[SOLVED] Project Reports – Computer Science

Complete the following projects from the textbook attached:Preventing Corporate Espionage (project 7.1 at the end of Chapter 7)Using one of the websites listed in this book (you can also choose from the preferred resources in Chapter 1) or other resources, find a set of guidelines on general computer security. Write a brief essay comparing and contrasting those guidelines against the ones given in this chapter. Keep in mind that the guidelines in this chapter relate specifically to corporate espionage and not to general computer security.Handling Employees (project 7.2 at the end of Chapter 7)Write a brief essay describing steps regarding the handling of employees. Include all steps that you believe an organization should take to prevent corporate espionage. It is important that you support your opinions with sources and reasons.If possible, visit a company and talk with someone in either the IT or personnel departments to determine how that company handles issues such as employee termination, rotation of duties, control of access to data, and so forth. Compare and contrast your steps to those used by the company you visited.Asset Identification in your Organization (project 7.3 at the end of Chapter 7)Using the Asset Identification table found in this chapter or a similar table of your own design, identify the most valuable data in your organization (school or business) and what parties would most likely wish to access that data. Then write a brief guideline on how you might go about securing that data. In this project, you should tailor your security recommendations to the specific type of data you are trying to protect and against the most likely perpetrators of industrial espionage.Directions:Your report should be six-eight pages in length, not including the title or reference pages.Be sure to provide citations from your readings and additional research to support your statements.Your paper must follow APA style guidelines, as appropriate.Computer Security
Fundamentals
Third Edition
Chuck Easttom
800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240 USA
Computer Security Fundamentals, Third Edition
Executive Editor
Brett Bartow
Copyright © 2016 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or
omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information
contained herein.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-5746-3
ISBN-10: 0-7897-5746-X
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Contents at a Glance
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1
Introduction to Computer Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2
Networks and the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3
Cyber Stalking, Fraud, and Abuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4
Denial of Service Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
5
Malware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
6
Techniques Used by Hackers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
7
Industrial Espionage in Cyberspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
8
Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
9
Computer Security Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
10 Security Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
11 Network Scanning and Vulnerability Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
12 Cyber Terrorism and Information Warfare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
13 Cyber Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
14 Introduction to Forensics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
A Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
B Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
C Answers to the Multiple Choice Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
iii
Table of Contents
Introduction
1
Chapter 1: Introduction to Computer Security
2
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
How Seriously Should You Take Threats to Network Security? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Identifying Types of Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Malware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Compromising System Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
DoS Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Web Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Session Hijacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Insider Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
DNS Poisoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
New Attacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Assessing the Likelihood of an Attack on Your Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Basic Security Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Hacker Slang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Professional Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Concepts and Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
How Do Legal Issues Impact Network Security? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Online Security Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CERT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Microsoft Security Advisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F-Secure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SANS Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21
21
21
21
21
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Chapter 2: Networks and the Internet
28
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Network Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
The Physical Connection: Local Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Faster Connection Speeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
iv
Table of Contents
Data Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
How the Internet Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
IP Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CIDR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Uniform Resource Locators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
What Is a Packet? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Basic Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
34
34
37
39
40
40
History of the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Basic Network Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
IPConfig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tracert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Netstat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
NSLookup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
42
43
45
45
46
47
Other Network Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Advanced Network Communications Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
The OSI Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Media Access Control (MAC) Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Chapter 3: Cyber Stalking, Fraud, and Abuse
58
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
How Internet Fraud Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Investment Offers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Auction Frauds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Identity Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Phishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Cyber Stalking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Real Cyber Stalking Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
How to Evaluate Cyber Stalking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Crimes Against Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Laws About Internet Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
65
66
69
70
72
Protecting Yourself Against Cyber Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Protecting Against Investment Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Table of Contents
v
Protecting Against Identity Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Secure Browser Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Chapter 4: Denial of Service Attacks
86
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
DoS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Illustrating an Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Common Tools Used for DoS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
DoS Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Specific DoS Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Land Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
DDoS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
87
89
91
91
97
97
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Chapter 5: Malware
108
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Viruses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
How a Virus Spreads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Types of Viruses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Virus Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rombertik. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gameover ZeuS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CryptoLocker and CryptoWall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FakeAV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
MacDefender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Troj/Invo-Zip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
W32/Netsky-P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Sobig Virus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Mimail Virus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Bagle Virus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A Nonvirus Virus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
vi
Table of Contents
109
109
110
111
111
111
111
112
112
112
112
113
114
114
114
115
Rules for Avoiding Viruses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Trojan Horses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
The Buffer-Overflow Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
The Sasser Virus/Buffer Overflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Spyware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Legal Uses of Spyware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
How Is Spyware Delivered to a Target System? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Obtaining Spyware Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
121
121
122
122
Other Forms of Malware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rootkit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Malicious Web-Based Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Logic Bombs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Advanced Persistent Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
124
124
125
125
126
126
Detecting and Eliminating Viruses and Spyware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Antivirus Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Antispyware Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Remediation Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
127
127
128
128
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Chapter 6: Techniques Used by Hackers
136
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Basic Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
The Reconnaissance Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Passive Scanning Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Active Scanning Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Actual Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SQL Script Injection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cross-Site Scripting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Password Cracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
144
144
146
146
Malware Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Windows Hacking Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Table of Contents
vii
Penetration Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
NIST 800-115. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
National Security Agency Information Assessment Methodology . . . .
PCI Penetration Testing Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
151
151
151
152
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Chapter 7: Industrial Espionage in Cyberspace
160
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
What Is Industrial Espionage? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Information as an Asset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Real-World Examples of Industrial Espionage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Example 1: Houston Astros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Example 2: University Trade Secrets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Example 3: VIA Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Example 4: General Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Example 5: Bloomberg, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Example 6: Interactive Television Technologies, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Trends in Industrial Espionage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Industrial Espionage and You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
165
165
165
166
166
167
167
167
168
How Does Espionage Occur? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Low-Tech Industrial Espionage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Spyware Used in Industrial Espionage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Steganography Used in Industrial Espionage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Phone Taps and Bugs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Protecting Against Industrial Espionage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Industrial Espionage Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Spear Phishing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
viii
Table of Contents
Chapter 8: Encryption
184
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Cryptography Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
History of Encryption. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Caesar Cipher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Atbash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Multi-Alphabet Substitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rail Fence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Enigma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Binary Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
185
188
189
189
190
191
192
Modern Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Single-Key (Symmetric) Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Modification of Symmetric Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Public Key (Asymmetric) Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
PGP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Legitimate Versus Fraudulent Encryption Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Digital Signatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Hashing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
MD5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SHA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
RipeMD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
207
208
208
208
MAC and HMAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Rainbow Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Steganography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Historical Steganography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Methods and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Cryptanalysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Frequency Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Modern Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Cryptography Used on the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Table of Contents
ix
Chapter 9: Computer Security Technology
220
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Virus Scanners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
How Does a Virus Scanner Work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Virus-Scanning Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Commercial Antivirus Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
221
221
222
224
Firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Benefits and Limitation of Firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Firewall Types and Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Firewall Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Commercial and Free Firewall Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Firewall Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
224
224
225
226
227
228
Antispyware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
IDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
IDS Categorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Identifying an Intrusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
IDS Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Snort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Honey Pots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Database Activity Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other Preemptive Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
229
229
230
230
231
235
235
235
236
Digital Certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
SSL/TLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Virtual Private Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
IPsec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
242
242
243
243
Wi-Fi Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wired Equivalent Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wi-Fi Protected Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
WPA2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
244
244
244
244
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
x
Table of Contents
Chapter 10: Security Policies
250
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
What Is a Policy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Defining User Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Internet Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Email Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Installing/Uninstalling Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Instant Messaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Desktop Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bring Your Own Device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Final Thoughts on User Policies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
251
252
253
254
255
255
256
256
257
Defining System Administration Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
New Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Departing Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Change Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Security Breaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Virus Infection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
DoS Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Intrusion by a Hacker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
258
258
258
259
261
261
262
262
Defining Access Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Developmental Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Standards, Guidelines, and Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Data Classification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
DoD Clearances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Disaster Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Disaster Recovery Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Business Continuity Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Impact Analysis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fault Tolerance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
266
266
266
266
267
Important Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
HIPAA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sarbanes-Oxley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
268
269
269
269
Table of Contents
xi
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Chapter 11: Network Scanning and Vulnerability Scanning
276
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Basics of Assessing a System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Patch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Protect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Probe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Physical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
277
277
278
281
282
284
284
Securing Computer Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Securing an Individual Workstation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Securing a Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Securing a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
285
285
287
289
Scanning Your Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
MBSA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
NESSUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Getting Professional Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Chapter 12: Cyber Terrorism and Information Warfare
310
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Actual Cases of Cyber Terrorism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Chinese Eagle Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
China’s Advanced Persistent Threat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
India and Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Russian Hackers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
311
312
312
313
313
Weapons of Cyber Warfare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stuxnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
StopGeorgia.ru Malware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FinFisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
313
313
314
314
314
xii
Table of Contents
BlackEnergy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
NSA ANT Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Economic Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Military Operations Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
General Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisitions (SCADA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Information Warfare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Propaganda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Information Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Disinformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
319
319
320
322
Actual Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Future Trends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Positive Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Negative Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Defense Against Cyber Terrorism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Terrorist Recruiting and Communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
TOR and the Dark Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Chapter 13: Cyber Detective
338
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
General Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Court Records and Criminal Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sex Offender Registries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Civil Court Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
342
342
344
345
Usenet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Table of Contents
xiii
Chapter 14: Introduction to Forensics
354
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
General Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Don’t Touch the Suspect Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Image a Drive with Forensic Toolkit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Can You Ever Conduct Forensics on a Live Machine? . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Document Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Secure the Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chain of Custody. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FBI Forensics Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
U.S. Secret Service Forensics Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
EU Evidence Gathering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Locard’s Principle of Transference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
355
355
356
358
359
359
360
360
361
362
362
363
363
Finding Evidence on the PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
Finding Evidence in the Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
Finding Evidence in System Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
Windows Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
Linux Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
Getting Back Deleted Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
Operating System Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Net Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Openfiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Netstat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
369
369
369
370
370
The Windows Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Specific Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
Mobile Forensics: Cell Phone Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cell Concepts Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cellular Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
iOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Android . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
What You Should Look For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xiv
Table of Contents
375
375
376
377
377
378
379
The Need for Forensic Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Expert Witnesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Federal Rule 702 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Daubert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
Additional Types of Forensics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
Network Forensics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
Virtual Forensics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
Test Your Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
Appendix A: Glossary
388
Appendix B: Resources
394
General Computer Crime and Cyber Terrorism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
General Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
Cyber Stalking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
Identity Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
Port Scanners and Sniffers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Password Crackers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Countermeasures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Cyber Investigation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
General Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Virus Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Appendix C: Answers to the Multiple Choice Questions
396
Index
400
Table of Contents
xv
xvi
About the Author
Chuck Easttom is a computer security and forensics expert. He has authored 20 books, including
several on computer security, forensics, and cryptography. He holds 6 patents and 40 computer certifications, including many security and forensics certifications. He has conducted training for law
enforcement, federal agencies, and friendly foreign governments. He frequently works as an expert
witness in computer-related cases. He is also a frequent speaker on computer security topics at a
variety of security-related conferences. You can visit his website at www.chuckeasttom.com.
About the Technical Reviewer
Dr. Louay Karadsheh has a Doctorate of Management in information technology from Lawrence
Technological University, Southfield, Michigan. His research interest includes cloud computing,
information assurance, knowledge management, and risk management. Dr. Karadsheh has published
11 articles in refereed journals and international conference proceedings and has extensive
knowledge in operating system, networking, and security. Dr. Karadsheh has provided technical
edits/reviews for several major publishing companies, including Pearson and Cengage Learning. He
holds CISSP, CEH, CASP, CCSK, CCE, Security+, VCA-C, VCA-DCV, SCNP, Network+, and
Mobility+ certifications.
xvii
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my wife, Teresa,
who has helped me become who I am.
Acknowledgments
The creation of a book is not a simple process and requires the talents and dedication from many
people to make it happen. With this in mind, I would like to thank the folks at Pearson for their
commitment to this project.
Specifically, I would like to say thanks to Betsy Brown for overseeing the project and keeping things
moving.
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1
Introduction
It has been more than 10 years since the publication of the original edition of this book. A great deal
has happened in the world of computer security since that time. This edition is updated to include
newer information, updated issues, and revised content.
The real question is: Who is this book for? This book is a guide for any computer-savvy person. That
means system administrators who are not security experts or anyone who has a working knowledge
of computers and wishes to know more about cyber crime and terrorism could find this book useful.
However, the core audience will be students who wish to take a first course in security but may not
have a thorough background in computer networks. The book is in textbook format, making it ideal
for introductory computer security courses that have no specific prerequisites. That lack of prerequisites means that people outside the normal computer science and computer information systems
departments could also avail themselves of a course based on this book. This might be of particular
interest to law enforcement officers, criminal justice majors, and even business majors with an
interest in computer security.
As was previously mentioned, this book is intended as an introductory computer security book.
In addition to the numerous end notes, the appendixes will guide you to a plethora of additional
resources. There are also review questions and practice exercises with every chapter. Appendix C
contains the answers to the multiple choice questions for your review. Exercises and projects don’t
have a single answer. They are intended to encourage the reader to explore, so answers will vary.
This book is not a cookbook for hackers. You will see exactly how hackers target a system and get
information about it. You will also see step-by-step instructions on how to use some passwordcracking utilities and some network-scanning utilities. You will also be given a reasonably in-depth
explanation of various hacking attacks. However, you won’t see a specific step-by-step recipe for
executing an attack.
This book assumes that you are a competent computer user. That means you have used a computer
at work and at home, are comfortable with email and web browsers, and know what words like
RAM and USB mean. For instructors considering this as a textbook, that means students will have
had some basic understanding of PCs but need not have had formal computer courses. For this
reason, there is a chapter on basic networking concepts to get you up to speed. For readers with more
knowledge, such as system administrators, you will find some chapters of more use to you than
others. Feel free to simply skim any chapter that you feel is too elementary for you.
Chapter
1
Introduction to Computer Security
Chapter Objectives
After reading this chapter and completing the exercises, you will be able
to do the following:
■
Identify the top threats to a network: security breaches, denial of service attacks, and
malware
■
Assess the likelihood of an attack on your network
■
Define key terms such as cracker, penetration tester, firewall, and authentication
■
Compare and contrast perimeter and layered approaches to network security
■
Use online resources to secure your network
Introduction
Since the first edition of this book, the prevalence of online transactions has increased dramatically.
In 2004 we had e-commerce via websites; in 2016 we have smart phone apps, the Internet of Things,
as well as an expanded use of e-commerce websites. Internet traffic is far more than just humorous
YouTube videos or Facebook updates about our vacations. Now it is the heart and soul of commerce,
both domestic and international. Internet communication even plays a central role in military operations and diplomatic relations. In addition to smart phones, we now have smart watches and even
vehicles that have Wi-Fi hotspots and smart technology. Our lives are inextricably intertwined with
the online world. We file our taxes online, shop for a home online, book our next vacation online, and
even look for a date online.
Because so much of our business is transacted online, a great deal of personal information is stored
in computers. Medical records, tax records, school records, and more are all stored in computer databases. This leads to some very important questions:
2222
Introduction
3
1. How is information safeguarded?
2. What are the vulnerabilities to these systems?
3. What steps are taken to ensure that these systems and data are safe?
4. Who can access my information?
FYI: Where Is the Internet Going?
Obviously the Internet has expanded, as previously mentioned. We now have smart phones, smart
watches, even smart cars. We have the Internet of things (IoT) which involves devices communicating on the Internet. What do you think the next 10 years will bring?
Unfortunately, not only has technology and Internet access expanded since the original publication
of this book, but so have the dangers. How serious is the problem? According to a 2014 article in SC
Magazine,1 “Cyber-crime and economic espionage cost the global economy more than $445 billion
annually, which a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says puts cyber-crime
on par with the economic impact of global drug trafficking.”
Another study2 looked at specific companies and the cost of cybercrime in 2013. That study reported,
“We found that the average annualized cost of cyber-crime for 60 organizations in our study is $11.6
million per year, with a range of $1.3 million to $58 million. In 2012, the average annualized cost was
$8.9 million. This represents an increase in cost of 26 percent or $2.6 million from the results of our
cyber cost study published last year.”
The situation is not improving, either. According to a Pricewaterhouse Coopers study, in 2015 38%
more security incidents were detected than in 2014. The same study showed a 56% increase in theft of
intellectual property.
In spite of daily horror stories, however, many people (including some law enforcement professionals
and trained computer professionals) lack an adequate understanding about the reality of these threats.
Clearly the media will focus attention on the most dramatic computer security breaches, not necessarily
giving an accurate picture of the most plausible threat scenarios. It is not uncommon to encounter the
occasional system administrator whose knowledge of computer security is inadequate.
This chapter outlines current dangers, describes the most common types of attacks on your personal
computer and network, teaches you how to speak the lingo of both hackers and security professionals,
and outlines the broad strokes of what it takes to secure your computer and your network.
In this book, you will learn how to secure both individual computers and entire networks. You will
also find out how to secure data transmission, and you will complete an exercise to find out about your
region’s laws regarding computer security. Perhaps the most crucial discussion in this chapter is what
1. http://www.scmagazine.com/cyber-crime-costs-445-billion-globally-gdps-take-hit/article/354844/
2. http://media.scmagazine.com/documents/54/2013_us_ccc_report_final_6-1_13455.pdf
4
CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Computer Security
attacks are commonly attempted and how they are perpetrated. In this first chapter we set the stage for
the rest of the book by outlining what exactly the dangers are and introducing you to the terminology
used by both network security professionals and hackers. All of these topics are explored more fully in
subsequent chapters.
How Seriously Should You Take Threats to Network
Security?
The first step in understanding computer and network security is to formulate a realistic assessment
of the threats to those systems. You will need a clear picture of the dangers in order to adequately
prepare a defense. There seem to be two extreme attitudes regarding computer security. The first group
assumes there is no real threat. Subscribers to this belief feel that there is little real danger to computer
systems and that much of the negative news is simply unwarranted panic. They often believe taking
only minimal security precautions should ensure the safety of their systems. The prevailing sentiment
is, if our organization has not been attacked so far, we must be secure. If decision makers subscribe to
this point of view, they tend to push a reactive approach to security. They will wait to address security
issues until an incident occurs—the proverbial “closing the barn door after the horse has already gotten
out.” If you are fortunate, the incident will have only minor impact on your organization and will serve
as a much-needed wakeup call. If you are unfortunate, then your organization may face serious and
possible catastrophic consequences. One major goal of this book is to encourage a proactive approach
to security.
People who subscribe to the opposite viewpoint overestimate the dangers. They tend to assume that
talented, numerous hackers are an imminent threat to their system. They may believe that any teenager
with a laptop can traverse highly secure systems at will. Such a worldview makes excellent movie
plots, but it is simply unrealistic. The reality is that many people who call themselves hackers are
less knowledgeable than they think they are. These people have a low probability of being able to
compromise any system that has implemented even moderate security precautions.
This does not mean that skillful hackers do not exist, of course. However, they must balance the costs
(financial, time) against the rewards (ideological, monetary). “Good” hackers tend to target systems
that yield the highest rewards. If a hacker doesn’t perceive your system as beneficial to these goals,
he is less likely to expend the resources to compromise your system. It is also important to understand
that real intrusions into a network take time and effort. Hacking is not the dramatic process you see in
movies. I often teach courses in hacking and penetration testing, and students are usually surprised to
find that the process is actually a bit tedious and requires patience.
Both extremes of attitudes regarding the dangers to computer systems are inaccurate. It is certainly true
that there are people who have the understanding of computer systems and the skills to compromise the
security of many, if not most, systems. A number of people who call themselves hackers, though, are
not as skilled as they claim to be. They have ascertained a few buzzwords from the Internet and may
be convinced of their own digital supremacy, but they are not able to effect any real compromises to
even a moderately secure system.
How Seriously Should You Take Threats to Network Security?
5
The truly talented hacker is no more common than the truly talented concert pianist. Consider how
many people take piano lessons at some point in their lives. Now consider how many of those ever truly
become virtuosos. The same is true of computer hackers. Keep in mind that even those who do possess
the requisite skills need to be motivated to expend the time and effort to compromise your system.
A better way to assess the threat level to your system is to weigh the attractiveness of your system to
potential intruders against the security measures in place.
Keep in mind, too, that the greatest external threat to any system is not hackers, but malware and denial
of service (DoS) attacks. Malware includes viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and logic bombs. And beyond
the external attacks, there is the issue of internal problems due to malfeasance or simple ignorance.
Security audits always begin with a risk assessment, and that is what we are describing here. First you
need to identify your assets. Clearly, the actual computers, routers, switches and other devices that
make up your network are assets. But it is more likely that your most important assets lie in the information on your network. Identifying assets begins with evaluating the information your network stores
and its value. Does your network contain personal information for bank accounts? Perhaps medical
information, health care records? In other cases your network might contain intellectual property, trade
secrets, or even classified data.
Once you have identified the assets, you need to take inventory of the threats to your assets. Certainly
any threat is possible, but some are more likely than others. This is very much like what one does
when selecting home insurance. If you live in a flood plain, then flood insurance is critical. If you
live at a high altitude in a desert, it may be less critical. We do the same thing with our data. If you
are working for a defense contractor, then foreign state-sponsored hackers are a significant threat.
However, if you are the network administrator for a school district, then your greatest threat involves
juveniles attempting to breach the network. It is always important to realize what the threats are for
your network.
Now that you have identified your assets and inventoried the threats, you need to find out what vulnerabilities your system has. Every system has vulnerabilities. Identifying your network’s specific vulnerabilities is a major part of risk assessment.
The knowledge of your assets, threats, and vulnerabilities will give you the information needed to
decide what security measures are appropriate for your network. You will always have budget
constraints, so you will need to make wise decisions on selecting security controls. Using good risk
assessment is how you make wise security decisions.
Note
There are a number of industry certifications that emphasize risk assessment. The Certified
Information System’s Security Professional (CISSP) puts significant emphasis on this issue. The
Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) places even more focus on risk assessment. One or
more appropriate industry certifications can enhance your skillset and make you more marketable
as a security professional. There are many other certifications including the CompTIA Certified
Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP) and Security+ certifications.
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CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Computer Security
Identifying Types of Threats
As was discussed in the last section, identifying your threats is a key part of risk assessment. Some
threats are common to all networks; others are more likely with specific types of networks. Various
sources have divided threats into different categories based on specific criteria. In this section we will
examine threats that have been divided into categories based on the nature of the attack. Since the last
edition of this book I have separated out one of the security breach subcategories into its own category:
insider threats. Most attacks can be categorized as one of seven broad classes:
■
Malware: This is a generic term for software that has a malicious purpose. It includes virus
attacks, worms, adware, Trojan horses, and spyware. This is the most prevalent danger to your
system.
■
Security breaches: This group of attacks includes any attempt to gain unauthorized access to
your system. This includes cracking passwords, elevating privileges, breaking into a server…all
the things you probably associate with the term hacking.
■
DoS attacks: These are designed to prevent legitimate access to your system. And, as you will
see in later chapters, this includes distributed denial of service (DDoS).
■
Web attacks: This is any attack that attempts to breach your website. Two of the most
common such attacks are SQL injection and cross-site scripting.
■
Session hijacking: These attacks are rather advanced and involve an attacker attempting to
take over a session.
■
Insider threats: These are breaches based on someone who has access to your network
misusing his access to steal data or compromise security.
■
DNS poisoning: This type of attack seeks to compromise a DNS server so that users can be
redirected to malicious websites, including phishing websites.
There are other attacks, such as social engineering. The forgoing list is just an attempt to provide a
broad categorization of attack types. This section offers a broad description of each type of attack.
Later chapters go into greater detail with each specific attack, how it is accomplished, and how to
avoid it.
Malware
Malware is a generic term for software that has a malicious purpose. This section discusses four types
of malware: viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, and logic bombs. Trojan horses and viruses are the
most widely encountered. One could also include rootkits, but these usually spread as viruses and are
regarded as simply a specific type of virus.
According to Symantec (makers of Norton antivirus and other software products), a virus is “a small
program that replicates and hides itself inside other programs, usually without your knowledge”
Identifying Types of Threats
7
(Symantec, 2003). While this definition is a bit old, it still applies. The key characteristic of a computer
virus is that it self-replicates. A computer virus is similar to a biological virus; both are designed to
replicate and spread. The most common method for spreading a virus is using the victim’s email
account to spread the virus to everyone in his address book. Some viruses don’t actually harm the
system itself, but all of them cause network slowdowns due to the heavy network traffic caused by the
virus replication.
The Trojan horse gets its name from an ancient tale. The city of Troy was besieged for an extended
period of time. The attackers could not gain entrance, so they constructed a huge wooden horse and
one night left it in front of the gates of Troy. The next morning the residents of Troy saw the horse and
assumed it to be a gift, so they rolled the wooden horse into the city. Unbeknownst to them, several
soldiers where hidden inside the horse. That evening the soldiers left the horse, opened the city gates,
and let their fellow attackers into the city. An electronic Trojan horse works the same way, appearing
to be benign software but secretly downloading a virus or some other type of malware onto your
computer from within.
Another category of malware currently on the rise is spyware. Spyware is simply software that literally
spies on what you do on your computer. Spyware can be as simple as a cookie—a text file that your
browser creates and stores on your hard drive—that a website you have visited downloads to your
machine and uses to recognize you when you return to the site. However, that flat file can then be read
by the website or by other websites. Any data that the file saves can be retrieved by any website, so
your entire Internet browsing history can be tracked. Spyware may also consist of software that takes
periodic screenshots of the activity on your computer and sends those to the attacker.
Another form of spyware, called a key logger, records all of your keystrokes. Some key loggers also
take periodic screenshots of your computer. Data is then either stored for later retrieval by the person
who installed the key logger or is sent immediately back via email. We will discuss specific types of
key loggers later in this book.
A logic bomb is software that lays dormant until some specific condition is met. That condition is
usually a date and time. When the condition is met, the software does some malicious act such as
delete files, alter system configuration, or perhaps release a virus. In Chapter 5, “Malware,” we will
examine logic bombs and other types of malware in detail.
Compromising System Security
Next we will look at attacks that breach your system’s security. This activity is what is commonly
referred to as hacking, though that is not the term hackers themselves use. We will delve into appropriate terminology in just a few pages; however, it should be noted at this point that cracking is the
appropriate word for intruding into a system without permission, usually with malevolent intent. Any
attack that is designed to breach your security, either via some operating system flaw or any other
means, can be classified as cracking.
Essentially any technique to bypass security, crack passwords, breach Wi-Fi, or in any way actually
gain access to the target network fits into this category. That makes this a very broad category indeed.
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CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Computer Security
However, not all breaches involve technical exploits. In fact, some of the most successful breaches are
entirely nontechnical. Social engineering is a technique for breaching a system’s security by exploiting
human nature rather than technology. This was the path that the famous hacker Kevin Mitnick most
often used. Social engineering uses standard con techniques to get users to give up the information
needed to gain access to a target system. The way this method works is rather simple: The perpetrator
gets preliminary information about a target organization and leverages it to obtain additional information from the system’s users.
Following is an example of social engineering in action. Armed with the name of a system administrator, you might call someone in the business’s accounting department and claim to be one of the
company’s technical support personnel. Mentioning the system administrator’s name would help
validate that claim, allowing you to ask questions in an attempt to ascertain more details about the
system’s specifications. A savvy intruder might even get the accounting person to say a username and
password. As you can see, this method is based on how well the prospective intruder can manipulate
people and actually has little to do with computer skills.
The growing popularity of wireless networks gave rise to new kinds of attacks. One such activity is
war-driving. This type of attack is an offshoot of war-dialing. With war-dialing, a hacker sets up a
computer to call phone numbers in sequence until another computer answers to try to gain entry to its
system. War-driving is much the same concept, applied to locating vulnerable wireless networks. In
this scenario, the hacker simply drives around trying to locate wireless networks. Many people forget
that their wireless network signal often extends as much as 100 feet (thus, past walls). At the 2004
DefCon convention for hackers, there was a war-driving contest where contestants drove around the
city trying to locate as many vulnerable wireless networks as they could (BlackBeetle, 2004). These
sorts of contests are now common at various hacking conventions.
Recent technological innovations have introduced new variations of war driving/dialing. Now we
have war flying. The attacker uses a small private drone equipped with Wi-Fi sniffing and cracking
software, flies the drone in the area of interest, and attempts to gain access to wireless networks.
Of course, Wi-Fi hacking is only one sort of breach. Password cracking tools are now commonly
available on the Internet. We will examine some of these later in this book. There are also exploits of
software vulnerabilities that allow one to gain access to the target computer.
DoS Attacks
In a DoS, the attacker does not actually access the system. Rather, this person simply blocks access
from legitimate users (CERT, 2003). One common way to prevent legitimate service is to flood the
targeted system with so many false connection requests that the system cannot respond to legitimate
requests. DoS is a very common attack because it is so easy.
In recent years there has been a proliferation of DoS tools available on the Internet. One of the most
common such tools is the Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC). Because these tools can be downloaded for
free from the Internet, anyone can execute a DoS attack, even without technical skill.
Identifying Types of Threats
9
We also have variations, such as the DDoS attack. This uses multiple machines to attack the target.
Given that many modern websites are hosted in network clusters or even in clouds, it is very difficult
for a single attacking machine to generate enough traffic to take down a web server. But a network
of hundreds or even thousands of computers certainly can. We will explore DoS and DDoS attacks in
more detail in Chapter 4, “Denial of Service Attacks.”
Web Attacks
By their nature, web servers have to allow communications. Oftentimes, websites allow users to
interact with the website. Any part of a website that allows for user interaction is also a potential point
for attempting a web-based attack. SQL injections involve entering SQL (Structured Query Language)
commands into login forms (username and password text fields) in an attempt to trick the server into
executing those commands. The most common purpose is to force the server to log the attacker on,
even though the attacker does not have a legitimate username and password. While SQL injection is
just one type of web attack, it is the most common.
SQL Injection
SQL injection is still quite common, though it has been known for many years. Unfortunately, not
enough web developers take the appropriate steps to remediate the vulnerabilities that make this attack
possible. Given the prevalence of this attack, it warrants a bit more detailed description.
Consider one of the simplest forms of SQL injection, used to bypass login screens. The website was
developed in some web programming language, such as PHP or ASP.NET. The database is most likely
a basic relational database such as Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, or PostGres. SQL is used to communicate with the database, so we need to put SQL statements into the web page that was written into
some programming language. That will allow us to query the database and see if the username and
password are valid.
SQL is relatively easy to understand; in fact, it looks a lot like English. There are commands like
SELECT to get data, INSERT to put data in, and UPDATE to change data. In order to log in to a website, the
web page has to query a database table to see if that username and password are correct. The general
structure of SQL is like this:
select column1, column2 from tablename
or
select * from tablename;
Conditions:
select columns from tablename where condition;
For example:
SELECT * FROM tblUsers WHERE USERNAME = ‘jsmith’
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CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Computer Security
This statement retrieves all the columns or fields from a table named tblUsers where the username
is jsmith.
The problem arises when we try to put SQL statements into our web page. Recall that the web page
was written in some web language such as PHP or ASP.net. If you just place SQL statements directly
in the web page code, an error will be generated. The SQL statements in the programming code for the
website have to use quotation marks to separate the SQL code from the programming code. A typical
SQL statement might look something like this:
“SELECT * FROM tblUsers WHERE USERNAME = ‘” + txtUsername.Text +’ AND PASSWORD = ‘” +
txtPassword.Text +”‘” .
If you enter username ‘jdoe’ and the password ‘password’, this code produces this SQL command:
SELECT * FROM tblUsers WHERE USERNAME = ‘jdoe’ AND PASSWORD = ‘password’
This is fairly easy to understand even for nonprogrammers. And it is effective. If there is a match in the
database, that means the username and password match. If no records are returned from the database,
that means there was no match, and this is not a valid login.
The most basic form of SQL injection seeks to subvert this process. The idea is to create a statement
that will always be true. For example, instead of putting an actual username and password into the
appropriate text fields, the attacker will enter ‘ or ‘1’ = ‘1 into the username and password boxes.
This will cause the program to create this query:
SELECT * FROM tblUsers WHERE USERNAME = ” or ‘1’ = ‘1’ AND PASSWORD = ” or ‘1’ = ‘1’.
So you are telling the database and application to return all records where username and password are
blank or if 1 = 1. It is highly unlikely that the username and password are blank. But I am certain that 1
=1 always. Any true statement can be substituted. Examples are a = a and bob = bob.
The tragedy of this attack is that it is so easy to prevent. If the web programmer would simply filter all
input prior to processing it, then this type of SQL injection would be impossible. That means that before
any user input is processed, the web page programming code looks through that code for common
SQL injection symbols, scripting symbols, and similar items. It is true that each year fewer and fewer
websites are susceptible to this. However, while writing this chapter there was a report that the Joomla
Content Management System, used by many web developers, was susceptible to SQL injection.3
Cross-Site Scripting
This attack is closely related to SQL injection. It involves entering data other than what was intended,
and it depends on the web programmer not filtering input. The perpetrator finds some area of a website
that allows users to type in text that other users will see and then instead injects client-side script into
those fields.
3. https://blog.perimeterx.com/joomla-cve-2015-7297/
Identifying Types of Threats
11
Note
Before I describe this particular crime, I would point out that the major online retailers such as
eBay and Amazon.com are not susceptible to this attack; they do filter user input.
To better understand this process, let’s look at a hypothetical scenario. Let’s assume that ABC online
book sales has a website. In addition to shopping, users can have accounts with credit cards stored, post
reviews, and more. The attacker first sets up an alternate web page that looks as close to the real one as
possible. Then the attacker goes to the real ABC online book sales website and finds a rather popular
book. He goes to the review section, but instead of typing in a review he types in this:
window.location = “http://www.fakesite.com”;
Now when users go to that book, this script will redirect them to the fake site, which looks a great deal
like the real one. The attacker then can have the website tell the user that his session has timed out and
to please log in again. That would allow the attacker to gather a lot of accounts and passwords. That is
only one scenario, but it illustrates the attack.
Session Hijacking
Session hijacking can be rather complex to perform. For that reason, it is not a very common form
of attack. Simply put, the attacker monitors an authenticated session between the client machine and
the server and takes that session over. We will explore specific methods of how this is done later in
this book.
A 1985 paper written by Robert T. Morris titled “A Weakness in the 4.2BSD Unix TCP/IP Software”
defined the original session hijacking.
By predicting the initial sequence number, Morris was able to spoof the identity of a trusted client to a
server. This is much harder to do today.
In addition to flags (syn, ack, syn-ack), the packet header will contain the sequence number that is
intended to be used by the client to reconstitute the data sent over the stream in the correct order. If you
are unfamiliar with network packet flags, we will be exploring that topic in Chapter 2, “Networks and
the Internet.”
The Morris attack and several other session hijacking attacks require the attacker to be connected to the
network and to simultaneously knock the legitimate user offline and then pretend to be that user. As
you can probably imagine, it is a complex attack.
Insider Threats
Insider threats are a type of security breach. However, they present such a significant issue that we will
deal with them separately. An insider threat is simply when someone inside your organization either
misuses his access to data or accesses data he is not authorized to access.
12
CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Computer Security
The most obvious case is that of Edward Snowden. For our purposes we can ignore the political issues
connected with his case and instead focus solely on the issue of insiders accessing information and
using it in a way other than what was authorized.
In 2009 Edward Snowden was working as a contractor for Dell, which manages computer systems
for several U.S. government agencies. In March 2012 he was assigned to an NSA location in Hawaii.
While there he convinced several people at that location to provide him with their login and password,
under the pretense of performing network administrative duties. Some sources dispute whether or not
this is the specific method he used, but it is the one most widely reported. Whatever method he used, he
accessed and downloaded thousands of documents that he was not authorized to access.
Again, ignoring the political issues and the content of the documents, our focus is on the security
issues. Clearly there were inadequate security controls in place to detect Edward Snowden’s activities
and to prevent him from disclosing confidential documents. While your organization may not have the
high profile that the NSA has, any organization is susceptible to insider threats. Theft of trade secrets
by insiders is a common business concern and has been the focus of many lawsuits against former
employees. In both Chapter 7, “Industrial Espionage in Cyberspace,” and Chapter 9, “Computer
Security Technology,” we will see some countermeasures to mitigate this threat.
While Edward Snowden is an obvious example of insider threats, that is only one example. A common
scenario is when someone who has legitimate access to some particular source of data chooses either
to access data he is not authorized to access or to use the data in a manner other than how he has been
authorized. Here are a few examples:
■
A hospital employee who accesses patient records to use the data to steal a patient’s identity, or
someone with no access at all who accesses records.
■
A salesperson who takes the list of contacts with him before leaving the company.
This is actually a much greater problem than many people appreciate. Within an organization, information security is often more lax than it should be. Most people are more concerned with external
security than internal security, so it is often rather easy to access data within an organization. In my
career as a security consultant, I have seen networks where sensitive data is simply placed on a shared
drive with no limiting of access to it. That means anyone on the network can access that data. In a
case such as this, no crime has been committed. However, in other cases, employees purposefully
circumvent security measures to access data they are not authorized to. The most common method
is to simply log in with someone else’s password. That enables the perpetrator to access whatever
resources and data to which that other person has been granted access. Unfortunately, many people use
weak passwords or, worse, they write their password somewhere on their desk. Some users even share
passwords. For example, suppose a sales manager is out sick but wants to check to see if a client has
emailed her. So she calls her assistant and gives him her login so he can check her email. This sort of
behavior should be strictly prohibited by company security policies, but it still occurs. The problem
is that now two people have the sales manager’s login. Either one could use it or reveal it to someone
else (accidentally or on purpose). So there is a greater chance of someone using that manager’s login
to access data he has not been authorized to access.
Identifying Types of Threats
13
DNS Poisoning
Most of your communication on the Internet will involve DNS, or Domain Name Service. DNS is what
translates the domain names you and I understand (like www.ChuckEasttom.com) into IP addresses
that computers and routers understand. DNS poisoning uses one of several techniques to compromise
that process and redirect traffic to an illicit site, often for the purpose of stealing personal information.
Here is one scenario whereby an attacker might execute a DNS poisoning attack:
First the attacker creates a phishing website. It spoofs a bank that we will call ABC Bank. The attacker
wants to lure users there so he can steal their passwords and use those on the real bank website. Since
many users are too smart to click on links, he will use DNS poisoning to trick them.
The attacker creates his own DNS server. (Actually, this part is relatively easy.) Then he puts two
records in that DNS server. The first is for the ABC Bank website, pointing to his fake site rather
than the real bank site. The second entry is for a domain that does not exist. The attacker can search
domain registries until he finds one that does not exist. For illustration purposes, we will refer to this
as XYZ domain.
Then the attacker sends a request to a DNS server on the target network. That request purports to be from
any IP address within the target network and is requesting the DNS server resolve the XYZ domain.
Obviously the DNS server does not have an entry for the XYZ domain since it does not exist. So it
begins to propagate the request up its chain of command eventually to its service provider DNS server.
At any point in that process the attacker sends a flood of spoofed responses claiming to be from a DNS
server that the target server is trying to request records from but are actually coming from his DNS
server and offering the IP address for XYZ domain. At that point the hacker’s DNS server offers to
do a zone transfer, exchanging all information with the target server. That information includes the
spoofed address for ABC Bank. Now the target DNS server has an entry for ABC Bank that points to
the hacker’s website rather than the real ABC Bank website. Should users on that network type in the
URL for ABC Bank, their own DNS server will direct them to the hacker’s site.
This attack, like so many, depends on vulnerabilities in the target system. A properly configured
DNS server should never perform a zone transfer with any DNS server that is not already authenticated in the domain. However, the unfortunate fact is that there are plenty of DNS servers that are
not properly configured.
New Attacks
Many of the threats discussed in the first two editions of this book are still plaguing network security.
Malware, DoS, and other such attacks are just as common today as they were 5 years ago or even 10
years ago.
One new phenomenon is doxing, which is the process of finding personal information about an individual and broadcasting it, often via the Internet. This can be any personal information about any
person. However, it is most often used against public figures. While writing this book, the director of
the CIA was the target of doxing.4
4. http://gawker.com/wikileaks-just-doxxed-the-head-of-the-cia-1737871619
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CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Computer Security
Hacking of medical devices is also a new attack. Hacker Barnaby Jack first revealed a vulnerability
in an insulin pump that could allow an attacker to take control of the pump and cause it to dispense
the entire reservoir of insulin in a single does, thus killing the patient.5 To date there are no confirmed
incidents of this having actually been done, but it is disturbing nonetheless. Similar security flaws have
been found in pacemakers.
In July 2015 it was revealed that Jeep vehicles could be hacked and shut down during normal operation.6 This means that a hacker could cause the Jeep to stop in the middle of heavy, high-speed traffic.
This has the potential to cause a serious automobile accident.
All of these attacks show a common theme. As our lives become more interconnected with technology, there are new vulnerabilities. Some of these vulnerabilities are not merely endangering data
and computer systems, but potentially endangering lives.
Assessing the Likelihood of an Attack on Your
Network
How likely are these attacks? What are the real dangers facing you as an individual or your organization? What are the most likely attacks, and what are your vulnerabilities? Let’s take a look at what
threats are out there and which ones are the most likely to cause you or your organization problems.
At one time, the most likely threat to individuals and large organizations was the computer virus. And
it is still true that in any given month, several new virus outbreaks will be documented. This situation
means that new viruses are being created all the time and old ones are still out there. However, there
are other very common attacks, such as spyware. Spyware is fast becoming as big a problem, even
bigger than viruses.
After viruses, the most common attack is unauthorized usage of computer systems. Unauthorized
usage includes everything from DoS attacks to outright intrusion of your system. It also includes
internal employees misusing system resources. The first edition of this book referenced a survey by
the Computer Security Institute of 223 computer professionals showing over $445 million in losses
due to computer security breaches. In 75% of the cases, an Internet connection was the point of attack,
while 33% of the professionals cited the location as their internal systems. A rather astonishing 78% of
those surveyed detected employee abuse of systems/Internet (Computer Security Institute, 2002). This
statistic means that in any organization, one of the chief dangers might be its own employees. A 2007
study by Jeffery Johnson and Zolt Ugray, of Utah State University, showed similar problems. And in
2015/2016 similar threats still exist with only slight changes in the percentages.
The 2014 Data Breach Investigation Report from Verizon surveyed 63,437 security incidents with
1,367 confirmed breaches in 95 countries. This survey still showed significant employee abuse of the
5. http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-blog/2012-02-29-hacker-shows-off-lethal-attack-by-controlling-wirelessmedical-device/
6. http://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers-remotely-kill-jeep-highway/
Basic Security Terminology
15
network as well as many of the familiar attacks we have already discussed in this chapter. The 2015
Data Breach Investigation Report did not show significant improvement.
Basic Security Terminology
Before you embark on the rest of this chapter and this book, it is important to know some basic terminology. The security and hacking terms in this section are merely an introduction to computer security
terminology, but they are an excellent starting point to help you prepare for learning more about
computer security. Additional terms will be introduced throughout the text and listed in the Glossary
at the end of this book.
The world of computer security takes its vocabulary from both the professional security community
and the hacker community.
Hacker Slang
You probably have heard the term hacker used in movies and in news broadcasts. Most people use
it to describe any person who breaks into a computer system. In the hacking community, however, a
hacker is an expert on a particular system or systems, a person who simply wants to learn more about
the system. Hackers feel that looking at a system’s flaws is the best way to learn about that system. For
example, someone well versed in the Linux operating system who works to understand that system by
learning its weaknesses and flaws would be a hacker.
This process does often mean seeing if a flaw can be exploited to gain access to a system. This
“exploiting” part of the process is where hackers differentiate themselves into three groups:
■
A white hat hacker, upon finding some flaw in a system, will report the flaw to the vendor of
that system. For example, if a white hat hacker were to discover some flaw in Red Hat Linux,
he would then email the Red Hat company (probably anonymously) and explain exactly what
the flaw is and how it was exploited. White hat hackers are often hired specifically by companies to do penetration tests. The EC Council even has a certification test for white hat hackers:
the Certified Ethical Hacker test.
■
A black hat hacker is the person normally depicted in the media. Once she gains access to a
system, her goal is to cause some type of harm. She might steal data, erase files, or deface
websites. Black hat hackers are sometimes referred to as crackers.
■
A gray hat hacker is normally a law-abiding citizen, but in some cases will venture into illegal
activities.
Regardless of how hackers view themselves, intruding on any system is illegal. This means that technically speaking all hackers, regardless of the color of the metaphorical hat they may wear, are in violation
of the law. However, many people feel that white hat hackers actually perform a service by finding
flaws and informing vendors before those flaws are exploited by less ethically inclined individuals.
16
CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Computer Security
Script Kiddies
A hacker is an expert in a given system. As with any profession, it includes its share of frauds. So what
is the term for someone who calls himself a hacker but lacks the expertise? The most common term
for this sort of person is script kiddy (Raymond, 1993). Yes, that is an older resource, but the term still
means the same thing. The name comes from the fact that the Internet is full of utilities and scripts that
one can download to perform some hacking tasks. Many of these tools have an easy-to-use graphical
user interface that allows someone with very little if any skill to operate the tool. A classic example is
the Low Earth Orbit Ion Cannon tool for executing a DoS attack. Someone who downloads such a tool
without really understanding the target system is considered a script kiddy. A significant number of
the people you are likely to encounter who call themselves hackers are, in reality, mere script kiddies.
Ethical Hacking: Penetration Testers
When and why would someone give permission to another party to hack his system? The most common
answer is in order to assess system vulnerabilities. This used to be called a sneaker, but now the term
penetration tester is far more widely used. Whatever the term, the person legally breaks into a system
in order to assess security deficiencies, such as portrayed in the 1992 film Sneakers, starring Robert
Redford, Dan Aykroyd, and Sidney Poitier. More and more companies are soliciting the services of
such individuals or firms to assess their vulnerabilities.
Anyone hired to assess the vulnerabilities of a system should be both technically proficient and ethical.
Run a criminal background check, and avoid those people with problem pasts. There are plenty of
legitimate security professionals available who know and understand hacker skills but have never
committed security crimes. If you take the argument that hiring convicted hackers means hiring
talented people to its logical conclusion, you could surmise that obviously those in question are not as
good at hacking as they would like to think because they were caught.
Most importantly, giving a person with a criminal background access to your systems is on par with
hiring a person with multiple DWI convictions to be your driver. In both cases, you are inviting
problems and perhaps assuming significant civil liabilities.
Also, some review of their qualifications is clearly in order. Just as there are people who claim to be
highly skilled hackers yet are not, there are those who will claim to be skilled penetration testers yet
lack the skills truly needed. You would not want to inadvertently hire a script kiddy who thinks she is
a penetration tester. Such a person might then pronounce your system quite sound when, in fact, it was
simply a lack of skills that prevented the script kiddy from successfully breaching your security. Later
in this book, in Chapter 11, “Network Scanning and Vulnerability Scanning,” we discuss the basics
of assessing a target system. In Chapter 11 we also discuss the qualifications you should seek in any
consultant you might hire for this purpose.
Phreaking
One specialty type of hacking involves breaking into telephone systems. This subspecialty of hacking
is referred to as phreaking. The New Hacker’s Dictionary actually defines phreaking as “the action
Basic Security Terminology
17
of using mischievous and mostly illegal ways in order to not pay for some sort of telecommunications bill, order, transfer, or other service” (Raymond, 2003). Phreaking requires a rather significant
knowledge of telecommunications, and many phreakers have some professional experience working
for a phone company or other telecommunications business. Often this type of activity is dependent
upon specific technology required to compromise phone systems more than simply knowing certain
techniques.
Professional Terms
Most hacker terminology, as you may have noticed, is concerned with the activity (phreaking) or
the person performing the activity (penetration tester). In contrast, security professional terminology
describes defensive barrier devices, procedures, and policies. This is quite logical because hacking is
an offensive activity centered on attackers and attack methodologies, whereas security is a defensive…
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