For this final paper, I would like to discuss the historical failures that came into light when Mr. Clifford Stoll (the author of “Cuckoo’s Egg: Tracking a spy through the Maze of Computer Espionage” book) stumbled upon a $ 0.75 accounting error and the revelations that followed, its potential findings, risks and costs associated and why it is important to address and fix those security holes. Cuckoo’s Egg is an interesting read and the author was successful in presenting to his readers the picture of beginning of Internet days (arpanet, then), network practices then. Despite of the fact that this book describes a real incident that in 1980’s, some of the findings are relevant and torment us even today. One of the major …show more content…
One of the other failures that the book presents us is the user’s weak password practice and how the intruder took advantage of this is to gain super user privileges and created several user accounts by gaining root privileges. All it takes is a one-time access as super user to establish his base into the defenders zone. This book describes how the intruder took advantage of brute force method to hack user accounts and password. Also, the intruder was smart enough to steal the password information file and even managed to encrypt all the dictionary words by using the same encryption algorithm and then compared those words with the stolen encrypted passwords file to find out passwords of user accounts. The scientists/ researchers at the laboratories who are not aware of such kind of exploitations made intruder’s work easy by having easy to guess passwords, never bothered to change the passwords from time to time or in fact did not realize the importance of having strong passwords in order to maintain and protect their research data in a safe and secure way. Even today, not all the users realize the importance of having strong/secure passwords and we come across such instances where intruders exploit users ignorance. (For example, Two years ago, before I enrolled in MS-CS program, I did not know how brute force attacks work or
Linton (2011, p.44) stated that hacking of network of common users and attacking their personal computers is one of the most threatening problems at present. It is happening in every second that results in a loss in several ways like loss of credentials, personal information etcetera. Although the use of personal computers and the internet has been increased rapidly, numbers of users who are the expert and have good knowledge to tackle the matters are very rare. In addition, time, as well as required equipment to protect hacking, is also very.
In our networking classes this is a lesson that has been reminded to us over and over again by our trendy and very intelligent lecturer. As shown throughout the book the hackers are able to access various systems, like telephone systems and satellites to access the network across the world. Then they illegal gain access by using default user names and passwords.
We have direct approach, dumpster diving, spying and eavesdropping, technical expert, support staff and the voice of authority (Gulati, p.3). The direct approach involves carelessness in security issues, which is when an employee forgets their pass card in a building and an attacker gets access to the pass card. For an intruder, this is the first step in access information (Gulati, p.3). Physical access to a company provides a good platform for hacking. On the other hand, dumpster diving is the disposing items of that the company deemed outdated or out of use, which contains personal identification information it becomes easy for a perpetrator to access that information. The information of the thrash items may include the policy and procedures of a company and the hacker may use this information in order to convince the victim about his/her authority or authenticity (Gulati, p.5). Spying and eavesdropping involves getting access to ID and passwords through observations or eavesdropping. The contact details may be accessed through written documents, phone call and observing a user
Cain and Able is a tool used to recover or crack passwords by means of Cryptanalysis, Brute-Force and Dictionary. Cryptanalysis makes password cracking feasible by means of Faster Cryptanalytic time-memory trade off (Montoro). This hacking method uses large collection of encrypted passwords referred to as Rainbow tables to increase the recovery time. During the lab exercise, only the Brute-Force and Dictionary hacking method were used with LAN Manager (LM) and NT LAN Manager (NTLM) hashing algorithm.
This Cuckoo’s egg program is the most efficient technique for intruder to lay the eggs in the UNIX accounting system and in allowing the system to hatch the egg and fed it with administrative privileges. After being super user, the hackers could read sensitive files, explore user mail messages and so on. No-one can spy on a super user unless from the machine to which the super user had access. The hacker had easy access to the emails which can be used to locate new accounts to compromise as most of the users would email each other their usernames and passwords to accomplish the work as there was a trust relation between colleagues at the time. However the hackers exploited this trust relationship between colleagues and used it for his ill goal of accessing the remote machines. After detecting the intrusion, even though the system might be at real risk, Stoll and his superiors were in the situation of informational
In this article based on personal information stolen by others, Ayyagari argues that data breaches is the biggest problem for everyone because it is affecting us on a daily basis. Humans are exposed to opportunities for data breaches which cause identity theft. The author presents numerical data along with statistics to prove how data breaches is increasing each year and what policies security systems are enforcing to prevent cyber incidents.
The paper best known as “the paper that started the study of computer security,” is the paper titled as Rand Report R-609, Security Controls for Computer Systems. Rand Report R-609 was published for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The purpose of creating an initial report regarding the security of computers was to create an official recommendation of measures one should take when setting up a secure computing environment meant to protect classified information on a computer that contains multi-access and resource-sharing capabilities in any setting. After growing up in a technological generation surrounded by users of the Internet, wireless LANs, and portable computers, several characteristics of the computing environment during the 1960’s and 1970’s stand out.
“The victor will never be asked if he told the truth”- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf. Adolf Hitler was a man on a mission- and that mission was to restore Germany to its former glory. But all he accomplished was a 12-year reign and a world war (Rosenburg). World War Two was a time of loss for the world, a time where millions and millions of people died, all because of one man’s dreams and beliefs.
As early as the mid-1960s computer experts, were warning government and businesses about the ability of computers to exchange data would inevitably lead to attempts to penetrate these systems to gain access to the data. Security concerns were increased further during a computer conference in 1965, were participate, including government contractors and some very large corporations such as IBM and Bell, shared information about their systems. During this conference, it was revealed the security the participates were implementing could be easily circumvented, allowing access to their data. This resulted in the first request for security auditing and penetration testing (Pen-Testing). With concerns regarding security increasing, during the 1967 annual Joint Computer Conference where 15,000 computer security experts, government and business analysts met to discuss concerns about computers sharing data, and better understand the need for tight network
“110 million Americans saw their identities compromised in 2014” Gault argues, adding that 110 million is one in every two Americans (2). With new technological inventions, such as the cloud, which allows remote access to stored information, there are “too many vulnerabilities hackers can exploit” (Gault 7). Cybersecurity has been breached due to the lack of integrity in the system. There is an acute focus on encryption in the industry with the belief that it is the key in ensuring confidentiality and ultimately, cybersecurity. Meanwhile, the industry “rarely” addresses integrity (Gault 17). Gault firmly argues that “the system is broken” because of the lack of integrity in the system. Confidentiality, while important, is not integral in preventing and providing solutions for data breach and theft. The current system solution for cybersecurity threat is dominated by a “lock-and-key system”; preventative, but once access is achieved, accessibility becomes much more effortless for others (Gault 21). Gault suggests an integrity solution that acts more “like an alarm”, a method focused on monitoring suspicious activity on online databases and platforms that then sends an alert when suspicious activity is detected. (22). Gault argues the loss of integrity is apparent in the cybersecurity industry because of the method in which prevents unauthorized access and thievery does not include elements of integrity. The
Weak passwords are responsible for 76% of data breaches (Keeper Security Whitepaper). Cyber criminals have become much more sophisticated in the past few years at breaking passwords. Two major types of “cracking” methods are used: brute force and dictionary attacks. Brute force is “a trial and error method used by application programs to decode data such as passwords or Data Encryption Standards keys, through exhaustive effort”, thus the term brute force. It is similar to a thief trying multiple combinations to “crack” a safe. Dictionary attacks use large dictionaries, sometimes containing millions of words, to defeat passwords. This technique has been enhanced by the number of accounts that have been compromised in the past few years.
In the article written by Martha Hamilton, Herve Falciani was a bank computer expert who became a wanted man when he exposed HSBC bank in Sweden. He claimed it was done to expose unethical behavior however, the bank claimed he was a disloyal employee who exposed the bank’s practices for personal gains. This paper will define key concepts, rationalize arguments for and against, give a final position on the actions of Mr. Falciani.
Therefore, it is crucial to learn about the methods that hackers use to steal information. By learning about hacking, we can help ourselves and others to stay safe while using the internet.
Notwithstanding, ruptures of physical security can be completed with almost no specialized learning from an invader. In addition, mishaps and characteristic fiascos are a piece of regular life, and in the long haul, are inescapable. At the point when considering and inquiring about Information Security, there are diverse rings of security to consider. A standout amongst the most vital element to consider is physical security. One of the slightest specialized systems for data security misuse is the breaking of the physical security ring. Abusing the physical security of any organization requires negligible, if any, specialized learning from the gatecrasher.
“Businesses, governments, and other organizations face a wide array of information security risks. Some threaten the confidentiality of private information, some threaten the integrity of data and operations, and still others threaten to disrupt availability of critical systems” (Sullivan, 2009). Since such security risks are always going to present in the cyber world, businesses and organizations need to fully be aware of any vulnerabilities in their systems. The initial realization of any organization’s vulnerability can only