Laboratory 7: Security Basics December 1, 2014

Lab 7: Security Basics

Task 1: Procedure
1. Firewalls may be hardware devices or software programs. Hardware firewalls protect an entire network. Software firewalls protect a single computer. Locate an example of each of these types of firewalls and compare their features. Linksys and Cisco make firewall/routers for home use. The Zonelabs Zone-Alarm firewall is an example of a software firewall.
a. Cisco RV082 Dual WAN VPN Router
i. Dual Fast Ethernet WAN ports for load balancing and/or business continuity ii. Built-in 8-port Fast Ethernet switch iii. Strong security iv. High capacity VPN capabilities
v. Optional cloud-based web security service vi. Support for Small Business QuickVPN software
b. Linksys WRT54GS Wireless
i. G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11b/g ii. VPN Pass Through iii. Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) Firewall, Internet Policy Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2), WEP, Wireless MAC Filtering
Task 2: Procedure
1. By 2010 the number of different known viruses numbered over 4 million. Many companies produce anti-virus programs to help protect your computer against these threats. Some of the companies are Panda, Norton, McAfee, AVG, and Kaspersky. Which of these companies provide free versions of their software? Which ones provide trial versions?
a. Free versions
i. AVG
b. Trial versions
i. Panda ii. Norton iii. McAfee iv. AVG
v. Kaspersky
2. Viruses and other malicious code infect a computer in one of several different ways, such as through downloads. Trojan horse programs, malicious email attachments, and drive-by-downloads. What does each of these terms mean and how do these types of infections take place?
a. A Trojan horse, or Trojan, in computing is a generally non-self-replicating type of malware program containing malicious code that, when executed, carries out actions determined by the nature of the Trojan, typically causing loss or theft of data, and possible system harm.
b. Email attachments are a way for a sender to transmit files to another user via email. In a similar way to junk mail coming in your door at home, email users regularly receive unsolicited emails from unknown senders. These emails can often contain links to malicious web sites or have attachments containing malicious software.
c. A drive-by download refers to the unintentional download of a virus or malicious software (malware) onto your computer or mobile device. A drive-by download will usually take advantage of (or “exploit”) a browser, app, or operating system that is out of date and has a security flaw.
Task 3: Procedure
1. Three types of backups processes are full backup, differential backup and incremental backup. What are the differences between each type of backup?
Type
Definition
Benefits
Drawbacks
Full Backup:
A complete backup of everything you want to backup.
Restoration is fast, since you only need one set of backup data.
The backing up process is slow.
High storage requirements.
Differential Backup:
The backup software looks at which files have changed since you last did a full backup. Then creates copies of all the files that are different from the ones in the full backup.

If you do a differential backup more than once, it will copy all the files, or parts of files that have changed since the last full backup, even if you already have identical copies of those files in a previous differential backup.

For restoring all the data, you will only need the the last full backup, and the last differential backup.
Faster to create than a full backup.

Restoration is faster than using incremental backup.

Not as much storage needed as in a full backup.
Restoration is slower than using a full backup.

Creating a differential backup is slower than creating an incremental backup.
Incremental Backup:
The backup software creates copies of all the files, or parts of files that have changed since previous backups of any type (full, differential or incremental).

For example if you did a full backup on Sunday. An incremental backup made on Monday, would only contain files changed since Sunday, and an incremental backup on Tuesday, would only contain files changed since Monday, and so on.
This method is the fastest when creating a backup.

The least storage space is needed.
Restoring from incremental backups is the slowest because it may require several sets of data to fully restore all the data. For example if you had a full backup and six incremental backups. To restore the data would require you to process the full backup and all six incremental backups.

2. For safety, backup should be stored off-site and periodically tested. Why?
a. To make sure that everything is up to date and store correctly. Making sure that everything is backed up and right.
3. Backups provide a copy of critical data in case of emergency. But hardware can fail too, resulting in the need for hardware backup. This is a critical part of any business’ disaster recovery plan. Three ways to provide hardware backup are through cold sites, warm sites, and hot sites. What is the difference between these three sites and which is the most expensive to maintain?
a. Hot Sites
i. A “proactive” hot site allows you to keep servers and a live backup site up and running in the event of a disaster. Basically, you replicate your production environment in our data center. This allows for an immediate cutover in case of disaster at your primary site. A hot site is a must for mission critical sites.
b. Warm Sites
i. A “preventative” warm site allows you to pre-install your hardware and pre-configure your bandwidth needs. Then, if disaster strikes, all you have to do is load your software and data to restore your business systems.
c. Cold Sites
i. A “recovery” cold site is essentially just data center space, power, and network connectivity that’s ready and waiting for whenever you might need it. If disaster strikes, our engineer and logistical support teams can readily help you move your hardware into our data center and get you back up and running.
d. The most expensive is Hot Sites.
Task 4: Procedures
1. Passwords are one way a user authenticates him- or herself to a computer. Passwords should be kept secret (not written down but memorized) and be difficult to guess. Children’s names, colors, birth dates, and common words or strings, such as applepie, football, or qwerty, should not be used. To make a password difficult to guess or defeat, use at least eight characters and symbols. Uppercase and lowercase characters, numbers and special symbols should be used. A bad password is “sleeping” –it’s a common word that can be cracked by a brute-force dictionary attack. A good password that’s almost as easy to remember is “$LeePin8.” Notice that an 8 was used in place of the g because it looks similar to it. The $ is used in place of the S. Create five passwords that use this technique.
a. D1@zJ3$$
b. $@ndw1cH
c. (hR1$+m@$
d. 80Lf1n8(Lub
e. (@ndL3L18ht
2. People write down passwords because making them difficult to crack also makes them difficult to remember. But this does not have to be the case. Choose a favorite phrase from a movie or song. Use the first letter of each word in the phrase in your password. For example, the phrase “tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree” yields the password Tayrrtoot. Since there are no numbers in the password, it can be made stronger by changing the second o to a 2, as in Tayrrto2t. Choose five phrases and make passwords from them using this technique.
a. Wmyb10
b. Dfwyb014
c. Emd2sxx
d. Fnowae11
e. Ilalwtwiat2gyo