1.4 Network Security

• Malware: software that is designed to perform malicious actions on your computer
• The 3 types of malware:

  • Viruses: attached to normal programs and spread though a system causing harm to your computer
  • Worms: spread from device to device. They are self replicating and can spread around a network
  • Trojan: pretends to be a sage and normal program when it will cause harm to your computer
• Social engineering: using humans as the weak point to a computer system
• Types of Social Engineering:

  • Phishing - emails are sent acting as legitimate business to trick people into giving private information.
  • Shouldering - looking over someones shoulder and seeing them enter a password.
  • Blagging - attacker offers an unrealistic promise in order to gain private information.
• Brute Force Attack: Different passwords are tried repetitively in order to crack a password. These can use a dictionary of words or phrases to gain access to a computer system or network
• DDOS: A network of infected machines send a huge amount of data and requests to slow down a network so it becomes unstable
• Data Interception: Packet singers are used to analyse data that is sent around a network, the data is then sent to the hacker.
• Penetration Testing: Ethical hacker would apply the same techniques as a hacker would, in order to highlight any gaps in security.
• Black box penetration testing is used to simulate an external attack whereas white box hacking is used to simulate a malicious insider
• Penetration Testing Prevents:

  • SQL Injection
• Anti-Malware Software: Scans your computer to check for any known defined malware, in order to remove it.
• Firewalls: Manages incoming and outgoing transmissions from a network. There are rules that are followed to allow acceptable communication, which are known as the firewall policy
• Firewalls Prevent:

  • Phising
  • DDOS
• User Access Levels: The permissions a user has on a network.
• User Access Levels Prevent:

  • SQL Injection
• Secure Passwords: Passwords are codes that are used to authenticate a user and enable access to systems or accounts. A secure password reduces the likelihood of unauthorised access, and includes a combination of uppercase, lowercase, number and special characters
• Secure Passwords Prevent:

  • Brute Force Attacks
  • Social Engineering
• Encryption: The process of scrambling data so that it wouldn’t make sense to someone reading it. The sender and receiver exchange keys in order to decrypt the message
• Encryption Prevents:

  • Data interception
• Physical Security: Ensuring that servers are inaccessible, and that the physical environment is secure.
• Physical Security Prevents:

  • Data Interception
• SQL Injections are prevented by:

  • Penetration Testing
  • User Access Levels
  • Input Validation
• Data interception is prevented by:

  • Encryption
  • Physical security
  • Strong passwords
  • Training staff to make sure they lock their computers
• Phishing is prevented by:

  • Firewalls
  • Training staff to notice phishing emails
• Malware is prevented by:

  • Anti-Malware software
  • Firewall
  • Spam filter
• Brute Force Attacks are prevented by:

  • Strong Passwords
  • 2 factor authentication
  • Progressive delays
• DDOS are prevented by:

  • Firewalls, to stop packets of data sent by the attacker
  • Configuring web server
• Threats to networks:

  • Malware
  • Social Engineering
  • Brute Force Attacks
  • DDOS
  • Data Interception
  • SQL Attacks