Cyber Security Vulnerabilities and Threats

Human Security Controls

• Human security controls include phishing simulations and access management controls which protect mission critical assets from a wide variety of threats such as cyber criminals, malicious insiders, and negligent users.
• Companies that manage, transmit, store, or handle data must monitor their cyber environments, identify vulnerabilities, and close security holes as quickly as possible.
• Cyber Threats are security incidents or circumstances with the potential to have a negative outcome for your network or other data management systems.
• Vulnerabilities are the gaps or weaknesses in a system that make threats possible and tempt threat actors to exploit them.

Security Vulnerabilities, Threats, and Attacks

• There are three main categories of vulnerabilities:
  • Corrupted (Loss of integrity)
  • Leaky (Loss of confidentiality)
  • Unavailable or very slow (Loss of availability)
• Threats represent potential security harm to an asset when vulnerabilities are exploited.
• Attacks are threats that have been carried out. There are four types of attacks:
  • Passive - Using information from a system without affecting a system’s resources.
  • Active - Altering system resources or affecting operation.
  • Insider - Initiated by an entity inside the organization.
  • Outsider - Initiated from outside the perimeter.

Computer Criminals

• Computer criminals have access to a massive amount of hardware, software, and data.
• Computer crime is any crime involving a computer or aided by the use of one.

CIA Triad

• It is a security model used to think about different parts of IT security.
• It has three main components:
  • Confidentiality: Protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access.
  • Integrity: Ensuring information is accurate and complete.
  • Availability: Making sure information and resources are available to authorized users when they need them.

International Law for Cybercrime

• Cybercrime is international; there are no “cyber-borders” between countries.
• The complexity of cybercrime makes it difficult to fight back.
• Fighting cybercrime requires international cooperation.
• Various organizations and governments are working together to establish global standards of legislation and law enforcement on a regional and international scale.

The Indian Cyberspace

• Indian cyberspace began in 1975 with the establishment of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to provide the government with IT solutions.
• Three networks were set up between 1986 and 1988 to connect various agencies of government.
• The New Internet Policy of 1998 paved the way for services from multiple Internet service providers (ISPs) and boosted internet user base growth from 1.4 million in 1999 to over 150 million by December 2012.
• The government is aiming to increase broadband penetration from 6% to 160 million households by 2016 under the National Broadband Plan.

National Cyber Security Policy

• The National Cyber Security Policy is a policy framework set by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology.
• It aims to protect public and private infrastructure from cyberattacks.
• It also intends to safeguard information such as personal information, financial and banking information, and sovereign data.
• It was made in response to leaks suggesting US government agencies were spying on Indian users.

Forensics Analysis of Email

• Email forensics studies the source and content of emails to identify the sender, recipient, data/time of transmission, detailed record of the email transaction, and intent of the sender.
• The study involves investigation of metadata, keyword searching, port scanning, etc.
• Email forensics has several approaches:
  • Header Analysis: Analyzing metadata in the email message in the form of control information which can reveal information about the sender.
  • Bait Tactics : Sending an email with an image source that is monitored by investigators to track the sender.
  • Server Investigation : Investigating copies of delivered emails and server logs to identify the source of an email.
  • Network Device Investigation : Using logs maintained by network devices to investigate the source of an email.
  • Software Embedded Identifiers : Investigating software preferences and options embedded in the email to gather information about the sender's client computer.
  • Sender Mailer Fingerprints: Identifying the software handling email at the server and client to reveal information about the sender's computer.

This quiz covers essential concepts related to human security controls and the key categories of vulnerabilities in cybersecurity. It explores the impact of cyber threats and the necessary measures companies should take to mitigate risks and protect their assets. Test your understanding of how vulnerabilities and threats can affect data management systems.