...Most Important Cybersecurity Vulnerability Facing IT Managers Today: You and I Cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the early years generally revolved around problems with computer hardware and software with no solid definition of what a vulnerability really was, much less which vulnerability would take home the “Most Important Vulnerability” title. In his thesis proposal on “Computer Vulnerability Analysis”, Krsul (1997, p. 2) starts his “Definition of Vulnerability” section by delving into the fact that there was no industry accepted definition that precisely defines “computer vulnerability.” Krsul goes on to ask us to review three of the most commonly accepted definitions of the day—remember, this is 1997!—that he will use to form the basis of this thesis (Krsul, 1997, pp. 2-3): 1. Bishop and Bailey define a vulnerability as “a characterization of a vulnerable state which distinguishes it from all non-vulnerable states.” (Bishop & Bailey, 1996, p. 2). Their report focuses on computer vulnerabilities from a state configuration view where computers are state devices, and a vulnerability is any flaw in software that allows a user (whether authorized or unauthorized) to transition the system from an “authorized state” to an “unauthorized state.” We commonly reference these types of vulnerabilities today as buffer overflow vulnerabilities, input validation vulnerabilities, improper system configuration, etc. 2. Longley and Shain define a vulnerability using several different...
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...1. Focus on the overall “security assessment” risk rating that appears at the top of your report. Considering what security measures you (or the computer owner) have undertaken for your computer, does the assessment surprise you? Why or why not? What measures should you plan to undertake if the green checkmark did not appear? Currently, the security assessment shows vulnerabilities in the accounts due to the fact that there are 2 administrators, passwords do not expire, and some areas which, on a corporate computer, would need to be fixed, such as auditing and sharing. For a local home computer which is mainly used for school work by 2 adults and 3 children, this level of security is acceptable. I believe that this security assessment is an accurate reflection of the use of this computer, and I am comfortable with the assessment results. One of the hidden features of Windows 7 is the “Administrator” account (I will call it admin from now on). In previous versions of Windows, the admin account was always enabled. Basically this account allows you to control your working environment, create new users, setup network shares and handles a ton of other software management. Starting with Windows 7, Microsoft decided to hide this account for some reason, but there are many times that you need to be able to log on as the admin. One other note, if you don’t have the admin account enabled and your log on is disabled or destroyed, more than likely you will not be able to enable...
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...------------------------------------------------- VULNERABILITES FACTING IT MANAGERS TODAY ------------------------------------------------- “THE HUMAN FACTOR” Alicia M. Frazier Abstract This paper will identify and give the proper knowledge about the single most important vulnerability that IT managers face today. It will provide significant evidence about reasons why it is the most vulnerable, its impacts on a organization, and how an organization can best address its potential impacts. “As human beings, we are vulnerable to confusing the unprecedented with the improbable. In our everyday experience, if something has never happened before, we are generally safe in assuming it is not going to happen in the future, but the exceptions can kill you and climate change is one of those exceptions”. -Al Gore What is Vulnerability? When you think of the word vulnerability what comes to mind? Although, definitions of Vulnerability may vary, Vacca (2013) defines the term as “an asset or a group of assets that can be exploited by one or more threats”. In the cyberworld vulnerability can be described as a weakness in a computer hardware or software, which could possibly become exploited. Most would consider vulnerability, as a threat as the approach in which vulnerability can be exploited through a potential cause of an incident. Today, processes and technology alone can’t assure a secure organizational...
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...July 12, 2014 Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities Facing IT Managers Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities Facing IT Managers Table of Contents Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3 Types of Vulnerabilities ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5 Important Vulnerability, Impact & Solutions ……………………………………………………………….. 8 References …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 12 Cyber-security demands are ever increasing in the field of Information Technology with the globalization of the internet. Disruptions due to cyber-attacks are affecting the economy, costing companies billions of dollars each year in lost revenue. To counter this problem corporations are spending more and more on infrastructure and investing to secure the cyber security vulnerabilities which range anywhere from software to hardware to networks and people that use them. Due to the complexity of information systems that interact with each other and their counter parts, the requirement to meet specific cyber security compliances have become a challenging issues for security professionals worldwide. To help with these issues, security professionals have created different standards and frameworks over the years for addressing this growing concern of vulnerabilities within enterprise systems and the critical information they hold (“Critical Security Controls,” n.d.). Before we get into the details let first examine what exactly is a security vulnerability. By definition a security...
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...CSEC610 - Individual Assignment Due date: End of Week 8. Objective: Assess the vulnerabilities of an organization’s hardware and software systems, transmission media, local area networks, wide area networks, enterprise networks, Intranets, and its use of the Internet to cyber intrusions. Competencies: Critical thinking Instructions: In 8 -10 double-spaced pages develop an argument for what you believe is the single most important cybersecurity vulnerability facing IT managers today. The paper should include at a minimum a complete description of the vulnerability, the reasons why it is the most important, the impact of this vulnerability on organizations and how organizations can best address its potential impacts. (Note: A vulnerability is a security weakness; a vulnerability is not a security threat.) Prepare your paper in Word. Include a cover page, an abstract, table of content, and a minimum of 5 sources. The citations and the reference list in the paper should be formatted in accordance with APA 6th edition guidelines. Before you submit your paper, you will need to run your assignment through Turnitin.com and receive an originality report. DO NOT WAIT TO THE LAST MINUTE TO DO THIS. It might take several hours to do this. Resubmissions can take a day or more. For instructions, go to the "Turnitin Instructions" and review the posting entitled "Basic Turnitin Instructions."Note: Assignment = "Paper 1". After it meets all of the stated criteria, attach the paper AND...
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...been a steady increase in numbers of cybercrime with its benefits over the traditional crime in the past decades. Cyber criminals are getting smarter and equipped with more resources with every passing days and are becoming bigger threats. Therefore, it is important to scrutinize those cybercrime-related issues as well as to delve into planning a well-thought out countermeasure for both private and government sectors in various aspects for betterment of safer society of the information era. In this paper, Part I addresses how government intervention justifies telling private industry how to set up or improve their cybersecurity with its policies. Part II addresses the impacts on national security due to government regulation by private industry’s compliance. Part I. Government Regulation of Private Sector Cybersecurity Cyber criminals always look for vulnerabilities such as unsecured network to gain backdoor access to attack critical infrastructure or collect...
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...Single Most Important Cybersecurity Vulnerability Facing IT Managers Disclaimer: please do not copy and paste the paper With the growing usage of the Internet, the expansion of global communication, the office in its traditional sense is fading away. In order for corporations, whether small or large to be profitable in this competitive market, the walls of their offices have had to expand beyond the four walls located at their physical business address. In order to conduct business effectively nowadays, it has become necessary to have internal private business and government networks connecting to other corporate and government networks; as such, the use of portable devices has significantly increased and private corporate information travels more and more. While this is extremely convenient, and allows conducting business at unconventional hours and locations, it is simultaneously risky and requires organizations to proactively secure their data from being compromised. Internet access is available from the privacy of our homes, but also in an increasing number of public places: libraries, fast food restaurants, cafés, and department stores. With the growing cyberworld has come a multiplication of cyber-attacks, where both amateurs and dedicated hackers constantly try penetrating corporate networks. It has become a very challenging objective for IT managers and IT professionals to keep information secured while travelling through the internet. Additionally, one of main...
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...This paper analyzes numerous cyberattacks by Russian computer enthusiast group Chaos Hackers Crew and other hacktivists during Operation Allied Force in 1999, that included taking down and defacing various NATO and US Government websites, several successful virus propagation attempts on military servers and countless spamming storms. This particular case raises curious questions about the legal definition of term cyberconflict itself, magnitude of the damage from a potential cyberattack on U.S. Government by terrorists and the level of preparedness of key military and intelligence units for the cyberwar. The cyberterrorism threat is real, however it’s essential to recognize that preserving the state of continuous distress over computer vulnerabilities can be profitable. Based on this research, cultural differences play a huge role in the world of computer hackers who decide what entity to attack and how, also the scale of a cyberattack doesn’t matter as economic damage can be devastating regardless of its size. Global governments need to continue working on creating workable laws that accurately describe the problem of cyberattacks and effectively enforce the solution. The modern world still has a long way to go before all security threats are addressed, appropriate defence is in place and all the critical computer infrastructure is protected from hackers,...
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...ADAPTIVE RISK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (ARMS) FOR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION Mihaela Ulieru and Paul Worthington Emergent Information Systems Laboratory The University of Calgary Ulieru@ucalgary.ca http://www.enel.ucalgary.ca/People/Ulieru/ Abstract The purpose of this work is to develop an adaptive risk management framework capable to prevent, identify and respond in critical time to threats. Our focus is on protecting critical infrastructure (e.g. public utilities) which vitally depends on network and information security. As solution we propose a holonic Cybersecurity system that unfolds into an emergency response management infrastructure capable to react in due time to unknown and new kinds of attacks/threats. The system can adapt to its changing environment through its self-organizing capability. Mimicking the way immunity works in biological organisms the system can dynamically adapt to embrace new risk situations and can dynamically create and learn new risk models as it encounters new risk situations. Keywords. Risk management, holonic, self-organization, multi-agent systems. 1. Rationale During the emergency response to the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre, emergency response commanders on the scene were unable to communicate to ‘911’ Public Service Access Points (PSAP) that people should evacuate the building. As a result, PSAP operators complied with New York City’s standard operating procedure for hi-rise fires and advised...
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...Guidelines for Secure Use of Social Media by Federal Departments and Agencies Information Security and Identity Management Committee (ISIMC) Network and Infrastructure Security Subcommittee (NISSC) Web 2.0 Security Working Group (W20SWG) Version 1.0 September 2009 This document is publicly releasable Intended Audience This document is intended as guidance for any federal agency that uses social media services to collaborate and communicate among employees, partners, other federal agencies, and the public. Note: The Federal CIO Council does not endorse the use or imply preference for any vendor commercial products or services mentioned in this document. Guidelines for Secure Use of Social Media by Federal Departments and Agencies Page 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTENDED AUDIENCE............................................................................................................................................2 REVISION HISTORY ................................................................................................................................................4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................................5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .........................................................................................................................................6 RISKS ......................................................
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...OBJECTIVES C H A P T E R 7 STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES After completing this chapter, you will be able to answer the following questions: 1. Why are information systems vulnerable to destruction, error, and abuse? What is the business value of security and control? What are the components of an organizational framework for security and control? What are the most important tools and technologies for safeguarding information resources? 2. 3. 4. ISBN 1-256-42913-9 232 Essentials of MIS, Ninth Edition, by Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. C HAPTER O UTLINE Chapter-Opening Case: Boston Celtics Score Big Points Against Spyware 7.1 System Vulnerability and Abuse 7.2 Business Value of Security and Control 7.3 Establishing a Framework for Security and Control 7.4 Technologies and Tools for Protecting Information Resources 7.5 Hands-on MIS Projects Business Problem-Solving Case: Are We Ready for Cyberwarfare? BOSTON CELTICS SCORE BIG POINTS AGAINST SPYWARE While the Boston Celtics were fighting for a spot in the playoffs several years ago, another fierce battle was being waged by its information systems. Jay Wessel, the team’s vice president of technology, was trying to score points against computer spyware. Wessel and his IT staff manage about 100 laptops issued to coaches and scouts, and sales, marketing, and finance employees, and these machines were being overwhelmed by malware...
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...QUALYSGUARD® ROLLOUT GUIDE July 12, 2012 Copyright 2011-2012 by Qualys, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Qualys, the Qualys logo and QualysGuard are registered trademarks of Qualys, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Qualys, Inc. 1600 Bridge Parkway Redwood Shores, CA 94065 1 (650) 801 6100 Preface Chapter 1 Introduction Operationalizing Security and Policy Compliance..................................................... 10 QualysGuard Best Practices ........................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2 Rollout First Steps First Login......................................................................................................................... Complete the User Registration.......................................................................... Your Home Page................................................................................................... View Host Assets .................................................................................................. Add Hosts .............................................................................................................. Remove IPs from the Subscription..................................................................... Add Virtual Hosts ................................................................................................ Check Network Access to Scanners .....................................
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............ 3 CSC 1: Inventory of Authorized and Unauthorized Devices ............................................................................ 8 CSC 2: Inventory of Authorized and Unauthorized Software ....................................................................... 14 CSC 3: Secure Configurations for Hardware and Software on Mobile Devices, Laptops, Workstations, and Servers ....................................................................................................................................... 19 CSC 4: Continuous Vulnerability Assessment and Remediation ................................................................. 27 CSC 5: Malware Defenses .......................................................................................................................................... 33 CSC 6: Application Software Security ................................................................................................................... 38 CSC 7: Wireless Access Control ............................................................................................................................... 43 CSC 8:...
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...Edition This page intentionally left blank Management of Information Security Third Edition Michael Whitman, Ph.D., CISM, CISSP Herbert Mattord, M.B.A., CISM, CISSP Kennesaw State University ———————————————————————— Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States Management of Information Security, Third Edition Michael E. Whitman and Herbert J. Mattord Vice President, Career and Professional Editorial: Dave Garza Executive Editor: Stephen Helba Managing Editor: Marah Bellegarde Product Manager: Natalie Pashoukos Developmental Editor: Lynne Raughley Editorial Assistant: Meghan Orvis Vice President, Career and Professional Marketing: Jennifer McAvey Marketing Director: Deborah S. Yarnell Senior Marketing Manager: Erin Coffin Marketing Coordinator: Shanna Gibbs Production Director: Carolyn Miller Production Manager: Andrew Crouth Senior Content Project Manager: Andrea Majot Senior Art Director: Jack Pendleton Cover illustration: Image copyright 2009. Used under license from Shutterstock.com Production Technology Analyst: Tom Stover © 2010 Course Technology, Cengage Learning ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or information storage and retrieval...
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...An Examination of Cybercrime and Cybercrime Research: Self-control and Routine Activity Theory Katherine M. Grzybowski Arizona State University 1 March 2012 Cybercrime 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................3 2. INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................4 3. A REVIEW OF CYBERCRIME ...................................................................6 3.1 Cybercrime Legislation ............................................................................7 3.1.1 3.1.2 Federal Laws .................................................................................7 State Laws ......................................................................................9 3.2 Cybercrime Law Enforcement Agencies ................................................11 3.3 Classifying Cybercrime ............................................................................16 3.4 National Levels of Cybercrime ................................................................19 3.4.1 3.4.2 Business Cyber Victimization ......................................................20 Individual Cyber Victimization ...................................................22 4. A REVIEW OF THEORIES..........................................................................26 4.1 Self-control Theory ...................................................................
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