Unit 2 Assignment 2: Vulnerability of a Cryptosystem
09-27-2014
ITT Technical Institute

Unit 2 Assignment 2: Vulnerability of a Cryptosystem This assignment gives us a job at a University as a Security analyst. One of the first things that was placed on our plate as a responsibility was getting the cryptosystem up to date. A high risk vulnerability has been identified and they have asked me to make recommendations on how to remedy the situation. There is a few websites that I have been advised to read as they may assist in my decision making process. After reading further I have been asked a large number of questions. I am planning to read up so I know about the cryptosystem then go into answering the provided questions. When we think about MD5 hashing we have to consider the hash and its long history of collisions on the network. When we were doing the practice labs in class the other night we say a number of student using the MD5 hashing and getting the same hash out of different text documents. This is not a good sign that this is the best type of hashing algorithm to use. I would advised using the latest greatest out with a known history of being secure. Asking if the threat is significant is an easy question to answer. Any organizations documentation at some level needs to be protected so it is not used in the wrong way. Yes, of course the cryptosystem being vulnerable is something that needs to be addresses right away. Modifying the hardware and software to provide a more secure hashing algorithm is on the top of the list. I need to continue doing research to find the best solution available for a price point that is reasonable for our university. When we think about how easy a system is to exploit I don’t think of a system being exploited as easy. I think of it like the attacker has some need for what you have and will work to find a way into your system to get it for free. On the other hand he could be a former employee that you let go and he has some revenge to unleash on your network. There is not system that is uncrack able. No matter how secure you think you are you have no 100% secure connection when you’re online. Once you connect to that NIC your computer is vulnerable in some way. Granted there are some very nice improvements that have been implemented over the years to give you a good bit of confidence that you’re secure. I know people in my own circle and I know my skills. Nothing is full proof when you think about networking and systems that are online. The next question is another one of those that I just want to say “really?” When doing a google search of this question I found a website SECTOOLS.ORG with the same emblem as NMAP that shows the top 125 types of network security tools software’s that are available for free. I did not say you had to pay I said free. It’s amazing all the things that are available online for free download that users have no idea that they have the same access as we do to just go download them. I mean come on its not like we have some kind of secret key code to get to these sites. We just browse to the web page the same way they could. Yes the cryptosystem is still usable however if there is a better cryptosystem out there that can be implemented for a minimal cost to the university then we should get our system updated. After all you did hire me on to determine the best way to reduce system vulnerability. I would feel much more comfortable managing a network with a more secure hashing algorithm like PGP or SHA1. The cost to redesign the infrastructure is something that is in my mind. I will assure you that the solution I come forward with will be economical. Please allow me some more time to get all my documentation ready for my proposal meeting. The ease of replacement is something I am working on determining. I have to see how much the hardware cost for one. I then have to see how many systems are currently using the MD5. Once I have that survey in front of me I am going to have to begin to think of how to push this new type of hashing algorithm across the network. I have to be honest I have not done this before but with the right amount of time for me to research this and working with fellow colleagues of mine I will be able to do this. There is nothing that cannot be learned and mastered with dedication to your craft. The exploit at our university was caught by internet storm cloud. So yes it has been released that is what brought all this attention to our school. They immediately went on the search for the top security engineers in the world. Knowing my long standing reputation and recommendations from a few other companies I have setup they contacted me to work this vulnerability for their university. When we think about the likely hood of an exploit we go back to the same scenario as explained up above. Students that were dropped or faculty that was recently let go for reasons they don’t understand. They could easily become upset with the university and take it upon themselves to attack the schools data. This is why system access is shut down for both as soon as they are not part of our institution any longer. These are the worst kind of people to upset when it comes to exploiting a system because they have been on it before and may know some of the interworking’s of the network infrastructure. I would like to believe that there is enough knowledge about the penalties of exploiting systems that an exploit would not be conducted. With our current solution in place with the MD5 there could with enough work easily be an attack and exploit made on the system. I know that Internet Storm cloud does not just have professionals looking there to keep their systems up to spec. I can bet that there is crackers looking to see those and exploit systems for fame in there hacking community’s online. Results of a hacking exploit on a school could have ramifications just as some major corporations or banks would have. Schools have all kinds of personality identifiable information from students as well as employees. I believe more from students. Applications for loans and scholarships as for a whole lot of information these days. The school system is used by current attendees and alumni as well as all the staff that works at the school. I know it’s really nice being able to go log on at FCC and see all my grades from when I attended. Most schools especially Universities have internal libraries of information like ebscohost and other commonly known information sites that cannot be accessed without going through the schools redirect portal. Attacks happen on all systems at random times. How we prevent the attackers from getting what there not supposed to have is what is important. Systems being attacked is not what makes them UN trustworthy. Systems being penetrated from that attack is what makes them un-trustworthy. The technical audience would be the staff I am working with. The knowledge that we need is a good understanding of how to keep the system up and running smoothly. I want to have a company that is not worried about the IT and more worried about the day to day. We are the backbone of keeping this university connected to the information out on the web. The less they know about what we do and the more focused they are on getting students enrolled and teaching the better. We want the board members to know that the reason the system is still not breached is because were here constantly monitoring the system internals in the back ground. Information for a non-technical audience would be in the documentation that they are looking at when signing up. There would be rules and regulations that each person whether faculty of student must abide by while being on the university’s systems. I would implement a log on script to provide these acceptable use policies before any one on the network is allowed to logon to the system. They must click the ok icon on the screen with a mouse or by hitting enter on the keyboard to accept the policy’s set before them on the screen. If they do not they will not be able to log in to the schools system.
References
Cisco, S. (2009, January 15). MD5 Hashes May Allow for Certificate Spoofing. Cisco. Retrieved September 27, 2014, from http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/csr/cisco-sr-20090115-md5.html
Dougherty, C. (2008, December 31). Vulnerability Note VU#836068. - MD5 vulnerable to collision attacks. Retrieved September 26, 2014, from http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/836068
Microsoft, W. (2008, December 30). Microsoft Security Advisory 961509. Microsoft Security Advisory 961509. Retrieved September 26, 2014, from https://technet.microsoft.com/library/security/961509
Security, T. (2014, March 26). Vulnerability exploitation tools – SecTools Top Network Security Tools. Vulnerability exploitation tools – SecTools Top Network Security Tools. Retrieved September 27, 2014, from http://sectools.org/tag/sploits/
Sotirov, A., Stevens, M., Appelbaum, J., Lenstra, A., Molnar, D., Osvik, D. A., et al. (2008, December 30). MD5 considered harmful today. MD5 considered harmful today. Retrieved September 27, 2014, from http://www.win.tue.nl/hashclash/rogue-ca/