7.

3 Network Security Controls

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In This Section
Defense techniques to the network security engineer

Major controls:
Firewalls
Intrusion detection systems
Encrypted e-mail

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Security Threat Analysis
3 steps in analyzing a security threat:
Scrutinize all the parts of the systems
Consider the possible damage to confidentiality,
integrity, & availability
Hypothesize the kinds of attacks that could cause the
specific kind of damage

Similar approach can be taken to analyze threats in a

network.

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What an Attacker Might Do?
Read communication
Modify communication
Forge communication
Inhibit communication
Inhibit all communication passing through a point
Read data at some machine C between two people
Modify or destroy data at C

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Kinds of Threats
Intercepting data in traffic
Accessing programs or data at remote hosts
Modifying programs or data at remote hosts
Modifying data in transit
Inserting communications
Impersonating a user
Inserting a repeat of a previous communication
Blocking selected traffic
Blocking all traffic
Running a program at a remote host
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Architectural Security Control 1
Segmentation
It reduces the number of
threats
It limits the amount of
damage a single
vulnerability
can allow

Segmented Architecture

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Architectural Security Control 2
Redundancy
It allows a function to be performed on more than one
node
Failure over mode- The server communicates with each
other periodically, each determining if the other is still
active.
Single points of failure
Eliminating a single point in the network which if failed,
could deny access to all or a significant part of the
network
Mobile agents

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Encryption
Encryption is the most important & versatile tool for a
network security expert.

Encryption is used for providing:

Privacy
Authenticity
Integrity
Limited access to data

Note: Encryption protects only what is encrypted

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Kinds of Encryption 1
Link Encryption
Data are encrypted just before the system places them
on the physical communication link
Encryption occurs at layer 1 or 2 in the OSI model
Encryption protects the message in transit between two
computers
This kind of encryption is invisible to user
It is most appropriate when the transmission line is the
point of greatest vulnerability

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Kinds of Encryption 2
End-to-End Encryption
It provides security from one end of a transmission to
the other
The message is transmitted in encrypted form through
the network
It addresses potential flaws in lower layers in the transfer
model
When used, messages sent through several hosts are
protected

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Virtual Private Networks (VPN)
VPN allows users to access their internal networks and
computers over the Internet or other public network, using
encrypted tunnels (communication passes through
encrypted tunnel).
VPN are created when the firewall interacts with an
authentication service inside the parameter.
Firewall
It is an access control device that sits between two networks
or two network segments.
It filters all traffic between the protected or inside network
and a less trustworthy or outside network or segment.

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Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
PKI
It is a set of policies, products, & procedures leaving
some room for interpretation.
It is a process created to enable users to implement
public key cryptography, usually in large settings.
It offers each user a set of services related to
identification & access control.
It sets up entitles called certificate authorities that
implement the PKI policy on certificates.
It is not yet a mature process.

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Encryption
SSH (Secure Shell) encryption
A pair of protocols, originally defined for UNIX
It provides authenticated and encrypted path to the
shell or operating system command interpreter.
SSL (Secure Sockets layer) encryption
It is also known as TLS (Transport Layer Security)
It was originally designed by Netscape
It interfaces between applications and the TCP/IP
protocols to provide server authentication, optional
client authentication, & an encrypted communication
channel between client & server.
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IP Security Protocol Suite (IPSec)
IPSec
It is designed to address fundamental shortcomings
such as being subject to spoofing, eavesdropping, &
session hijacking.
It is implemented at the IP layer
It is somewhat similar to SSL (supports authentication &
confidentiality in a way that does not necessitate
significant change either above or below it)
Security association
The basis of IPSec
It is roughly compared to an SSL session

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Related Terms
Security Parameter Index (SPI)
A data element that is essentially a pointer into a table of
security associations.
Encapsulated Security Payload (ESP)
It replaces (includes) the conventional TCP header and data
portion of a packet.
It contains both an authenticated header (AH) and an
encrypted portion.
Internet Security Association Key Management Protocol
(ISAKMP)
It requires that a distinct key be generated for each security
association.
It is implemented through IKE or ISAKMP key exchange

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Content Integrity
Three potential threats:
Malicious modification that changes content in a
meaningful way
Malicious or non-malicious modification that changes
content in a way that is not necessarily meaningful
Non-malicious modification that changes content in a
way that will not be detected

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Guard Modification Threats
Error correcting codes
Error detection & error correcting codes can be used to
guard against modification in a transmission.
Parity Check is the simplest error detection code
technique.
Even Parity the parity bit is set so that the sum of all data
bits plus the parity bit is even.
Odd Parity It is similar to the even parity bit except the sum
is odd.
Hash code or Huffman code are some other error
detection codes
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Cryptographic Checksum
Cryptographic Checksum (Message Digest)

It is a cryptographic function that produces a checksum.

It prevents the attacker from changing the data block.

Major uses of cryptographic checksum are code tamper

protection & message integrity protection in transit.

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Authentication Methods
One-Time Password
It is good for only one time use
A password token can help in generating unpredictable
passwords
This technique is immune to spoofing as it works on a
password generating algorithm
Challenge-Response System
It looks like a simple pocket calculator
This device eliminates the small window of vulnerability in
which a user could reuse a time-sensitive authenticator
Digital Distributed Authentication
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Access Controls
ACLs on Routers
Problems on adding ACLs to the routers
Routers in a large network perform a lot of work
Efficiency issues

Nature of threat

Firewalls
Can examine an entire
packets content, including
the data portion. Access to Services & Servers in Kerberos

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Wireless Security 1
Service Set Identifier (SSID)
It is the identification of an access point
It is a string of up to 32 characters
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
It uses an encryption key shared between the client and the
access point.
It uses either a 64bit or 128 bit encryption key.
WiFI protected access (WPA)
It is an alternate to WEP
The encryption key is changed automatically on each pocket
by a key change approach called Temporal Key Integrity
Program (TKIP)
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Wireless Security 2
Alarms & Alerts
An intrusion detection system is a device that is placed inside
a protected network to monitor what occurs within the
network.
Honey pots
Loaded with servers, devices & data; it is a computer system
or a network segment.
A honeypot is put up for several reasons
To watch what attackers do
To lure an attacker to a place where you can identify and stop the
attacker
To provide an attractive but diversionary playground

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Wireless Security 3
Traffic Flow Security
Onion routing messages are repeatedly encrypted and
then sent through several network

Onion Routing

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Summary 1
Target Vulnerability Control

Authentication Impersonation Strong, One-Time

Failures Authentication

Eavesdropping Encrypted Authentication

Channel

Spoofing Strong, One-Time

Authentication

Man-in-the Middle Attack Strong, One-Time

Authentication
VPN
Protocol Analysis

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Summary 2
Target Vulnerability Control

Programming Buffer Overflow Programming Controls

Flaws Personal Firewall

Parameter Intrusion Detection System

Modifications Personal Firewall

Confidentiality Protocol Flaw Programming Controls

Controlled Execution
Environment

Eavesdropping, Passive Encryption

Wiretap, Mis-delivery

Cookie Firewall
Intrusion Detection System

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Summary 3
Target Vulnerability Control

Integrity Protocol Flaw Controlled Execution Environment

Audit

Active Wiretap Encryption

Error Detection Code

Noise Error Detection Code

DNS Attack Firewall

Intrusion Detection System
Strong Authentication for DNS
Changes
Audit

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Summary 4
Target Vulnerability Control

Availability Protocol Flaw Firewall

Redundant Architecture

DNS Attack Firewall

Intrusion Detection System
ACL on Border Router
Honeypot

Traffic Redirection Encryption

Audit

DDoS ACL on Border Router

Honeypot

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