ITMA05 Computer Security

11/17/2008

Big IT Firm Gets It!

ITMA Fall 2008 K.Ng

From www.engadget.com

17-Nov-08 ITAM K.Ng 1 17-Nov-08 ITAM K.Ng 2

In the News… In the News…

明報14Oct2008
都市日報 4 Nov 2008

And remember this?

Even President
gets it…


1

11/17/2008

What you will learn? What is computer security?
 Types of threats  Protection of computing systems and
 Guidelines on protecting yourself the data that they store or access.


What could happen if your computer is
Why is it important? compromised?
 Enable you to carry out your duties 1. Could be used to hide programs that launch
attacks on other computers.
 Protect personal and sensitive info.
2. Could be generating large volumes of unwanted
traffic, slowing down the entire system.
3. Someone could be distributing illegal software
from your computer.
4. Someone could access personal info. From your
computer.
5. Someone could record all of your keystrokes and
get your passwords.


Answer? It is NOT just an IT problem
 All of the above!  10% of security safeguards are
technical.
 90% of security safeguards rely on the
computer user to observe good
practices.

IT Security is everyone’s responsibility!!!


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11/17/2008

Social Engineering Three common examples
 The practice of obtaining confidential info. by 1. Spam scams: deceptive emails to get people
manipulation of legitimate users.
to reveal info.
 Users are the weakest link in security.
 “They” will use the telephone, Internet, email to 2. Impersonation: pose as someone in authority
trick people into revealing sensitive info. or get or IT personnel to obtain info. or access to
them to do something against the policy. systems.
 For more info:
 http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=xn9hH1BckPE 3. Dumpster diving: go thro’ trash to obtain
 “The Art of Deception”, Kelvin Mitnick, 2003. valuable info.
 Movie (2000) & book (1996) “Takedown”


Case (1) Safely destroy files on HD?
 Mr Chapman found important  This?
personal data on a computer
• http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=dMjLRBooSD0
he bought on ebay.
 Affected a million bank  Or this?
customers from RBS, • http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=8M9fNu3X1K4
NatWest, AmEx.  Or this?
 Under investigation by the Info
• http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=jGXh6RVTuq0
Commissioner

£35 from eBay!

From Daily Mail UK, 27Aug08
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1049121/Government-probe-launched-details-million-bank-customers-sold-eBay.html#


Cheaper solutions… Spam scams
 http://www.fileshredder.org/  Phishing
 Email asks you to go to a website to update your
 http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml personal info.
 Phishing scam archive
○ http://millersmiles.co.uk/
 Phony security alert
 Emails or pop-up windows warn that your computer is
at risk of being infected or hacked and contain an
attachment or link to a patch to fix the problem.
 Nigerian bank account scam
 Collect your money and bank account info.


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11/17/2008

Examples of phone prank Sarah Palin called by Nicolas!
 A very popular radio program in the late 80s.
 軟硬天師整蠱電話
 e.g. http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=HuAzLgutOME

http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=k4aHL12vtEM


Avoid social engineering Computer Viruses
 DO NOT give sensitive personal info. to
anyone you don’t know or who doesn’t
have a legitimate need for it.
 Destroy or securely erase sensitive info.
before recycling or throwing it away.
 Delete unsolicited emails immediately.
 Sounds too good to be true? It is!
 Report to the authority.


What is it? Types of viruses (i)
 A self-replicating program that spreads  Macro Viruses
by inserting copies of itself onto other  Use command (macros) embedded in other
executable code or documents. software to infect and spread to other files
viewed by that software, e.g. Word/Excel.
 It will perform a function, e.g. delete
certain files.


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11/17/2008

Macro Protection in Word 2007 Types of viruses (ii)
 Worms
 Duplicate themselves and use
communications such as emails to spread.
They can look at your email address book
and send themselves to users in your
address book.


Worms examples Type of viruses (iii)
 Spyworm.Win32  File viruses
 Attach themselves to other software. When
the software is run, the virus first loads itself
into memory so that it can further infect
other files or begin damaging the computer.
 Trojan
 Programs that claim to perform a particular
function but in fact do something different


Type of viruses (iv) Example
 Backdoor Trojans  “I Love You” and “Bagle” worms
 Programs that allow other computer users to  They spread themselves via email
remotely control your computer via attachments.
networks.  It sends an email with itself as an
 Boot Sector Viruses attachment to everyone in that computer’s
 Infect a computer’s startup program so that
email address books.
the virus would become active as soon as  Worms are also often designed to use up
the computer started up. resources on that computer, such as,
memory and processing power.


5

11/17/2008

Virus Scanners Malware
 Online scanner  A general term for software that is
 http://housecall65.trendmicro.com installed on your computer without your
knowledge and often your consent to
perform various tasks.
 Free (non-commercial use)
 http://free.avg.com Grisoft’s AVG
 http://www.free-av.com Avira AntiVir Personal
 http://www.avast.com Avast! Home Ed.


Types of Malware Malware scanners
 Adware  Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008 Free
 Annoying pop-ups, install IT menu bars,  www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
targeted ads. according to your online  Spybot Search and Destroy
shopping habits or surfing habits.
 www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
 Spyware
 Microsoft Windows Defender (with Vista)
 Collects user details, such as, passwords,
 www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/de
credit card info.
fender/default.mspx
 Pop-up windows with active-x control.


Good Password Good password
 At least 8 characters containing 3 of the  Or a passphrase at least 10 characters
following 4 categories:  A memorable phrase, e.g. song or book title,
 Lower case letters (a-z) line of poetry…etc.
 Upper case letters (A-Z)  A phrase that has personal meaning but
 Numbers (0-9) might not appear widely.
 Special characters (! # ? /)  e.g. a random line from your favorite movie.
 Combining phrases is better.


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11/17/2008

Bad password
 A word found in dictionary, whether spelled
forwards or backwards, or a word preceded
or followed by a digit (e.g. secret1, 1terces)
Demo:  Include user name or login name
 Include personal info: family names,
A phrase into a password places, pets, birthdays, address, hobbies,
phone nos. …etc.
 Slang, dialect, jargon…etc.
 Keyboard sequences, e.g. qwerty, asdfg,
abc123…etc.


Password security guidelines More on password
 Never share your password with anyone  How to create passwords
else for any reason.  http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/pa
 Passwords should not be written down, ssword/create.mspx
stored electronically (e.g. browser) or
published.  Test your password strength
 Use different passwords for different  http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/pa
accounts. ssword/checker.mspx

 Change password regularly.


Firewall What is it?

 It inspects network traffic passing through it,
and denies or permits passage based on a
set of rules.


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11/17/2008

Types of firewall
 Packet filter  Stateful packet inspection (SPI)
 Pass/drop individual packets according to a  Examine packets in groups rather than
set of rules individually.
 Inspect source and destination IP and port  Avoid attacks like SYN Floods, DoS
Port Description  Application layer
21 FTP File Transfer Protocol  Filter traffics on the application level
23 Telnet
25 SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
80 HTTP
110 Post Office Protocol (POP3)
443 HTTPS


Network address translation
Managing firewalls = A Profession
(NAT)
 Translate address to private range  Enterprise-class firewalls
 10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255  CheckPoint
 172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255  Juniper (Netscreen)
 192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255 ○ http://www.juniper.net/products/models/srx5800/
index.html
 Security Certifications
 e.g. CISSP from (ISC)2 , CISA


Sending info. Over the internet
Wireless security (Access Point)
securely
 Change your AP’s admin. login/Pwd  Watch this
 Change your default SSID  http://onguardonline.gov/tools/recognize-
secure-site-using-ssl.aspx
 Disable SSID Broadcast
 Encryption: WPA-PSK, avoid old WEP
 Demo – online shopping
 Media Access Control (MAC) Authentication
 www.landsend.com
 Disable DHCP


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11/17/2008

Encryption (1) Encryption (2)
 Private Key Encryption  Public Key Encryption
 Encrypt a message http://www.encodor.com  Bob sends a secret message to Alice
 Encrypt a file http://file-encryptor.com/

 Problems with private key?

Diagrams from wikipedia

12 Good IT Practices Cont’ (1)
1. Choose good passwords and protect 6. Shut down, lock, log off before leaving it
them unattended, and make sure it requires a
2. Cautious when using internet password to start-up.
3. Safe emailing 7. Make sure your computer is protected
4. Secure your area before leaving it with anti-virus, security patches,
unattended updates…etc.
5. Secure your portable computer at all 8. Don’t keep sensitive info. on portable
times devices.


Cont’ (2) Conclusion
9. Don’t install or download unknown or  This is only a very short introduction
unsolicited programs to your computer  Remember to protect yourself at all times.
10. Avoid using P2P programs, e.g.  … and Internet is like , not safe.
FOXY…etc.
11. Don’t use illegal software.
 References:
12. Make backup copies of files or date you  http://www.staysafeonline.org
are not willing to lose --- and store the  http://onguardonline.gov/
copies very securely.
modified from http://its.ucsc.edu/security_awareness/top10.php


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ITMA05 Computer Security

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