Mallareddy Cyber Notes Introduction
Mallareddy Cyber Notes Introduction
OF
CYBER SECURITY
(R20A6202)
PREPARED BY
V.V. NAGAMANI
K. KOUSHIL REDDY
G. LIKITHA
CYBER SECURITY
(R20A6202)
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1. To understand the basic concepts of cybercrimes.
2. To study different attacks in cybercrimes.
3. To understand the cyber security trends and measures in mobile and wireless devices.
4. To understand different tools and methods used in cybercrime.
5. To study cyber security challenges and implications.
UNIT - I
Introduction to Cyber Security: Basic Cyber Security Concepts, layers of security,
Vulnerability, threat, Harmful acts, Internet Governance – Challenges and Constraints,
Computer Criminals, CIA Triad, Assets and Threat, motive of attackers, active attacks, passive
attacks, Software attacks, hardware attacks, Spectrum of attacks, Taxonomy of various attacks,
IP spoofing, Methods of defense, Security Models, risk management, Cyber Threats- Cyber
Warfare, Cyber Crime, Cyber terrorism, Cyber Espionage, etc., Comprehensive Cyber Security
Policy.
UNIT - II
Cyberspace and the Law & Cyber Forensics: Introduction, Cyber Security Regulations,
Roles of International Law. The INDIAN Cyberspace, National Cyber Security Policy.
Introduction, Historical background of Cyber forensics, Digital Forensics Science, The Need for
Computer Forensics, Cyber Forensics and Digital evidence.
UNIT - III
Cybercrime: Mobile and Wireless Devices: Introduction, Proliferation of Mobile and
Wireless Devices, Trends in Mobility, Credit card Frauds in Mobile and Wireless Computing
Era, Security Challenges Posed by Mobile Devices, Registry Settings for Mobile Devices,
Authentication service Security, Attacks on Mobile/Cell Phones, Mobile Devices: Security
Implications for Organizations, Organizational Measures for Handling Mobile , Organizational
Security Policies and Measures in Mobile Computing Era , Laptops.
UNIT - IV
Cyber Security: Organizational Implications: Introduction cost of cybercrimes and IPR
issues, web threats for organizations, security and privacy implications, social media marketing:
security risks and perils for organizations, social computing and the associated challenges for
organizations. Cybercrime and Cyber terrorism: Introduction, intellectual property in the
cyberspace, the ethical dimension of cybercrimes the psychology, mindset and skills of hackers
and other cybercriminals.
UNIT - V
Privacy Issues: Basic Data Privacy Concepts: Fundamental Concepts, Data Privacy Attacks,
Data linking and profiling, privacy policies and their specifications, privacy policy languages,
privacy indifferent domains- medical, financial ,,etc.
Cybercrime: Examples and Mini-Cases
Mini-Cases: The Indian Case of online Gambling, An Indian Case of Intellectual Property
Crime, Financial Frauds in Cyber Domain.
TEXT BOOKS:
1. Nina Godbole and Sunit Belpure, Cyber Security Understanding Cyber Crimes,
Computer Forensics and Legal Perspectives, Wiley
2. B. B. Gupta, D. P. Agrawal, Haoxiang Wang, Computer and Cyber
Security: Principles, Algorithm, Applications, and Perspectives, CRC Press,
ISBN 9780815371335, 2018.
REFERENCE BOOKS:
1. Cyber Security Essentials, James Graham, Richard Howard and Ryan Otson, CRC Press.
2. Introduction to Cyber Security , Chwan-Hwa(john) Wu,J.David Irwin.CRC
PressT&FGroup
COURSE OUTCOMES:
Student will be able to
Cyber Security is referred to the security offered through online services to protect the online
information.
With an increasing amount of people getting connected to the Internet, the security threats are also
massively increasing.
Cyber Security:
It is the body of technologies, processes and practices designed to protect networks, devices,
programs and data from attack, theft, damage, modification or unauthorized access. It is also called as
Information Technology Security.
OR
Cyber Security is the setoff principles and practices designed to protect the computing resources
and online information against threats.
Understanding Cyber Security:
Maintenance:
Install a security suite that protects the computer against threats such as viruses and worms. (eg.,
Antivirus)
Hackers:
A hacker is a person who uses computers to gain unauthorized access to data.
Types of Hackers:
Black Hat Hackers: (Unethical Hacker or Security Cracker)
These people hack the system illegally to steal money or to achieve their own illegal goals.
They find the banks or organization with weak security and steal money or credit card
information, they can also modifyor destroyconfidential data.
White Hat Hackers: (Ethical Hacker or Penetration Tester)
These people use the same technique used by the black hat hackers, but they can only hack
the system that theyhave permission to hack inorder to test the securityof the system.
They focus on securing and protecting IT System. White Hat Hacker is legal.
Grey Hat Hackers:
Grey Hat Hackers are hybrid of Black hat hackers & White hat hackers
They can hack any system even if they don’t have permission to test the security of the
system but theywill never steal money or damage the system.
Maintenance:
It may be impossible to prevent computer hacking, however effective security controls including
strong passwords and the use of firewalls.
Maintenance:
Download an anti-malware program that also helps prevent infection. Activate network protection
firewall, antivirus.
Trojan Horse:
Trojan horse are email viruses that can duplicate themselves, steal information or harm the computer
system. These viruses are the most serious threats to computers.
Maintenance:
Securitysuits such as Avast Internet Security, which will prevent from downloading Trojan Horses.
Maintenance:
Use always strong password. Never use same password for two different sites.
Vulnerabilities are the gaps or weaknesses in a system that make threats possible and tempt
threat actors to exploit them.
SQL injections,
Server misconfigurations,
Computer Criminals:
Computer crimes have quickly become one of the fastest rising forms of modern crime. According to
cyber experts, approx., 1 million potential cyber-attacks are attempted per day.
Types of Cyber Criminals:
Cyber criminals are also known as hackers. Hackers are extremely difficult to identify on both
individual and group level, due to their various security measures.
Identity Thieves:
Identity thieves are cyber criminals who try to gain access to their victim’s personal
information. They use their information to make financial transaction while impersonating their
victims. Identitytheft is one of the oldest cybercrime.
Internet Stalkers:
Internet Stalkers are individuals who maliciously monitor the online activity of their victims
to acquire personal information.
This form of cybercrime is conducted through the use of social networking platforms and
malware, which are able to track an individual’s computer activity with very little detection.
Businesses should be aware of Internet Stalkers.
Phishing Scammers:
Phishing are cyber criminals who attempt to get hold of personal or sensitive information
through victim’s computer.
This is often done via phishing websites that are designed to copycat small business,
corporateor government websites.
Once such information is obtained, phishers either use the information themselves for
identity fraud scams or sell it in the dark web.
Cyber Terrorists:
Cyber Terrorism is a well-developed politically inspired cyber-attack in which the cyber
criminal attempts to steal data or corrupt corporate or Government computer systems and networks
resulting in harm to countries, business, organizations and even individuals.
The key difference between an act of cyber terrorism and a regular cyber-attack is that
within an attack of cyber terrorism, hackers are politically motivated as opposed to just seeking
financial gain.
CIA Triad
The CIA Triad is actually a security model that has been developed to help people think about
various parts of IT security.
Confidentiality:
Integrity
This is an essential component of the CIA Triad and designed to protect data from deletion or
modification from any unauthorized party, and it ensures that when an authorized person makes a
change that should not have been made the damage can be reversed.
This is the final component of the CIA Triad and refers to the actual availability of your data.
Authentication mechanisms, access channels and systems all have to work properly for the
information they protect and ensure it's available when it is needed.
Standard measures to guarantee Availability include:
Backing up data to external drives
Implementing firewalls
Having backup power supplies
Data redundancy
Motive of Attackers
Correct person to take action Of primary concern here are deliberate actions, of which there are
three categories ofmotivation.
Volume-based attacks- Its goal is to saturate the bandwidth of the attacked site, and is
measured in bit per second.
Protocol attacks- It consumes actual server resources, and is measured in a packet.
Application layer attacks- Its goal is to crash the web server and is measured in request per
second.
7. Dictionary attacks
This type of attack stored the list of a commonly used password and validated them to get
original password.
8. URL Interpretation
It is a type of attack where we can change the certain parts of a URL, and one can make a
web server to deliver web pages for which he is not authorized to browse.
9. File Inclusion attacks
It is a type of attack that allows an attacker to access unauthorized or essential files which is
available on the web server or to execute malicious files on the web server by making use of
the include functionality.
10. Man in the middle attacks
It is a type of attack that allows an attacker to intercepts the connection between client and
server and acts as a bridge between them. Due to this, an attacker will be able to read, insert
and modify the data in the intercepted connection.
System-based attacks
These are the attacks which are intended to compromise a computer or a computer network.
Some of the important system-based attacks are as follows-
2. Virus
It is a type of malicious software program that spread throughout the computer files without
the knowledge of a user. It is a self-replicating malicious computer program that replicates by
inserting copies of itself into other computer programs when executed. It can also execute
instructions that cause harm to the system.
Masquerade: in this attack, the intruder pretends to be a particular user of a system to gain
access or to gain greater privileges than they are authorized for. A masquerade may be
attempted through the use of stolen login IDs and passwords, through finding security gaps in
programs or through bypassing the authentication mechanism.
Session replay: In this type of attack, a hacker steals an authorized user’s log in information
by stealing the session ID. The intruder gains access and the ability to do anything the
authorized user can do on the website.
Message modification: In this attack, an intruder alters packet header addresses to direct a
message to a different destination or modifythe data on a target machine.
In a denial of service (DoS) attack, users are deprived of access to a network or web
resource. This is generally accomplished by overwhelming the target with more traffic than it
can handle.
In a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) exploit, large numbers of compromised systems
Passive Attacks:Passive attacks are relatively scarce from a classification perspective, but
can be carried out with relative ease, particularly if the traffic is not encrypted.
Attack Characteristics
Virus A virus is a programthat attempts to damage a computer system and replicate itself
to other computer systems. A virus:
Logic A Logic Bomb is malware that lies dormant until triggered. A logic bomb is a
Bomb specific example of an asynchronous attack.
Trojan A A A A N/A A
Spyware A A N/A A A A
Blended A A A A A A
Threat
IP Spoofing:
IP spoofing is the creation of Internet Protocol (IP) packets which have a modified source address
in order to either hide the identity of the sender, to impersonate another computer system, or both.
It is a technique often used by bad actors to invoke DDoS attacks against a target device or the
surrounding infrastructure.
Sending and receiving IP packets is a primary way in which networked computers and other
devices communicate, and constitutes the basis of the modern internet. All IPpackets contain a
header which precedes the bodyof the packet and contains important routing information,
While IP spoofing can’t be prevented, measures can be taken to stop spoofed packets from
infiltrating a network. A very common defense against spoofing is ingress filtering, outlined in
BCP38 (a Best Common Practice document). Ingress filtering is a form of packet filtering usually
implemented on a network edge device which examines incoming IP packets and looks at their
source headers. If the source headers on those packets don’t match their origin or they otherwise
look fishy, the packets are rejected. Some networks will also implement egress filtering, which
looks at IP packets exiting the network, ensuring that those packets have legitimate source
headers to prevent someone within the network from launching an outbound malicious attack
using IP spoofing.
Methods of defense
The legal and ethical restrictions on computer-based crime. But unfortunately, computer crime
is certain to continue for the foreseeable future. For this reason, we must look carefully at
controls for preserving confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Sometimes these controls can
prevent or mitigate attacks; other, less powerful methods can only inform us that security has
Security models
The Cyber Security Model (CSM) is part of the Defence Cyber Protection Partnership
(DCPP) which was set up by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to manage and
strengthen cyber security for the defence sector and its suppliers.
The model, which is a joint initiative between the MOD and industry, is in place to
ensure that suppliers to the MOD are managing their cyber security risk appropriately,
and that theyare capable of protecting the MOD’s sensitive information.
The CSM is also the DCPP’s response to the task of designing an appropriate and
proportionate set of controls to build on the Government’s Cyber Essentials scheme.
Since January 2016, all suppliers dealing with contracts which include sensitive, MOD-
identifiable information must be Cyber Essentials certified as a minimum.
However, some contracts carry an additional risk and require stricter security controls
to be in place. The MOD felt that the Cyber Essentials scheme did not represent a
broad enough degree of security because it only covered five major security controls
and did not include wider aspects of cyber security such as governance and risk
management, and this is why the CSM was introduced.
Risk management
Risk management refers to the process of identifying, assessing, and controlling threats
to a company’s finances. These risks or threats could come from a number of sources
including legal liabilities, strategic management mistakes, accidents, and natural
disasters. As we move toward an increasingly digital way of life, cyber security
introduces additional risks that have to be managed appropriately.
It’s possible to invest in various types of insurance to protect physical assets from
losses, but digital data isn’t tangible – and therefore isn’t covered under these kinds of
policies.
Cyber security risk management relies on user education, strategy, and technology to
protect an organization against attacks that could compromise systems, allow data to be
CYBER SECURITY Page 18
stolen, and ultimately damage the company’s reputation. The rate of cyber attacks
continues to grow both in terms of volume and severity. As such, businesses who want
to protect themselves to the best of their ability must begin focusing efforts on cyber
securityrisk management.
You want to begin the process by starting with a cyber security framework that’s been
developed from each area of your business to determine what your desired risk posture
should be.
It’s a good idea to use technology that can help you find an app data across the
organization. Once the data is mapped, you’ll be able to make better decisions on how
the data is governed and reduce your risk. For instance, even with training and strong
security culture, it’s possible for sensitive information to leave a company by accident.
Leaving data stored in hidden rows across spreadsheets or included in notes within
employee presentations or email threads leave your room for accidental data leakage.
By scanning the company for sensitive data at rest and then removing any of that data
stored where it does not belong, you greatly reduce the risk of accidental data loss.
Initial
This is the starting point for using a new or undocumented repeat process.Repeatable
At this stage, the process is documented well enough that repeating the same steps canbe
attempted.
Defined
At this level, the process has been defined and is confirmed as a standard business
process.
Managed
Optimizing
At the final stage, the process management process includes deliver it action to
optimize and improve it.
Once you’ve determined the desired risk posture, take a look at your existing
technology infrastructure to set the baseline for the current risk posture, then determine
what must be done to move from the current state to the desired state.
As long as your organization is taking proactive steps to understand all the potential
risks, you decrease the likelihood of running into a security incident that could hurt the
A vital part of the risk management process is to conduct a risk and reward calculation.
This helps prioritize security enhancements that will give you the greatest
improvements at the lowest cost. Some companies may be comfortable with 99% of all
security upgrades being made but others especially those in highly regulated industries,
will want to be closer to 100%. Because of this, there should be incremental steps and
goals such as a 5% Improvement achieved within 6 months, that can be measured to
determine if the company is making progress toward its final goal.
That said, even small security vulnerabilities can lead to massive losses if systems are
connected in a way that allows access to an unimportant area to bridge entry into
systems that contain sensitive data.
The only way to ensure a system is fully secure is to make sure no one can access it –
which isn’t practical. The more you lock down a system, the harder it becomes for
authorized personnel to conduct business as usual. If authorized users determine they
cannot access the data they need to perform their jobs, they may look for workarounds
that could easily result in compromised systems.
So you will never be able to eliminate all cyber threats and security risks, there are a
number of precautions you can take to mitigate risks when it comes to cybersecurity.
Among these are the option to:
Limit the number of staff members with administrator credentials and control the rights
for each administrator
Require users to implement two-factor authentication to gain access to certain files and
systems
Use firewalls
To take risk mitigation a step further, your organization may also want to consider
advanced encryption, redaction, an element level security. Advanced encryption has to
be implemented systematically and strategically to protect data from cybercriminals and
insider threats. This includes standards-based cryptography, advanced key management,
granular role-based access and separation of duties, and algorithms that drastically
Data encryption can help protect against outside breaches, but it doesn’t do much to
prevent internal data theft. Employees with access to sensitive data will have the
credentials needed to decrypt it as part of their daily work, so organizations must also
take action to prevent that data from being removed from the corporate system through
flash drives and other removable media.
Redaction creates a balance between data protection and the ability to share it. With
redaction, companies can share the information they need to share with minimal effort
by hiding sensitive information such as names, social security numbers, addresses, and
more.
Cyber Threats:
Cyber Warfare: Cyber warfare refers to the use of digital attacks -- like computer
viruses and hacking -- by one country to disrupt the vital computer systems of another,
with the aim of creating damage, death and destruction. Future wars will see hackers
using computer code to attack an enemy's infrastructure, fighting alongside troops using
conventional weapons like guns and missiles.
Cyber Crime:
Cybercrime is criminal activitythat either targets or uses a computer, a computer network
or a networked device. Cybercrime is committed by cybercriminals or hackers who want
to make money. Cybercrime is carried out byindividuals or organizations.
Some cybercriminals are organized, use advanced techniques and are highly technically
skilled. Others are novice hackers.
Cyber Terrorism:
Cyber terrorism is the convergence of cyberspace and terrorism. It refers to unlawful
attacks and threats of attacks against computers, networks and the information stored
therein when done to intimidate or coerce a government or its people in furtherance of
political or social objectives.
Cyber Espionage:
Cyber spying, or cyber espionage, is the act or practice of obtaining secrets and
information without the permission and knowledge of the holder of the information from
Security Policies:
Security policies are a formal set of rules which is issued by an organization to ensure that
the user who are authorized to access company technology and information assets comply
with rules and guidelines related to the securityof information.
A security policy also considered to be a "living document" which means that the document
is never finished, but it is continuously updated as requirements of the technology and
employee changes.
We use security policies to manage our network security. Most types of security policies are
automatically created during the installation. We can also customize policies to suit our
specific environment.
1) It increases efficiency.
It blocks the unauthorized users from accessing the systems and networks that connect
to the Internet.
It detects the attacks bycybercriminals and removes the unwanted sources of network
traffic.
Intrusion Prevention policy:
This policy automatically detects and blocks the network attacks and browser attacks.
It also protects applications from vulnerabilities and checks the contents of one or
more data packages and detects malware which is coming through legal ways.
This policy protects a system's resources from applications and manages the
peripheraldevices that can attach to a system.
The device control policy applies to both Windows and Mac computers whereas
application control policy can be applied only to Windows clients.
CYBERSPACE
Cyberspace can be defined as an intricate environment that involves interactions between
people, software, and services. It is maintained by the worldwide distribution of information
and communication technologydevices and networks.
With the benefits carried by the technological advancements, the cyberspace today has
become a common pool used by citizens, businesses, critical information infrastructure,
military and governments in a fashion that makes it hard to induce clear boundaries among
these different groups. The cyberspace is anticipated to become even more complex in the
upcoming years, with the increase in networks and devices connected to it.
REGULATIONS
There are five predominant laws to cover when it comes to cybersecurity:
Information Technology Act, 2000 The Indian cyber laws are governed by the Information
Technology Act, penned down back in 2000. The principal impetus of this Act is to offer
reliable legal inclusiveness to eCommerce, facilitating registration of real-time records with
the Government.
But with the cyber attackers getting sneakier, topped by the human tendency to misuse
technology, a series of amendments followed.
The ITA, enacted by the Parliament of India, highlights the grievous punishments and
penalties safeguarding the e-governance, e-banking, and e-commerce sectors. Now, the scope
of ITA has been enhanced to encompass all the latest communication devices.
The IT Act is the salient one, guiding the entire Indian legislation to govern cybercrimes
rigorously:
Section 43 - Applicable to people who damage the computer systems without permission
fromthe owner. The owner can fully claim compensation for the entire damage in such cases.
Section 66 - Applicable in case a person is found to dishonestly or fraudulently committing
any act referred to in section 43. The imprisonment term in such instances can mount up to
three years or a fine of up to Rs. 5 lakh.
Section 66B - Incorporates the punishments for fraudulently receiving stolen communication
devices or computers, which confirms a probable three years imprisonment. This term can
also be topped byRs. 1 lakh fine, depending upon the severity.
Section 66C - This section scrutinizes the identity thefts related to imposter digital
signatures, hacking passwords, or other distinctive identification features. If proven guilty,
imprisonment of three years might also be backed by Rs.1 lakh fine.
NIST Compliance
The Cybersecurity Framework (NCFS), authorized by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST), offers a harmonized approach to cybersecurity as the most reliable
global certifying body.
NIST Cybersecurity Framework encompasses all required guidelines, standards, and best
practices to manage the cyber-related risks responsibly. This framework is prioritized on
flexibility and cost-effectiveness.
It promotes the resilience and protection of critical infrastructure by: Allowing better
interpretation, management, and reduction of cybersecurity risks – to mitigate data loss, data
misuse, and the subsequent restoration costs Determining the most important activities and
critical operations - to focus on securing them Demonstrates the trust-worthiness of
organizations who secure critical assets Helps to prioritize investments to maximize the
cybersecurity ROI Addresses regulatory and contractual obligations Supports the wider
information security program By combining the NIST CSF framework with ISO/IEC 27001 -
cybersecurity risk management becomes simplified. It also makes communication easier
Indian cyberspace was born in 1975 with the establishment of National Informatics Centre
(NIC) with an aim to provide govt with IT solutions. Three networks (NWs) were set up
between 1986 and 1988 to connect various agencies of govt. These NWs were, INDONET
which connected the IBM mainframe installations that made up India’s computer
infrastructure, NICNET (the NIC NW) a nationwide very small aperture terminal (VSAT)
NW for public sector organisations as well as to connect the central govt with the state govts
and district administrations, the third NW setup was ERNET (the Education and Research
Network), to serve the academic and research communities.
New Internet Policy of 1998 paved the way for services from multiple Internet service
providers (ISPs) and gave boost to the Internet user base grow from 1.4 million in 1999 to
over 150 million by Dec 2012. Exponential growth rate is attributed to increasing Internet
To create a secure cyber ecosystem in the country, generate adequate trust and
confidence in IT system and transactions in cyberspace and thereby enhance adoption
of IT in all sectors of the economy.
To create an assurance framework for the design of security policies and promotion
and enabling actions for compliance to global security standards and best practices by
wayof conformityassessment (Product, process, technology & people).
To strengthen the Regulatory Framework for ensuring a SECURE CYBERSPACE
ECOSYSTEM.
To enhance and create National and Sectoral level 24X7 mechanism for obtaining
strategic information regarding threats to ICT infrastructure, creating scenarios for
response, resolution and crisis management through effective predictive, preventive,
protective response and recoveryactions.
The forensic examination of computers, and data storage media, is a complicated and highly
specialized process. The results of forensic examinations are compiled and included in
reports. In many cases, examiners testify to their findings, where their skills and abilities are
put to ultimate scrutiny.
DIGITAL FORENSICS:
Digital Forensics helps the forensic team to analyzes, inspect, identifies, and preserve the
digital evidence residing on various types of electronic devices.
Digital forensic science is a branch of forensic science that focuses on the recovery and
investigation of material found in digital devices related to cybercrime.
Digital evidence is information stored or transmitted in binary form that may be relied on in
court. It can be found on a computer hard drive, a mobile phone, among other places. Digital
evidence is commonly associated with electronic crime, or e-crime, such as child
pornography or credit card fraud. However, digital evidence is now used to prosecute all
types of crimes, not just e-crime. For example, suspects' e-mail or mobile phone files might
contain critical evidence regarding their intent, their whereabouts at the time of a crime and
their relationship with other suspects. In 2005, for example, a floppy disk led investigators to
the BTK serial killer who had eluded police capture since 1974 and claimed the lives of at
least 10 victims.
INTRODUCTION: Why should mobile devices be protected? Every day, mobile devices are
lost, stolen, and infected. Mobile devices can store important business and
personal information, and are often be used to access Universitysystems, email, banking
Mobile computing is "taking a computer and all necessary files and software out into the
field." Many types of mobile computers have been introduced since 1990s. They are as
follows:
1. Portable computer: It is a general-purpose computer that can be easily moved from one
place to another, but cannot be used while in transit, usually because it requires some "setting-
up" and an AC power source.
2. Denial-of-service (DoS): The main objective behind this attack is to make the system
unavailable to the intended users. Virus attacks can be used to damage the system to make the
system unavailable. Presently, one of the most common cyber security threats to wired
Internet service providers (iSPs) is a distributed denial-of-service (DDos) attack .DDoS
Mobile - Viruses
Concept of Mishing
Concept of Vishing
Concept of Smishing
Hacking - Bluetooth
Mobile Devices: Security Implications for Organizations
We have talked about the micro issues of purely technical nature in mobile device
security. Given the threats to information systems through usage of mobile devices,
the organizations need to establish security practices at a level appropriate to their
securityobjectives, subject to legaland other externalconstraints.
We would like to emphasize upon widening the spectrum of mobile devices and focuson
secondary storage devices, such as compact disks (CDs) and Universal Serial Bus (USB)
drives (also called zip drive, memorysticks) used by employees.
As the technology is advancing, the devices continue to decrease in size and emerge in
new shapes and sizes – unconventional/stealth storage devices available nowadays are
difficult to detect and have become a prime challenge for organizational security.
Control the access to devices depending on the time of the dayand day of the week.
Createthe white list of USB devices whichallows you to authorize onlyspecific devices
that will not be locked regardless of anyother settings.
This is a new emerging issue for cyber security. Often mobile hand-held devices are lost
while people are on the move. Lost mobile devices are becoming even a larger security
risk to corporations.
Readers can appreciate the importance of data protection especially when it resides ona
mobile hand-held device. At an individual level, employees need to worryabout this.
2. Laptop safes: Safes made of polycarbonate - the same material that is used in bulletproof
windows, police riot shields and bank security screens-can be used to carry and safeguard the
laptops. The advantage of safes over security cables is that they protect the whole laptop and
its devices such as CD-ROM bays, PCMCIA cards and HDD bays which can be easily
removed in the case of laptops protected bysecurity cables.
3. Motion sensors and alarms: Even though alarms and motion sensors are annoying owing
to their false alarms and loud sound level, these devices are very efficient in securing laptops.
Once these devices are activated, they can be used to track missing laptops in crowded
places. Also owing to their loud nature, they help in deterring thieves. Modern systems for
laptops are designed wherein the alarm device attached to the laptop transmits radio signals to
a certain range around the laptop.
4. Warning labels and stamps: Warning labels containing tracking information and
identification details can be fixed onto the laptop to deter aspiring thieves. These labels
CYBER SECURITY Page 38
cannot be removed easily and are a low-cost solution to a laptop theft. These labels have an
identification number that is stored in a universal database for verification, which, in turn
makes the resale of stolen laptops a difficult process. Such labels are highly recommended for
the laptops issued to top executives and/or keyemployees of the organizations.
5. Other measures for protecting laptops are as follows:
Engraving the laptop with personal details
Keeping the laptop close to oneself wherever possible
Carrying the laptop in a different and unobvious bag making it unobvious to potential
thieves
Creating the awareness among the employees to understand the responsibility of
carrying a laptop and also about the sensitivity of the information contained in the
laptop
Making a copy of the purchase receipt, laptop serial number and the description of the
laptop
Installing encryption software to protect information stored on the laptop
Using personal firewall software to block unwanted access and intrusion
Updating the antivirus software regularly
Tight office security using securityguards and securing the laptop by locking it down
in lockers when not in use
Never leaving the laptop unattended in public places such as the car, parking lot,
conventions, conferences and the airport until it is fitted with an antitheft device;
Disabling IR ports and wireless cards and removing PCMCIA cards when not in use.
Information systems security also contains logical access controls. This is because,
information, be it corporate or private, needs high security as it is the most important asset of
an organization or an individual. A few logical or access controls are as follows:
1. Protecting from malicious programs/attackers/social engineering.
2. Avoiding weak passwords/ access.
3. Monitoring application securityand scanning for vulnerabilities.
4. Ensuring that unencrypted data/unprotected file systems do not pose threats.
5. Proper handing of removable drives/storage mediums /unnecessaryports.
6. Password protection through appropriate passwords rules and use of strong
passwords.
7. Locking down unwanted ports/devices.
8. Regularly installing securitypatches and updates.
9. Installing antivirus software/firewalls / intrusion detection system (IDSs).
10. Encrypting critical file systems.
Introduction:
In the global environment with continuous network connectivity, the possibilities for cyberattacks
can emanate from sources that are local, remote, domestic or foreign. They could be launched by an
individual or a group. They could be casual probes from hackers using personal computers (PCs) in
their homes, hand-held devices or intense scans from criminal groups.
Most information the organization collects about an individual is likely to come under “PI” category
if it can be attributed to an individual. For an example, PI is an individual’s first name or first initial
and last name in combination with any of the following data:
1. Social securitynumber (SSN)/social insurance number.
2. Driver’s license number or identification card number.
3. Bank account number, credit or debit card number with personal identification number such as
an access code, security codes or password that would permit access to an individual’s financial
account.
4. Home address or E-Mail address.
5. Medical or health information.
• A case in point is the infamous “Heartland Payment System Fraud” that was uncovered in
January 2010.
• In this case, the concerned organization suffered a serious blow through nearly 100 million
credit cards compromised from at least 650 financial services companies.
• When a card is used to make a purchase, the card information is transmitted through a payment
network.
• A piece of malicious software (keystroke logger) planted on the company’s payment processing
network; recorded payment card data as it was being sent for processing to Heartland by
thousands of the company’s retail clients.
• Digital information within the magnetic stripe on the back of credit/debit cards was copied by
keylogger.
• Criminal created counterfeit credit cards.
• Yet another incidence is the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Data Breach in October 2009 the
theft of 57 hard drives from a BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee training facility puts the
private information of approximately 500,000 customers at risk in at least 32 states.
• The hard drives containing 1.3 million audio files and 300,000 video files related to
coordination of care and eligibility telephone calls from providers and members were reportedly
stolen from a leased office.
1. Physical security is very important.
2. Insider threats cannot be ignored.
1. Informational/data privacy: It is about data protection, and the user’s rights to determine how,
when and to what extent information about them is communicated to other parties.
2. Personal privacy: It is about content filtering and other mechanisms to ensure that the end-
users are not exposed to whatever violates their moral senses.
3. Communication privacy: This is as in networks, where encryption of data being transmitted is
important.
4. Territorial privacy: It is about protecting user’s property.
For example, the user devices from being invaded byundesired content such as SMS or
E-Mail/Spam messages.
The keychallenges from emerging new information threats to organizations are as follows:
1. Industrial espionage: There are several tools available for web administrators to monitor and
track the various pages and objects that are accessed on their website.
2. IP-based blocking: This process is often used for blocking the access of specific IP addresses
and/or domain names.
3. IP-based “cloaking”: Businesses are global in nature and economies are interconnected. There
are websites that change their online content depending on a user’s IP address or user’s
geographic location.
4. Cyberterrorism: “Cyberterrorism” refers to the direct intervention of a threat source toward
your organization’s website.
5. Confidential information leakage: “Insider attacks” are the worst ones. Typically, an
organization is protected from external threats by your firewall and antivirus solution.
There are many new endpoints in today’s complex networks; they include hand-held devices.
1. Endpoint protection: It is an often-ignored area but it is IP-based printers, although they are
passive devices, are also one of the endpoints.
2. Secure coding: These practices are important because they are a good mitigation control to
protect organizations from “Malicious Code” inside business applications.
3. HR checks: These are important prior to employment as well as after employment.
4. Access controls: These are always important, for example, shared IDs and shared laptops are
dangerous. (for confidential and sensitive data).
5. Importance of security governance: It cannot be ignored - policies, procedures and their
effective implementation cannot be over-emphasized.
The most often quoted reasons byemployees, for use of pirated software, are as follows:
• Cloud computing is one of the top 10 Cyber Threats to organizations. There are data privacy
risks through cloud computing. Organizations should think about privacy scenarios in terms of
“user spheres”.
• There are three kinds of spheres and their characteristics:
1. User sphere: Here data is stored on user’s desktops, PCs, laptops, mobile phones, Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) chips, etc. Organization’s responsibility is to provide
access to users and monitor that access to ensure misuse does not happen.
2. Recipient sphere: Here, data lies with recipients: servers and databases of network
providers, service providers or other parties with whom data recipient shares data.
• Social media marketing has become dominant in the industry. According to fall 2009 survey by
marketing professionals; usage of social media sites by large business-to-business (B2B)
organizations shows the following:
• Facebook is used by 37% of the organizations.
• LinkedIn is used by36% of the organizations.
• Twitter is used by 36% of the organizations.
• YouTube is used by 22% of the organizations.
• MySpace is used by 6% of the organizations
• Although the use of social media marketing site is rampant, there is a problem related to “social
computing” or “social media marketing” – the problem of privacythreats.
• Exposures to sensitive PI and confidential business information are possible if due care is not taken
byorganizations while using the mode of “social media marketing.”
Following are the most typical reasons why organizations use social media marketing to promote
their products and services:
1. To be able to reach to a larger target audience in a more spontaneous and instantaneous manner
without paying large advertising fees.
There are other tools too that organizations use; industrypractices indicate the following:
1. Twitter is used with higher priority to reach out to maximum marketers in the technology space
and monitor the space.
2. Professional networking tool LinkedIn is used to connect with and create a community of top
executives from the Fortune 500.
3. Facebook as the social group or social community tool is used to drive more traffic to Websense
website and increase awareness about Websense.
4. YouTube (the video capability tool to run demonstrations of products/services, etc.) is used to
increase the brand awareness and create a presence for corporate videos.
5. Wikipedia is also used for brand building and driving traffic.
• There are conflict views about social media marketing some people in IT say the expensive and
careless use of it. Some illustrate the advantages of it with proper control of Securityrisk
5. Use of Firewalls:
• Firewalls helps organizations keep their securitytechnologyup to date.
• Some firewalls provides a comprehensive analysis of all data traffic.
• Deep inspection of Network traffic makes it possible to monitor the type of data traffic,
the websites from which it is coming, to know the web browsing patterns and peer-to-
peer applications to encrypted data traffic in SSL tunnel.
• The firewall decrypt the SSL data stream for inspection and encrypt it again before
forwarding the data to the Network.
• This results in effective protection of Workstations and other endpoints, internal
networks, hosts and servers against attacks within the SSL tunnels.
Cyberattacks can come in the form of viruses, malware, email phishing, social media
fraud - the spectrum of cyber threats is limitless. We are more interconnected than ever
before, but for all of the advantages, that connectivity leaves us vulnerable to the risks of
fraud, theft, abuse, and attack. Cybercrime can have wide-ranging impacts, at the
individual, local, state, and national levels.
Organized cybercrime, state-sponsored hackers, and cyber espionage can pose national
securityrisks to our countryand our critical infrastructure.
Transportation, power, and other services may be disrupted by large scale cyber incidents.
The extent of the disruption is highly uncertain as it will be determined by many unknown
factors such as the target and size of the incident.
Cyberattacks can come in the form of viruses, malware, email phishing, social media fraud - the spectrum of
cyber threats is limitless. We are more interconnected than ever before, but for all of the advantages, that
connectivity leaves us vulnerable to the risks of fraud, theft, abuse, and attack. Cybercrime can have wide-
ranging impacts, at the individual, local, state, and national levels.
Organized cybercrime, state-sponsored hackers, and cyber espionage can pose national security
risks to our country and our critical infrastructure.
Transportation, power, and other services may be disrupted by large scale cyber incidents. The
extent of the disruption is highly uncertain as it will be determined by many unknown factors such as
the target and size of the incident.
Vulnerability to data breach and loss increases if an organization's network is compromised.
Information about a company, its employees, and its customers can be at risk.
Individually-owned devices such as computers, tablets, mobile phones, and gaming systems that
connect to the Internet are vulnerable to intrusion. Personal information may be at risk without proper
security.
In common use, property is simply ‘one’s own thing’ and refers to the relationship between
individuals and the objects which they see as being their own to dispensewith as they see fit. Scholars
in the social sciences frequently conceive of property asa ‘bundle of rights and obligations’. They
stress that property is not a relationship between people and things, but a
relationship between people with regard to things. Property is often conceptualized as the rights of
‘ownership’ as defined in law. Private property is that which belongs to an individual; public
property is that which belongs to a community collectively or a State. Property is usually thought of
in terms of a bundle of rights as defined and protected by the sovereign.
Traditionally, that bundle of rights includes: z control use of the property z benefit from the
property (e. g.: mining rights and rent) z transfer or selling of the property z exclude others from
the property Intellectual Property Protection in Cyberspace .
The term intellectual property reflects the idea that this subject matter is the product of the mind or
the intellect, and that intellectual property rights may be protected at law in the same way as any
other form of property. Intellectual property laws are territorial such that the registration or
enforcement of IP rights must be pursued separately in each jurisdiction of interest.
However, these laws are becoming increasingly harmonised through the effects of international
treaties such as the Berne Convention, Paris Convention and WTO Agreement on TradeRelated
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. Intellectual property laws confer a bundle of exclusive
rights in relation to the particular form or manner in which ideas or information are expressed or
manifested, and not in relation to the ideas or conceptsthemselves.
The term “intellectual property” denotes the specific legal rights which authors, inventors and
other IP holders may hold and exercise, and not the intellectual work itself. Intellectual property
laws are designed to protect different forms of intangible subject matter, although in some cases
there is a degree of overlap. Like other forms of property, intellectual property (or rather the
exclusive rights which subsist in the IP) can be transferred or licensed to third parties. There are
various kinds of tools of protection that come under the umbrella term ‘intellectual property’.
Important among these are the following: z Patents z Trademarks z Geographical Indications z
Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits z Trade Secrets z Copyrights z Industrial Designs Out of this
tool kitty mainly it is copyright and trademark which are of relevance when we discuss intellectual
property protection in cyberspace. Before proceeding to discuss the exact application of IP laws
and their implication in cyberspace, it becomes imperative to know in some greater detail about
them.
After reading this unit, you should be able to: z explain the term intellectual property; z describe the
basic concept of copyright and the rights included in the term copyright; z explain infringement of
copyright and what are the remedies; z explain the concept of trademark the rights of trademark and
CYBER SECURITY Page 53
remedies for their search; and z describe the challenges faced by IPR in cyberspace.
Intellectual Property in Cyberspace. Basic Concept Copyright is a right given by law to the creators
of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and producers of cinematograph films and sound
recordings to do or authorize the doing of certain acts with regard to their creations. It is a kind of
protection against unauthorized use or misuse of a work, but for a
limited duration.
Generally the rights include the rights of authorship, reproduction, distribution, communication to
the public, broadcasting, adaptation and translation. The exact nomenclature and scope of the rights
may vary from country to country and from a class of work to another class of work. However,
international treaties such as the Berne Convention for the protection of Literary and Artistic
Works and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights have brought in
some kind of harmonization in these rights. In India, copyright is governed by the Copyright Act,
1957, the Copyright Rules, 1958 and the International Copyright Order, 1999. The Copyright Act
provides the basic law so far as copyrights are concerned, the Copyright Rules contain the rules and
regulations as well as various procedures and the International Copyright Order extends copyright
protection to works of nationals of specified foreign countries.
The Copyright Act classifies the works in which copyright subsists in India in to the
following three classes:
The scope of ‘literary work’ includes any “work which is expressed in print or writing, irrespective of
the question whether the quality or style is high”. It also includes computer programs and computer
databases. Dramatic work includes any piece for recitation, choreographic work or entertainment in
dumb show, the scenic arrangement or acting, form of which is fixed in writing or otherwise but does
not include a cinematograph film. Musical work means a work consisting of music and includes any
graphical notation of such work but does not include any words or any action intended to be sung,
spoken or performed with the music. Artistic work means a painting, a sculpture, a drawing
(including a diagram, map, chart or plan), an engraving or a photograph, whether or not any such
workpossesses artistic quality; a work of architecture; and any other work of artistic craftsmanship.
The Copyright Act defines cinematograph film as “any work of visual recording on any medium
produced through a process from which a moving image may be produced by any means and,
includes a sound recording accompanying such visual recording”. Sound recording (phonogram) is
a recording of sounds from which sounds can be produced regardless of the medium on which
such recording is made or the method by which the sounds are produced. Please answer the
following Self Assessment Question. Self Assessment Question 1 Spend 2 Min. Copyright is
governed by Act.
Intellectual Property Protection in Cyberspace 8 8.3.2 Rights Included in the term ‘Copyright’
Copyright is a bundle of rights and this bundle can be broadly classified into two categories, viz.
economic rights and moral rights. Economic rights are so called because “they imply as a rule that
within the limitations set by the copyright law the owner of the copyright may make all public use
of the work conditional on payment of remuneration”.
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These rights enable the copyright owner to reap economic returns for his work. The major
economic rights available in the Indian copyright Act are the following:
(a) Right of Reproduction
(b) Right to Issue Copies of a Work
(c) Rights of Public Performance
(d) Right of Communication to the Public
(e) Adaptation Right
(f) Translation Right Right of reproduction is the most fundamental of all economic rights. The
right envisages that copyright owner has the exclusive right to authorize the making of one or
more copies of a work or of a substantial part of it in any material form, including sound and visual
recording. The most common kind of reproduction is printing an edition of a book. Storing of a
work in any medium by electronic means is also reproduction. The Copyright Act gives the right of
reproduction in all classes of works. Moral Rights are generally provided with a view to assert the
authorship on a work and also to uphold the right of integrity. The Indian Copyright Act provides
this as special rights of authors to claim authorship of the work and to restrain or claim damages in
respect of any distortion, mutilation, modification or other act in relation to the said work which
is done before the expiration of the term of copyright if such distortion, mutilation, modification or
otheract would be prejudicial to his honour or reputation. Moral rights are independent of the
economic rights and remain with the author even after he has transferred his economic rights. In the
era of digital technologies, moral rights, particularly right of integrity, are very necessary to
safeguard against misuse and distortion of an author’s work.
Copyright, being a property right, can be transferred or assigned to another person. It can also be
inherited during the time it exists. Without transferring or assigning, a copyright owner can license
specified uses by others. 8.3.3 Infringement of Copyright and Remedies Thereof Any copying or
duplication, adaptation, translation, public performance, communication to the public or broadcast
done without the authorization of the copyright owner, or even where any work has been licensed or
assigned, any violation of the conditions of the licence or assignment constitutes copyright
infringement. Any import of infringing copies also constitutes copyright infringement. Even such
copies made outside India cannot be imported into India without infringing copyright where such
copies, if made in India, would infringe copyright, even if it may not be an infringement in the
country of origin.
Since copyright is a proprietary right, the owner has to administer his own rights. The Copyright
Act provides for collective Intellectual Property in Cyberspace 9 administration of rights through
registered copyright societies. These societies have to be formed voluntarily by the copyright
owners. Only the owner of copyright or the society who have the rights can institute civil and
criminal proceedings against infringement of his works. Civil remedies include injunction, and
damages.
Copyright infringement is also a cognizable offence. Copyright infringement is punishable with
imprisonment for a term ranging from six months to three years and with a fine ranging from Rs.
50,000 to Rs. Two lakh. District Courts have been given jurisdiction to try the suits relating to
copyright violation within the vicinity of which the owner of the
copyright resides or carries on business. 8.3.4 Limitations/Exceptions to Copyright The rights
granted by copyright are exclusive in nature. This exclusivity is sometimes criticised as monopoly in
favour of the right owners.
Therefore, in order to balance these opposing private and public interests the legislature provides the
remedy in the form of drawing limitations/exceptions to copyright. This is achieved by two means;
firstly, limiting the duration in which a work enjoys copyright protection, and secondly, allowing
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certain uses without specific authorization by the owner of copyrights, known as fair use provisions in
copyright parlance. Copyright is an intellectual property right and like all other intellectual property
rights it is for a limited duration.
This limitation emanates from the basic concept of intellectual property right that while creators
of intellectual property have the right to control the reproduction and other uses of their works,
they being essential elements in the scientific and cultural progress of humanity, the society has
the right to access and share the same so that social and cultural life of humanity gets enriched.
While the Berne Convention provides for a minimum period of protection which is life term of the
author plus 50 years thereafter, national governments are free to provide a longer term of protection.
In India, original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works enjoy copyright protection for the
lifetime of the author plus 60 years if they are published within the lifetime of the author.
Many types of exploitation of a copyrighted work which are for social purposes such as education,
religious ceremonies, and so on are exempted from the operation of the rights granted in the Act.
For example, playing music at religious ceremonies, including marriage processions and marriage
festivities, official functions of central and state governments and local bodies will not be affected
by copyright.
This is done in keeping with the social and cultural traditions of the country. 8.3.5 Registration of
Copyright The Copyright Act provides for registration of works. However, the registration under the Act
is voluntary and not obligatory. Registration does not itself confer copyright but the particulars entered
in the Register of Copyright maintained inthe Copyright Office constitute prima facie evidence of
ownership of copyright in copyright cases. As per the provisions of the Act, copyright subsists in any
work as soon as it is created, without any formality like registration being observed. 8.3.6 International
Nature ofCopyright Protection Copyrights are national in nature.
This means that your rights are recognised by your national laws and extend to the territorial
limits of your country. However, international treaties like the Berne Convention for the
Protection of Literary and Artistic Works Intellectual Property Protection in Cyberspace 10
(1886) the Universal Copyright Convention (1952) and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property Rights (1994) ensure protection of copyrights of nationals of a member
country in all other member countries. Through the principle of ‘National Treatment’ it is ensured
that foreigners if they are nationals of a membercountry, are given the same rights enjoyed by the
nationals, except in the matter of term of protection.
India is part of the international copyright regime through its membership of Berne Convention for
the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, Convention Establishing the
We saw that the ‘good life’ is what ethical action seeks to protect and promote. We’ll say more
later about the ‘good life’ and why we are ethically obligated to care about the lives of others
beyond ourselves. But for now, we can define an ethical issue as ‘important’ or ‘significant’ when
its associated harms or benefits have a substantial possibility of making a difference to certain
individuals’ chances of having a good life, or the chances of a group to live well: that is, to
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flourish in society together. Some harms and benefits are not ethically significant.
Say I prefer Coke to Pepsi. If I ask for a Coke and you hand me a Pepsi, even if I am disappointed,
you haven’t impacted my life in any ethically significant way. Some harms and benefits are too
trivial to make a meaningful difference to how our life goes. Also, ethics implies human choice; a
harm that is done to me by a wild tiger or a bolt of lightning might be very significant, but won’t be
ethically significant, for it’s unreasonable to expect a tiger or a bolt of lightning to take my life or
welfare into account.3 In many technical contexts, such as the engineering, manufacture, and use of
aeronautics, nuclear power containment structures, surgical devices, buildings, and bridges, it is very
easy to see the ethically significant harms that can come from poor technical choices, and very easy
to see the ethically significant benefits of choosing to follow the best technical practices known to
us.
All of these contexts present obvious issues of ‘life or death’ in practice; innocent people will die if
we disregard public welfare and act negligently or irresponsibly, and people will generally enjoy
better lives if we do things right. Because ‘doing things right’ in these contexts preserves or even
enhances the opportunities that other people have to enjoy a good life, good technical practice in
such contexts is also ethical practice. A civil engineer who willfully or recklessly ignores a bridge
design specification, resulting in the later collapse of said bridge and the deaths of a dozen people, is
not just bad at his or her job. Such an engineer is also guilty of an ethical failure—and this would be
true even if they just so happened to be shielded from legal, professional, or community punishment
for the collapse.
In the context of cybersecurity practice, the potential harms and benefits are no less real or ethically
significant, up to and including matters of life and death. But due to the fact that cybersecurity efforts
are often carried out ‘behind the scenes,’ largely hidden away from customers, clients, and other
users, the ethical nature of cybersecurity practice can be harder to recognize. This part of the module
seeks to make these issues more visible.
Alok (name changed on request) is in his early teens, not the age when he should be making
thousands of dollars. Alok is a hacker who lives on the dangerous by-lanes of the internet— the
dark web. Accessible only through browsers designed to promote anonymity and confuse law
enforcement, the dark web is where the nefarious elements of the internet hang out. The baby-
faced Alok has been working with a hacker collective on the dark web for nearly three years now.
In those three years, he has been party to several instances of theft and trading, particularly of credit
card information, on the dark web and its marketplaces. He was never a leader, but one of the foot
soldiers, yet he managed to earn bitcoins that are now worth thousands of dollars. Alok hides his
wealth from his parents.
These days, Alok is in the throes of a moral crisis. It may have paid him well, but he is not sure if he
wants to continue being what those in the security business calls a black hat hacker—someone who
uses his skills for negative, often illegal ends. As he grows up, Alok is going through the realisation
of his own power and of the ways in which he can use it.
Meet the hackerIf the mental picture that lights up in your mind when you hear of Alok the hacker is
of a young, bespectacled guy sitting in a dark room, with his face lit up by the bluish glow of his
computer monitor, you are not too far away from reality. That’s where the journey of most hackers
start—staying up in the middle of the night, trying different things, finding and learning new ways
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to manipulate code and find vulnerabilities.
Like Alok, somewhere along the way, they see a fork on the road, one that could take them towards
using their power to make code dance to their tunes for the good, the other that takes them to the
direction where they could wreak havoc. It’s 2017 and coding is power and exceptional coders have
an inordinate amount of power. Efforts to target cyber installations of ISIS is just one such example.
For most people, the hacker is a mysterious being. There is so little that the person on the street knows
about these digital lock-pickers and much of the little they do know has been influenced by how the
hacker is portrayed in popular culture.
The term hacker itself has become more complicated over the years. Its usage— alternating between
black hat and white hat (the good guys)—means that the meaning oscillates between something of an
outlaw in the Wild West of the internet while at the same time conjuring up images of the sheriff of the
town as well.
The Hacker mind Why do hackers, well, hack? It often starts with a need for thrills, for validation. It is
not always the money on offer that attracts them to turn rogue; it is a need for the adrenalin rush that
comes from breaking impenetrable defences and proving themselves to other hackers. According to
several coders I have met, that moment of triumph of knowing of their own power, is something of a
crucial rite of passage.
Alok, the young hacker, remembers his first hack, finding a vulnerability in how a startup in Bangalore
stored user data and getting a T-shirt as swag from the company after he reached out to them and
warned them about it. The sense of idealism and an overwhelming
belief in the power of technology to set right the ills of the society is real and drives many young
coders. Hackers tend to havean acute, heightened sense of what is right and what is wrong, and much of
their behaviour is based ..
That is what, in particular, leads to the formation of hacktivist collectives like Anonymous which tries
to correct what theyclaim are social or injustices
Hackers will exert huge influence over our lives as we move towards an even more connected
world. Civil society and governments need to invest in understanding them and trying to channelise
their power in making the world a better place.
Data Privacy:
Data Privacy or Information privacy is a part of the data protection area that deals with
the proper handling of data focusing on compliance with data protection regulations.
Data Privacy is centered around how data should be collected, stored, managed, and
shared with any third parties.
Data Privacy
• Data Privacy focuses on the rights of individuals, the purpose of data collection and
processing, privacy preferences, and the way organizations govern personal data of data
subjects.
• It focuses on how to collect, process, share, archive, and delete the data in accordance with
the law.
Data Security
• Data Security includes a set of standards and different safeguards and measures that an
organization is taking in order to prevent any third party from unauthorized access to digital
data, or any intentional or unintentional alteration, deletion or disclosure of data.
• It focuses on the protection of data from malicious attacks and prevents the exploitation of
stolen data (data breach or cyber-attack). It includes Access control, Encryption, Network
security, etc.
Data Breach:
A data breach is a security violation in which sensitive, protected or confidential data is
copied, transmitted, viewed, stolen or used by an individual unauthorized to do so.
Ransomware:
Ransomware is a type of malware attack in which the attacker locks and encrypts the
victim’s data, important files and then demands a payment to unlock and decrypt the data.
Phishing:
• Phishing attacks are the practice of sending fraudulent communications that appear to come
from a reputable source. It is usually done through email. The goal is to steal sensitive data like
credit card and login information, or to install malware on the victim’s machine.
Data Linkage:
Data linking is the process of joining datasets together so that we can make as much use as
possible of the information that they hold.
Data Profiling:
Data profiling helps you discover, understand and organize your data.
Data profiling techniques or processes used today fall into three major categories:
• Structure discovery
• Content discovery
• Relationship discovery.
• Structure discovery, also known as structure analysis, validates that the data that you have
is consistent and formatted correctly.
• Content discovery is the process of looking more closely into the individual elements of the
database to check data quality. This can help you find areas that contain null values or
values that are incorrect or ambiguous.
• Relationship discovery involves discovering what data is in use and trying to gain a better
understanding of the connections between the data sets.
There are four general methods bywhich data profiling tools help accomplish better data quality:
• Column profiling scans through a table and counts the number of times each value shows up
within each column. This method can be useful to find frequency distribution and patterns
within a column of data.
• Cross-column profiling is made up of two processes: keyanalysis and dependency analysis.
• Key analysis examines collections of attribute values by scouting for a possible primary
key.
• Dependency analysis is a more complex process that determines whether there are
relationships or structures embedded in a data set.
• Both techniques help analyze dependencies among data attributes within the same table.
• Cross-table profiling uses foreign key analysis, which is the identification of orphaned records
and determination of semantic and syntactic differences, to examine the relationships of column
sets in different tables.
This can help cut down on redundancy but also identify data value sets that could be
mapped together.
• Finally, data rule validation uses data profiling in a proactive manner to verify that data
instances and data sets conform with predefined rules. This process helps find ways to improve
data quality and can be achieved either through batch validation or an ongoing validation
service.
1. Cyber criminals have adapted advanced cyber attack techniques for their targeted end-users.
Variousbusiness sectors and geographical locations have faced recent cyber attacks in India.
Cosmos Bank Cyber Attack in Pune
2. A recent cyber attack in India in 2018 was deployed on Cosmos Bank in Pune. This daring attack
shook the whole banking sector of India when hackers siphoned off Rs. 94.42 crores from Cosmos
Cooperative Bank Ltd. in Pune.
Cosmos Bank Cyber Attack
3. Hackers hacked into the bank’s ATM server and took details of many visas and rupee debit
cardholders. Money was wiped off while hacker gangs from around 28 countries immediately
withdrew the amount as soon as they were informed.
ATM System Hacked
5. 2018 started with a massive data breach of personal records of 1.1 Billion Indian Aadhaar cardholders.
UIDAI revealed that around 210 Indian Government websites had leaked the Aadhaar details of people
online.
Aadhaar Software Hacked
Aadhaar Software Hacked
6.Data leaked included Aadhaar, PAN and mobile numbers, bank account numbers, IFSC codes and
mostly every personal information of all individual cardholders. If it wasn’t enough shocking, anonymous
sellers were selling Aadhaar information of any person for Rs. 500 over Whatsapp. Also, one could get
any person’s Aadhaar car printout by paying an extra amount of Rs.300.
Hack Attack on Indian Healthcare Websites
7. Indian-based healthcare websites became a victim of cyber attack recently in 2019. As stated by US-
based cyber security firms, hackers broke in and invaded a leading India-based healthcare website. The
hacker stole 68 lakh records of patients as well as doctors.
SIM Swap Scam
8.Two hackers from Navi Mumbai were arrested for transferring 4 crore rupees from numerous bank
accounts in August 2018. They illegally transferred money from the bank accounts of many individuals.
By fraudulently gaining SIM card information, both attackers blocked individuals’ SIM cards and with
the help of fake document posts, they carried out transactions via online banking. They also tried to hack
accounts of various targeted companies.
9. Aforesaid stats and events of the latest cyber attacks in India are the wake-up call for all those
individuals and companies who are still vulnerable to cyber threats. It is very essential for organizations
to implement cyber security measures and follow the below-mentioned security guidelines.
o Educate employees on the emerging cyber attacks with security awareness training.
2.Keep all software and systems updated from time to time with the latest security
patches.
Implement email authentication protocols such as DMARC, DKIM and SPF to secure your
emaildomain from email-based cyber attacks.
Get regular Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing to patch and remove the
existingvulnerabilities in the network and web application.
Limit employee access to sensitive data or confidential information and limit their authority to
installthe software.
Use highly strong passwords for accounts and make sure to update them at long
intervals.Avoid the practice of openly password sharing at work.