The Internet is a threat vector for all sizes of organizations, whether private or public. New technologies are constantly being introduced in order to keep pace with industry trends and with these new technologies come new vulnerabilities. Many of these vulnerabilities among software will be discovered in the testing phases or early days of release, however, there are some vulnerabilities that will remain unknown to the masses. These unknown vulnerabilities, once discovered, become the pathway for a zero-day exploits (Zetter, 2015). The term zero-day does not have a specific definition but it is often referred to as the amount of time that the IT community has to the newly implemented attack (Kliarsky, 2011). Zero-day exploits are used to open secret doors into user systems and since they are unknown to antivirus companies as well they may go undetected for years, and are often times discovered by accident (Zetter, 2015). Some of the most recent and highly publicized attacks that used zero-day threats as essential elements to the attacks are APT, Aurora, Night Dragon, and probably the most widely known to the general public is Stuxnet (Kliarsky, 2011). Private use of zero-day exploits The discovery, acquiring, and selling of zero-day exploits can be a highly profitable business for private companies. For example in September 2015, a security startup firm Zerodium announced that they would pay $1 million to anyone that could develop a “jailbreak” for the iPhone. Two
Cyber security threats change quickly as Internet increases, and also the related dangers are getting to be progressively international. Being covered against cyber security threats requires almost all end users, actually the most complex versions, to know the particular threats in addition to enhance their particular safety measures with a continuing foundation. On April 28, 2014 President Obama has declared that the “cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation” and that “America 's economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cyber security.” The internet enables and also helps people in a many ways and a example is collect, store, process huge amounts of data, which includes vulnerable data of small business, transactional and personal. Everything in this world is based on internet now a days.
With technology evolving as rapidly as it is, network security is becoming a big issue for many companies. Publicly sharing information on cloud networks and other platforms are making for convenient but very vulnerable systems. So the leading tech companies really need to devote more resources into their security teams and fight back against the hacking attacks. The “Lizard Squad” and any other hacking group are constantly learning new ways to hack into a company’s security system; companies like Sony and Microsoft need to staff their security team with people who know and learn the world of hacking perhaps more than the hackers themselves. Good security team will be proactively searching for holes in the security system and address them
There is an interesting discussion going on revolving around privacy experts, and security professional surrounding the use, and abuse of 0day exploits. Some of the talk comes surrounding a Bloomberg article titled: "US Contractors Scale Up Search for Heartbleed-Like Flaws " [1] The argument on the side of privacy / legal/ crypto experts (summarized) seems to be "we need to stop because it will get into the wrong hands" [2] "People are going to use it for the wrong reasons." Which is true to a degree but on a grand scale one of the most absurd things I have read in some time.
In current days every organizations would like to have a secure IT environment. Here we will focus on threats that are likely to have an impact on, and affect, the program or project for an organization.
With reports from the CIO that malicious activity is on the rise, analyzing the system is essential to guarantee that the data that is critical to the organization's success is secured. Since assaults must be executed on a framework with vulnerabilities, I should analyze the system to address concerns, for example, backdoors, patches and updates, security to server rooms, appropriate security for access of data, and so forth.
With the development of computer technology especial Internet skills, computer has become an important part of human life. On the same time, there are more and more attacks appearing. Hackers attempt to explore the vulnerability of the host to gain unauthorized access privilege and make unauthorized use. However, no all attack can be considered as an incident. Attacks can be classified as incidents only if they meet the following characteristics (Torres, Alissa. Aug, 2014):
In today’s world it is highly impossible for any kind of business to function without the assistance of technology. Any company that relies on digital data and computer networks have exposure to a host of varying Cyber Attacks. As technology continues to evolve, cyber security breaches become even more difficult to solve. The cybersecurity world rightly believes in the maxim – It’s not if, it’s when!
Cyber security must be an aggressive and evolving practice. Not only is it important to put security in place for current technology that can access electronic information, but also to look forward to future trends and strategies. Methods must also be developed that will continuously protect information regardless of growth and technological advances. As trends change and new technology develops it is the responsibility of businesses to balance cost saving measures with adequate security measures.
Although the system-fault-risk framework consists of eight categories, this report will focus on the particulars of the initial threat followed by three elements of the actual attack. By understanding the OPM breach through classifications of the SFR framework, findings and recommendations can be deferred from the attack to improve awareness for other government agencies, implement enhanced detection and protection mechanisms, and develop policies and processes to reduce the risk of future cyber incidents. (Ye, Newman, Farley, 2006)
One of the largest manufacturing and design companies was breached when its antivirus failed and allowed hackers to gain access to 600+ endpoints. With Cb Response, the organization gained complete visibility and quickly remediated the attack.
All indications are that Operation Shady RAT (Remote Access Tool) started in 2006 although it went undetected for several years before begin discovered by analysts at McAfee Incorporated in 2011. Originally it was thought that the tools and techniques used during Operation Shady RAT were highly complex later investigations determined that the exploits used were previously identified and software vendors has published appropriate mitigation procedures to protect computers and networks from unauthorized access. The range of countries and businesses targeted during the operation highlights the importance of proper patching and vulnerability management policies. Operation Shady RAT differed from many other cybercrimes by not specifically targeting computer systems for financial gain; it appears that the perpetrators were after trade secrets and intellectual property. There are differing opinions on the severity and complexity methods used to compromise the computer systems by security vendors McAfee and Kaspersky but those whose information was accessed without proper authorization will attest to the significance of the compromises. There has been no attribution for the perpetrators of Operation RAT.
Zero- day attacks are cyber attacks against software flaws that are unknown and have no patch or fix. Fireeye has discovered 18 zero-day attacks in the past two years, many more than the top ten security companies combined. It’s extremely difficult to detect zero-day attacks, especially with traditional cyber defense. Traditional security measures focus on malware signatures and URL reputation. However, with zero-day attacks, this information is, by definition, unknown. Cyber attackers are extraordinarily skilled, and their malware can go undetected on systems for months, and even years, giving them plenty of time to cause irreparable harm. Based on recently discovered types of zero-day attacks, it has become apparent that operating system
The best defense against security breaches within an organizations network is prevention and awareness. In recent years, organizations are starting to understand that network security is critical, due to the fact that breaches are becoming more frequent with data and information being compromised, stolen, or altered. In 2014, about 71% of organizations were affected by cyberattacks, and around 52% are expecting to be victim again in 2015 (Shephard, 2015.). A study recently conducted regarding cybercrime to the global economy, has estimated the cost at $1 trillion, with malware being introduced at 55,000 pieces per day (Bidgoli, 2015.). To help in prevention, organizations should keep their employees informed of new developing threats that could affect their technology that is being used, by creating awareness through forms security training.
The number of significant computer security breaches around the globe is continuously growing. Typically, at least once a month. a major news story is published about an extensive data breach or a company being hacked. Many organizations are being compromised by means of software vulnerabilities, distributed denial of service attacks, and in many cases their own employees. By the end of 2015 over 4.9 billion devices will be connected to the internet and any one of them could be susceptible to an unknown number of exploits allowing an attacker access into the device (Gartner, Inc.). There are several factors contributing to the recent increase in cyber crimes and even though numerous companies have already fallen victim to them, there are sure to be more.
The Internet is a global public network and it is the Universal source of information. It has become a popular medium for commercial activities. Millions of dollars of transactions occur daily in many financial organizations through Internet. The internet along with digital technologies has taken human life into much higher levels of sophistication and ease. The growth of Internet has brought about great benefits to the modern society; meanwhile, the rapidly increasing connectivity and accessibility to the Internet has posed a security threat. With the tremendous growth of network-based services and sensitive information on networks, network security is getting more and more import than ever. The attacks on the Internet have become both more prolific and easier to implement because of the ubiquity of the Internet and the pervasiveness of easy-to-use operating systems and development environments.