Data and Application Security: Intro

Introduction to Data and Application Security

• Data security protects data from unauthorized access, corruption, and theft.
• Data security ensures confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA) of data.
• Application security focuses on safeguarding applications from vulnerabilities throughout their lifecycle.
• Application security aims to protect sensitive data processed by applications.
• Importance includes preventing financial and reputational losses due to breaches, maintaining compliance with regulations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA), protecting intellectual and sensitive information

The CIA Triad

• Confidentiality ensures data is accessible only to authorized individuals, using techniques like encryption and access controls.
• Integrity ensures data is accurate and unaltered, using techniques like hashing and digital signatures.
• Availability ensures data is accessible when needed, using techniques like redundancy, backups, and disaster recovery plans.

Common Threats to Data and Applications

• Unauthorized Access: Attackers gaining access to systems or data without permission through password guessing and phishing.
• Data Breaches: Exposure of sensitive data due to weak security controls, such as misconfigured databases and compromised credentials.
• Malware Attacks: Malicious software designed to damage or steal data, including ransomware, spyware, and Trojans.
• Injection Attacks: Exploiting vulnerabilities by injecting malicious inputs, such as SQL injection and command injection.
• Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks: Overloading systems to make systems unavailable using botnets and SYN floods.

Key Principles of Security

• Defense in Depth: A layered security approach to protect against threats, combining firewalls, intrusion detection, and encryption.
• Least Privilege: Granting users and systems the minimum access necessary to reduce the risk of insider threats and compromised accounts.
• Separation of Duties: Splitting responsibilities to prevent abuse of privileges, for example, one person approves a transaction, another executes it.
• Authentication: Verifying user identity.
• Authorization: Determining access levels after authentication.
• Audit and Monitoring: Regularly reviewing logs and system activities to detect anomalies.

Overview of Security Controls

• Preventive Controls: Designed to stop threats before they occur, like firewalls and antivirus software.
• Detective Controls: Identify and alert on potential incidents, like intrusion detection systems (IDS) and log monitoring.
• Corrective Controls: Restore systems after an incident, such as backups and incident response plans.

Regulatory and Legal Frameworks

• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) protects personal data of EU citizens and requires consent, data minimization, and breach notifications.
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects healthcare data in the US, focusing on privacy and security of patient information.
• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) ensures secure handling of credit card information.
• ISO/IEC 27001 provides a framework for managing information security risks.

Tools and Techniques

• Encryption converts plaintext data into unreadable ciphertext and includes Symmetric (AES) and Asymmetric (RSA) types.
• Access Control regulates who can view or use resources, using methods like Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Mandatory Access Control (MAC).
• Vulnerability Scanning identifies weaknesses in systems using tools like Nessus and OpenVAS.
• Penetration Testing simulates attacks to test defenses, using tools like Metasploit and Burp Suite.
• Firewalls monitor and control network traffic and include network firewalls and application firewalls.

Summary

• Data and application security focuses on protecting information and systems from unauthorized access, vulnerabilities, and attacks.
• The CIA triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability) forms the foundation of security.
• Security involves a combination of technical, administrative, and physical controls.
• Compliance with legal frameworks is essential to safeguard sensitive information.
• Continuous monitoring and improvement are critical to staying ahead of evolving threats.