Basic Security

Networking for Home and Small Businesses – Chapter

6

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 Networking Threats
 Information Theft
– Obtain confidential information
– Gather valuable research data

 Data Loss/Manipulation
– Destroying or altering data records

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 Networking Threats
 Identity Theft
– Personal information stolen

 Disruption of Service
– prevents legitimate users from accessing services

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 Networking Threats

 External Threats
– done by individuals outside of the organization
– do no have authorized access

 Internal Threats
– hacker may have access to equipment
– knows what information is valuable or vulnerable
– 70% of security breaches are internal

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 Social Engineering
 The ability of someone or something to influence
behavior of a group of people
 Used to deceive internal users to get confidential
information
 Hacker takes advantage of legitimate users

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 Forms of Social Engineering
 Pretexting
– typically accomplished over the phone
– scenario used on the victim to get them to release confidential
information
– gaining access to your social security number
 Phishing
– typically contacted via email
– attacker pretends to represent legitimate organization

 Vishing/Phone Phising
– user sends a voice mail instructing them to call a number which
appears to be legitimate
– call intercepted by thief

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 Methods of Attack
 Virus
– runs or spreads by modifying other programs or files
– needs to be activitated
– cannot start by itself

 Worms
– similar to virus
– does not attach itself to an existing program
– no human activation needed

 Trojan Horse
– appears harmless
– deceives the victim into initiating the program
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 DoS (Denial of Service) Attacks
 Intended to deny services to users
– floods network with traffic
– disrupts connections between client and server

 Types of DoS Attacks

– SYN (synchronous) Flooding
• packets sent with invalid IP addresses
• server tries to respond
– Ping of Death
• larger packet size sent than allowed
• leads to system crashing

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 More Attacks
 DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) Attack
– more sophisticated than DoS
– overwhelms networks with useless data simultaneously

 Brute Force
– fast PC used to try and guess passwords or decipher data
– attacker tries a large number of possibilities rapidly

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 Spyware
 Program that gathers personal information from your
PC without permission
 Information sent to advertisers
 Usually installed unknowingly when downloading a file
 Can slow down performance of the PC

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 Cookies, Etc.
 Not always bad . .
 Used to record information about the user when visiting
web sites.
 Adware
– collects information based on sites visited
– useful for target advertising

 Pop- Ups
– additional ads displayed when visiting a site
– pop-ups – open in front of browser
– pop-under – open behind browser

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 Spam
 Unwanted bulk e-mail
 Information sent to as many end users as possible
 Can overload servers, ISPs, etc.
 Estimated every Internet user receives over 3000
email per year

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 Security Policy
 Statement of rules users must follow when using
technology
 Identification and Authentication Policies
– only authorized persons should have access to network and
its resources (including access to physical devices)

 Password Policies
– must meet minimum requirements
– change passwords regularly

 Acceptable Use Policies

– determine which applications are acceptable

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 Security Policy

 Remote Access Policies

– explanation of how remote users can access the network

 Network Maintenance Procedures

– explanation of update procedures

 Incident Handling Procedures

– how incidents involving security will be handled

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 Updates & Patches
 Use of updates and patches makes it harder for the
hacker to gain access.

 Updates
– includes additional functionality

 Patches
– small piece of “code” used to fix the problem

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 Anti-Virus Software
 Any device connected to a network is susceptible to
viruses
 Warning signs of a virus:
– computer acts abnormal
– sends out large quantities of email
– high CPU usage

 Some Anti-virus programs

– Email checking
– Dynamic scanning
• checks files when accessed
– Scheduled scans
– Automatic updates
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 SPAM Prevention
 Spam is an annoying problem, can . . .
– overload servers
– carry potential viruses

 Anti-spam software
– identifies the spam and performs an action
• deletes the file
• places it into the “junk mail” folder

 Common spam occurrence

– warning of virus from another user
– not always true

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 Firewall

 Used to control traffic between networks

 Methods of a Firewall
– Packet filtering
• based on IP or MAC address
– Application/Web site filtering
• based on the application or website being used
– SPIC (Stateful Packet Inspection)
• incoming packets must be legitimate responses to requests
from hosts

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 Firewall Types
 Appliance-based firewall
– built into the hardware
– no peripherals needed

 Server-based firewall
– firewall run on a NOS (Network Operating System)

 Integrated firewall
– adds firewall functionality to an existing device

 Personal firewall
– resides on a host PC

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 Firewall Features and How to Use them to
Protect Against an Attack
 Use of a DMZ (Demilitarized Zone)
 Area of the network which is accessible to both internal
and external users
 Web servers for public access typically located here

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 Single or Dual Firewalls??
 Single Firewall
– appropriate for smaller networks
– all external traffic sent to firewall

 Dual Firewall
– appropriate for larger businesses
– internal and external firewall

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 Firewall Features and How to Use them to
Protect Against an Attack
 Vulnerability Analysis
– determine what part(s) of your network may be vulnerable to
attacks

 Security Scanners
– helps identify where attack can occur
– may help identify missing updates

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 Summary
 Networks can be open to intrusion through
vulnerabilities in software, hardware attacks, or the
weaknesses of individuals.
 Effective network security is based on a variety of
products and services, combined with a thorough
security policy.
 A firewall controls traffic between networks and helps
prevent unauthorized access.

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