Session 5 Cyber Security Risks and Vulnerabilities
Session 5 Cyber Security Risks and Vulnerabilities
5.1 Introduction
Recall
A vulnerability is an exploitable weakness resulting in loss. They are continuously being
discovered. Common discovery techniques include vulnerability scans and penetration tests.
Organizations must understand cybersecurity assets and where they reside (physical and
logical). Taking advantage of a vulnerability is called an exploit.
Risk Management is simply to look at what could go wrong - and then decide on ways
to prevent - or minimize - these potential problems. It encompasses three processes –
risk assessment, risk mitigation and evaluation.
We all carry out informal risk management numerous times in the course of a day
without even realizing it:
Every time we cross a street, we stop to weigh the risk of rushing in front of
oncoming traffic, waiting for the light to change, using the crosswalk, etc. Our ability
to analyze the consequences of each decision is risk assessment. What we decide to do
after performing that quick analysis is risk mitigation based on proper early training
and our experience of crossing a road. We may decide to wait for the traffic light and
use the cross walk which greatly reduces the potential risk, we may follow someone
else across the street allowing them to make the decision for us, or we may simply
choose not to cross the street. These decisions are a result of our risk assessment of the
situation. If you make it across the street you remember what worked. If anything
went wrong such as a honked horn or brakes squealing, you should evaluate if another
choice would have been better.
Below are important definitions for terms that are used in this topic.
Risk: The probability of suffering harm or loss. It refers to an action, event or a natural
occurrence that could cause an undesirable outcome, resulting in a negative impact or
consequence.
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Risk Assessment: The process of identifying threats to information or information
systems, determining the likelihood of occurrence of the threat, and identifying system
vulnerabilities that could be exploited by the threat.
Risk Management: The process of taking actions to assess risks and avoid or reduce
risk to acceptable levels.
As a manager the issues of risk assessment may seem difficult and the right decisions
for risk management challenging; but the principles remain the same. It is your
responsibility to make the best decision based on the information at hand. A well-
structured risk management methodology, when used effectively, can help.
Risk assessment is the first phase in the risk management process. Risk is assessed by
identifying threats and vulnerabilities, and then determining the likelihood and
impact for each risk.
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i. Classify information
Before an organization can assess the risk it must first classify the information
assets in the organization. Classification is the designation given to information
from a defined category on the basis of its sensitivity. Information assets include
all categories of information (automated and non-automated), including (but not
limited to) data contained in records, files, and databases. Information assets
usually include: public records mission-critical systems, customer interfaces,
internal tools, source code, and confidential records. The organization is
responsible for protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the
information assets. The value of an asset will be determined by the information
owner - an individual or a group of individuals responsible for making
classification and control decisions regarding use of information, especially PPSI.
There are many types of information security threats, some examples are listed
below1:
• Internal (e.g., malicious or unaware employees);
• Mobile (e.g., attackers who steal remote systems which, in turn, provide access
to information);
• Physical (e.g., attackers who steal computers or enter server rooms, file
cabinets, or offices);
• Natural (e.g., fire, floods, and earthquakes resulting in electrical outages,
equipment and hardware failures);
• Network (e.g., attackers who try to compromise systems exposed on a public
network or try to spoof or imitate remote systems);
• Social (e.g., attackers who try to fool employees into revealing information
through phishing);
• Malicious (e.g., viruses, worms, and Trojan horses, code that may damage,
reveal, or capture information).
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• Information read by an unauthorized individual(s) (confidentiality issue).
• Software and hardware not maintained at current patch levels allow
unauthorized access via the Internet resulting in a breach of confidential
information (confidentiality, integrity and/or availability issues).
• Unintentional loss of data via theft resulting in identity theft (confidentiality
issue).
• Accidental or intentional deletion or modification of information (availability
and integrity issues).
• Unsecured computers and portable devices such as blackberries, laptops, or
USB devices (confidentiality, integrity and availability issues).
Risk for a given asset can be provided in the most general form using the following
equation:
In other words, the higher the likelihood of a threat occurring and affecting an asset
and the higher the value of that asset, the higher the risk. If a threat has little or no
chance of occurring, or if the asset has no value, the risk is either very low or zero.
Since information assets within an organization most likely hold some level of
value, risk management will involve reducing the likelihood of threats from
occurring2.
v. Select A Method
In order to quantify risk in some fashion, an organization will need to develop a
method of measuring risk so that this information can be communicated with others.
There are many methodologies to pick from; each organization will need to determine
which is best. Ultimately, the organization will need to understand its information
security risks. The question “What information assets are most at risk to compromise
or damage and what can happen to these assets?” needs to be answered.
The question may best be answered by assigning a value and acceptable risk level to
each asset. The value of an asset varies from asset to asset and from organization to
organization. The level of risk depends on actions taken by the organization. For
example if backups are done and secured, the loss (unavailability) of an electronic
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copy may be a low risk. One way that you might measure risk is shown in the
following illustration, while presented as a methodology, can be modified to meet
your needs. We will expand this illustration later in this document.
Risk has to be measured for each information asset, and for the organization as a
whole, and then communicated so decisions can be made to manage the risk.
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violation of security.
• Risk Transfer: This strategy passes over the costs resulting from the violation
of security to a third party (insurance policies, maintenance contracts, standby
agreements, etc)
Below is a summary of the severity of risk and the risk handling approach:
c) Motivations
Cyber threat actors can be categorized by their motivations and, to a degree, by their
sophistication. Threat actors value access to devices, processing power, computing
resources, and information for different reasons. In general, each type of cyber threat
actor has a primary motivation.
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d) Sophistication
Cyber threat actors are not equal in terms of capability and sophistication, and have a
range of resources, training, and support for their activities. Cyber threat actors may
operate on their own or as part of a larger organization (i.e., a nation-state intelligence
program or organized crime
group). Sometimes, even sophisticated actors use less sophisticated and readily
available tools and techniques because these can still be effective for a given task and/
or make it difficult for defenders to attribute the activity.
Nation-states are frequently the most sophisticated threat actors, with dedicated
resources and personnel, and extensive planning and coordination.
Threat actors in the top tier of sophistication and skill, capable of using advanced
techniques to conduct complex and protracted campaigns in the pursuit of their
strategic goals, are often called advanced persistent threats (APT).
This designator is usually reserved for nation-states or very proficient organized crime
groups.
Hacktivists, terrorist groups, and thrill-seekers are typically at the lowest level of
sophistication as they often rely on widely available tools that require little technical
skill to deploy. Their actions, more often than not, have no lasting effect on their
targets beyond reputation.
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Insider threats are individuals working within their organization who are particularly
dangerous because of their access to internal networks that are protected by security
perimeters. Access is a key component for malicious threat actors and having
privileged access eliminates the need to employ other remote means. Insider threats
may be associated with any of the other listed types
of threat actors, but can also include disgruntled employees with motive.
Social engineering
Exploitation methods that target human vulnerabilities, such as carelessness and trust,
are collectively known as social engineering. Threat actors use social engineering to
trick an individual into inadvertently allowing access to a system, network, or device.
Phishing and spear-phishing are common social engineering techniques. (Please see
Annex A: The cyber threat toolbox for more information).
Cyber threat actors can also manipulate social media in order to influence public
discourse. With a thorough understanding of how traditional media and social media
work – and how individuals consume information – cyber threat actors can promote
their message to broader target audiences at a relatively low cost.
They can do this by masquerading as legitimate information providers, hijacking
social media accounts, or creating websites and new accounts.
Attribution
is the act of accurately determining the threat actor responsible for a particular set of
activities. Successful attribution of a cyber threat actor is important for a number of
reasons, including network defence, law enforcement, deterrence, and foreign
relations. Cyber threat actors attempt to evade attribution through obfuscation.
Obfuscation
Refers to the tools and techniques that threat actors use to hide their identities, goals,
techniques, and even their victims. In order to avoid leaving clues that defenders
could use to attribute the activity, threat actors can use either common, readily
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available tools and techniques or custom-built tools that covertly send information
over the Internet.
False flags,
Sophisticated threat actors can also use false flags, whereby an actor mimics the
known activities of other actors with the hope of causing defenders to falsely attribute
the activity to someone else. For example, a nation-state could use a tool believed to
be used extensively by cybercriminals.
The ability of cyber threat actors to successfully obfuscate their actions varies
according to their level of sophistication and motivation. In general, more
sophisticated actors, such as nation-states and competent cybercriminals, will be more
adept at – and have more reasons for – obfuscation and will be more successful in
avoiding attribution than less sophisticated threat actors.
It is beyond the scope of this Lesson Notes to present all cyber capabilities that threat
actors could deploy. Below is a non-exhaustive list of common tools and techniques
that are used by threat actors. For simplicity, they are listed alphabetically and are not
ranked according to frequency or impact.
Adware
Adware is short for advertising software and its main objective is to generate revenue
by delivering tailored online advertisements. As such, browser-based and application-
based adware tracks and gathers user and device information, including location data.
Adware can lead to exploitation of security settings, users, and systems. Malware,
man-in-the-middle, and spyware are often associated with this tool.
Backdoor
A backdoor is a point of entry into a user’s system or computer, bypassing
authentication measures, encryption, or intrusion detection systems. Once threat
actors have this remote access, they can steal information, install malware, or control
the device’s processes and procedures. Backdoors are often deliberately created for
troubleshooting, software updates, or
system maintenance. Threat actors can use these legitimate backdoors for malicious
purposes.
Birthday attack
Birthday attacks are made against hash algorithms that are used to verify the integrity
of a message, software or digital signature. A message processed by a hash function
produces a message digest (MD) of fixed length, independent of the length of the input
message; this MD uniquely characterizes the message. The birthday attack refers to
the probability of finding two random messages that generate the same MD when
processed by a hash function. If an attacker calculates same MD for his message as the
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user has, he can safely replace the user’s message with his, and the receiver will not
be able to detect the replacement even if he compares MDs.
Botnets typically expand by scanning the online environment and finding vulnerable
devices that can provide computing power and additional capacity. Botnets are used
for a multitude of purposes, such as to conduct distributed denial of service (DDoS),
spread ransomware and malware, conduct ad fraud campaigns, send spam, divert
traffic, steal data, and manipulate, amplify, and/or suppress social media and web
platform content in order to impact public discourse.
Code Injection
Code injection is when threat actors introduce malicious code into a computer
program by taking advantage of a flaw in a program’s functionality instructions or in
the way it interprets data input. Two common code injection techniques are cross-site
scripting (XSS) and Structured Query Language (SQL) injection.
Cryptomining
Cryptomining or cryptocurrency mining is when software programs leverage
computing resources to generate or “mine” a cryptocurrency, an activity that rewards
the miner with a small fraction of the mined cryptocurrency as a fee for the mining
service. Cryptojacking is when a threat actor covertly exploits a victim’s device (e.g.,
computers, mobile, and Internet of Things devices) for the unauthorized mining of
cryptocurrency. In order to increase efficiency (e.g., revenue) a threat actor can
leverage a botnet of compromised devices. Such malware is typically delivered by
visiting a compromised website, installing an application, or through phishing.
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Distributed denial of service
Password Cracking
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Password cracking is an attempt to directly access accounts. Two common forms of
password cracking are brute force and dictionary-based. Brute force cracking uses an
exhaustive number of randomly generated passwords to attempt to gain access, while
dictionary-based cracking checks against a list of commonly used passwords.
Pharming
Pharming is a technique used to redirect traffic from a legitimate website to a
malicious one. This deception can be achieved by modifying the user’s system settings
or by exploiting vulnerabilities in the domain name system (DNS) server software,
which is responsible for resolving URLs into IP addresses. Contrary to typo-squatting
(see below), where a user mistypes a website address and is redirected to an
illegitimate website, pharming can redirect a user who properly types the URL. At a
quick glance, the illegitimate website may appear to be the legitimate website and can
be used to deliver malware and acquire personally identifiable or other sensitive
information.
Ransomware
Ransomware is malicious software that, in many cases, restricts access to a computer
or a device and its data by encrypting its content and demanding that a ransom be
paid, usually via a cryptocurrency such as bitcoin, in order for the victim to regain
access to systems and information. Ransomware can also lock systems in various ways
without the use of encryption, disrupting device performance. Actors may threaten to
expose sensitive, personal, or embarrassing information unless a ransom is paid.
Ransomware is typically installed using a
trojan or a worm deployed via phishing or by visiting a compromised website.
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Rootkit
A rootkit is a malicious application that is designed to covertly provide a threat actor
with “root” or administrative privileged access to software and systems on a user’s
device. A rootkit provides full control, including the ability to modify software used
to detect malware. Rootkit installation can be achieved in many ways, including
through password cracking, social engineering, and leveraging a bug or design flaw
that can grant privileged access to a user’s system or device.
Spyware
Spyware is malicious software used to track a user’s digital actions and information
with or without the user’s knowledge or consent. Spyware can be used for many
activities, including keystroke logging, accessing the microphone and webcam,
monitoring user activity and surfing habits, and capturing usernames and passwords.
SSL Hijacking
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) hijacking is a technique by which a threat actor is able to
intercept and redirect an unsecure connection between a victim and a server trying to
establish a secure connection. The threat actor is then able to provide a secure
connection instead of the intended website, which enables them to intercept and
compromise the communication without the victim’s knowledge (see man-in-the-
middle above). SSL hijacking is not about breaking the security provided by SSL, but
rather, it inserts a compromised bridge between the non-encrypted and encrypted
part of a communication.
Typo-Squatting
Typo-squatting is a technique by which a threat actor registers domain names that
have very similar spelling to and can be easily confused with a legitimate domain
address. Typo-squatting is also known as URL hijacking and enables a threat actor to
redirect a user who incorrectly typed a website address to an alternative look-alike
domain under the actor’s control. The new domain can then deliver malware and
acquire personally identifiable or other sensitive information. Luring a victim to a
hijacked URL can also be achieved through phishing techniques.
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A trojan is a malicious program disguised as or embedded within legitimate software
that has similar objectives to viruses and worms, but, unlike either of them, does not
replicate or propagate on its own
WI-FI EAVESDROPPING
Wi-Fi eavesdropping is when a threat actor installs what looks like a legitimate Wi-Fi
access point in a public area. Once users connect to such an access point, often referred
to as a malicious hotspot or a rogue access point, they fall victim to man-in-the-middle
(MITM). Such activity allows a threat actor to monitor communications and to acquire
personally identifiable or other sensitive information.
Wiper
A wiper is malware designed to completely wipe the hard drive of infected devices.
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