IAS Handout New

Information Assurance and Security
Wachemo University
Faculty of Engineering and Technology
School of Computing and Informatics
Department of Information Technology
Information Assurance and Security Handout
By
Fikadu Wayesa (M.Sc.)
Hosanna, SNNP, Ethiopia

December 30, 2022
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Information Assurance and Security Handout (FET, SCI, Department of IT, 4 th year Students).
Chapter One
Attacks on Computers and Computer Security

THE CAST OF CHARACTERS
Following tradition, Alice and Bob are the good guys. Trudy is a generic bad guy who is trying
to attack the system in some way. In this usage, Trudy is an “intruder” and Eve is an
“eavesdropper” and so on. Trudy will be our all-purpose bad guy. Alice, Bob, Trudy and the rest
of the gang need not be humans. For example, one possible scenario would be that Alice is a
laptop, Bob a server, and Trudy a human.
ALICE’S ONLINE B ANK
Suppose that Alice starts an online banking business, appropriately named Alice’s Online
Bank, or AOB. What are Alice’s information security concerns? If Bob is Alice’s customer, what
are his information security concerns? Are Bob’s concerns the same as Alice’s? If we look at
AOB from Trudy’s perspective, what security vulnerabilities might we see?
This is the age of universal electronic connectivity, where the activities like hacking, viruses,
electronic fraud are very common. Unless security measures are taken, a network conversation or
a distributed application can be compromised easily. Some simple examples are: Online
purchases using a credit/debit card. A customer unknowingly being directed to a false website. A
hacker sending a message to a person pretending to be someone else.
Computer security is security applied to computing devices such as computers and smartphones,
as well as computer networks such as private and public networks, including the whole Internet.
The field covers all the processes and mechanisms by which digital equipment, information and
services are protected from unintended or unauthorized access, change or destruction, and are of
growing importance in line with the increasing reliance on computer systems of most societies
worldwide. It includes physical security to prevent theft of equipment, and information security
to protect the data on that equipment. It is sometimes referred to as "cyber security" or "IT
security", though these terms generally do not refer to physical security (locks and such).
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Computer data often travels from one computer to another, leaving the safety of its protected
physical surroundings. Once the data is out of hand, people with bad intention could modify or
forge your data, either for enjoyment or for their own benefit. Cryptography can reformat and
transform our data, making it safer on its trip between computers. The technology is based on the
essentials of secret codes, augmented by modern mathematics that protects our data in powerful
ways.
Basic Terms
 Information: Information is data endowed with relevance and purpose. Converting data into
information thus requires knowledge. Information should be: accurate, timely, complete,
verifiable, consistent, and available.
 Assurance- Actions taken that protect and defend information and information systems by
ensuring their availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality and non-repudiation. This
includes providing for restoration of information systems by incorporating protection,
detection and reaction capabilities.
 Information Assurance (IA) is the study of how to protect your information assets from
destruction, degradation, manipulation and exploitation. But also, how to recover should any
of those happen. Notice that it is both proactive and reactive
Implication -- there is no universal definition or test for security (why?)
 Computer Security - generic name for the collection of tools designed to protect data and to
thwart hackers
o Traditionally, computer facilities have been physically protected for three reasons:
 To prevent theft of or damage to the hardware
 To prevent theft of or damage to the information
 To prevent disruption of service
 Network Security - measures to protect data during their transmission.
 Internet Security - measures to protect data during their transmission over a collection of
interconnected networks. [Internet security is our focus study]
ASPECTS OF SECURITY
To assess the security needs of an organization effectively, the manager responsible for security
needs some systematic way of defining the requirements for security and characterization of
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approaches to satisfy those requirements. One approach is to consider three aspects of

information security:
There are 3 aspects of information security:
1. SECURITY ATTACK
Why We Need Information Security? Because there are threats. A threat is an object, person, or
other entity that represents a constant danger to an asset. Security attack is any action that
compromises the security of information owned by an organization. Information security is about
how to prevent attacks, or failing that, to detect attacks on information-based systems often
threat & attack used to mean same thing have a wide range of attacks can focus of generic types
of network attacks
 Passive attacks- is one that involves either the eavesdropping or monitoring of data
communications. The goal of the malicious entity is to acquire the information or learn
more about the communication. eg. Eavesdropping
o Release of Message Contents: This is when during the transmission of data from
one party to another, a third and malicious party intercepts the message and learns
its contents.
o Traffic Analysis: Traffic analysis is concerned with the analysis of patterns
generated by the actions of the parties involved. This may simply involve the
detection of an encrypted message being sent from a single party.
 Active attacks- eg. password guessing
o This attack involve the modification of the communication channel or the data
being sent across the channel.
o Masquerade: This is simply the impersonation of a legitimate entity in order to
abuse or access the resources accessible by the entity.
o Replay: Involves the retransmission of existing and already transmitted data in
order to produce an unauthorized effect.
o Message Modification: The delay, modification, reorder on a legitimate
message such that it produces an unauthorized effect.
o Denial of Service (DoS): This involves the prevention of or reduction in quality,
of a legitimate service. Such attacks may target specific hosts or entire networks.
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o Attacker sends a large number of connection or information requests to a target

machine, so many requests are made that the target system cannot handle them
successfully along with other, legitimate requests for service. This may result in a
system crash, or merely an inability to perform ordinary functions. In contrast to
passive attacks, active ones are easy to detect but harder to counter, as it would
involve the protection of all the communication services offered.
• Attacks on computer systems

– break-in to destroy information
– break-in to steal information
– blocking to operate properly
– malicious software
• Source of attacks
– Insiders
– Outsiders
• Passive attacks
– interception of the messages
– What can the attacker do?
• use information internally- hard to understand
• release the content- can be understood
• traffic analysis- hard to avoid
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– Hard to detect, try to prevent
Types of Attack
INTERRUPTION
An asset of the system is destroyed or becomes unavailable or unusable. It is an attack on
availability.
Examples:
 Destruction of some hardware
 Jamming wireless signals or cutting of a communication line
 Disabling file management systems
INTERCEPTION
An unauthorized party gains access to an asset. Attack on confidentiality.
Examples:
 Wire tapping to capture data in a network.
 Illicitly copying data or programs
 Eavesdropping
MODIFICATION
When an unauthorized party gains access and tampers an asset. Attack is on Integrity.
Examples:
 Changing data file
 Altering a program and the contents of a message
FABRICATION
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An unauthorized party inserts a counterfeit object into the system. Attack on Authenticity.
Also called impersonation
Examples:
 Hackers gaining access to a personal email and sending message
 Insertion of records in data files
 Insertion of spurious messages in a network
2. SECURITY SERVICES
It is a processing or communication service that is provided by a system to give a specific kind of
production to system resources. Security services implement security policies and are
implemented by security mechanisms.
 Confidentiality- Confidentiality is the protection of transmitted data from passive
attacks.
The principle of confidentiality specifies that only the sender and the intended
recipient should be able to access the content of the message. It is used to prevent the
disclosure of information to unauthorized individuals or systems. It has been defined as
“ensuring that information is accessible only to those authorized to have access”. The
other aspect of confidentiality is the protection of traffic flow from analysis. It is called
prevention of sensitive data leakage.
 It aims to prevent unauthorized reading of information. AOB probably wouldn’t care
much about the confidentiality of the information it deals with, except for the fact that its
customers certainly do. Bob doesn’t want Trudy to know how much money he has in his
savings account. Alice’s Bank would also face legal problems if it failed to protect the
confidentiality of such information.
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o Ex: A credit card number has to be secured during online transaction.
 Authentication- This service assures that a communication is authentic. For a single

message transmission, its function is to assure the recipient that the message is from
intended source. For an ongoing interaction two aspects are involved. First, during
connection initiation the service assures the authenticity of both parties. Second, the
connection between the two hosts is not interfered allowing a third party to masquerade
as one of the two parties. Two specific authentication services defines in X.800 are
o Peer entity authentication: Verifies the identities of the peer entities involved in
communication. Provides use at time of connection establishment and during data
transmission. Provides confidence against a masquerade or a replay attack
o Data origin authentication: Assumes the authenticity of source of data unit, but
does not provide protection against duplication or modification of data units.
Supports applications like electronic mail, where no prior interactions take place
between communicating entities.
 Integrity- Integrity means that data cannot be modified without authorization. It is also
known as prevention of data corruption. Like confidentiality, it can be applied to a stream
of messages, a single message or selected fields within a message.
 Information has integrity if unauthorized writing is prohibited. Alice’s Bank must
protect the integrity of account information to prevent Trudy from, say, increasing the
balance in her account or changing the balance in Bob’s account.
 The confidential information sent by A to B which is accessed by C without the
permission or knowledge of A and B.
 Two types of integrity services are available. They are
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o Connection-Oriented Integrity Service: This service deals with a stream of

messages, assures that messages are received as sent, with no duplication,
insertion, modification, reordering or replays. Destruction of data is also covered
here. Hence, it attends to both message stream modification and denial of service.
o Connectionless-Oriented Integrity Service: It deals with individual messages
regardless of larger context, providing protection against message modification
only. An integrity service can be applied with or without recovery. Because it is
related to active attacks, major concern will be detection rather than prevention. If
a violation is detected and the service reports it, either human intervention or
automated recovery machines are required to recover.
 Non-repudiation- Non-repudiation prevents either sender or receiver from denying a
transmitted message. This capability is crucial to e-commerce. Without it an individual or
entity can deny that he, she or it is responsible for a transaction, therefore not financially
liable.
 Access Control- This refers to the ability to control the level of access that individuals or
entities have to a network or system and how much information they can receive. It is the
ability to limit and control the access to host systems and applications via communication
links. For this, each entity trying to gain access must first be identified or authenticated,
so that access rights can be tailored to the individuals.
 Availability- The availability can significantly be affected by a variety of attacks, some
amenable to automated counter measures i.e authentication and encryption and others
need some sort of physical action to prevent or recover from loss of availability of
elements of a distributed system.
 Denial of service, or DoS, attacks are a relatively recent concern. Such attacks try to
reduce access to information. As a result of the rise in DoS attacks, data availability has
become a fundamental issue in information security. Availability is a concern for both
Alice’s Bank and Bob. If AOB’s website is unavailable, then Alice can’t make money
from customer transactions and Bob can’t get his business done. Bob might then take
his business elsewhere. If Trudy has a grudge against Alice—or if she just wants to be
malicious—she might attempt a denial of service attack on Alice’s Online Bank.
 Example: Controlling data response.
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3. Security Mechanism
A mechanism that is designed to detect, prevent or recover from a security attack. According to
X.800, the security mechanisms are divided into those implemented in a specific protocol layer
and those that are not specific to any particular protocol layer or security service. X.800 also
differentiates reversible & irreversible encipherment mechanisms. A reversible encipherment
mechanism is simply an encryption algorithm that allows data to be encrypted and subsequently
decrypted, whereas irreversible encipherment include hash algorithms and message
authentication codes used in digital signature and message authentication applications.
Specific Security Mechanisms
One of the most specific security mechanisms in use is cryptographic techniques. Encryption or
encryption-like transformations of information are the most common means of providing
security. Incorporated into the appropriate protocol layer in order to provide some of the OSI
security services. These include:
 Encipherment: It refers to the process of applying mathematical algorithms for
converting data into a form that is not intelligible. This depends on algorithm used and
encryption keys.
 Digital Signature: The appended data or a cryptographic transformation applied to
any data unit allowing to prove the source and integrity of the data unit and protect
against forgery.
 Access Control: A variety of techniques used for enforcing access permissions to the
system resources.
 Data Integrity: A variety of mechanisms used to assure the integrity of a data unit or
stream of data units.
 Authentication Exchange: A mechanism intended to ensure the identity of an entity
by means of information exchange.
 Traffic Padding: The insertion of bits into gaps in a data stream to frustrate traffic
analysis attempts.
 Routing Control: Enables selection of particular physically secure routes for certain
data and allows routing changes once a breach of security is suspected.
 Notarization: The use of a trusted third party to assure certain properties of a data
exchange.
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Data is transmitted over network between two communicating parties, who must cooperate for
the exchange to take place. A logical information channel is established by defining a route
through the internet from source to destination by use of communication protocols by the two
parties. Whenever an opponent presents a threat to confidentiality, authenticity of information,
security aspects come into play.
Some secret information shared by the two principals and, it is hoped, unknown to the opponent.
An example is an encryption key used in conjunction with the transformation to scramble the
message before transmission and unscramble it on reception.
A trusted third party may be needed to achieve secure transmission. It is responsible for
distributing the secret information to the two parties, while keeping it away from any opponent.
It also may be needed to settle disputes between the two parties regarding authenticity of a
message transmission.
Where to have security?
A successful organization should have the following multiple layers of security in place to
protect its operations:
 Physical security, to protect physical items, objects, or areas from unauthorized access
and misuse
 Personnel security, to protect the individual or group of individuals who are authorized
to access the organization and its operations
 Operations security, to protect the details of a particular operation or series of activities
 Communications security, to protect communications media, technology, and content
 Network security, to protect networking components, connections, and contents
 Information security, to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of
information assets, whether in storage, processing, or transmission. It is achieved via the
application of policy, education, training and awareness, and technology.
Network security is mostly achieved through the use of cryptography, a science based on abstract
algebra. To ensure CIA (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability) we need some clever
techniques from the field of Cryptography. In this course, we briefly discuss the cryptography
suitable for the scope of this course.
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Chapter 2
Brief overview of Commercial Issues on Security
Introduction
 Human being from ages had two inherent needs:

1. To communicate and share information and
2. To communicate selectively.
 These two needs gave rise to the art of coding the messages in such a way that only
the intended people could have access to the information.
 Unauthorized people could not extract any information, even if the scrambled
messages fell in their hand.
 The art and science of concealing the messages to introduce secrecy in information
security is recognized as cryptography.
What is Cryptography?
The word “cryptography‟ was coined by combining two Greek words, “Krypto‟ meaning
hidden and “graphene‟ meaning writing.
Cryptography, a word with Greek origins, means "secret writing." However, we use the term to
refer to the science and art of transforming messages to make them secure and immune to
attacks. Cryptography The art or science encompassing the principles and methods of
transforming an intelligible message into one that is unintelligible, and then retransforming that
message back to its original form.
 Cryptography is about constructing and analyzing protocols that prevent third parties or
the public from reading private messages; various aspects in information security such as
data confidentiality, data integrity, authentication, and nonrepudiation are central to
modern cryptography.
 Modern cryptography exists at the intersection of the disciplines of mathematics,
computer science, electrical engineering, communication science, and physics.
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 Applications of cryptography include electronic commerce, chip-based payment

cards, digital currencies, computer passwords, and military communications.
 Cryptography is associated with the process of converting ordinary plain text into
unintelligible text and vice-versa. It is a method of storing and transmitting data in a
particular form so that only those for whom it is intended can read and process it.
Cryptography not only protects data from theft or alteration, but can also be used for user
authentication.
 Earlier cryptography was effectively synonymous with encryption but nowadays
cryptography is mainly based on mathematical theory and computer science practice.
Cryptography Components
 Plain text: The original message, before being transformed, An encryption algorithm
transforms the plaintext into cipher text which is used by sender;
 Cipher text: The transformed message, a decryption algorithm transforms the cipher text
back into plaintext receiver.
 Cipher: An algorithm for transforming an intelligible message into one that is
unintelligible by transposition and/or substitution methods. The term cipher is also used
to refer to different categories of algorithms in cryptography. This is not to say
that every sender-receiver pair needs their very own unique cipher for a secure
communication. On the contrary, one cipher can serve millions of communicating pairs.
 Key: Some critical information used by the cipher, known only to the sender& receiver.
A key is a number (or a set of numbers) that the cipher, as an algorithm, operates on. To
encrypt a message, we need an encryption algorithm, an encryption key, and the
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plaintext. These create the cipher text. To decrypt a message, we need a decryption
algorithm, a decryption key, and the cipher text. These reveal the original plaintext .
 Encipher (encode/ encrypt): The process of converting plaintext to cipher text using a
cipher and a key.
 Decipher (decode/decrypt): the process of converting cipher text back into plaintext
using a cipher and a key.
 Cryptanalysis: The study of principles and methods of transforming an unintelligible
message back into an intelligible message without knowledge of the key. Also called
code breaking.
 Cryptology: The field of both cryptography (science of making “secret codes”) and
cryptanalysis (science of breaking secret codes).
 Code: An algorithm for transforming an intelligible message into an unintelligible one
using a code-book.
Oldest (Classical) Cryptographic systems are generally classified along 3 independent

dimensions:
1. Type of operations used for transforming plain text to cipher text: All the encryption
algorithms are based on two general principles:
A. Substitution, in which each element in the plaintext is mapped into another element,
B. Transposition, in which elements in the plaintext are rearranged.
2. The number of keys used: If the sender and receiver uses same key then it is said to be
symmetric key (or) single key (or) conventional encryption. If the sender and receiver use
different keys then it is said to be public key encryption.
3. The way in which the plain text is processed:
A. A block cipher processes the input and block of elements at a time, producing output
block for each input block.
B. A stream cipher processes the input elements continuously, producing output element
one at a time, as it goes along.
Classical Encryption Techniques

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There are two basic building blocks of all encryption techniques: substitution and
transposition.
Substitution Techniques
 A substitution technique is one in which the letters of plaintext are replaced by other
letters or by numbers or symbols. If the plaintext is viewed as a sequence of bits, then
substitution involves replacing plaintext bit patterns with cipher text bit patterns.
Caesar cipher (or) shift cipher
 The earliest known use of a substitution cipher and the simplest was by Julius
Caesar. The Caesar cipher involves replacing each letter of the alphabet with the
letter standing 3 places further down the alphabet.
e.g., plain text: pay more money
Cipher text: SDB PRUH PRQHB
Note that the alphabet is wrapped around, so that letter following “z‟ is “a‟. For each
plaintext letter p, substitute the cipher text letter c such that
C = E (p) = (p+3) mod 26
A shift may be any amount, so that general Caesar algorithm is
C = E (p) = (p+k) mod 26
Where k, takes on a value in the range 1 to 25. The decryption algorithm is simply
P = D(C) = (C-k) mod 26
Substitutions Cipher: It basically consists of substituting every plaintext character for a

different cipher text character.
Relationship between cipher text symbol and plain text symbol is 1:1.
 Additive cipher: Key value is added to plain text and numeric value of key ranges from 0
– 25.
Example:
Plain text(P)- H E L LO (H=7,E=4,L=11,L=11,O=14)
Key (K)=15
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Index 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Char A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Cipher P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
Cipher (C)=(P+K)mod 26
Cipher= HELLO
Plain Cipher
H (7+15)mod26=22 Character @ Position 22=W
E (4+15)mod26=19 Character @ Position 19=T
L (11+15)mod26=0 Character @ Position 0=A
L (11+15)mod26=0 Character @ Position 0=A
O (14+15)mod26=3 Character @ Position 3=D
Cipher text (C) = 7+15,4+15,11+15,11+15,14+15 = 22,19, 26,26,(29%26)=3 = W T A AD
Play fair cipher

The best known multiple letter encryption cipher is the playfair, which treats diagrams in the plaintext as
single units and translates these units into cipher text diagrams. The play fair algorithm is based on the
use of 5x5 matrix of letters constructed using a keyword. Let the keyword be “monarchy”. The matrix is
constructed by filling in the letters of the keyword (minus duplicates) from left to right and from top to
bottom, and then filling in the remainder of the matrix with the remaining letters in alphabetical order.
The letter “I‖ and “j‖ count as one letter. Plaintext is encrypted two letters at a time
According to the following rules:
Repeating plaintext letters that would fall in the same pair are separated with a Filler letter such as “x”.
Plaintext letters that fall in the same row of the matrix are each replaced by the letter to the right, with the
first element of the row following the last. Plaintext letters that fall in the same column are replaced by
the letter beneath, with the top element of the column following the last. Otherwise, each plaintext letter
is replaced by the letter that lies in its own row and the column occupied by the other plaintext letter.
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Example
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Stream cipher: Stream ciphers convert one symbol of plaintext directly into a symbol of cipher
text.
Advantages:
 Speed of transformation: algorithms are linear in time and constant in space.

 Low error propagation: an error in encrypting one symbol likely will not affect
subsequent symbols.
Disadvantages:
 Low diffusion: all information of a plaintext symbol is contained in a single cipher text
symbol.
 Susceptibility to insertions/ modifications: an active interceptor who breaks the
algorithm might insert spurious text that looks authentic.
Block ciphers: It encrypt a group of plaintext symbols as one block.

Advantages:
 High diffusion: information from one plaintext symbol is diffused into several
cipher text symbols.
 Immunity to tampering: difficult to insert symbols without detection
Disadvantages:
 Slowness of encryption: an entire block must be accumulated before encryption /

decryption can begin.
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 Error propagation: An error in one symbol may corrupt the entire block. Simple
substitution is an example of a stream cipher. Columnar transposition is a block cipher.
STEGANOGRAPHY
A plaintext message may be hidden in any one of the two ways. The methods of steganography
conceal the existence of the message, whereas the methods of cryptography render the message
unintelligible to outsiders by various transformations of the text. A simple form of
steganography, but one that is time consuming to construct is one in which an arrangement of
words or letters within an apparently innocuous text spells out the real message. Example:
i. The sequence of first letters of each word of the overall message spells out the real
(Hidden) message.
ii. Subset of the words of the overall message is used to convey the hidden
message.
Various other techniques have been used historically, some of them are
 Character marking – selected letters of printed or typewritten text are overwritten in

pencil. The marks are ordinarily not visible unless the paper is held to an angle to bright
light.
 Invisible ink – a number of substances can be used for writing but leave no visible trace
until heat or some chemical is applied to the paper.
 Pin punctures – small pin punctures on selected letters are ordinarily not visible unless
the paper is held in front of the light. Typewritten correction ribbon – used between the
lines typed with a black ribbon, the results of typing with the correction tape are visible
only under a strong light.
Drawbacks of steganography
 Requires a lot of overhead to hide a relatively few bits of information.

 Once the system is discovered, it becomes virtually worthless.
SECURITY MECHANISMS
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One of the most specific security mechanisms in use is cryptographic techniques. Encryption or
encryption-like transformations of information are the most common means of providing
security. Some of the mechanisms are:
1. Encipherment
2. Digital Signature
3. Access Control
Alice, Bob, and Eve
In cryptography, it is customary to use three characters in an information exchange scenario; we

use Alice, Bob, and Eve. Alice is the person who needs to send secure data. Bob is the recipient
of the data. Eve is the person who somehow disturbs the communication between Alice and Bob
by intercepting messages to uncover the data or by sending her own disguised messages. These
three names represent computers or processes that actually send or receive data, or intercept or
change data.
Two Categories
We can divide all the cryptography algorithms (ciphers) into two groups: symmetric key (also
called secret-key) cryptography algorithms and asymmetric (also called public-key)
cryptography algorithms.
Symmetric and public key algorithms

Encryption/Decryption methods fall into two categories.
 Symmetric key
 Public key or asymmetric key
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In symmetric key algorithms, the encryption and decryption keys are known both to sender
and receiver. The encryption key is shared and the decryption key is easily calculated from it.
In many cases, the encryption and decryption keys are the same.
In public key cryptography, encryption key is made public, but it is computationally infeasible to
find the decryption key without the information known to the receiver. In asymmetric or public-
key cryptography, there are two keys: a private key and a public key. The private key is kept by
the receiver. The public key is announced to the public. Imagine Alice wants to send a message
to Bob. Alice uses the public key to encrypt the message. When the message is received by Bob,
the private key is used to decrypt the message.
PRIVATE KEY (Symmetric Key) CRYPTO SYSTEM
Symmetric encryption (also called private-key encryption or secret-key encryption) involves

using the same key for encryption and decryption. Encryption involves applying an operation (an
algorithm) to the data to be encrypted using the private key to make them unintelligible. The
slightest algorithm (such as an exclusive OR) can make the system nearly tamper proof (there
being so such thing as absolute security).
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In symmetric-key cryptography, the same key is used by both parties. The sender uses this key
and an encryption algorithm to encrypt data; the receiver uses the same key and the
corresponding decryption algorithm to decrypt the data.
It is quite difficult to prevent active attacks absolutely, because to do so would require

physical protection of all communication facilities and paths at all times. Instead, the goal is
to detect them and to recover from any disruption or delays caused by them.
However, in the 1940s, Claude Shannon proved that to be completely secure, private-key
systems need to use keys that are at least as long as the message to be encrypted. Moreover,
symmetric encryption requires that a secure channel be used to exchange the key, which
seriously diminishes the usefulness of this kind of encryption system. The main disadvantage of
a secret-key cryptosystem is related to the exchange of keys. Symmetric encryption is based on
the exchange of a secret (keys). The problem of key distribution therefore arises.
Moreover, a user wanting to communicate with several people while ensuring separate
confidentiality levels has to use as many private keys as there are people. For a group of N
people using a secret-key cryptosystem, it is necessary to distribute a number of keys equal to N
* (N-1) / 2.
In the 1920s, Gilbert Vernam and Joseph Mauborgne developed the One-Time Pad method
(sometimes called "One-Time Password" and abbreviated OTP), based on a randomly generated
private key that is used only once and is then destroyed. During the same period, the Kremlin
and the White House were connected by the famous red telephone, that is, a telephone where
calls were encrypted thanks to a private key according to the one-time pad method. The private
key was exchanged thanks to the diplomatic bag (playing the role of secure channel).
An important distinction in symmetric cryptographic algorithms is between stream and block

ciphers.
Conventional Encryption
 Referred conventional / private-key / single-key.
 Sender and recipient share a common key
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All classical encryption algorithms are private-key was only type prior to invention of public
key in 1970‟plaintext - the original message.
Here the original message, referred to as plaintext, is converted into apparently random
nonsense, referred to as cipher text. The encryption process consists of an algorithm and a
key.
The key is a value independent of the plaintext. Changing the key changes the output of the
algorithm. Once the cipher text is produced, it may be transmitted. Upon reception, the
cipher text can be transformed back to the original plaintext by using a decryption algorithm
and the same key that was used for encryption. The security depends on several factors.
First, the encryption algorithm must be powerful enough that it is impractical to decrypt a
message on the basis of cipher text alone. Beyond that, the security depends on the secrecy
of the key, not the secrecy of the algorithm.
Two requirements for secure use of symmetric encryption:
1. A strong encryption algorithm

2. A secret key known only to sender / receiver
 Y = EK(X)
 X = DK(Y)
 Assume encryption algorithm is known
 implies a secure channel to distribute key
A source produces a message in plaintext, X = [X1, X2… XM] where M, are the number of
letters in the message. A key of the form K = [K1, K2… KJ] is generated. If the key is
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generated at the source, then it must be provided to the destination by means of some secure
channel.
With the message X and the encryption key K as input, the encryption algorithm forms the
cipher text Y = [Y1, Y2, YN]. This can be expressed as Y = EK(X).
The intended receiver, in possession of the key, is able to invert the transformation: X =
DK(Y)
An opponent, observing Y but not having access to K or X, may attempt to recover X or K

or both. It is assumed that the opponent knows the encryption and decryption algorithms.
If the opponent is interested in only this particular message, then the focus of effort is to
recover X by generating a plaintext estimate. Often if the opponent is interested in being
able to read future messages as well, in which case an attempt is made to recover K by
generating an estimate.
Symmetric Key Cryptography – Examples
1. Data Encryption Standard (DES): The Data Encryption Standard was published in
1977 by the US National Bureau of Standards. DES uses a 56 bit key and maps a 64 bit
input block of plaintext onto a 64 bit output block of cipher text. 56 bits is a rather small
key for today's computing power.
2. Triple DES: Triple DES was the answer to many of the shortcomings of DES. Since it is
based on the DES algorithm, it is very easy to modify existing software to use Triple
DES. It also has the advantage of proven reliability and a longer key length that
eliminates many of the shortcut attacks that can be used to reduce the amount of time it
takes to break DES.
3. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) (RFC3602): Advanced Encryption Standard
(AES) is an encryption standard adopted by the U.S. government. The standard
comprises three block ciphers, AES-128, AES-192 and AES-256. Each AES cipher has a
128-bit block size, with key sizes of 128, 192 and 256 bits, respectively. The AES ciphers
have been analyzed extensively and are now used worldwide, as was the case with its
predecessor, the Data Encryption Standard (DES).
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PUBLIC KEY CRYPTOSYSTEM
Public-key cryptography, also known as asymmetric cryptography, is a class of cryptographic

algorithms which requires two separate keys, one of which is secret (or private) and one of which
is public. Public-key cryptography is often used to secure electronic communication over an
open networked environment such as the internet.
Open networked environments are susceptible to a variety of communication security problems

such as man-in-the-middle attacks and other security threats. Sending a secure communication
means that the communication being sent must not be readable during transit (preserving
confidentiality), the communication must not be modified during transit (preserving the integrity
of the communication) and to enforce non-repudiation or non-denial of the sending of the
communication. Combining public-key cryptography with an Enveloped Public Key Encryption
(EPKE) method, allows for the secure sending of a communication over an open networked
environment.
The distinguishing technique used in public-key cryptography is the use of asymmetric key
algorithms, where the key used to encrypt a message is not the same as the key used to decrypt it.
Each user has a pair of cryptographic keys – a public encryption key and a private decryption
key. Similarly, a key pair used for digital signatures consists of a private signing key and a public
verification key. The public key is widely distributed, while the private key is known only to its
proprietor. The keys are related mathematically, but the parameters are chosen so that calculating
the private key from the public key is either impossible or prohibitively expensive.
In contrast, symmetric-key algorithms – variations of which have been used for thousands of
years – use a single secret key, which must be shared and kept private by both the sender and
the receiver, for both encryption and decryption. To use a symmetric encryption scheme, the
sender and receiver must securely share a key in advance.
The development of public-key cryptography is the greatest and perhaps the only true revolution
in the entire history of cryptography. It is asymmetric, involving the use of two separate keys, in
contrast to symmetric encryption, which uses only one key. Public key schemes are neither more
nor less secure than private key (security depends on the key size for both). Public-key
cryptography complements rather than replaces symmetric cryptography. Both also have issues
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with key distribution, requiring the use of some suitable protocol. The concept of public-key
cryptography evolved from an attempt to attack two of the most difficult problems associated
with symmetric encryption:
1. key distribution – how to have secure communications in general without having

to trust a KDC with your key
2. digital signatures – how to verify a message comes intact from the claimed sender
Public-key/two-key/asymmetric cryptography involves the use of two keys:
 a public-key, which may be known by anybody, and can be used to encrypt messages,
and verify signatures
 A private-key, known only to the recipient, used to decrypt messages, and sign
(create) signatures.
Public-Key algorithms rely on one key for encryption and a different but related key for
decryption.
These algorithms have the following important characteristics:
 it is computationally infeasible to find decryption key knowing only algorithm &
encryption key
 it is computationally easy to en/decrypt messages when the relevant (en/decrypt) key is
known
 either of the two related keys can be used for encryption, with the other used for
decryption (for some algorithms like RSA)
The following figure illustrates public-key encryption process and shows that a public key
encryption scheme has six ingredients: plaintext, encryption algorithm, public & private keys,
cipher text & decryption algorithm.
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The essential steps involved in a public-key encryption scheme are given below:
1. Each user generates a pair of keys to be used for encryption and decryption.
2. Each user places one of the two keys in a public register and the other key is kept private.
3. If B wants to send a confidential message to A, B encrypts the message using A’s public
key.
4. When A receives the message, she decrypts it using her private key. Nobody else can
decrypt the message because that can only be done using A’s private key (Deducing a
private key should be infeasible).
5. If a user wishes to change his keys –generate another pair of keys and publish the
public one: no interaction with other users is needed.
Notations used in Public-key cryptography:
 The public key of user A will be denoted KUA.

 The private key of user A will be denoted KRA.
 Encryption method will be a function E.
 Decryption method will be a function D.
 If B wishes to send a plain message X to A, then he sends the crypto text Y=E (KUA, X)
 The intended receiver A will decrypt the message: D(KRA,Y)=X
The first attack on Public-key Cryptography is the attack on Authenticity. An attacker may
impersonate user B: he sends a message E(KUA,X) and claims in the message to be B–A has
no guarantee this is so. To overcome this, B will encrypt the message using his private key:
Y=E(KRB,X). Receiver decrypts using B’s public key KRB. This shows the authenticity of the
sender because (supposedly) he is the only one who knows the private key. The entire encrypted
message serves as a digital signature. This scheme is depicted in the following figure:
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But, a drawback still exists. Anybody can decrypt the message using B’s public key. So,
secrecy or confidentiality is being compromised. One can provide both authentication and
confidentiality using the public-key scheme twice:
B encrypts X with his private key: Y=E(KRB,X) B encrypts Y with A’s public key:
Z=E(KUA,Y)
A will decrypt Z (and she is the only one capable of doing it): Y=D(KRA,Z) A can now get the
plaintext and ensure that it comes from B (he is the only one who knows his private key): decrypt
Y using B’s public key: X=E(KUB,Y).
Applications for public-key cryptosystems:
1. Encryption/decryption: sender encrypts the message with the receiver’s public key.
2. Digital signature: sender “signs” the message (or a representative part of the message)
using his private key
3. Key exchange: two sides cooperate to exchange a secret key for later use in a secret- key
cryptosystem.
Asymmetric Key Cryptography – Examples
1. Digital Signature Standard (DSS): Digital Signature Standard (DSS) is the digital
signature algorithm (DSA) developed by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) to
generate a digital signature for the authentication of electronic documents. DSS was put
forth by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 1994, and has
become the United States government standard for authentication of electronic
documents. DSS is specified in Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 186.
2. Algorithm – RSA: - RSA (Rivest, Shamir and Adleman who first publicly described it
in 1977) is an algorithm for public-key cryptography. It is the first algorithm known to be
suitable for signing as well as encryption, and one of the first great advances in public
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key cryptography. RSA is widely used in electronic commerce protocols, and is believed
to be secure given sufficiently long keys and the use of up-to-date implementations.
RSA ALGORITHM
RSA is the best known, and by far the most widely used general public key encryption algorithm,
and was first published by Rivest, Shamir & Adleman of MIT in 1978 [RIVE78]. Since that time
RSA has reigned supreme as the most widely accepted and implemented general-purpose
approach to public-key encryption. The RSA scheme is a block cipher in which the plaintext and
the ciphertext are integers between 0 and n- 1 for some fixed n and typical size for n is 1024 bits
(or 309 decimal digits). It is based on exponentiation in a finite (Galois) field over integers
modulo a prime, using large integers (eg. 1024 bits). Its security is due to the cost of factoring
large numbers. RSA involves a public-key and a private-key where the public key is known to all
and is used to encrypt data or message.
The data or message which has been encrypted using a public key can only be decryted by using
its corresponding private-key. Each user generates a key pair public and private key using the
following steps:
 each user selects two large primes at random - p, q
 compute their system modulus n=p.q
 calculate ø(n), where ø(n)=(p-1)(q-1)
 selecting at random the encryption key e, where 1<e<ø(n),andgcd(e,ø(n))=1
 solve following equation to find decryption key d: e.d=1 mod ø(n) and0≤d≤n
 publish their public encryption key: KU={e,n}
 keep secret private decryption key:KR={d,n}
Both the sender and receiver must know the values of n and e, and only the receiver knows the
value of d. Encryption and Decryption are done using the following equations. To encrypt a
message M the sender:
 obtains public key of recipient KU={e,n}
 computes: C=Me mod n, where 0≤M<n To decrypt the ciphertext C the owner:
 uses their private key KR={d,n}
 computes: M=Cd mod n = (Me) d mod n = Med mod n
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For this algorithm to be satisfactory, the following requirements are to be met.

a. Its possible to find values of e, d, n such that Med = M mod n for all M<n
b. It is relatively easy to calculate Me and C for all values of M < n.
c. It is impossible to determine d given e and n
The way RSA works is based on Number theory: Fermat’s little theorem: if p is prime and a is
positive integer not divisible by p, then ap-1 ≡ 1 mod p. Corollary: For any positive integer a
and prime p, ap ≡ a mod p. Fermat’s theorem, as useful as will turn out to be does not provide
us with integers d,e we are looking for –Euler’s theorem (a refinement of Fermat’s) does. Euler’s
function associates to any positive integer n, a number φ(n): the number of positive integers
smaller than n and relatively prime to n.
For example, φ(37) = 36 i.e. φ(p) = p-1 for any prime p. For any two primes p,q, φ(pq)=(p-1)(q-
1).
Euler’s theorem: for any relatively prime integers a,n we have aφ(n)≡1 mod n.
For any integers a,n we have aφ(n)+1≡a mod n Corollary: Let p,q be two odd primes and n=pq.
Then: φ(n)=(p-1)(q-1)
For any integer m with 0<m<n, m(p-1)(q-1)+1 ≡ m mod n For any integers k,m with 0<m<n,
mk(p-1)(q-1)+1 ≡ m mod n Euler’s theorem provides us the numbers d, e such that Med=M mod
n. We have to choose d,e such that ed=kφ(n)+1, or equivalently, d≡e- 1mod φ(n).
An example of RSA can be given as, Select primes: p=17 & q=11 Compute n = pq =17×11=187
Compute ø(n)=(p–1)(q-1)=16×10=160 Select e : gcd(e,160)=1; choose e=7
Determine d: de=1 mod 160 and d < 160 Value is d=23 since 23×7=161= 10×160+1
Publish public key KU={7,187}
Keep secret private key KR={23,187} Now, given message M = 88 (nb. 88<187)
encryption: C = 887 mod 187 = 11
decryption: M = 1123 mod 187 = 88
Another example of RSA is given as, Let p = 11, q = 13, e = 11, m = 7
n = pq i.e. n= 11*13 = 143 ø(n)= (p-1)(q-1) i.e. (11-1)(13-1) = 120 e.d=1 mod ø(n) i.e. 11d mod
120 = 1 i.e. (11*11) mod 120=1; so d = 11 public key:{11,143} and private key: {11,143}
C=Me mod n, so ciphertext = 711mod143 = 727833 mod 143; i.e. C = 106 M=Cd mod n,
plaintext = 10611 mod 143 = 1008 mod 143; i.e. M = 7
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Security of RSA
There are three main approaches of attacking RSA algorithm.
 Brute force key search (infeasible given size of numbers) As explained before,
involves trying all possible private keys. Best defence is using large keys.
 Mathematical attacks (based on difficulty of computing ø(N), by factoring modulus
N) There are several approaches, all equivalent in effect to factoring the product of
two primes. Some of them are given as:
– factor N=p.q, hence find ø(N) and then d
– determine ø(N) directly and find d
– find d directly
The possible defense would be using large keys and also choosing large numbers for p and q,
which should differ only by a few bits and are also on the order of magnitude 10 75 to 10100. And
gcd (p-1, q-1) should be small.
Example
 Step-1: Choose two prime number p and q
Let’s take p=3 and q=11
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a b d k
1 0 20 –
0 1 7 20/7=2 (Store the Quotient)
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a b d k
1-(0*2)=1 0-(1*2)=-2 20-(7*2)=6 (7-1)/6=1
0-(1*1)=-1 1-(-2-1)=3 7-(6*1)=1 –
Example 2
Let P=7, q=11 and e=13, Then find the value of d
Solution
n=7*11=77
φ=6*10=60
a b d k
1 0 60 –
0 1 13 60/13=4 (Store the Quotient)
1-(0*4)=1 0-(1*4)=-4 60-(13*4)=8 (13-1)/8=1
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a b d k
-1 5 5 1
2 -9 3 1
-3 14 2 1
5 -23 1 -
Now the value of d become and we stop our calculation, the value of b is -23. This value is
less than 0. So, d will be b+ φ. i.e. -23+60=37.
DIFFIE-HELLMAN KEY EXCHANGE

Diffie-Hellman key exchange (D-H) is a cryptographic protocol that allows two parties that
have no prior knowledge of each other to jointly establish a shared secret key over an insecure
communications channel. This key can then be used to encrypt subsequent communications
using a symmetric key cipher. The D-H algorithm depends for its effectiveness on the difficulty
of computing discrete logarithms.
First, a primitive root of a prime number p, can be defined as one whose powers generate all the
integers from 1 to p-1. If a is a primitive root of the prime number p, then the numbers, a mod p,
a2 mod p,..., ap-1 mod p, are distinct and consist of the integers from 1 through p 1 in some
permutation.
For any integer b and a primitive root a of prime number p, we can find a unique exponent
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For this scheme, there are two publicly known numbers: a prime number q and an integer α that
is a primitive root of q. Suppose the users A and B wish to exchange a key. User A selects a
random integer XA < q and computes YA = αXA mod q. Similarly, user B independently selects a
random integer XA < q and computes YB = αXB mod q.
Each side keeps the X value private and makes the Y value available publicly to the other side.
User A computes the key as K = (YB)XA mod q and user B computes the key as K = (YA)XB mod
q. These two calculations produce identical results.
Discrete Log Problem
The (discrete) exponentiation problem is as follows: Given a base a, an exponent b and a
modulus p, calculate c such that ab ≡ c (mod p) and 0 ≤ c < p. It turns out that this problem is
fairly easy and can be calculated "quickly" using fast-exponentiation. The discrete log problem is
the inverse problem: Given a base a, a result c (0 ≤ c < p) and a modulus p, calculate the
exponent b such that ab ≡ c (mod p). It turns out that no one has found a quick way to solve
this problem With DLP, if P had 300 digits, Xa and Xb have more than 100 digits, it would take
longer than the life of the universe to crack the method.
Examples for D-H key distribution scheme:
1) Let p = 37 and g = 13. Let Alice pick a = 10. Alice calculates 1310 (mod 37) which is 4 and
sends that to Bob. Let Bob pick b = 7. Bob calculates 137 (mod 37) which is 32 and sends that to
Alice. (Note: 6 and 7 are secret to Alice and Bob, respectively, but both 4 and 32 are known
by all.)
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KEY MANAGEMENT
One of the major roles of public-key encryption has been to address the problem of key
distribution.
A. Symmetric-Key Distribution
Symmetric key cryptography, needs a shared secret key between two parties. If Alice needs to
exchange confidential messages with N people, she needs N different keys. What if N people
need to communicate with one another? A total of (N - 1)/2 keys is needed.
Each person needs to have N - 1 keys to communicate with each of the other people, but because
the keys are shared, we need only N (N - 1)/2. This means that if 1 million people need to
communicate with one another, each person has almost 0.5 million different keys; in total,
almost 1 billion keys are needed. This is normally referred to as the N2 problem because the
number of required keys for N entities is close to N2.
The number of keys is not the only problem; the distribution of keys is another. If Alice and Bob
want to communicate, they need to somehow exchange a secret key; if Alice wants to
communicate with 1 million people, how can she exchange 1 million keys with 1 million people?
It is obvious that we need an efficient way of maintaining and distributing secret keys.
1. Key Distribution Center: KDC
A practical solution is the use of a trusted party, referred to as a key distribution center
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(KDC). To reduce the number of keys, each person establishes a shared secret key with
the KDC
A secret key is established between KDC and each member. Alice has a secret key with KDC,
which we refer to as K Alice; Bob has a secret key with KDC, which we refer to as K Bob; and
so on. How can Alice send a confidential message to Bob? The process is as follows:
1. Alice sends a request to KDC, stating that she needs a session (temporary) secret key
between herself and Bob.
2. KDC informs Bob of Alice's request.
3. If Bob agrees, a session key is created between the two.
The secret key between Alice and Bob that is established with the KDC is used to authenticate
Alice and Bob to the KDC and to prevent Eve from impersonating either of them.
2. Session Keys
A KDC creates a secret key for each member. This secret key can be used only between the
member and the KDC, not between two members. If Alice needs to communicate secretly with
Bob, she needs a secret key between herself and Bob. A KDC can create a session (temporary)
key between Alice and Bob using their keys with the center. The keys of Alice and Bob are used
to authenticate Alice and Bob to the center and to each other before the session key is
established. After communication is terminated, the session key is no longer valid. A session
symmetric key between two parties is used only once.
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Step 1 Alice sends a plaintext message to the KDC to obtain a symmetric session key between
Bob and herself. The message contains her registered identity (the word Alice in the figure) and
the identity of Bob (the word Bob in the figure). This message is not encrypted, it is public. KDC
does not care.
Step 2 KDC receives the message and creates what is called a ticket. The ticket is encrypted
using Bob's key (KB). The ticket contains the identities of Alice and Bob and the session key
(KAB). The ticket with a copy of the session key is sent to Alice. Alice receives the message,
decrypts it, and extracts the session key. She cannot decrypt Bob's ticket; the ticket is for Bob,
not for Alice. Note that we have a double encryption in this message; the ticket is encrypted and
the entire message is also encrypted. In the second message, Alice is actually authenticated to the
KDC, because only Alice can open the whole message using her secret key with KDC.
Step 3 Alice sends the ticket to Bob. Bob opens the ticket and knows that Alice needs to send
messages to him using KAB as the session key. Note that in this message, Bob is authenticated to
the KDC because only Bob can open the ticket. Since Bob is authenticated to the KDC, he is also
authenticated to Alice who trusts the KDC. In the same way, Alice is also authenticated to Bob,
because Bob trusts the KDC and the KDC has sent the ticket to Bob which includes the identity
of Alice.
B. Public-Key Distribution
In asymmetric-key cryptography, people do not need to know a symmetric shared key. If Alice
wants to send a message to Bob, she only needs to know Bob's public key, which is open to the
public and available to everyone. If Bob needs to send a message to Alice, he only needs to know
Alice's public key, which is also known to everyone. In public-key cryptography, everyone
shields a private key and advertises a public key.
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In public-key cryptography, everyone has access to everyone's public key; public keys are
available to the public. Public keys, like secret keys, need to be distributed to be useful.
1. Public Announcement
The naive approach is to announce public keys publicly. Bob can put his public key on
his website or announce it in a local or national newspaper. When Alice needs to send a
confidential message to Bob, she can obtain Bob's public key from his site or from the
newspaper, or she can even send a message to ask for it.
This approach, however, is not secure; it is subject to forgery. For example, Eve could make such
a public announcement. Before Bob can react, damage could be done. Eve can fool Alice into
sending her a message that is intended for Bob. Eve could also sign a document with a
corresponding forged private key and make everyone believe it was signed by Bob. The
approach is also vulnerable if Alice directly requests Bob's public key. Eve can intercept Bob's
response and substitute her own forged public key for Bob's public key.
2. Trusted Center
A more secure approach is to have a trusted center retain a directory of public keys. Each user
can select a private/public key, keep the private key, and deliver the public key for insertion into
the directory. The center requires that each user register in the center and prove his or her
identity. The directory can be publicly advertised by the trusted center. The center can also
respond to any inquiry about a public key.
3. Certification Authority (CA)
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The previous approach can create a heavy load on the center if the number of requests is large.
The alternative is to create public-key certificates. Bob wants two things: he wants people to
know his public key, and he wants no one to accept a public key forged as his. Bob can go to a
certification authority (CA)-a federal or state organization that binds a public key to an entity and
issues a certificate. The CA has a well-known public key itself that cannot be forged. The CA
checks Bob's identification (using a picture ID along with other proof).
It then asks for Bob's public key and writes it on the certificate. To prevent the certificate itself
from being forged, the CA signs the certificate with its private key. Now Bob can upload the
signed certificate. Anyone who wants Bob's public key downloads the signed certificate and uses
the public key of the center to extract Bob's public key.
4. Public-Key Infrastructures (PKI)

When we want to use public keys universally, we have a problem similar to secret-key
distribution. We found that we cannot have only one KDC to answer the queries. We need many
servers. In addition, we found that the best solution is to put the servers in a hierarchical
relationship with one another. Likewise, a solution to public-key queries is a hierarchical
structure called a public-key infrastructure (PKI).
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At the first level, we can have a root CA that can certify the performance of CAs in
the second level; these level-l CAs may operate in a large geographic or logical area.
The level-2 CAs may operate in smaller geographic areas.
In this hierarchy, everybody trusts the root. But people mayor may not trust intermediate CAs. If
Alice needs to get Bob's certificate, she may find a CA somewhere to
issue the certificate. But Alice may not trust that CA. In a hierarchy Alice can ask the
next-higher CA to certify the original CA. The inquiry may go all the way to the root.
 A public key infrastructure (PKI) is a set of roles, policies, hardware, software and
procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store and revoke digital certificates and
manage public-key encryption. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a technology for
authenticating users and devices in the digital world. The basic idea is to have one or more
trusted parties digitally sign documents certifying that a particular cryptographic key
belongs to a particular user or device. The key can then be used as an identity for the user in
digital networks.

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A Model for Network Security
A message is to be transferred from one party to another across some sort of internet. The two
parties, who are the principals in this transaction, must cooperate for the exchange to take place.
A logical information channel is established by defining a route through the internet from source
to destination and by the cooperative use of communication protocols (e.g., TCP/IP) by the two
principals.
Using this model requires us to:
 Design a suitable algorithm for the security transformation.

 Generate the secret information (keys) used by the algorithm.
 Develop methods to distribute and share the secret information.
 Specify a protocol enabling the principals to use the transformation and secret
information for a security service.
Cryptanalysis
The process of attempting to discover X or K or both is known as cryptanalysis. The strategy
used by the cryptanalysis depends on the nature of the encryption scheme and the information
available to the cryptanalyst.
There are various types of cryptanalytic attacks based on the amount of information known to the
cryptanalyst.
 Cipher text only – A copy of cipher text alone is known to the cryptanalyst.
 Known plaintext – The cryptanalyst has a copy of the cipher text and the corresponding
plaintext.
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 Chosen plaintext – The cryptanalysts gains temporary access to the encryption machine.
They cannot open it to find the key, however; they can encrypt a large number of suitably
chosen plaintexts and try to use the resulting cipher texts to deduce the key.
 Chosen cipher text – The cryptanalyst obtains temporary access to the decryption
machine, uses it to decrypt several string of symbols, and tries to use the results to deduce
the key.
Cryptographic Attacks
Passive Attacks
Passive attacks are in the nature of eavesdropping on, or monitoring of, transmissions. The goal
of the opponent is to obtain information that is being transmitted. Passive attacks are of two
types:
 Release of message contents: A telephone conversation, an e-mail message and a

transferred file may contain sensitive or confidential information. We would like to
prevent the opponent from learning the contents of these transmissions.
 Traffic analysis: If we had encryption protection in place, an opponent might still be
able to observe the pattern of the message. The opponent could determine the location
and identity of communication hosts and could observe the frequency and length of
messages being exchanged. This information might be useful in guessing the nature of
communication that was taking place.
Passive attacks are very difficult to detect because they do not involve any alteration of data.
However, it is feasible to prevent the success of these attacks.
Active attacks
These attacks involve some modification of the data stream or the creation of a false stream.
These attacks can be classified in to four categories:
 Masquerade – One entity pretends to be a different entity.

 Replay – involves passive capture of a data unit and its subsequent transmission to
produce an unauthorized effect.
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 Modification of messages – Some portion of message is altered or the messages are

delayed or recorded, to produce an unauthorized effect.
 Denial of service – Prevents or inhibits the normal use or management of communication
facilities. Another form of service denial is the disruption of an entire network, either by
disabling the network or overloading it with messages so as to degrade performance.
It is quite difficult to prevent active attacks absolutely, because to do so would require
physical protection of all communication facilities and paths at all times. Instead, the goal
is to detect them and to recover from any disruption or delays caused by them.
Modern cryptography concerns with:
1. Confidentiality - Information cannot be understood by anyone.

2. Integrity - Information cannot be altered.
3. Non-repudiation - Sender cannot deny his/her intentions in the transmission of the
information at a later stage.
4. Authentication - Sender and receiver can confirm each.
 Cryptography is used in many applications like banking transactions cards, computer
passwords, and e- commerce transactions.
Three types of cryptographic techniques used in general.
1. Symmetric-key cryptography
2. Hash functions.
3. Public-key cryptography
 Symmetric-key Cryptography: Both the sender and receiver share a single key. The
sender uses this key to encrypt plaintext and send the cipher text to the receiver. On
the other side the receiver applies the same key to decrypt the message and recover
the plain text.
 Public-Key Cryptography: This is the most revolutionary concept in the last 300-400
years. In Public-Key Cryptography two related keys (public and private key) are
used. Public key may be freely distributed, while its paired private key, remains a
secret. The public key is used for encryption and for decryption private key is used.
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 Hash Functions: No key is used in this algorithm. A fixed-length hash value is computed
as per the plain text that makes it impossible for the contents of the plain text to be
recovered. Hash functions are also used by many operating systems to encrypt passwords.
Protocols
Cryptography will prove useful in authentication protocols. We’ll give example of protocols that
use symmetric cryptography, as well as examples that rely on public key cryptography. Hash
functions also have an important role to play in security protocols. Cryptography will prove
useful in authentication protocols. We’ll give example of protocols that use symmetric
cryptography, as well as examples that rely on public key cryptography. Hash functions also
have an important role to play in security protocols.
There are four specific security protocols. These are:
 Secure Socket Layer, or SSL, which is used extensively to secure e-commerce on the
Internet today. SSL is an elegant and efficient protocol.
 IPSec, which is another Internet security protocol. Conceptually, SSL and IPSec share
many similarities, but the implementations differ greatly. In contrast to SSL, IPSec is
complex and “over-engineered.” Apparently due to its complexity, several security flaws
are present in IPSec—despite a lengthy and open development process. This nicely
illustrates the challenges inherent in developing security protocols.
 Kerberos, which is an authentication system based on symmetric cryptography. Kerberos
follows an approach much different from either SSL or IPSec.
 GSM, a cellular phone system. Although the GSM security protocol is fairly simple, it’s
an interesting case study due to the large number of known attacks. These attacks include
various combinations of attacks on the protocol itself, as well as the underlying
cryptography.
USE OF ENCRYPTION
Encryption has long been used by militaries and governments to facilitate secret communication.
It is now commonly used in protecting information within many kinds of civilian systems. For
example, the Computer Security Institute reported that in 2007, 71% of companies surveyed
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utilized encryption for some of their data in transit, and 53% utilized encryption for some of their
data in storage.
Encryption can be used to protect data "at rest", such as files on computers and storage devices
(e.g. USB flash drives). In recent years there have been numerous reports of confidential data
such as customers' personal records being exposed through loss or theft of laptops or backup
drives. Encrypting such files at rest helps protect them should physical security measures fail.
Digital rights management systems, which prevent unauthorized use or reproduction of

copyrighted material and protect software against reverse engineering (see also copy protection),
is another somewhat different example of using encryption on data at rest. Encryption is also
used to protect data in transit, for example data being transferred via networks (e.g. the Internet,
e-commerce), mobile telephones, wireless microphones, wireless intercom systems, Bluetooth
devices and bank automatic teller machines. There have been numerous reports of data in transit
being intercepted in recent years. Encrypting data in transit also helps to secure it as it is often
difficult to physically secure all access to networks.
Let us look more closely at four applications of encryption: cryptographic hash functions, key
exchange, digital signatures, and certificates.
Message verification
Encryption, by itself, can protect the confidentiality of messages, but other techniques are still
needed to protect the integrity and authenticity of a message; for example, verification of a
message authentication code (MAC) or a digital signature. Standards for cryptographic software
and hardware to perform encryption are widely available, but successfully using encryption to
ensure security may be a challenging problem. A single error in system design or execution can
allow successful attacks. Sometimes an adversary can obtain unencrypted information without
directly undoing the encryption. See, e.g., traffic analysis, TEMPEST, or Trojan horse.
Digital signature and encryption must be applied to the cipher text when it is created (typically
on the same device used to compose the message) to avoid tampering; otherwise any node
between the sender and the encryption agent could potentially tamper with it. Encrypting at
the time of creation is only secure if the encryption device itself has not been tampered with.
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Message Integrity
Encryption and decryption provide secrecy, or confidentiality, but not integrity. However, on
occasion we may not even need secrecy, but instead must have integrity. For example, Alice may
write a will to distribute her estate upon her death. The will does not need to be encrypted. After
her death, anyone can examine the will. The integrity of the will, however, needs to be
preserved. Alice does not want the contents of the will to be changed. As another example,
suppose Alice sends a message instructing her banker, Bob, to pay Eve for consulting work. The
message does not need to be hidden from Eve because she already knows she is to be paid.
However, the message does need to be safe from any tampering, especially by Eve.
Document and Fingerprint

One way to preserve the integrity of a document is through the use of a fingerprint. If Alice
needs to be sure that the contents of her document will not be illegally changed, she can put her
fingerprint at the bottom of the document. Eve cannot modify the contents of this document or
create a false document because she cannot forge Alice's fingerprint. To ensure that the
document has not been changed, Alice's fingerprint on the document can be compared to Alice's
fingerprint on file. If they are not the same, the document is not from Alice.
To preserve the integrity of a document, both the document and the fingerprint are needed.
HASH FUNCTION
A variation on the message authentication code is the one-way hash function. As with the
message authentication code, the hash function accepts a variable-size message M as input and
produces a fixed-size hash code H (M), sometimes called a message digest, as output. The hash
code is a function of all bits of the message and provides an error- detection capability: A change
to any bit or bits in the message results in a change to the hash code.
No key is used in this algorithm. A fixed-length hash value is computed as per the plain text that
makes it impossible for the contents of the plain text to be recovered. Hash functions are also
used by many operating systems to encrypt passwords.
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The data to be encoded are often called the message, and the hash value is sometimes
called the message digest or simply digests.
The ideal cryptographic hash function has four main properties:
 It is easy to compute the hash value for any given message.

 It is infeasible to generate a message that has a given hash.
 It is infeasible to modify a message without changing the hash.
 It is infeasible to find two different messages with the same hash.
Features of Hash Functions
 The typical features of hash functions are –

a. Fixed Length Output HashValue
 Hash function coverts data of arbitrary length to a fixed length. This
process is often referred to as hashing the data. In general, the hash is
much smaller than the input data; hence hash functions are sometimes
called compression functions.
 Since a hash is a smaller representation of a larger data, it is also referred
to as a digest.
 Hash function with n bit output is referred to as an n-bit hash function.
Popular hash functions generate values between 160 and 512 bits.
b. Efficiency of Operation
 Generally for any hash function h with input x, computation of hx is a fast
operation. Computationally hash functions are much faster than a symmetric encryption.
Properties of Hash Functions
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 In order to be an effective cryptographic tool, the hash function is desired to possess

following properties –
A. Pre-Image Resistance
o This property means that it should be computationally hard to reverse a hash
function. In other words, if a hash function h produced a hash value z, then it
should be a difficult process to find any input value x that hashes to z.
o This property protects against an attacker who only has a hash value and is trying
to find the input.
B. Second Pre-Image Resistance
o This property means given an input and its hash, it should be hard to find a
different input with the same hash.
o In other words, if a hash function h for an input x produces hash value hx, then it
should be difficult to find any other input value y such that hy = hx. This property
of hash function protects against an attacker who has an input value and its hash,
and wants to substitute different value as legitimate value in place of original
input value.
C. Collision Resistance
o This property means it should be hard to find two different inputs of any length
that result in the same hash. This property is also referred to as collision free hash
function.
o In other words, for a hash function h, it is hard to find any two different inputs x
and y such that hx = hy. Since, hash function is compressing function with fixed
hash length, it is impossible for a hash function not to have collisions. This
property of collision free only confirms that these collisions should be hard to
find. This property makes it very difficult for an attacker to find two input values
with the same hash.
o Also, if a hash function is collision-resistant then it is second pre-image resistant.
Design of Hashing Algorithms
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 At the heart of a hashing is a mathematical function that operates on two fixed-size

blocks of data to create a hash code. This hash function forms the part of the hashing
algorithm.
 The size of each data block varies depending on the algorithm. Typically the block sizes
are from 128 bits to 512 bits. The following illustration demonstrates hash function -
 Hashing algorithm involves rounds of above hash function like a block cipher. Each
round takes an input of a fixed size, typically a combination of the most recent message
block and the output of the last round.
 This process is repeated for as many rounds as are required to hash the entire message.
Schematic of hashing algorithm is depicted in the following illustration -
 Since, the hash value of first message block becomes an input to the second hash
operation, output of which alters the result of the third operation, and so on. This effect,
known as an avalanche effect of hashing.
 Avalanche effect results in substantially different hash values for two messages that differ
by even a single bit of data. Understand the difference between hash function and
algorithm correctly. The hash function generates a hash code by operating on two blocks
of fixed-length binary data.
 Hashing algorithm is a process for using the hash function, specifying how the message
will be broken up and how the results from previous message blocks are chained
together.
Popular Hash Functions
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 Let us briefly see some popular hash functions –

A. Message Digest MD
The electronic equivalent of the document and fingerprint pair is the message and message digest
pail: To preserve the integrity of a message, the message is passed through an algorithm called a
hash function. The hash function creates a compressed image of the message that can be used as
a fingerprint. The below Figure shows the message, hash function, and the message digest.
Message and Message Digest Difference

The two pairs document/fingerprint and message/message digest are similar, with some
differences. The document and fingerprint are physically linked together; also, neither needs to
be kept secret. The message and message digest can be unlinked (or sent) separately and, most
importantly, the message digest needs to be kept secret. The message digest is either kept secret
in a safe place or encrypted if we need to send it through a communications channel.
N.B. The message digest needs to be kept secret.
Creating and Checking the Digest

The message digest is created at the sender site and is sent with the message to the receiver. To
check the integrity of a message, or document, the receiver creates the hash function again and
compares the new message digest with the one received. If both are the same, the receiver is sure
that the original message has not been changed. Of course, we are assuming that the digest has
been sent secretly.
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 MD5 was most popular and widely used hash function for quite some years. The
MD family comprises of hash functions MD2, MD4, MD5 and MD6. It was
adopted as Internet Standard RFC 1321. It is a 128-bit hash function. MD5
digests have been widely used in the software world to provide assurance about
integrity of transferred file. For example, file servers often provide a pre-
computed MD5 checksum for the files, so that a user can compare the checksum
of the downloaded file to it.
 In 2004, collisions were found in MD5. An analytical attack was reported to be
successful only in an hour by using computer cluster. This collision attack
resulted in compromised MD5 and hence it is no longer recommended for use.
B. Secure Hash Function SHA
 Family of SHA comprise of four SHA algorithms; SHA-0, SHA-1, SHA-2, and
SHA-3. Though from same family, there are structurally different.
 The original version is SHA-0, a 160-bit hash function, was published by the
National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST in 1993. It had few
weaknesses and did not become very popular.
 Later in 1995, SHA-1 was designed to correct alleged weaknesses of SHA-0.
SHA-1 is the most widely used of the existing SHA hash functions. It is employed
in several widely used applications and protocols including Secure Socket Layer
SSL security.
 In 2005, a method was found for uncovering collisions for SHA-1 within practical
time frame making long-term employability of SHA-1 doubtful. SHA-2 family
has four further SHA variants, SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, and SHA-512
depending up on number of bits in their hash value. No successful attacks have
yet been reported on SHA-2 hash function. Though SHA-2 is a strong hash
function. Though significantly different, its basic design is still follows design of
SHA-1. Hence, NIST called for new competitive hash function designs.
 In October 2012, the NIST chose the Keccak algorithm as the new SHA-3
standard. Keccak offers many benefits, such as efficient performance and good
resistance for attacks.
C. RIPEMD
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 The RIPEND is an acronym for RACE Integrity Primitives Evaluation Message

Digest.
 This set of hash functions was designed by open research community and
generally known as a family of European hash functions.
 The set includes RIPEND, RIPEMD-128, and RIPEMD-160. There also exist
256, and 320-bit versions of this algorithm.
 Original RIPEMD 128bit is based upon the design principles used in MD4 and
found to provide questionable security. RIPEMD 128-bit version came as a quick
fix replacement to overcome vulnerabilities on the original RIPEMD.
 RIPEMD-160 is an improved version and the most widely used version in the
family. The 256 and 320-bit versions reduce the chance of accidental collision,
but do not have higher levels of security as compared to RIPEMD-128 and
RIPEMD-160 respectively.
D. Whirlpool
 This is a 512-bit hash function.
 It is derived from the modified version of Advanced Encryption Standard AES.
 One of the designers was Vincent Rijmen, a co-creator of the AES.
 Three versions of Whirlpool have been released; namely WHIRLPOOL-0,
WHIRLPOOL-T, and WHIRLPOOL.
Applications of Hash Functions

There are two direct applications of hash function based on its cryptographic properties.
1. Password Storage
 Hash functions provide protection to password storage. Instead of storing password in
clear, mostly all logon processes store the hash values of passwords in the file. The
Password file consists of a table of pairs which are in the form userid, h(P). The process
of logon is depicted in the following illustration –
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 An intruder can only see the hashes of passwords, even if he accessed the password. He
can neither logon using hash nor can he derive the password from hash value since hash
function possesses the property of pre-image resistance.
2. Data Integrity Check
 Data integrity check is a most common application of the hash functions. It is used to
generate the checksums on data files. This application provides assurance to the user about
correctness of the data. The process is depicted in the following illustration –
The integrity check helps the user to detect any changes made to original file. It however,
does not provide any assurance about originality. The attacker, instead of modifying file
data, can change the entire file and compute all together new hash and send to the
receiver. This integrity check application is useful only if the user is sure about the
originality of file.
MESSAGE AUTHENTICATION
A hash function guarantees the integrity of a message. It guarantees that the message has
not been changed. A hash function, however, does not authenticate the sender of the message.
When Alice sends a message to Bob, Bob needs to know if the message is coming from Alice or
Eve. To provide message authentication, Alice needs to provide proof that it is Alice sending the
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message and not an imposter. A hash function per se cannot provide such a proof. The digest
created by a hash function is normally called a modification detection code (MDC). The code
can detect any modification in the message.
MAC
To provide message authentication, we need to change a modification detection code to

a message authentication code (MAC). An MDC uses a keyless hash function; a MAC uses a
keyed hash function. A keyed hash function includes the symmetric key between the sender and
receiver when creating the digest.
DIGITAL SIGNATURE
Although a MAC can provide message integrity and message authentication, it has a drawback.
It needs a symmetric key that must be established between the sender and the receiver. A digital
signature, on the other hand, can use a pair of asymmetric keys (a public one and a private one).
We sign a document to show that it originated from us or was approved by us. The signature is
proof to the recipient that the document comes from the correct entity. When a customer signs a
check to himself, the bank needs to be sure that the check is issued by that customer and nobody
else. In other words, a signature on a document, when verified, is a sign of authentication; the
document is authentic.
When Alice sends a message to Bob, Bob needs to check the authenticity of the sender; he needs
to be sure that the message comes from Alice and not Eve. Bob can ask Alice to sign the
message electronically. In other words, an electronic signature can prove the authenticity of
Alice as the sender of the message. We refer to this type of signature as a digital signature.
There are two types of signatures: conventional and digital. A conventional signature is included
in the document; it is part of the document. When we write a check, the signature is on the
check; it is not a separate document. On the other hand, when we sign a document digitally, we
send the signature as a separate document. The sender sends two documents: the message and the
signature. The recipient receives both documents and verifies that the signature belongs to the
supposed sender. If this is proved, the message is kept; otherwise, it is rejected. If they are the
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same, the document is authentic. The recipient needs to have a copy of this signature on file for
comparison.
In digital signature, the recipient receives the message and the signature. A copy of the signature
is not stored anywhere. The recipient needs to apply a verification technique to the combination
of the message and the signature to verify the authenticity.
In conventional signature a signature is like a private "key" belonging to the signer of the
document. The signer uses it to sign a document; no one else has this signature. The copy of the
signature is on file like a public key; anyone can use it to verify a document, to compare it to the
original signature.
In digital signature, the signer uses her private key, applied to a signing algorithm, to sign the
document. The verifier, on the other hand, uses the public key of the signer, applied to the
verifying algorithm, to verify the document. First, a secret key is known only between two
entities (Alice and Bob, for example). So if Alice needs to sign another document and send it to
Ted, she needs to use another secret key. Second, as we will see, creating a secret key for a
session involves authentication, which normally uses digital signature. We have a vicious
cycle. Third, Bob could use the secret key between himself and Alice, sign a document,
send it to Ted, and pretend that it came from Alice. A digital signature needs a public-key
system.
Process
Digital signature can be achieved in two ways: signing the document or signing a digest of the
document.
Signing the Document
Probably, the easier, but less efficient way is to sign the document itself. Signing a document is
encrypting it with the private key of the sender; verifying the document is decrypting it with the
public key of the sender. Figure 31.11 shows how signing and verifying are done.
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We should make a distinction between private and public keys as used in digital signature and
public and private keys as used for confidentiality. The sender uses the public key of the receiver
to encrypt; the receiver uses his own private key to decrypt. In digital signature, the private and
public keys of the sender are used. The sender uses her private key; the receiver uses the public
key of the sender.
In a cryptosystem, we use the private and public keys of the receiver; in digital signature, we
use the private and public key of the sender.
Signing the Digest

In a digital signature system, our messages are normally long, but we have to use public keys.
The solution is not to sign the message itself; instead, we sign a digest of the message. The
sender can sign the message digest, and the receiver can verify the message digest. The effect is
the same.
A digest is made out of the message at Alice's site. The digest then goes through the signing
process using Alice's private key. Alice then sends the message and the signature to Bob.
ENTITY AUTHENTICATION
Entity authentication is a technique designed to let one party prove the identity of another party.
An entity can be a person, a process, a client, or a server. The entity whose identity needs to be
proved is called the claimant; the party that tries to prove the identity of the claimant is called the
verifier. When Bob tries to prove the identity of Alice, Alice is the claimant, and Bob is the
verifier. There are two differences between message authentication and entity authentication.
First, message authentication may not happen in real time; entity authentication does.
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Passwords
The simplest and the oldest method of entity authentication is the password, something that the
claimant possesses. A password is used when a user needs to access a system to use the system's
resources (log-in). Each user has a user identification that is public and a password that is
private. We can divide this authentication scheme into two separate groups: the fixed password
and the one-time password.
Fixed Password
The same password is used over and over for every access. This approach is subject to several
attacks.
 Eavesdropping. Eve can watch Alice when she types her password. Most systems, as a
security measure, do not show the characters a user types. Eavesdropping can take a
more sophisticated form.
 Stealing a Password. The second type of attack occurs when Eve tries to physically
steal Alice's password. This can be prevented if Alice does not write down the
password; instead, she just commits it to memory. Therefore, a password should be
very simple or else related to something familiar to Alice, which makes the password
vulnerable to other types of attacks.
 Accessing a file. Eve can hack into the system and get access to the file where the
passwords are stored. Eve can read the file and find Alice's password or even change it.
To prevent this type of attack, the file can be read/write protected. However, most
systems need this type of file to be readable by the public.
 Guessing. Eve can log into the system and try to guess Alice's password by trying
different combinations of characters. The password is particularly vulnerable if the
user is allowed to choose a short password (a few characters). It is also vulnerable
if Alice has chosen something unimaginative, such as her birthday, her child's name,
or the name of her favorite actor. To prevent guessing, a long random password is
recommended, something that is not very obvious. However, the use of such a random
password may also create a problem; Alice might store the password somewhere
so as not to forget it. This makes the password subject to stealing.
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One-Time Password
A password is used only once. A one-time password makes eavesdropping and stealing useless.
Introduction to the TCP/IP Stack

1. Application: supports network applications
 ftp, smtp, http, ssh, telnet, DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)…
2. Transport: data transfer from end system to end system.
 TCP, UDP, SPX…
3. Network: finding the way through the network from machine to machine.
 IP (IPv4, IPv6), ICMP, IPX
4. (Data) link: data transfer between two neighbors in the network
 ppp, ethernet, ATM, ISDN, 802.11 (WLAN).
5. physical: bits ―on the wire
Protocol layer and data

 Each layer takes data from next higher layer.
 Adds header information to create a new data unit (message, segment, frame, packet …)
 Send the new data unit to next lower layer
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Physical layer
 Provides services to the link layer.
 Transmitting raw bits
 No packet headers or tails
 Simplex – Only one direction (Television broadcast, radio)
 Half duplex - One direction at a time (walkie talkie)
 Full duplex (Telephone)
Data Link layer
 Provides services to the network layer.
 Uses MAC addressing.
 Hubs, bridges, switches work on this layer
 Some possible services:
 Error detection and correction
 Flow control
Network layer
 Provides services to the transport layer.
 Uses IP addressing
 Some switches work on this layer.
 Getting data (packets of data) all the way from the source to the destination.
 Congestion control
 Routing
 Fairness
Transport layer
 Provides services to the application layer.
 TCP and UDP work on this layer.
 Source and destination port numbers in the header of each transport layer data packet.
 Some possible services:
 Virtual circuits (TCP).
 Flow Control
Application layer
 Provides a way for the user application to gain access to OSI.
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 Makes sure that necessary communication resources exist (for example, is there a modem
in the sender's computer?)
 The application layer is concerned with the user's view of the network.
 Domain Name System (DNS): -Converts an Internet domain into an IP address
 As the ―top of the stack‖ layer, the application layer is the only one that does not provide
any services to the layer above it in the stack—there isn't one! Instead, it provides
services to programs that want to use the network, and to you, the user.
 IRC (Internet Relay Chat)
Web Services Security
 Web security is also known as “Cyber security”. It basically means protecting a website
or web application by detecting, preventing and responding to cyber threats.
 Websites and web applications are just as prone to security breaches as physical homes,
stores, and government locations. Unfortunately, cybercrime happens every day, and
great web security measures are needed to protect websites and web applications from
becoming compromised.
 That’s exactly what web security does – it is a system of protection measures and
protocols that can protect your website or web application from being hacked or
entered by unauthorized personnel. This integral division of Information Security is
vital to the protection of websites, web applications, and web services. Anything that
is applied over the Internet should have some form of web security to protect it.
Details of Web Security
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 There are a lot of factors that go into web security and web protection. Any website
or application that is secure is surely backed by different types of checkpoints and
techniques for keeping it safe.
 There are a variety of security standards that must be followed at all times, and these
standards are implemented and highlighted by the OWASP. Most experienced web
developers from top cyber security companies will follow the standards of the
OWASP as well as keep a close eye on the Web Hacking Incident Database to see
when, how, and why different people are hacking different websites and services.
 Essential steps in protecting web apps from attacks include applying up-to-date
encryption, setting proper authentication, continuously patching discovered
vulnerabilities, avoiding data theft by having secure software development practices.
The reality is that clever attackers may be competent enough to find flaws even in a
fairly robust secured environment, and so a holistic security strategy is advised.
Transport Layer Level Security (Network and Internet Security)
 Secure Socket Layer (SSL) provides security services between TCP and applications that
use TCP. The Internet standard version is called Transport Layer Service (TLS).
 SSL/TLS provides confidentiality using symmetric encryption and message integrity using
a message authentication code.
 SSL/TLS includes protocol mechanisms to enable two TCP users to determine the security
mechanisms and services they will use.
 HTTPS (HTTP over SSL) refers to the combination of HTTP and SSL to implement
secure communication between a Web browser and a Web server.
 Secure Shell (SSH) provides secure remote logon and other secure client/server facilities.
SSL Architecture
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SSL is designed to make use of TCP to provide a reliable end-to-end secure service. SSL is not a
single protocol but rather two layers of protocols. The SSL Record Protocol provides basic
security services to various higher layer protocols. In particular, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP), which provides the transfer service for Web client/server interaction, can operate on top
of SSL. Three higher-layer protocols are defined as part of SSL: the Handshake Protocol, The
Change Cipher Spec Protocol, and the Alert Protocol. Two important SSL concepts are the SSL
session and the SSL connection, which are defined in the specification as follows.
 Connection: A connection is a transport (in the OSI layering model definition) that
provides a suitable type of service. For SSL, such connections are peer-to-peer
relationships. The connections are transient. Every connection is associated with one
session.
 Session: An SSL session is an association between a client and a server. Sessions
are created by the Handshake Protocol. Sessions define a set of cryptographic
SSL may use the following algorithms
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Wireless Network Security
 IEEE 802.11 is a standard for wireless LANs. Interoperable standardscompliant

implementations are referred to as Wi-Fi.
 IEEE 802.11i specifies security standards for IEEE 802.11 LANs, including
authentication, data integrity, data confidentiality, and key management. Interoperable
implementations are also referred to as Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA).
 The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is a standard to provide mobile users of
wireless phones and other wireless terminals access to telephony and information
services, including the Internet and the Web.
 WAP security is primarily provided by the Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS),
which provides security services between the mobile device and the WAP gateway to the
Internet.
 There are several approaches to WAP end-to-end security. One notable approach assumes
that the mobile device implements TLS over TCP/IP and the wireless network supports
transfer of IP packets.
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IPsec (Internet Protocol Security)
 IP security (IPsec) is a capability that can be added to either current version of the
Internet Protocol (IPv4 or IPv6) by means of additional headers.
 IPsec encompasses three functional areas: authentication, confidentiality, and key
management.
 Authentication makes use of the HMAC message authentication code. Authentication can
be applied to the entire original IP packet (tunnel mode) or to all of the packet except for
the IP header (transport mode).
 Confidentiality is provided by an encryption format known as encapsulating security
payload. Both tunnel and transport modes can be accommodated.
 IKE (Internet Key Exchange) defines a number of techniques for key management.
Applications of IPsec
IPsec provides the capability to secure communications across a LAN, across private and public
WANs, and across the Internet. Examples of its use include:
 Secure branch office connectivity over the Internet: A company can build a secure
virtual private network over the Internet or over a public WAN. This enables a business
to rely heavily on the Internet and reduce its need for private networks, saving costs and
network management overhead.
 Secure remote access over the Internet: An end user whose system is equipped
with IP security protocols can make a local call to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and
gain secure access to a company network. This reduces the cost of toll charges for
traveling employees and telecommuters.
 Establishing extranet and intranet connectivity with partners: IPsec can be used to
secure communication with other organizations, ensuring authentication and
confidentiality and providing a key exchange mechanism.
 Enhancing electronic commerce security: Even though some Web and electronic
commerce applications have built-in security protocols, the use of IPsec enhances that
security. IPsec guarantees that all traffic designated by the network administrator is both
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encrypted and authenticated, adding an additional layer of security to whatever is

provided at the application layer.
IPsec Services
 Access control
 Connectionless integrity
 Data origin authentication
 Rejection of replayed packets (a form of partial sequence integrity)
 Confidentiality (encryption)
 Limited traffic flow confidentiality
Available Technology
 There are different types of technologies available for maintaining the best security
standards. Some popular technical solutions for testing, building, and preventing
threats include:
o Black box testing tools o Web application firewalls (WAF)

o Fuzzing tools o Security or vulnerability scanners
o White box testing tools o Password cracking tools
Likelihood of Threat
 Your website or web application’s security depends on the level of protection tools that
have been equipped and tested on it. There are a few major threats to security which are
the most common ways in which a website or web application becomes hacked. Some of
the top vulnerabilities for all web-based services include:
o SQL injection o Data breach

o Password breach o Remote file inclusion
o Cross-site scripting o Code injection
 Preventing these common threats is the key to making sure that your web-based service is
practicing the best methods of security.
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The Best Strategies
 There are two big defense strategies that a developer can use to protect their website or
web application. The two main methods are as follows:
1. Resource assignment – By assigning all necessary resources to causes that are
dedicated to alerting the developer about new web security issues and threats, the
developer can receive a constant and updated alert system that will help them detect
and eradicate any threats before security is officially breached.
2. Web scanning – There are several web scanning solutions already in existence that
are available for purchase or download. These solutions, however, are only good for
known vulnerability threats – seeking unknown threats can be much more
complicated. This method can protect against many breaches, however, and is
proven to keep websites safe in the long run.
Web Security also protects the visitors from the below-mentioned points –
 Stolen Data: Cyber-criminals frequently hacks visitor‟s data that is stored on a website
like email addresses, payment information, and a few other details.
 Phishing schemes: This is not just related to email, but through phishing, hackers design
a layout that looks exactly like the website to trick the user by compelling them to give
their sensitive details.
 Session hijacking: Certain cyber attackers can take over a user‟s session and compel
them to take undesired actions on a site.
 Malicious redirects. Sometimes the attacks can redirect visitors from the site they visited
to a malicious website.
 SEO Spam. Unusual links, pages, and comments can be displayed on a site by the
hackers to distract your visitors and drive traffic to malicious websites.
Thus, web security is easy to install and it also helps the business people to make their
website safe and secure. A web application firewall prevents automated attacks that usually
target small or lesser-known websites. These attacks are borne out by malicious bots or
malware that automatically scan for vulnerabilities they can misuse, or cause DDoS attacks
that slow down or crash your website. Thus, Web security is extremely important, especially
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for websites or web applications that deal with confidential, private, or protected
information. Security methods are evolving to match the different types of vulnerabilities
that come into existence.
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Application Security (vulnerabilities of programming/scripting languages)

Application either through Mobile, web, PCs, tablets provides array of services which contains
user personal information. With new applications, new security vulnerabilities are also
discovered every day in commonly used applications. This vulnerability can put personal data of
user at risk.
Application vulnerability is a system flaw or weakness in an application that could be exploited

to compromise the security of the application. Once an attacker has found a flaw, or application
vulnerability, and determined how to access it, it can exploit the application vulnerability to
facilitate a cyber-crime. These crimes target the confidentiality, integrity, or availability (known
as the “CIA”) of resources possessed by an application, its creators, and its users.
Application security, or “AppSec” is what an organization does to protect its critical data from
external threats by ensuring the security of all of the software used to run the business, whether
built internally, bought or downloaded. Application security helps identify, fix and prevent
security vulnerabilities in any kind of software application.
Mainly there are two types of applications:
 Mobile Applications
 Web Based applications
Need for Application Security:

Security of applications is critical due to the following reasons:
1. Storage and Processing of Sensitive Data:

Mobile devices are being used to access a range of services, from social networking,
banking, ticketing, and shopping to corporate applications such as email, enterprise
resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and calendar and
address book applications. The applications store and transmit a lot of sensitive personal
and corporate information, such as login credentials, credit card details, private contact
entries, invoices, and purchase orders. If developed insecurely, these applications could
potentially disclose sensitive information.
2. Non transparent Use of Mobile Devices:
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Using personal phones for corporate purposes makes it difficult to enforce corporate
policies and restrictions on these devices. Also, an attacker can more easily compromise
personal devices than corporate- issued devices, which are locked down using far more
draconian measures. Sensitive corporate applications and data on unmanaged personal
devices open up security risks, such as exposure of confidential corporate information
through lost or stolen phones, data interception and manipulation through Wi-Fi sniffing,
and man-in-the-middle attacks at public Wi-Fi hotspots.
3. Regulatory requirements:
Around the world, countries have their own regulatory requirements for enterprises that
manage sensitive and confidential customer data such as personally identifiable
information, personal health information, cardholder information, and financial
information. Hence organizations dealing with such information must mandate use of
minimum security requirements.
Malicious Code (virus worms, malware)
 Malicious code is software that performs unauthorized functions causing the normal
operation of an information system to be abnormal.
 According to SPECTRIA InfoSec Services, malicious code is defined as “software
which interferes with the normal operation of a computer system” or “software, which
executes without the express consent of the user.”
There are several types of malicious code such as viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and
programming flaws. The programming flaws can be included with malicious intent or just be bad
programming practices.
 Malicious code refers to a broad category of software threats to your network and
systems. Perhaps the most sophisticated types of threats to computer systems are
presented by malicious codes that exploit vulnerabilities in computer systems.
 Any code which modifies or destroys data, steals data, allows unauthorized access
Exploits or damage a system, and does something that user did not intend to do, is called
malicious code.
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Types of Malicious Code

There are many types of malicious code of which the most well-known types are viruses, worms,
and Trojan Horses. Other types are intentional and accidental coding flaws, logic bomb, and
trapdoor/backdoor.
A. Independents: are self-contained program that can be scheduled and run by the operating
system.
B. Needs host program: are essentially fragments of programs that cannot exist
independently of some actual application program, utility or system program.
Trap doors:
A trap door is a secret entry point into a program that allows someone that is aware at the trap
door to gain access without going through the usual security access procedure. In many cases
attacks using trap doors can give a great degree of access to the application, important data, or
given the hosting system. Trap doors have been used legitimately by programmers to debug and
test programs, some of the legitimate reasons for trap doors are:
1. Intentionally leaves them for testing, and make testing easier.

2. Intentionally leaves them for covert means of access. In the other words, allows access in
event of errors.
3. Intentionally leaves them for fixing bugs.
But they may use illegitimately, to provide future, illegal access. Trap doors become threats
when they are used by unscrupulous programmers to gain unauthorized access.
Back door
 is another name for a trap door, back doors provide immediate access to a system by
passing employed authentication and security protocols, Attackers can use back doors to
bypass security control and gain control at a system without time consuming hacking.
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Logic Bombs
 The logic bomb is code embedded in some legitimate program that execute when a
certain predefined events occurs, these codes surreptitiously inserted into an application
or operating system that causes it to perform some destructive or security –
compromising activity whenever specified conditions are met.
 A bomb may sent a note to an attacker when a user is logged on to the internet and is
using an specific program such as a word processor, this message informs the attacker
that the user is ready for an attack, figure 2 shows a logic bomb in operation .Notice that
this bomb dose not actually begin the attack but tells the attacker that the victim has met
needed state for an attack to begin
Logic Bombs
1. Attacker implants logic bomb

2. Victim reports installation
3. Attacker sends attack message
4. Victim dose as logic bomb installation
Trojan Horses:
 A malicious, security–breaking program that is disguised as something benign, such

as directory lister, archiver, game, or (in one notorious 1990 case on Mac) a program
to find and destroy viruses!"
 A Trojan horse is a useful, or apparently useful program or command procedure
containing hidden code that when invoked performs some unwanted or harmful
function.
Trojan Horses can be used to accomplish functions indirectly that an unauthorized user
could not accomplish directly. for example, to gain access to the files of another user on a
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shared system, a user could create a Trojan Horse program that when executed, changed
the invoking user‘s file permissions so that the file are readable by any user. The program
appears to be performing a useful function but it may also be quietly deleting the victim‘s
files.
Zombie:
 A zombie is a program that secretly takes over another internet attached computer and
then uses that computer to launch attacks that are difficult to trace to the zombie‘s
creator. Zombies are used in Denial of service attacks, typically against targeted web
sites. The zombie is planted on hundreds of computers belonging to unsuspecting third
parties and then used to overwhelm the target website by launching on overwhelming
onslaught of internet traffic.
Viruses:
Cracker program that searches out other programs and infects them by embedding a copy of
itself in them so that they become Trojan horses. When these programs are executed, the
embedded virus is executed too, thus propagating the ' infection ' this normally happens invisibly
to the user. Unlike a worm, a virus cannot infect other computers without assistance. It is
propagated by vectors such as humans trading programs with their friends the virus may do
nothing but propagate itself and then allow the program to run normally. Usually, however, after
propagating silently for a while, it starts doing things like writing cute messages on the terminal
or playing strange tricks with the display. Many nasty viruses, written by particularly perversely
minded crackers, do irreversible. Damage, like nuking the entire user‘s files...
A virus can do anything that other programs do. The only difference is that it attaches itself to
another program and executes secretly when the host program is run. Once a virus is executing, it
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can perform any function such as erasing files and programs.
During its lifetime a typical virus goes through the following four phases:
1. Dormant phase: The virus is idle the virus will eventually be activated by some event,
such as a date. The presence of another program or file, or the capacity of the disk
exceeding some limit, not all viruses have this stage.
2. Propagation phase: The virus places an identical copy of itself into other programs or
into certain system areas on the disk. Each infected program will now contain a clone of
the virus, which will itself enter a propagation phase.
3. Triggering phase: The virus is activated to perform the function for which it was
intended. As with the dormant phase, the triggering phase can be caused by a variety of
system events, including a count of the number of times that this copy of the virus has
made copies of itself.
4. Execution phase: The function is performed. The function may be harmless, such as a
message on the screen, or damaging, such as the destruction of programs and data files.
Virus Anatomy,
Virus Structure has four ports
1. Mark can prevent re-infection attempt.

2. Infection Mechanism causes spread to other files
3. Trigger are conditions for delivering payload
4. Payload is the possible damage to infected computer
Types of virus,
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Program File Viruses
Memory – resident virus:
 Lodges in main memory as part of a resident system program. From that point on, virus
infects every program that executes.
Polymorphic virus:
 Creates copies during replication that are functionally equivalents but have distinctly
different bit patterns. In this case the ―signature ―of the virus will vary with each copy.
To achieve this variation, the virus may randomly insert superfluous instructions or
interchange the order of independent in-generally called a mutation engine, creates a
random encryption key to encrypt the reminder of the virus. The key is stored with the
virus, and the mutation engine itself is altered.
 When an infected program is invoked, the virus uses the stored random key to decrypt the
virus, when the virus replicates, a different random key is selected.
Boot Sector Virus:
 Boot sector viruses infect the system area of the disk that is read when the disk is initially
accessed or booted. This area can include the master boot record the operation system‘s
boot sector or both. A virus infecting these areas typically takes the system instructions it
finds and moves them to some other area on the disk. The virus is then free to place its
own code in the boot record. When the system initializes, the virus loads into memory
and simply points to the new location for the system instructions. The system then boots
in a normal fashion except the virus is now resident in memory. A boot sector virus can
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replicate without your executing any programs from an infected disk. Simply accessing
the disk is sufficient. For example , most PCs do a systems check on boot up that verifies
the operation of the floppy drive even this verification process is sufficient to activate a
boot sector virus if one exist on a floppy left in the machine and the hard drive can also
become infected .
Stealth Virus:
 A format virus explicitly designed to hide itself from detection by antivirus software.
When the virus is loaded into memory, it monitors system calls to files and disk sectors,
when a call is trapped the, virus modifies the information returned to the process making
the call so that it sees the original uninfected information. This aids the virus in avoiding
detection. For example many boot sector viruses contain stealth ability. If the infected
disk is booted, programs such as FDISK report a normal boot record. The virus is
intercepting sector calls from FDISK and returning the original boot sector information.
If you boot the system from a clean floppy disk however, the drive is inaccessible. If you
run FDISK again, the program reports a corrupted boot sector on the drive. To use
stealth, however, the virus must be actively running in memory, which means that the
stealth portion of the virus is vulnerable to detect by antivirus.
Macro Virus:
 Macro Virus is set of macro commands, specific to an application, which automatically

executes in an unsolicited manner and spread to that application‘s documents. According
to the national computer security agency (www.ncsa.com), macro viruses now make up
two – thirds of all computer viruses. Macro viruses are particularly threatening for a
number of reasons:
1. A macro virus is platform independent. Virtually all of the macro viruses infect
Microsoft word documents. Any hardware platform and operating system that
supports word can be infected.
2. Macro viruses infect documents, not executable portions of code. Most of the
information introduced on to a computer system is in the form of a document rather
than a program.
3. Macro viruses are easily spread. A very common method is by electronic mail.
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Email Virus:
 A more recent development in malicious software is the e-mail virus. The first rapidly
spreading e-mail viruses, such as Melissa, made use of a Microsoft word macro
embedded in an attachment. If the recipient opens the e-mail attachment, the word macro
is activated then:
1. The e-mail virus sends itself to everyone on the mailing list in the user‘s e-mail
package
2. The virus does local damage
Worms:
 A program that propagates itself over a network, reproducing itself as it goes ... Worm is
also self-replicating but a stand-alone program that exploits security holes to compromise
other computers and spread copies of itself through the network. Unlike viruses, worms
do not need to parasitically attach to other programs. Because of the recursive structure of
this propagation, the spread rate of worms is very fast and poses a big threat on the
Internet infrastructure as a whole.
Worms Anatomy
 Mark structurally similar to viruses, except a stand-alone program instead of program

fragment
 Infection Mechanism searches for weakly protected computers through a network (i.e.,
worms are network based)
 Triggers are Conditions for delivering payload
 Payload might drop a Trojan horse or parasitically infect files, so worms can have Trojan
horse or virus characteristics
E-mail Security
 Not everyone in the organization needs to know how to secure the e-mail service, but
anyone who handles patient information must understand e-mail’s vulnerabilities
and recognize when a system is secure enough to transmit sensitive information.
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 E-mail messages are generally sent over untrusted networks—external networks that
are outside the organization‘s security boundary. When these messages lack appropriate
security safeguards, they are like postcards that can be read, copied, and modified at
any point along these paths.
 Securing an e-mail system is the responsibility of an organization‘s IT department and
email administrator. However, anyone responsible for the confidentiality, integrity, and
availability of the information sent via e-mail should be aware of the threats facing e-mail
systems and understand the basic techniques for securing these systems.
The E-mail System in a Nutshell
 An e-mail system is made up of two primary components that reside in an organization‘s

IT infrastructure: mail clients and mail servers.
 Users read, compose, send, and store their e-mail using mail clients. Mail is formatted
and sent from the mail client via the network infrastructure to a mail server. The mail
server is the computer that delivers, forwards, and stores e-mail messages. All
components such as the mail servers, the mail clients, and the infrastructure that connects
and supports them must be protected.
 Voluntary industry standards (e.g., SMTP, ESMTP, POP, IMAP) for formatting,
processing, transmitting, delivering, and displaying e-mail ensure interoperability among
the many different mail client and server solutions.
 E-mail security relies on principles of good planning and management that provide for
the security of both the e-mail system and the IT infrastructure. With proper planning,
system management, and continuous monitoring, organizations can implement and
maintain effective security.
Common Threats
 Because e-mail is widely deployed, well understood, and used to communicate with
untrusted, external organizations, it is frequently the target of attacks. Attackers can
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exploit e-mail to gain control over an organization, access confidential information, or

disrupt IT access to resources.
 Common threats to e-mail systems include the following:
A. Malware. Increasingly, attackers are taking advantage of e-mail to deliver a variety
of attacks to organizations through the use of malware, or ―malicious software,‖ that
include viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and spyware. These attacks, if successful,
may give the malicious entity control over workstations and servers, which can then
be exploited to change privileges, gain access to sensitive information, monitor users‘
activities, and perform other malicious actions.
B. Spam and phishing. Unsolicited commercial e-mail, commonly referred to as spam,
is the sending of unwanted bulk commercial e-mail messages. Such messages can
disrupt user productivity, utilize IT resources excessively, and be used as a
distribution mechanism for malware. Related to spam is phishing, which refers to the
use of deceptive computer-based means to trick individuals into responding to the
email and disclosing sensitive information. Compromised e-mail systems are often
used to deliver spam messages and conduct phishing attacks using an otherwise
trusted e-mail address.
C. Social engineering. Rather than hack into a system, an attacker can use e-mail to
gather sensitive information from an organization‘s users or get users to perform
actions that further an attack. A common social engineering attack is e-mail spoofing,
in which one person or program successfully masquerades as another by falsifying the
sender information shown in e-mails to hide the true origin.
D. Entities with malicious intent. Malicious entities may gain unauthorized access to
resources elsewhere in the organization‘s network via a successful attack on a mail
server. For example, once the mail server is compromised, an attacker could retrieve
users‘ passwords, which may grant the attacker access to other hosts on the
organization‘s network.
E. Unintentional acts by authorized users. Not all security threats are intentional.
Authorized users may inadvertently send proprietary or other sensitive information
via e-mail, exposing the organization to embarrassment or legal action.
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E-mail Security Safeguards
 Management, operational, and technical safeguards are necessary to ensure that the
confidentiality, integrity, and availability needs of the mail system, its supporting
environment, and the data handled by it are addressed.
 The National Institute of Standards and Technology is a non-regulatory agency within the
Department of Commerce. Its Information Technology Laboratory recommends that
organizations employ the following guidelines in planning, implementing, and
maintaining secure e-mail systems.
Implement Management Controls
 Management security controls—such as organization-wide information security policies

and procedures, risk assessments, configuration management and change control, and
contingency planning—are essential to the effective operation and maintenance of a
secure e-mail system and the supporting network infrastructure. Additionally,
organizations should implement and deliver security awareness and training, because
many attacks rely either partially or wholly on social engineering techniques to
manipulate users.
Carefully Plan the System Implementation
 The most critical aspect of deploying a secure e-mail system is careful planning before
installation, configuration, and deployment. As is often said, security should be
considered from the initial planning stage, at the beginning of the system development
life cycle, to maximize security and minimize costs.
Secure the Mail Server Application
 Organizations should install the minimal mail server services required and eliminate any
known vulnerabilities through patches, configurations, or upgrades. If the installation
program installs unnecessary applications, services, or scripts, these should be removed
immediately after the installation process is complete.
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 Securing the mail server application generally includes patching and upgrading the mail
server; configuring the mail server user authentication and access and resource controls;
configuring, protecting, and analyzing log files; and periodically testing the security of
the mail server application.
Secure the Mail Client
 In many respects, the client side of e-mail represents a greater risk to security than the
mail server. Providing an appropriate level of security for the mail client requires
carefully considering and addressing numerous issues.
 Securely installing, configuring, and using mail client applications generally includes
patching and upgrading the mail client applications; configuring the mail client security
features (e.g., disable automatic opening of messages); enabling antivirus, ant-spam, and
ant-phishing features; configuring mailbox authentication and access; and
securing the client‘s host operating system.
Secure the Transmission
 Most standard e-mail protocols send, by default, user authentication data and e-mail
content in the clear; that is, unencrypted. Sending data in the clear may allow an attacker
to easily compromise a user account or intercept and alter unencrypted e-mails. At a
minimum, most organizations should encrypt the user authentication session even if
they do not encrypt the actual e-mail data.
 A related control to protect the confidentiality and integrity of the message is to deploy a
secure e-mail solution such as leveraging PKI technology to encrypt and sign the
message. Digital rights management and data leakage prevention systems can be used to
prevent the accidental leakage and exfiltration of sensitive information.
Secure the Supporting Operating Environment
 While the mail server and mail clients are the two primary components of an e-mail
system, the supporting network infrastructure is essential to its secure operations. Many
times, the network infrastructure, including such components as firewalls, routers, and
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intrusion detection and prevention systems, will provide the first layer of defense
between untrusted networks and a mail server.
Maintaining a Secure Mail System
 Maintaining the security of a mail system is an ongoing process, requiring constant effort,
resources, and vigilance, and usually involves the following actions:
A. Configure, Protect, and Analyze Log Files
 Log files are often an organization‘s only record of suspicious behavior.
Enabling logging mechanisms allows the organization to use collected data to
detect both failed and successful intrusions, initiate alert notifications when
further investigation is needed, and assist in system recovery and post-event
investigations.
 Organizations require both procedures and tools to process and analyze the log
files and review alert notifications.
B. Back up Data Frequently
 One of the most important functions of a mail server administrator is
maintaining the integrity of the data on the mail server. This is important
because mail servers are often one of the most vital and exposed servers on an
organization‘s network.
 The mail administrator should back up the mail server on a regular basis to
reduce downtime in the event of a mail service outage and support compliance
with regulations on the backup and archiving of data and information,
including those found in e-mail.
C. Protect against Malware
 Organizations require malware scanning and spam filtering capabilities at the
mail client and the mail system levels. Organizations should also conduct
awareness and training activities for users, including telecommuters, so
that users are better prepared to recognize malicious mail messages and
attachments and handle them appropriately.
D. Perform Periodic Security Testing
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 Periodic security testing of the mail system confirms that protective measures
are implemented correctly, operating as intended, and producing the desired
outcome with respect to meeting the security requirements of the operational
mail system. Organizations should consider using a combination of
techniques, including vulnerability scanning, to assess the mail system and its
supporting environment.
Top 10 Cyber Crime Prevention Tips

1. Use Strong Passwords
Use different user ID / password combinations for different accounts and avoid writing them
down. Make the passwords more complicated by combining letters, numbers, special
characters (minimum 10 characters in total) and change them on a regular basis.
2. Secure your computer

 Activate your firewall: Firewalls are the first line of cyber defence; they block
connections to unknown or bogus sites and will keep out some types of viruses
and hackers.
 Use anti-virus/malware software: Prevent viruses from infecting your computer
by installing and regularly updating anti-virus software.
 Block spyware attacks: Prevent spyware from infiltrating your computer by
installing and updating anti-spyware software.
3. Be Social-Media Savvy: Make sure your social networking profiles (e.g. Facebook,
Twitter, Youtube, MSN, etc.) are set to private. Check your security settings. Be careful
what information you post online. Once it is on the Internet, it is there forever!
4. Secure your Mobile Devices: Be aware that your mobile device is vulnerable to viruses
and hackers. Download applications from trusted sources.
5. Install the latest operating system updates: Keep your applications and operating system
(e.g. Windows, Mac, Linux) current with the latest system updates. Turn on automatic
updates to prevent potential attacks on older software.
6. Protect your Data: Use encryption for your most sensitive files such as tax returns or
financial records, make regular back-ups of all your important data, and store it in another
Page 84 of 85
location.
7. Secure your wireless network: Wi-Fi (wireless) networks at home are vulnerable to
intrusion if they are not properly secured. Review and modify default settings. Public Wi-
Fi, a.k.a. “Hot Spots”, are also vulnerable. Avoid conducting financial or corporate
transactions on these networks.
8. Protect your e-identity: Be cautious when giving out personal information such as your
name, address, phone number or financial information on the Internet. Make sure that
websites are secure (e.g. when making online purchases) or that you’ve enabled privacy
settings (e.g. when accessing/using social networking sites).
9. Avoid being scammed: Always think before you click on a link or file of unknown
origin. Don’t feel pressured by any emails. Check the source of the message. When in
doubt, verify the source. Never reply to emails that ask you to verify your information or
confirm your user ID or password.
10.Call the right person for help: Don’t panic! If you are a victim, if you encounter illegal
Internet content (e.g. child exploitation) or if you suspect a computer crime, identity theft
or a commercial scam, report this to your local police. If you need help with maintenance
or software installation on your computer, consult with your service provider or a
certified computer technician.
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Information Assurance and Security

Information Assurance and Security Handout

Hosanna, SNNP, Ethiopia

Attacks on Computers and Computer Security

ALICE’S ONLINE B ANK

approaches to satisfy those requirements. One approach is to consider three aspects of

o Attacker sends a large number of connection or information requests to a target

• Attacks on computer systems

– Hard to detect, try to prevent

o Ex: A credit card number has to be secured during online transaction.

 Authentication- This service assures that a communication is authentic. For a single

 Two types of integrity services are available. They are

o Connection-Oriented Integrity Service: This service deals with a stream of

Where to have security?

 Human being from ages had two inherent needs:

 Applications of cryptography include electronic commerce, chip-based payment

Oldest (Classical) Cryptographic systems are generally classified along 3 independent

Classical Encryption Techniques

Caesar cipher (or) shift cipher

C = E (p) = (p+3) mod 26

A shift may be any amount, so that general Caesar algorithm is

C = E (p) = (p+k) mod 26

P = D(C) = (C-k) mod 26

Substitutions Cipher: It basically consists of substituting every plaintext character for a

E (4+15)mod26=19 Character @ Position 19=T

L (11+15)mod26=0 Character @ Position 0=A

L (11+15)mod26=0 Character @ Position 0=A

O (14+15)mod26=3 Character @ Position 3=D

Cipher text (C) = 7+15,4+15,11+15,11+15,14+15 = 22,19, 26,26,(29%26)=3 = W T A AD

Play fair cipher

According to the following rules:

 Speed of transformation: algorithms are linear in time and constant in space.

Block ciphers: It encrypt a group of plaintext symbols as one block.

 Slowness of encryption: an entire block must be accumulated before encryption /

 Character marking – selected letters of printed or typewritten text are overwritten in

 Requires a lot of overhead to hide a relatively few bits of information.

Alice, Bob, and Eve

In cryptography, it is customary to use three characters in an information exchange scenario; we

Symmetric and public key algorithms

PRIVATE KEY (Symmetric Key) CRYPTO SYSTEM

Symmetric encryption (also called private-key encryption or secret-key encryption) involves

It is quite difficult to prevent active attacks absolutely, because to do so would require

An important distinction in symmetric cryptographic algorithms is between stream and block

Two requirements for secure use of symmetric encryption:

1. A strong encryption algorithm

An opponent, observing Y but not having access to K or X, may attempt to recover X or K

Symmetric Key Cryptography – Examples

PUBLIC KEY CRYPTOSYSTEM

Public-key cryptography, also known as asymmetric cryptography, is a class of cryptographic

Open networked environments are susceptible to a variety of communication security problems

1. key distribution – how to have secure communications in general without having

Public-key/two-key/asymmetric cryptography involves the use of two keys:

Notations used in Public-key cryptography:

 The public key of user A will be denoted KUA.

For this algorithm to be satisfactory, the following requirements are to be met.

0 1 7 20/7=2 (Store the Quotient)

1-(0*2)=1 0-(1*2)=-2 20-(7*2)=6 (7-1)/6=1

0-(1*1)=-1 1-(-2-1)=3 7-(6*1)=1 –

0 1 13 60/13=4 (Store the Quotient)

1-(02)=1 0-(12)=-2 20-(7*2)=6 (7-1)/6=1

0-(11)=-1 1-(-2-1)=3 7-(61)=1 –

1-(04)=1 0-(14)=-4 60-(13*4)=8 (13-1)/8=1