Sixteenth Edition: Securing Information Systems

Management Information Systems:
Managing the Digital Firm

Sixteenth Edition
Chapter 8
Securing Information Systems
Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Learning Objectives
8.1 Why are information systems vulnerable to destruction,
error, and abuse?
8.2 What is the business value of security and control?
8.3 What are the components of an organizational
framework for security and control?
8.4 What are the most important tools and technologies for
safeguarding information resources?
8.5 How will MIS help my career?
Video Cases
• Case 1: Stuxnet and Cyberwarfare
• Case 2: Cyberespionage: The Chinese Threat
• Instructional Video 1: Sony PlayStation Hacked; Data
Stolen from 77 Million Users
• Instructional Video 2: Meet the Hackers: Anonymous
Statement on Hacking Sony
Hackers Target the U.S. Presidential
Election: What Happened? (1 of 2)
• Problem
– Weak network security
– Limited financial resources
• Solutions
– Malware detection technology
– Isolate systems and networks
– Prevent unauthorized access
Hackers Target the U.S. Presidential
Election: What Happened? (2 of 2)
• Hackers took advantage of uneven security and controls
and loose management structure to attack the Clinton
campaign
• Demonstrates vulnerabilities in information technology
systems
• Illustrates some of the reasons organizations need to pay
special attention to information system security
Why Systems are Vulnerable (1 of 2)
• Security
– Policies, procedures, and technical measures used to
prevent unauthorized access, alteration, theft, or
physical damage to information systems
• Controls
– Methods, policies, and organizational procedures that
ensure safety of organization’s assets; accuracy and
reliability of its accounting records; and operational
adherence to management standards
Why Systems are Vulnerable (2 of 2)
• Accessibility of networks
• Hardware problems (breakdowns, configuration errors,
damage from improper use or crime)
• Software problems (programming errors, installation
errors, unauthorized changes)
• Disasters
• Use of networks/computers outside of firm’s control
• Loss and theft of portable devices
Figure 8.1 Contemporary Security
Challenges and Vulnerabilities
Internet Vulnerabilities
• Network open to anyone
• Size of Internet means abuses can have wide impact
• Use of fixed Internet addresses with cable / DSL modems
creates fixed targets for hackers
• Unencrypted VOIP
• E-mail, P2P, IM
– Interception
– Attachments with malicious software
– Transmitting trade secrets
Wireless Security Challenges
• Radio frequency bands easy to scan
• SSIDs (service set identifiers)
– Identify access points, broadcast multiple times, can be
identified by sniffer programs
• War driving
– Eavesdroppers drive by buildings and try to detect
SSID and gain access to network and resources
– Once access point is breached, intruder can gain
access to networked drives and files
• Rogue access points
Figure 8.2 Wi-Fi Security Challenges
Malicious Software: Viruses, Worms,
Trojan Horses, and Spyware (1 of 2)
• Malware (malicious software)
• Viruses
• Worms
• Worms and viruses spread by
– Downloads and drive-by downloads
– E-mail, IM attachments
• Mobile device malware
• Social network malware
Malicious Software: Viruses, Worms,
Trojan Horses, and Spyware (2 of 2)
• Trojan horse
• SQL injection attacks
• Ransomware
• Spyware
– Key loggers
– Other types
 Reset browser home page
 Redirect search requests
 Slow computer performance by taking up memory
Hackers and Computer Crime (1 of 3)
• Hackers vs. crackers
• Activities include:
– System intrusion
– System damage
– Cybervandalism
 Intentional disruption, defacement, destruction of
website or corporate information system
• Spoofing and sniffing
• Denial-of-service attacks (DoS)
• Distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS)
• Botnets
• Spam
• Computer crime
– Computer may be target of crime
– Computer may be instrument of crime
• Identity theft
– Phishing
– Evil twins
– Pharming
• Click fraud
• Cyberterrorism
• Cyberwarfare
Internal Threats: Employees
• Security threats often originate inside an organization
• Inside knowledge
• Sloppy security procedures
– User lack of knowledge
• Social engineering
• Both end users and information systems specialists are
sources of risk
Software Vulnerability
• Commercial software contains flaws that create security
vulnerabilities
– Bugs (program code defects)
– Zero defects cannot be achieved
– Flaws can open networks to intruders
• Zero-day vulnerabilities
• Patches
– Small pieces of software to repair flaws
– Patch management
What is the Business Value of
Security and Control?
• Failed computer systems can lead to significant or total
loss of business function
• Firms now are more vulnerable than ever
– Confidential personal and financial data
– Trade secrets, new products, strategies
• A security breach may cut into a firm’s market value almost
immediately
• Inadequate security and controls also bring forth issues of
liability
Interactive Session: Technology:
Meltdown and Spectre Haunt the
World’s Computers
• Class discussion
– How dangerous are Spectre and Meltdown? Explain
your answer.
– Compare the threats of Spectre and Meltdown to cloud
computing centers, corporate data centers, and
individual computer and smartphone users.
– How would you protect against Spectre and Meltdown
if you were running a public cloud computing center, if
you ran a corporate data center, and if you were an
individual computer user?
Legal and Regulatory Requirements
for Electronic Records Management
• HIPAA
– Medical security and privacy rules and procedures
• Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
– Requires financial institutions to ensure the security
and confidentiality of customer data
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act
– Imposes responsibility on companies and their
management to safeguard the accuracy and integrity of
financial information that is used internally and
released externally
Electronic Evidence and Computer
Forensics
• Electronic evidence
– Evidence for white collar crimes often in digital form
– Proper control of data can save time and money when
responding to legal discovery request
• Computer forensics
– Scientific collection, examination, authentication,
preservation, and analysis of data from computer
storage media for use as evidence in court of law
– Recovery of ambient data
Information Systems Controls
• May be automated or manual
• General controls
– Govern design, security, and use of computer
programs and security of data files in general
throughout organization
– Software controls, hardware controls, computer
operations controls, data security controls, system
development controls, administrative controls,
• Application controls
– Controls unique to each computerized application
– Input controls, processing controls, output controls
Risk Assessment
• Determines level of risk to firm if specific activity or process
is not properly controlled
– Types of threat
– Probability of occurrence during year
– Potential losses, value of threat
– Expected annual loss
Table 8.5 Online Order Processing
Risk Assessment
Exposure Probability of Loss Range Expected Annual
Occurrence (Average) ($) Loss ($)
Power failure 30% $5,000 − $200,000 $30,750
($102,500)
Embezzlement 5% $1,000 − $50,000 $1,275
($25,500)
User error 98% $200 − $40,000 $19,698
($20,100)
Security Policy
• Ranks information risks, identifies security goals and
mechanisms for achieving these goals
• Drives other policies
• Acceptable use policy (AUP)
– Defines acceptable uses of firm’s information resources
and computing equipment
• Identity management
– Identifying valid users
– Controlling access
Figure 8.3 Access Rules for a
Personnel System
Disaster Recovery Planning and
Business Continuity Planning
• Disaster recovery planning
– Devises plans for restoration of disrupted services
• Business continuity planning
– Focuses on restoring business operations after disaster
• Both types of plans needed to identify firm’s most critical
systems
– Business impact analysis to determine impact of an outage
– Management must determine which systems restored first
The Role of Auditing
• Information systems audit
– Examines firm’s overall security environment as well as
controls governing individual information systems
• Security audits
– Review technologies, procedures, documentation,
training, and personnel
– May even simulate disaster to test responses
• List and rank control weaknesses and the probability of
occurrence
• Assess financial and organizational impact of each threat
Figure 8.4 Sample Auditor’s List of
Control Weaknesses
Tools and Technologies for
Safeguarding Information Systems
(1 of 3)
• Identity management software

– Automates keeping track of all users and privileges
– Authenticates users, protecting identities, controlling access
• Authentication
– Password systems
– Tokens
– Smart cards
– Biometric authentication
– Two-factor authentication
(2 of 3)
• Firewall
– Combination of hardware and software that prevents
unauthorized users from accessing private networks
– Packet filtering
– Stateful inspection
– Network address translation (NAT)
– Application proxy filtering
Figure 8.5 A Corporate Firewall
(3 of 3)
• Intrusion detection system

– Monitors hot spots on corporate networks to detect and
deter intruders
• Antivirus and antispyware software
– Checks computers for presence of malware and can
often eliminate it as well
– Requires continual updating
• Unified threat management (UTM) systems
Securing Wireless Networks
• WEP security
– Static encryption keys are relatively easy to crack
– Improved if used in conjunction with VPN
• WPA2 specification
– Replaces WEP with stronger standards
– Continually changing, longer encryption keys
Encryption and Public Key
Infrastructure (1 of 3)
• Encryption
– Transforming text or data into cipher text that cannot be
read by unintended recipients
– Two methods for encryption on networks
 Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and successor
Transport Layer Security (TLS)
 Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (S-HTTP)
• Two methods of encryption of messages
– Symmetric key encryption
 Sender and receiver use single, shared key
– Public key encryption
 Uses two, mathematically related keys: public key
and private key
 Sender encrypts message with recipient’s public key
 Recipient decrypts with private key
Figure 8.6 Public Key Encryption
• Digital certificate
– Data file used to establish the identity of users and electronic
assets for protection of online transactions
– Uses a trusted third party, certification authority (CA), to validate a
user's identity
– CA verifies user’s identity, stores information in CA server, which
generates encrypted digital certificate containing owner ID
information and copy of owner’s public key
• Public key infrastructure (PKI)
– Use of public key cryptography working with certificate authority
– Widely used in e-commerce
Figure 8.7 Digital Certificates
Ensuring System Availability
• Online transaction processing requires 100% availability
• Fault-tolerant computer systems
– Contain redundant hardware, software, and power
supply components that create an environment that
provides continuous, uninterrupted service
• Deep packet inspection
• Security outsourcing
– Managed security service providers (MSSPs)
Security Issues for Cloud Computing
and the Mobile Digital Platform (1 of 2)
• Security in the cloud
– Responsibility for security resides with company
owning the data
– Firms must ensure providers provide adequate
protection:
 Where data are stored
 Meeting corporate requirements, legal privacy laws
 Segregation of data from other clients
 Audits and security certifications
– Service level agreements (SLAs)
Security Issues for Cloud Computing
and the Mobile Digital Platform (2 of 2)
• Securing mobile platforms
– Security policies should include and cover any special
requirements for mobile devices
 Guidelines for use of platforms and applications
– Mobile device management tools
 Authorization
 Inventory records
 Control updates
 Lock down/erase lost devices
 Encryption
– Software for segregating corporate data on devices
Ensuring Software Quality
• Software metrics: Objective assessments of system in
form of quantified measurements
– Number of transactions
– Online response time
– Payroll checks printed per hour
– Known bugs per hundred lines of code
• Early and regular testing
• Walkthrough: Review of specification or design document
by small group of qualified people
• Debugging: Process by which errors are eliminated
Interactive Session: Organizations:
How Secure Is the Cloud?
• Class discussion
– What kinds of security problems does cloud computing
pose? How serious are they? Explain your answer.
– What management, organization, and technology
factors are responsible for cloud security problems? To
what extent is cloud security a management issue?
– What steps can organizations take to make their cloud-
based systems more secure?
– Should companies use the public cloud to run their
mission-critical systems? Why or why not?
How Will MIS Help My Career?
• The Company: No. 1 Value Supermarkets
• Position Description: Identity access and management
support specialist, entry-level
• Job Requirements
• Interview Questions
• Author Tips
Copyright
This work is protected by United States copyright laws and is

provided solely for the use of instructors in teaching their
courses and assessing student learning. Dissemination or sale of
any part of this work (including on the World Wide Web) will
destroy the integrity of the work and is not permitted. The work
and materials from it should never be made available to students
except by instructors using the accompanying text in their
classes. All recipients of this work are expected to abide by these
restrictions and to honor the intended pedagogical purposes and
the needs of other instructors who rely on these materials.

Sixteenth Edition: Securing Information Systems

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sixteenth Edition: Securing Information Systems

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sixteenth Edition: Securing Information Systems

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Management Information Systems:

Managing the Digital Firm

• Identity management software

• Intrusion detection system

This work is protected by United States copyright laws and is

You might also like