Security:

Introduction
2016 Pearson Education, Inc.,
Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

Objective
To look at the 3 fundamental
questions
1. What assets do we need to protect?
2. How are those assets threatened?
3. What can we do to counter those threats?

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.,

Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

The NIST Computer Security Handbook

defines the term Computer Security as:
The protection afforded to an
automated information system in order to
attain the applicable objectives of
preserving the integrity, availability and
confidentiality of information system
resources (includes hardware, software,
firmware, information/data, and
telecommunications).
2016 Pearson Education, Inc.,
Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

The CIA Triad

Confidentiality

Integrity
Data
and
services

A
vailability

2016
Pearson
Education,
Inc., Hoboken,
NJ. All rights

Confidentiality
Confidentiality covers two related
concepts:
o Data confidentiality : Assures that private or
confidential information is not made available or
disclosed to unauthorized individuals.
o Privacy : Assures that individuals control or influence
what information related to them may be collected
and stored and by whom and to whom that
information may be disclosed.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.,

Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

Integrity
Integrity covers two related concepts:
o Data integrity : Assures that information and programs
are changed only in a specified and authorized
manner.
o System integrity : Assures that a system performs its
intended function in an unimpaired manner, free from
deliberate or inadvertent unauthorized manipulation of
the system.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.,

Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

Availability
Availability assures that systems work promptly and
service is not denied to authorized users.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.,

Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

Key Security Concepts As

Sec. Requirements
A loss of confidentiality is
the unauthorized
disclosure of information.

Confidential
ity
Preserving
authorized
restrictions on
information
access and
disclosure,
including means
for protecting
personal privacy
and proprietary
information
2016 Pearson Education, Inc.,
Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

A loss of
integrity is the unauthorized
modification or destruction of
information.

Integrity
Guarding
against
improper
information
modification or
destruction,
including
ensuring
information
nonrepudiation
and
authenticity

A loss of availability is the

disruption of access to or use of
information or an
information system.

Availabilit
y
Ensuring timely
and reliable
access to and
use of
information

Additional Security
Concepts
Authenticity: The property of being
genuine and being able to be verified and
trusted
o Is this really Bob and how can I verify it
o Is it Bob who sent this message

Accountability: the security goal that

generates the requirement for actions of
an entity to be traced uniquely to that
entity
o Needed for nonrepudiation, deterrence, fault isolation and after
action recovery, intrusion detection and prevention, and legal
actions
2016 Pearson Education, Inc.,
Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

Levels of Impact
Levels of impact on organizations or individuals should there be a breach of
security (i.e., a loss of confidentiality, integrity, or availability).
Defined in FIPS 199

Low

Moderate

High

The loss could be

expected to have a
limited adverse effect
on organizational
operations,
organizational assets,
or individuals

The loss could be

expected to have a
serious adverse effect
on organizational
operations,
organizational assets,
or individuals

The loss could be

expected to have a
severe or catastrophic
adverse effect on
organizational
operations,
organizational assets,
or individuals

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.,

Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

Examples of Low, Moderate, and High

Impact on Security Breaches
Student grades
US CIA documents
Bank information (revenues, customer
information, .)
Pepsi or Coca Cola IP
..

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.,

Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

Computer Security
Challenges
Computer security is not as simple as it might first

appear to the novice; security mechanisms can be

very complicated.
Potential attacks on the security features must be
considered how can I protect my firewall!!
Procedures used to provide particular services are
often counterintuitivewhy all these security
mechanisms?
Physical and logical placement needs to be
determinedat what point in my network should I
put a firewall.network or application firewall?

Computer Security
Challenges
Additional algorithms or protocols may be involved

(how are passwords distributed, protected, renewed,)

Attackers only need to find a single weakness, the
developer needs to find all weaknesses
Users and system managers tend to not see the
benefits of security until a failure occurs
Security requires regular and constant monitoring
Is often an afterthought to be incorporated into a
system after the design is complete
Thought of as an impediment to efficient and userfriendly operation

Table 1.1
Computer
Security
Terminology
RFC 4949, Internet
Security Glossary,
May 2000

2016 Pearson Education, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

Owners
wish to
minimize

Threat agents

value

wish to abuse
and/or
may damage

impose

countermeasures

give
riseto

assets

to
reduce

risk

to

to

threats

that
increase

Figure1.1 Security Concepts and Relationships

2016 Pearson Education, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

Assets of a Computer
System
Hardware (servers, data
centers,..)
Software(OS, applications,)
Data(files, databases,
password file)
Communication facilities and
networks
2016 Pearson Education, Inc.,
Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

Vulnerabilities, Threats
and Attacks
Categories of vulnerabilities of a computer
system or network asset:
It can be corrupted (loss of integrity)
It can become Leaky (loss of confidentiality)
It can become unavailable or very slow (loss of availability)

Threats
Capable of exploiting vulnerabilities
Represent potential security harm to an asset

Attacks (threats carried out)

Passive attempt to learn or make use of information from the system
that does not affect system resources
Active attempt to alter system resources or affect their operation
Insider initiated by an entity inside the security parameter
Outsider initiated from outside the perimeter

Countermeasures
Means used
to deal with
security
attacks

Prevent
Detect
Recover

Residual
vulnerabilitie
s may remain

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.,

Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

May itself
introduce
new
vulnerabilitie
s

Goal is to
minimize
residual level
of risk to the
assets

Threat Consequence
Unauthorized
Disclosure
A circumstance or
event whereby an
entity gains access to
data for which the
entity is not
authorized.

Threat Action (Attack)

Exposure: Sensitive data are directly released to an
unauthorized entity.
Interception: An unauthorized entity directly accesses
sensitive data traveling between authorized sources and
destinations.
Inference: A threat action whereby an unauthorized entity
indirectly accesses sensitive data (but not necessarily the
data contained in the communication) by reasoning from
characteristics or byproducts of communications.
Intrusion: An unauthorized entity gains access to sensitive
data by circumventing a system's security protections.

Deception
Masquerade: An unauthorized entity gains access to a
A circumstance or
system or performs a malicious act by posing as an
event that may result
authorized entity.
in an authorized entity Falsification: False data deceive an authorized entity.
receiving false data
Repudiation: An entity deceives another by falsely denying
and believing it to be
responsibility for an act.
true.
Disruption
A circumstance or
event that interrupts
or prevents the correct
operation of system
services and
functions.
Usurpation
A circumstance or
event that results in
control of system
services or functions
by an unauthorized
entity.

Threat Consequences, and the

Types of Threat Actions That Cause
Each Consequence
Based on RFC 4949
A threat to
confidentiality

A threat to either
system integrity or
data integrity

Incapacitation: Prevents or interrupts system operation by

disabling a system component.
Corruption: Undesirably alters system operation by
adversely modifying system functions or data.
Obstruction: A threat action that interrupts delivery of
system services by hindering system operation.

A threat to
availability or system
integrity

Misappropriation: An entity assumes unauthorized logical

or physical control of a system resource.
Misuse: Causes a system component to perform a function
or service that is detrimental to system security.

A threat to system
integrity

**Table is on page 20 in the textbook.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

Table 1.3

Computer and Network Assets, with Examples of Threats

Availability
Equipment is stolen or
Hardware disabled, thus denying
service.

Software

Confidentiality

Integrity

An unencrypted CDROM or DVD is stolen.

Programs are deleted,

An unauthorized copy
denying access to users. of software is made.

An unauthorized read
of data is performed.
Files are deleted,
Data
An analysis of
denying access to users.
statistical data reveals
underlying data.
Messages are destroyed
Communication or deleted.
Messages are read. The
Lines and Communication lines
traffic pattern of
Networks or networks are
messages is observed.
rendered unavailable.

A working program is
modified, either to
cause it to fail during
execution or to cause it
to do some unintended
task.
Existing files are
modified or new files
are fabricated.
Messages are modified,
delayed, reordered, or
duplicated. False
messages are
fabricated.

Passive and Active

Attacks
Passive Attack
Attempts to learn or make use
of information from the
system but does not affect
system resources
Eavesdropping on, or
monitoring of, transmissions
Goal of attacker is to obtain
information that is being
transmitted
Goals and categories:

Active Attack

Attempts to alter system

resources or affect their
operation
Involve some modification
of the data stream or the
creation of a false stream
Four categories:
o
o
o
o

Replay
Masquerade
Modification of messages
Denial of service

o Release of message contents

o Traffic analysis

2016 Pearson Education, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.

Table 1.4
Classification of
Countermeasures
in terms of
Security
Requirements
(FIPS PUB 200)
(page 1 of 2)

(Table can be found on page 26 in the

textbook.)

Table 1.4
Security
Requirements
(FIPS PUB 200)
(page 2 of 2)

(Table can be found on page 27 in the

textbook.)

Material Covered in this

Presentation can be found in

Chapter 1

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.,

Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.