Task 2: Critical thinking

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Task 2: Critical thinking

Field Selection

Internet of Things

Finding a Case Study

Our case study is the Edimax cameras which were infected by a malware known as Mirai Botnet in late 2016.

Analysis of the Business Case 

Summary of the case study

This business case involves Edison cameras that were primarily affected by the Mirai malware. The cameras were affected as the attackers used them. This made it possible for the attackers to use the cameras for DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks.

Identification of the security breaches that occurred

The Marai botnet malware infected the Edimax cameras and they were greatly affected.  Mirai malware exploits the security of many devices of the Internet of Things that is weak. Its operations are through scanning the devices of the internet of things devices in a continuous way (Strba, 2018:33). These devices are those that can be accessed through the internet and which get protection from factory default or usernames that are hardcoded as well as passwords.

The default usernames of the Internet of things devices, as well as their passwords, are generally not changed. This is the same case with the Edison cameras (Ling et al. 2018: 123). The Mirai botnet malware infects these devices forcing them to do their reporting to the server that is controlled centrally. This turns them into a bot that can be used in enhancing DDoS attacks.

The main vulnerability that was found by the hackers who developed Mirai malware was that cameras are devices of the Internet of Things that can be operated and fully controlled by anyone.  This are cameras that underlie operating system especially Linux through the typing of a username that is random but which contains very many characters(Kennefick, 2017: 111). Since the passwords of the cameras are not normally changed, the Mirai malware capitalized on this by infecting them and taking full control of them. The main security breach that the cameras were exposed to is one of them being able to be controlled by anyone.

Following this vulnerability, the Mirai malware infected the cameras and turned them into bots. This facilitated them to be used for DDoS attacks(Gupta et al. 2017:411). They were also in campaigns of extortion through the use of ransomware. The Mirai Malware mainly targeted the devices that were using the Linux operating system.

Therefore, the cameras were affected greatly because of the poor security procedures in these devices. The attackers are able to pre-program their worm with default passwords and those passwords that are used commonly (Guez, 2017: 61). The limitations of power processing as well as operating systems imply that there is a lack of security features that are advanced in many devices of Iota.

Solution against the attacks

In ensuring that a device is safe, four pillars must be considered. These pillars help in the determination of the right security level for the device (Galluscio et al. 2017: 46). The developers need to ensure that security measures are observed at every lifecycle of a device. The pillars in the lifecycle of a device include the design phase, execution phase, execution phase as well as the power down phase.

Field Selection

The design phase is during the inception of a device. This phase is very significant in the prevention of the introduction of codes that might be malicious during the process of development (Dulaunoy et al., 2017: 68). Some of the measures for prevention include delivery of signed binary, ensuring that there is authenticity and that alliterating codes is not possible. Another is ensuring that the device is developed on a certified platform of software under the standards of security of industries, for instance, IEC 27034 as well as IEC 62443.

The execution phase is also significant to the security of a device. The main security goal in this phase is to ensure or establish the background for trust (Cusack and Tian, 2017: 55). This is to help in the prevention of binaries that are entrusted from running which will go a long way in ensuring that the software that is placed in the hardware is the most appropriate one and that there is trust between the software and the hardware(April et al. 2017: 67). In developing the root of trust, the requirements are a boot technology that is secure as well as cryptographic signatures which ensure that there is prevention of code that is unsigned from executing.

In the operation phase, there is deployment of measures that are multiple in the prevention of attacks that might be malicious in the mode of operation. This includes controls for prevention of access that is not authorized and ensuring the security of networks through encryption (Antonakakis et al. 2017: 1093). In the power down phase, the necessary measures include storage that is encrypted and ensuring that the containers of data are secure for prevention of access of data from onboard.

As security features are being observed right from the initial stage of developing a device, some dimensions need to be considered. They include the hardware of the device, its operating system, its software, and mode of working with the internet as well as generation of data and its maintenance in the system (Angrishi, 2017: 88). The interface has to be secured including that of the users as well as attackers.

Diagram showing the aspects of a secure system of IoT and privacy

Critical Review of the Journal 

Summary of the paper

The paper looks into how the devices of IoT are vulnerable to infection by attackers. The attackers then use them to perform DDoS attacks. It specifically takes a look at the Edison cameras that were infected by Mirai botnet malware. The paper looks into the factors that made the Edison cameras vulnerable to attacks. They were mainly infected because of the poor security features. They operate on basic operating systems such as Linux and which is prone to infection by the malware. Their passwords can also be changed easily through typing of passwords with many characters, and this is enhanced because they do not have security features that are advanced.

The paper proceeds by identifying the breaches of security that happened in the Edimax cameras. Upon identification of the breaches, the paper also gives the solution to this kind of attacks. It provides a solution that starts right from the initial stages of developing a device. The paper also provides solutions to devices that have already been infected.

Internet of Things

Strengths of the paper

The paper identifies how the security of IoT devices can be breached and gives a detailed and intensive solution on how these devices can be protected from such attacks.

Weakness of the paper

The paper does not talk of other IoT devices. It mainly talks of cameras while there are many IoT that are vulnerable to attacks. 

Text coding

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Information security

Information security involves the concepts of integrity confidentiality authenticity and the availability these concepts are essential in facilitating transactions, and other business operations. However, they may be unreliable if they are no accomplished when designing a system. Confidentiality involves hiding data from strangers and therefore requires a secure authentication process for an outside party to access data. It also utilizes strict controls that are the sender and recipients are the only individuals supposed to obtain information.

Confidentiality also ensures data encryption hence information may not be readily intercepted. The next is integrity which implies that there should be resistance to the alteration of data and any changes must be detected. Integrity ensures only authorized agents access information. It is mainly enforced by the use of checksums and algorithmic validation. The maintenance of integrity involves the hardware and on the logic of applications

The third is available when needed and at the required time. The concern is how to keep the information open. The security issues may destroy data. Therefore, high availability solutions for instance load balancing quick backups are necessary. The last is authenticity that is a user must have an assurance that the data received is from the right sources. The failure of verifying the authenticity may lead to issues for instance browsers hijacking, spam, and email phishing.

Finding a Case Study

Data fraud and intrusion of privacy

Data fraud and intrusion of privacy are increasing even as the dangers of information revelation are on the rise. Progressively, healthcare, financial and different organizations must manage enactment and control information security, and in perspective of current news reports concerning cyber terrorism consumer worries pertaining data revelation and exploitation will most likely make enterprises and institutions obliged in protecting consumer data. Therefore, an effective security plan must be put in place to protect delicate data or information against misuse by putting into practice an efficient encryption protocol.

Cyber security

In the current digital era, cyber security attacks can come from any place either internally or externally. Advancement in information technology has come at the cost of increased vulnerability to attack of organizational information and data. Information security has therefore emerged as a central agenda for companies and institutions, which are worried about the danger caused by cybersecurity attacks. However, despite the increased investment by companies on cybersecurity, there are still some risks and threats which expose corporate data to attacks. This essay will discuss various risks and threats to company data and the procedures/policies to be implemented for data handling and protection to enhance smooth business continuity.

`           The first major security risk and a threat to company data are targeted cyber-attacks. Nowadays, cyber-attacks have ceased to be a mere creation of idle/bored young computer wizards who are after bragging rights. The nature of attacks network is changing globally, with attacks being conducted by organized crime syndicates who are everywhere and are globally connected. The modern-day hacking has advanced whereby hackers do not require the bulk of information in one go but can now excerpt information over a long period (Pillai, 2010). This poses a challenge and a difficulty for companies to manage their information security. The second threat and risk to company information are data breaches.

Many companies’ data is at risk of being violated, as a consequence of intended leaks by discontented employees, or other common mistakes such as misplacement of electronic gadgets, which facilitate leakage or escape of data from companies. A report on by data breach investigations has indicated that about half 50% of the data breaches occur within companies. Internal factors of employees and blunders in data handling result to a data breach. This, therefore, is a factor that increases the risks and vulnerabilities of companies’ information security (Keller, 2015). Because for instance if a gadget such as a laptop is misplaced, there is a risk that an intruder may come across it and gain access to critical information and may also temper with it. Companies should manage data breaches by being vigilant about who has legal access to what information.

Cloud computing

The third threat and risk to business data security are cloud computing, which has presented a new type of information security concern. This is due to the notion of cloud computing whereby companies must surrender their security control to an outside/external party. Although cloud computers tend to guarantee maximum data security in their centers, information is stored in the cloud together with information from other customer companies/organization. This mix up increases vulnerability to data insecurity because it is different from how a company may store information by itself (Catteddu, 2010). Cloud computing is, therefore, a threat or risk to company data security especially when the cloud computers’ data centers are not secure.

Analysis of the Business Case

The fourth risk and threat to modern company data security is a social network or social media. Social network/media sites including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have come at a cost to most companies and organizations whereby in addition to employees wasting working time, they also inadvertently leak company data. Apart from the susceptibilities in the online applications developed for seeping company network, people mostly post private information. Also, data security threats which are unknown to company information technology may be posed when third-party employees can access applications which are mostly developed by small companies and individuals through social media.

Mitigation of data security risks 

To mitigate and minimize the above data security risks, some policies/procedures should be implemented to ensure data protection and continuity of business. The first policy is a restriction of data/information access. This restricting classified data and software access to only the authorized personnel within the company. Common techniques for access restriction are authentication using passwords or tokens, and application of different authorization profiles to different users of the system, based on their varying roles. Authentication should be supplemented with audit trails, and valuable information can be provided by inclusive activity logs, which is used to refine the security measures effectiveness.

Companies should ensure that the information is completely removed before disposal. The removal may include physical destruction of the media or through data reformatting/overwriting on the storage media. Secondly, some situations may call for the company management to prevent employees from bringing and using personal computing gadgets such as smartphones in the job context. This helps to enhance device security control and therefore eliminate/reduce the vulnerabilities to information theft.

The information technology systems used in the modern companies has shifted to open standard systems and platforms which have created more opportunities for outsiders/intruders to take advantage of and access company data. Some techniques of information security such as physical isolation of raw data are no longer effective. Therefore, companies have to conduct a good plan and review process for policies and procedures of enhancing data security with the above examples very important in the modern information technology context.

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