Richard J. Bocchinfuso

Question:  Regarding the vulnerabilities, I have had the same concerns that you have mentioned with Open Source applications. Do you believe with Open Source projects with code available to anyone, that having more programmers with access to the code to quickly identify vulnerabilities and correct them outweighs the potential for hackers realizing a vulnerability? I don’t have first hand experience, but from previous classes we learned that programers are normally on a time crunch with approaching deadlines, and therefore neglect security and take shortcuts in the applications design. I also read that the programers will often will change companies, leaving another programer in place to fix the identified vulnerabilities and code errors, often times, with no notes from the out-going programer to help in the process. 

Response:  I think the Open Source conversation cuts both ways.  With source code readily available, vulnerabilities can be identified quicker and either exploited or patched.  There is also a tangential effect of the Open Source movement where tools are being built in the ecosystem which helps us to detect threats and close vulnerabilities, tools like Snort.  Software development cycles are moving at a much faster pace today than they were ten years ago, rigid release cycles have given way to CI/CD (Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery) and Blue-Green Deployments.  It’s said that 111 billion new lines are code will be put into production in 2017, that is a lot of code and a massive new attack surface, which will likely be targeted using vectors not previously used.  It’s unrealistic to think that all this code will be vulnerability-free, the question in my mind is always focused on progress, if we live in fear, if we slow release cycles, do we reduce risk and at what cost?  I think the Open Source community is critical to the overall ecosystem, yes there are vulnerabilities, for example, Shellshock which impacted a large number of UNIX and Linux based systems using bash and while we might think that tighter controls and release cycles might have avoided this, it’s unlikely.  With all that said I believe the Open Source pros far outweigh the cons.  When we look around at where we are today most of the progress would not have been possible without the Open Source movement.

Question:  So I would like your opinion on a thought process. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? He is what I mean, Lets look at hospitals being held by ransomware. Did this come about from tv shows portraying it then some hacker saying I can do that. Or did it start from a hacker and tv saying what a great idea? Look at how many ideas can from TV and movies and because of fantasy became reality (cell phones, tablets, etc). I’m still new in the IT world, but I don’t ever remember hearing about ransomware attacks on hospitals until after I saw about 3 tv shows with it. Of course I have seen the same trend, not just in hospital ransomware attacks, but other kind of terrorist attacks around the world. So your opinion, are we making hackers famous, or are we giving them ideas? Of course this post is open for anyone to throw their ideas out here on it.

Response:  Scott, my general thought is that art imitates life, life does not imitate art so I believe that TV series like Mr. Robot and others are merely just replaying events which have already taken place in a context that can be easily understood by the masses (Law and Order for the cyber enthusiast).  TV dramatizes the stereotype of a hacker because the truth is probably a little dry for mass consumption but I don’t think TV is providing hackers with any new ideas and most hackers prefer anonymity to fame.  The hacktivist group Anonymous (portrayed as fsociety on Mr. Robot) represents a cyber activist group interested in taking credit (anonymously hopefully) for their activities but the number of hacks they take credit for pale in comparison to the hacks that go undetected or undisclosed.

Interesting fact:  100% of ransomware attacks like (CrytoLocker, WannaCry, etc…) decrypt the data once the victim pays the ransom.  These are hacks for economic gain.  If there was a report that the ransom was paid but the data was not decrypted then no one would pay the ransom so ironically the idea of ransomware really hinges on the idea that you will get your data back if pay the ransom.  Couple this with the idea that most organizations don’t want to disclose that they were exploited and you have the perfect storm for a booming business.

The first documented ransomware virus was identified in 1989 and was called the AIDS Trojan.
This week I simulated something similar my presentation as an example of a high-tech method of hacking using a device called a USB Rubber Ducky (video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOBgquwpvTc).

As for new ideas discovered on TV, let’s explore this for a minute, maybe using the Star Trek Communicator as a good example.  HAM radio started being used in the 1890s and Star Teck debuted in 1966.  My point is that good Hollywood is rooted in reality, even good science fiction is rooted in the ability to visualize what could be based on what is.  With that said I would be willing to agree that Hollywood probably played a significant role in in design and adoption rates, not sure if this or will continue to be the case in the future though.  The Motorola StarTAC and the Star Trek Communicator look pretty similar, coincidence, I think not.  Hollywood clearly played a role in the design choices and adoption rate of the StarTAC but these are consumer goods and the tech was the tech.

There is a sub-culture out there and when you’re not living it is all seems new and shiny.  John Draper (aka Cap’n Crunch) hacked the pay phones with a toy whistle from a box of Cap’n Crunch cereal box in the 1960s, yet phreaking (the idea not the name) wasn’t really done by Hollywood until 1983 in the movie War Games.  The whistle emitted a 2600 MHz tone that allowed free phone calls to be made from pay phones, though the 70s and 80s phreaking persisted as a vibrant sub-culture where hackers, mostly enthusiast tinkerers but some malicious looked at the ever-expanding telephony system as a gauntlet laid down before them. Sound familiar. 🙂

I am an avid reader of 2600 magazine; if you are interested in the hacker sub-culture I recommend it.
If you just want to read some of the best stories they 2600 had published a couple of books which I recommend:
– The Best of 2600: A Hacker Odyssey
– Dear Hacker: Letters to the Editor of 2600

Why is cybercrime expanding rapidly? Discuss some possible solutions, including acceptable-use policies, security procedures, and policies.

One of my favorite websites is the Norse Attack Map.
The Norse Attack Map does a good job graphically depicting the amount of suspicious activity occurring on the Internet. I am also an avid reader of Kerbs on Security and it’s clear that hackers are motivated by differing agendas and that attack surface and entry points are increasing at an exponential rate. IOT is creating an unprecedented attack surface and with the number of Internet-connected devices growing exponentially I think it’s fair to expect that cyber attacks will remain on the rise.  Companies like Cisco are introducing what they call “The Network Intuitive” (if this is the only link you click, I suggest watching this video)which will leverage machine learning and AI to protect the network and its connected devices.

Our connected evolution from the ARPANET to the Internet we are all so familiar with and have come to rely on, to the Internet of Everything (IoE) is what provides the basis for the rapid expansion of cybercrime. A quick look at the growth of the Internet and the connected devices provides insight to an attack surface that is growing bigger and bigger with each passing day.

The Target breach was highlighted in the text (Turban, 2015, p. 149) and this was a violation that was a probably avoidable with simple layer one isolation. Why Fazio Mechanical Servies, Target’s HVAC contractor would have credentials on a network that had access to Target’s POS systems is a bit astounding. Hindsight is 20/20 and hackers have proven capable of penetrating facilities which are off the grid; this was the case with Stuxnet. In the case of Stuxnet, a worm purportedly developed under an unacknowledged government operation called Olympic Games which was a campaign to use cyberwarfare to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program. I highly recommend the movie Zero Days.

The Internet is the modern-day battlefield, the keyboard is the weapon of choice, the ideal soldier is adept at sleep deprivation and enjoys jolt cola and cold pizza. Whether you hack for the challenge (e.g. – Kevin Mitnick), hack for hacktivism (e.g. – Barrett Brown), hack for money (e.g. – black, white and gray hat hackers for hire) or you hack for a nation-state, you likely live inside a sub-culture which is which is experiencing exponential growth.

I think it’s important to note that amount of Open Source software being deployed has exploded; this is important because the source code is easily accessible, this makes it easier for hackers to find and exploit vulnerabilities. This software is everything from operating systems like Linux which powers the Internet in the form of servers, mobile devices, IoT devices, routers, switches, etc… to platforms like WordPress which is said to power 28% of the websites on the Internet.  Linux and platforms like WordPress are honeypots because a vulnerability found in the Linux kernel, a GNU binary or in the WordPress code can be exploited and impact maximum damage.  It’s also important to recognize how important simple things like password length and complexity are, tools like hashcat, cloud computing, and the accessibility to GPU computing have made cracking reasonably complex passwords a speedy task, what used to take years now takes minutes.

Cloud computing and rapid adoption have not made these problems any easier to deal with.  As developers race to the cloud to become the next Unicornsecurity practices are weakening.  One of my favorite stories is about a company called Code Spaces who was put out of business by a hacker who gained root access to their AWS account and essentially deleted all their instances, data, and backups.  There are stories every day about developers placing keys on Github inadvertently and there are bots which are actively crawling code repositories looking for keys.  In this connected world access to information awesome and so is the ability to expose information that should not be exposed, good policies, procedures, automation, etc… are required to mitigate risk.

Acceptable use policies and training can be an effective means of influencing how users interact with systems that can either pose a direct or tangential cybersecurity threat.

Security policies and procedures define how to prevent and respond to security incidents. These policies and procedures focus on enforcement, designated and empowered incident response personnel, notification procedures, communication plans and monitoring external sources of information.

Examples of computer security related incidents and items that might be addressed in an acceptable use policy might include items such as:

• A denial of service attack (DOS, DDOS).
• Malware infections.
• Policy violations, such as sharing offensive material, deliberate violation of information security policies, inappropriate use of systems and assets, and unauthorized escalation of privileges or subversion of access controls.
• A user who defaces another organization’s public website.
• Unauthorized access is gained to a critical information system.
• Internal hacking.
• External hacking, including defacement of websites and malicious intrusion attempts into the internal network.
• Unauthorized access using VPN or wireless remote access.
• Abuse of authorized internal and external services.
• Unauthorized changes to live systems.
• An event requiring forensic investigation to obtain evidence (e.g. point of entry, compromise of data, etc.).
• Information systems and assets being used to commit unlawful activity.
• The actions of third parties who use computer systems to harm the reputation of an organization.
• Theft of database content.
• Theft of mobile computing property.
• Misuse of an employee’s or customer’s personal information.
• User disclosure of confidential information to external parties.

A security policy might include items such as the following:

• An incident response plan that serves as a guideline for an overall approach to addressing information security incidents.
• An intrusion detection procedure that establishes an intrusion detection system and parameters related to maintaining this system.
• Processes that flow through all phases of a response to an information technology-related incident (preparation, identification, containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned).
• A procedure within the plan that includes classifying an event and assigning a severity rating or priority.
• Regular reporting requirements for summary reports to management.
• Provisions for documentation of critical information necessary in the event of an incident and guidelines for all personnel to report observed suspicious activity.
• Incident management procedures that include a severity rating assignment.
• Establishment of guidelines for communication of incidents to outside parties.
• Selection of an incident response team with designated roles and responsibilities.
• Ongoing and scheduled training for the incident response team.

Outlining what is acceptable use and how to respond to incidents, can reduce risk and improve the ability to contain potential damages should a security incident arise.

References

Bate, Ben, et al. “WordPress now powers 28% of all websites.” Envato, 5 Sept. 2017, envato.com/blog/wordpress-now-powers-28-websites/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.

Finley, Klint. “Linux Took Over the Web. Now, It’s Taking Over the World.” Wired, Conde Nast, 3 June 2017, www.wired.com/2016/08/linux-took-web-now-taking-world/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.

“Krebs on Security.” Brian Krebs, krebsonsecurity.com/2014/02/target-hackers-broke-in-via-hvac-company/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.

Tung, Liam. “ IoT devices will outnumber the world’s population this year for the first time.” ZDNet, ZDNet, 13 Feb. 2017, www.zdnet.com/article/iot-devices-will-outnumber-the-worlds-population-this-year-for-the-first-time/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.

Turban, Efraim, et al. Information technology for management digital strategies for insight, action, and sustainable performance. New Jersey (Estados Unidos), Wiley, 2015.

Use a mobile device (smartphone or tablet) to record several examples of organizations using mobile technologies in order to relate to customers, become more efficient, productive, and profitable.

Password: floridatech

You will create a PowerPoint presentation to address the question below. Your PowerPoint presentation should be between 8-12 slides, and developed as if you are presenting to fellow colleagues within the IT industry. 

What are the functions of databases and/ or data warehouses?  Present examples from an office environment or other industry with which you have personal experience (i.e.: health field, accounting, fitness environment, academic institutions), that illustrates these functions (billing, customer searches, etc.)

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