PROFFESSIONAL ETHICS

Lecture_8

Prepared by:
Dr. Hebatulla M. Nabil

Text book:
Ethics in Information Technology
for GEORGE W.REYNOLDS
 COMPUTER
AND
INTERNET CRIME
IT Security Incidents:
3

A Major Concern

Security of information technology is of utmost importance

➢ Safeguard:
• Confidential business data
• Private customer and employee data
➢ Protect against malicious acts of theft or disruption
➢ Balance against other business needs and issues
 Why Computer Incidents Are So
4

Prevalent
1. Increasing complexity increases vulnerability

 Computing environment is enormously complex

• Continues to increase in complexity
• Number of entry points expands continuously
• Cloud computing and virtualization software

Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage
and computing power, without direct active management by the user. The term is generally used to
describe data centers available to many users over the Internet.
Why Computer Incidents Are So
5

Prevalent (Cont.)
2. Higher computer user expectations
 Today, time means money, and the faster computer users can solve a
problem, the sooner they can be productive. As a result, computer
help desks are under intense pressure to respond very quickly to users’
questions. Under duress, help desk personnel:
• Forget to verify users’ IDs or check authorizations
• Computer users share login IDs and passwords

 This can enable workers to gain access to information systems and

data for which they are not authorized.
 Why Computer Incidents Are So
6

Prevalent (Cont.)
3. Expanding/changing systems equal new risks
 Network era
• Personal computers connect to networks with millions of other computers
• All capable of sharing information
 Information technology
• Ubiquitous
• Necessary tool for organizations to achieve goals
• Increasingly difficult to match pace of technological change
Why Computer Incidents Are So
7

Prevalent (Cont.)
4 . Increased reliance on commercial software with known vulnerabilities
 Exploit

 Attack on information system

 Takes advantage of system vulnerability
 Due to poor system design or implementation
 Patch

 “Fix” to eliminate the problem

 Users are responsible for obtaining and installing
 Delays expose users to security breaches
Why Computer Incidents Are So
8

Prevalent (Cont.)
Commercial software
 Any software or program that is designed and developed for
licensing or sale to end users or that serves a commercial purpose.
 Examples: Microsoft Windows Operating System, MS Office, off-the-shelf
software programs, such as games or those sold in computer
specialty stores or even music stores and grocery stores
 This type of software includes financial, marketing and accounting
software.
 During the last decades, however, some open-source applications
have also become commercial software, licensed to customers as is
or as part of a service.
Why Computer Incidents Are So
9

Prevalent (Cont.)
 Zero-day attack:
- A zero day exploit is a cyber attack that occurs on the same
day a weakness is discovered in software. At that point, it's
exploited before a fix becomes available from its creator.
- Before a vulnerability is discovered or fixed

 U.S. companies rely on commercial software with known

vulnerabilities
 Types of Exploits
10

 Computers as well as smartphones can be target

 Types of attacks
1. Virus
2. Worm
3. Trojan horse
4. Distributed denial of service
5. Rootkit
6. Spam
7. Phishing (spear-phishing, smishing, and vishing)
1. Viruses
11

 Pieces of programming code, Often attached to files and usually

disguised as something else.
 Cause unexpected and undesirable behavior
 Spread by actions of the “infected” computer user
• Infected e-mail document attachments
• Downloads of infected programs
• Visits to infected Web sites
 Deliver a “payload”: which is the part of transmitted data that is the
actual intended message. Headers and metadata are sent only to
enable payload delivery. In the context of a computer virus or worm, the
payload is the portion of the malware which performs malicious.
2. Worms
12

 Harmful programs
 Reside in active memory of a computer
 Duplicate themselves

 Can propagate without human intervention

 Negative impact of worm attack

 Lost data and programs
 Lost productivity
 Additional effort for IT workers
3. Trojan Horses
13

 Malicious code hidden inside seemingly

harmless programs
 Users are tricked into installing them
 Delivered via email attachment,
downloaded from a Web site, or
contracted via a removable media
device
 Logic bomb: a set of instructions secretly
incorporated into a program so that if a
particular condition is satisfied they will be
carried out, usually with harmful effects →
executes when triggered by certain event
 4. Distributed Denial-of-Service
14

(DDoS) Attacks
 Malicious hacker takes over computers on the Internet and causes them
to flood a target site with demands for data and other small tasks
• The computers that are taken over are called zombies
• Botnet is a very large group of such computers

 Does not involve a break-in at the target computer

• Target machine is busy responding to a stream of automated requests
• Legitimate users cannot access target machine
5. Rootkits
15

 Set of programs that enables its user to gain administrator-level access

to a computer without the end user’s consent or knowledge

 Attacker can gain full control of the system and even obscure the
presence of the rootkit

 Fundamental problem in detecting a rootkit is that the operating system

currently running cannot be trusted to provide valid test results
6. Spam
16

 Abuse of email systems to send unsolicited email to large numbers of

people
• Low-cost commercial advertising for questionable products
• Method of marketing also used by many legitimate organizations

 Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing

(CAN-SPAM) Act → Legal to spam if basic requirements are met

 Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans

Apart (CAPTCHA) → Software generates tests that humans can pass but
computer programs cannot
7. Phishing
17

 It is the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from

reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal
information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

 Act of using email fraudulently to try to get the recipient to reveal

personal data

 Legitimate-looking emails lead users to counterfeit Web sites

7. Phishing (Cont.)
18

Types of phishing:

 Spear-phishing
Fraudulent emails to an organization’s employees

 Smishing
Phishing via text messages

 Vishing
Phishing via voice mail messages
Types of Perpetrators
19

 Perpetrators include:
• Thrill seekers wanting a challenge
• Common criminals looking for financial gain
• Industrial spies trying to gain an advantage
• Terrorists seeking to cause destruction

 Different objectives and access to varying resources

 Willing to take different levels of risk to accomplish an

objective
 Types of Perpetrators (Cont.)
20

There are many different kinds

of people who launch
computer attacks, including:

the hacker, cracker, malicious

insider, industrial spy,
cybercriminal, hacktivist, and
cyberterrorist.
Types of Perpetrators (Cont.)
21

1. Hackers
 Test limitations of systems out of intellectual curiosity
 Some smart and talented
 Others inept; termed “lamers” or “script kiddies”

2. Crackers
 Cracking is a form of hacking – Cause problem- steal data
 Clearly criminal activity
Types of Perpetrators (Cont.)
22

3. Malicious Insiders
 Major security concern for companies
 Fraud within an organization is usually due to weaknesses in internal
control procedures
 Collusion → Cooperation between an employee and an outsider
 Insiders
are not necessarily employees → Can also be consultants
and contractors
 Extremely difficult to detect or stop → Authorized to access the very
systems they abuse
 Negligent insiders have potential to cause damage
Types of Perpetrators (Cont.)
23

4. Industrial Spies
 Use illegal means to obtain trade secrets from competitors
 Trade secrets are protected by the Economic Espionage Act of 1996
 Types of spies:
A. Competitive intelligence
• Uses legal techniques
• Gathers information available to the public
B. Industrial espionage
• Uses illegal means
• Obtains information not available to the public
Types of Perpetrators (Cont.)
24

5. Cybercriminals
 Hack into corporate computers to steal

 Engage in all forms of computer fraud

 To reduce potential for online credit card fraud:

• Use encryption technology
• Verify the address submitted online against the issuing bank
• Request a card verification value (CVV)
• Use transaction-risk scoring software
Types of Perpetrators (Cont.)
25

5. Cybercriminals (Cont.)

 Smart cards
• Contain a memory chip
• Updated with encrypted data each time card is used
• Used widely in Europe
• Not widely used in the U.S.

 Loss of customer trust has more impact than fraud

Types of Perpetrators (Cont.)
26

6. Hacktivism
 Hacking to achieve a political or social goal

7. Cyberterrorist
 Attacks computers or networks in an attempt to force a
government in order to advance certain political or social
objectives
 Seeks to cause harm rather than gather information
 Uses techniques that destroy or disrupt services
 Federal Laws for Prosecuting 27

Computer Attacks
Over the years, several laws have been enacted to prosecute those
responsible for computer-related crime, including:

1. The USA Patriot Act,

2. The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act,
3. The Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Access Devices Statute,
4. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act,
5. Stored Wire and Electronic Communications and Transactional Record
Access Statutes.
Federal Laws for Prosecuting 28

Computer Attacks (Cont.)