
can transfer money from a credit card or bank account into
an e-cash account. It can then be used to make payments
for e-commerce transactions.
Advantages:
1. It is very flexible.
2. You can store electronic cash online whereby you
are a billionaire but you do not even have a single cent on you, and
at the same time, you could withdraw it or store it any other place
offline
3. It is portable.
4. You can send the cash to any place
on the planet that has on internet connections.
5. It allows
the purchase of items that have very low prices.
Security
requirements for Safe E-payments:
Security is an essential part of any transaction that takes place
over the internet. Customers will lose his/her faith in e-business if its
security is compromised. Following are the essential requirements for safe
e-payments/transactions –
· Authenticity −
There should be a mechanism to authenticate a user before giving him/her an
access to the required information.
· Integrity −
Information should not be altered during its transmission over the network.
· Availability −
Information should be available wherever and whenever required within a time
limit specified.
· Non-Repudiation −
It is the protection against the denial of order or denial of payment. Once a
sender sends a message, the sender should not be able to deny sending the
message. Similarly, the recipient of message should not be able to deny the
receipt.
· Privacy/Confidentiality −
Information should not be accessible to an unauthorized person. It should not
be intercepted during the transmission
· Safety −
Information should be encrypted and decrypted only by an authorized user.
What is cryptography?
Cryptography is associated with the process
of converting ordinary plain text into unintelligible text and vice-versa. It
is a method of storing and transmitting data in a particular form so that only
those for whom it is intended can read and process it. Cryptography not only
protects data from theft or alteration, but can also be used for user
authentication.
Cryptography is associated with the process of converting
ordinary plain text into unintelligible text and vice-versa. It is a method of
storing and transmitting data in a particular form so that only those for whom
it is intended can read and process it. Cryptography not only protects data
from theft or alteration, but can also be used for user authentication. Cryptography
is a method of protecting information and communications through the use of
codes, so that only those for whom the information is intended can read and
process it. In computer science, cryptography refers to secure information and
communication techniques derived from mathematical concepts and a set of
rule-based calculations called algorithms, to transform messages in ways that
are hard to decipher. These deterministic algorithms are used for cryptographic
key generation, digital signing, verification to protect data privacy, web
browsing on the internet and confidential communications such as credit card
transactions and email.
Cryptography techniques:
Cryptography is closely related to the
disciplines of cryptology and cryptanalysis. It includes techniques such as
microdots, merging words with images and other ways to hide information in
storage or transit. However, in today's computer-centric world, cryptography is
most often associated with scrambling plaintext (ordinary text, sometimes
referred to as clear text) into cipher text (a process called
encryption), then back again (known as decryption). Individuals who practice
this field are known as cryptographers.
Modern cryptography concerns with:
Confidentiality - Information cannot be understood by anyone
Integrity - Information cannot be altered.
Non-repudiation - Sender cannot deny his/her intentions in the
transmission of the information at a later stage
Authentication - Sender and receiver can confirm each
Cryptography is used in many applications like banking transactions cards, computer
passwords, and e- commerce transactions.
Why
is encryption used?
In
simple terms encryption is the process through which data is encoded so that it
remains hidden from or inaccessible to unauthorized users. It helps protect
private information, sensitive data, and can enhance the security of
communication between client apps and servers.
What is encryption?
Encryption
is a way of scrambling data so that only authorized parties can understand the
information. In technical terms, it is the process of converting human-readable
plain text to incomprehensible text, also known as cipher text. In simpler
terms, encryption takes readable data and alters it so that it appears random.
Encryption requires the use of a cryptographic key: a set of mathematical values
that both the sender and the recipient of an encrypted message agree on.
Although
encrypted data appears random, encryption proceeds in a logical, predictable
way, allowing a party that receives the encrypted data and possesses the right
key to decrypt the data, turning it back into plain text. Truly secure
encryption will use keys complex enough that a third party is highly unlikely
to decrypt or break the cipher text by brute force — in other words, by
guessing the key. Data can be encrypted "at rest," when it is stored,
or "in transit," while it is being transmitted somewhere else.
Cryptography is the study of concepts like Encryption, decryption, used
to provide secure communication, whereas encryption is the process of encoding
a message with an algorithm.
Chapter 2
Laws of Data Security
Introduction
Cyber
Crime: Cyber crime
is a crime that involves a computer and a network. The computer may have been
used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target. Cyber crime may harm
someone's security and financial health. Cyber crime may be defined as “Any
unlawful act where computer or communication device or computer network is used
to commit or facilitate the commission of a crime”.
5
most common types of cyber crimes:
·
Phishing
scams: ...
·
Internet
fraud: ...
·
Online
intellectual property infringements: ...
·
Identity
theft: ...
·
Online
harassment and cyber stalking:
Cyber Laws in India
Information
Technology Act 2000 (IT Act 2000) is the main law connected with cyber security
in India. Indian Penal Code, 1860 is also used to book criminals connected with
cyber crimes.
Cyber Security: Cyber security is the
protection of internet-connected systems such as hardware, software and data
from cyber threats. The practice is used by individuals and enterprises to
protect against unauthorized access to data centers and other computerized
systems.
·
IT ACT 2000: The
Act provides a legal framework for electronic governance by giving
recognition to electronic records and digital signatures. It also defines
cyber crimes and prescribes penalties for them. The Act directed the formation
of a Controller of Certifying Authorities to regulate the issuance of digital
signatures.
·
Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008: The earlier Information
Technology Act of 2000 was amended to make it more technology-neutral and to
recognise electronic signatures as superior to restricted digital signatures.
The notion of the e-signature was introduced, and the definition of
“intermediary” was amended, among other things. To address the issue of
privacy, the states established special authority over the website, as well as
the abuse that leads to tax evasion. For the first time in India, this Act
acknowledged the legal validity and enforce ability of digital signatures and
electronic records. The goal was to create a secure path for digital records
and electronic signatures, which become a major concern as the use of
electronic media had increased dramatically.
- Consumer Protection (E Commerce
law) Rules, 2020: This
has been notified under the Consumer Protection Act of 2019, to prohibit
unfair trading practices in e-commerce, safeguard consumers' interests,
and guarantee that e-commerce platforms are transparent, as well as to
further reinforce the legislation that regulates the same.
Cyber Law (IT Law) in India
Cyber Law also called IT Law
is the law regarding Information-technology including computers and the
internet. It is related to legal informatics and supervises the digital
circulation of information, software, information security, and
e-commerce. IT law does not consist of a separate area of law rather it
encloses aspects of contract, intellectual property, privacy, and data
protection laws. Intellectual property is a key element of IT law. The area of
software license is controversial and still evolving in Europe and
elsewhere.
According
to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India:
Importance of Cyber Law:
1. It covers all transactions
over the internet.
2. It keeps eye on all
activities over the internet.
3. It touches every action and
every reaction in cyberspace.
Area
of Cyber Law:
Cyber laws contain different types of purposes. Some laws create rules for how
individuals and companies may use computers and the internet while some laws
protect people from becoming the victims of crime through unscrupulous
activities on the internet. The major areas of cyber law include:
1. Fraud:
Consumers depend on cyber laws to protect them from online fraud. Laws are made
to prevent identity theft, credit card theft, and other financial crimes that
happen online. A person who commits identity theft may face confederate or
state criminal charges. They might also encounter a civil action brought by a
victim. Cyber lawyers work to both defend and prosecute against allegations of
fraud using the internet.
2. Copyright:
The internet has made copyright violations easier. In the early days of online
communication, copyright violations were too easy. Both companies and
individuals need lawyers to bring an action to impose copyright protections.
Copyright violation is an area of cyber law that protects the rights of
individuals and companies to profit from their creative works.
3. Defamation:
Several personnel use the internet to speak their mind. When people use the
internet to say things that are not true, it can cross the line into
defamation. Defamation laws are civil laws that save individuals from fake
public statements that can harm a business or someone’s reputation. When people
use the internet to make statements that violate civil laws that is called
Defamation law.
4. Harassment and
Stalking:
Sometimes online statements can violate criminal laws that forbid harassment
and stalking. When a person makes threatening statements again and again about
someone else online, there is a violation of both civil and criminal laws.
Cyber lawyers both prosecute and defend people when stalking occurs using the
internet and other forms of electronic communication.
5. Freedom of Speech:
Freedom of speech is an important area of cyber law. Even though cyber laws
forbid certain behaviors online, freedom of speech laws also allows people to
speak their minds. Cyber lawyers must advise their clients on the limits of
free speech including laws that prohibit obscenity. Cyber lawyers may also
defend their clients when there is a debate about whether their actions consist
of permissible free speech.
6. Trade Secrets:
Companies doing business online often depend on cyber laws to protect their
trade secrets. For example, Google and other online search engines spend lots
of time developing the algorithms that produce search results. They also spend
a great deal of time developing other features like maps, intelligent
assistance, and flight search services to name a few. Cyber laws help these
companies to take legal action as necessary to protect their trade
secrets.
7. Contracts and Employment
Law:
Every time you click a button that says you agree to the terms and conditions
of using a website, you have used cyber law. There are terms and conditions for
every website that are somehow related to privacy concerns.
Advantages
of Cyber Law: Organizations
are now able to carry out e-commerce using the legal infrastructure provided by
the Act.
·
Digital
signatures have been given legal validity and sanction in the Act.
·
It
has opened the doors for the entry of corporate companies for issuing Digital
Signatures Certificates in the business of being Certifying Authorities.
- It allows Government to issue
notifications on the web thus heralding e-governance.
·
It
gives authority to the companies or organizations to file any form,
application, or any other document with any office, authority, body, or agency
owned or controlled by the suitable Government in e-form using such e-form as
may be prescribed by the suitable Government.
·
The
IT Act also addresses the important issues of security, which are so critical
to the success of electronic transactions.
·
Cyber
Law provides both hardware and software security.
Prevention of Cyber Crime: Below are some points by
means of which we can prevent cyber crime:
1. Use strong password –
Maintain different password and username combinations for each account and
resist the temptation to write them down. Weak passwords can be easily cracked
using certain attacking methods like Brute force attack, Rainbow table attack
etc, so make them complex. That means combination of letters, numbers and
special characters.
2. Use trusted
antivirus in devices –
Always use trustworthy and highly advanced antivirus software in mobile and
personal computers. This leads to the prevention of different virus attack on
devices.
3. Keep social media
private –
Always keep your social media accounts data privacy only to your friends. Also
make sure only to make friend who are known to you.
4. Keep your device software
updated –
Whenever you get the updates of the system software update it at the same time
because sometimes the previous version can be easily attacked.
5. Use secure network –
Public Wi-Fi are vulnerable. Avoid conducting financial or corporate
transactions on these networks.
6. Never open attachments in
spam emails –
A computer get infected by malware attacks and other forms of cyber crime are
via email attachments in spam emails. Never open an attachment from a sender
you do not know.
7. Software should be updated
– Operating
system should be updated regularly when it comes to internet security. This can
become a potential threat when cyber criminals exploit flaws in the system.
Ethical
Issues in IPR:
Advantages of
Patents
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is presenting someone else's work or ideas
as your own, with or without their consent, by incorporating it into your work
without full acknowledgement. All published and unpublished material,
whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under this
definition.
Software
Piracy – Software
piracy is the act of stealing software that is legally protected. This stealing
includes copying, distributing, modifying or selling the software. Copyright
laws were originally put into place so that the people who develop software
(programmers, writers, graphic artists, etc.) would get the proper credit and
compensation for their work. When software piracy occurs, compensation is
stolen from these copyright holders.
Software piracy doesn’t require a hacker or skilled
coder. Any normal person with a computer can become a software pirate if they
don’t know about the software laws. With such a widespread impact, it’s
important to understand what software piracy is and the dangers it presents.
Software piracy is defined as illegally copying software
that does not belong to you in a manner that violates the copyright. An example
of software piracy is when you download a copy of Microsoft Word from a
file-sharing website without paying for it. (Legal term) Unauthorized
copying of some purchased software.
Ethical
Hacking- The process of
employing someone to hack ones company is ethical hacking. Ethical hacking is
one of the tools that are used to judge the security programs of the
organizations. Hacking is also described as new development of the existing
programs, software and code. It makes them better and more efficient. Ethical
hacker can know the details of computer while hacking and become the security
professional. It involves in foot-printing, scanning, tacking all the secured
information. Ethical means a philosophy with morality. Hackers hack systems to
detect dangerous, unauthorized access and misuse.
Ethical Hacking can be defined as hacking a
network or a system to seek and test vulnerabilities that a hacker could
exploit and take advantage of the system. This implies, doing it for the
betterment of the firm. This process is done to secure and defend the system
from cyber criminals known as black hats with a legally authorized way. The
people who involve in ethical hacking are called as white hats who are
professionally trained security experts. Most of the firms employ one these
White Hats to protect their information systems whilst some firm’s hires. Ethical
hacking involves an authorized attempt to gain unauthorized access to a
computer system, application, or data. Carrying out an ethical hack
involves duplicating strategies and actions of malicious attackers.
Issues of Ethical
hacking:
·
Ethical hacking
is the backbone of network security. The basic problems with this is trustworthiness
of the Ethical hacker because let’s take an example if a person has been
appointed to do Ethical hacking, to provide security for the bank financial
issues if the person is not trust to believe this is not safe as the
person only considered as thief.
·
Sometimes the big
organizations face any problem like there passwords has been hack, this
case hiring professionals is very expensive and the organization need to spend
a lot on this.
·
Ethical hacking
is just the security to the problem it is not the ultimate solution to it.
Ethical hacking report must be kept confidential because they highlight
the organizations security risks and attacks.
·
If this document
has been falls into the wrong hand the result would be very disastrous for the
organization, the main drawback here is the entire information of the
organization will be in hands of wrong person and which leads to the loss of
the company.
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