Viruses, Spyware, and Malware | Information Systems & Technology. What is malware? "Malware" is a term for any software that gets installed on your machine and performs unwanted tasks, often for some third party's benefit. Malware programs can range from being simple annoyances (pop-up advertising) to causing serious computer invasion and damage (e.g., stealing passwords and data or infecting other machines on the network). Additionally, some malware programs are designed to transmit information about your Web-browsing habits to advertisers or other third party interests, unbeknownst to you. Types of malware Some categories of malware are: Virus - Software that can replicate itself and spread to other computers or are programmed to damage a computer by deleting files, reformatting the hard disk, or using up computer memory.
How malware gets through Malware writers are very experienced in using tricks to get users to download their malware. Malware can exploit security holes in your browser as a way of invading your machine. Hackers steal directly from banks in 'new era' of cyber crime. An international band of cyber crooks that worked its way into dozens of banks has experts warning of a "new era" of cyber crime where criminals steal directly from banks instead of their customers.
And the problem could soon spread to other industries, experts warn. On Monday, Moscow-based security firm Kaspersky Lab released a report showing that a gang of international hackers have stolen as much as $1 billion from 100 banks across 30 countries by installing malware that allowed them to take control of the banks' internal operations. While such hacks have been attempted before, the scale and sophistication of the attacks, which spanned several nations over several years, has experts worried that this represents a new trend.
"The recent news of bank thefts around the world is an example of the new normal in terms of cyber attacks leveraging insider threats," says Eric Chiu, president and co-founder of HyTrust, a cloud services company. Read or Share this story: Does Cybercrime Really Cost $1 Trillion? National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander speaks about cybersecurity and the new threats posed to the U.S. economy and military at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., on July 9, 2012. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) These estimates have been cited on many occasions by government officials, who portray them as evidence of the threat against America. They are hardly the only cyberstatistics used by officials, but they are recurring ones that get a lot of attention.
In his first major cybersecurity speech [1] in 2009, President Obama prominently referred to McAfee’s $1 trillion estimate. Sen. A handful of media stories, blog posts and academic studies have previously expressed skepticism about these attention-getting estimates, but this has not stopped an array of government officials and politicians from continuing to publicly cite them as authoritative. Computer security companies like McAfee and Symantec have stepped into the data void. 10 ways schools are teaching internet safety. "The student’s job is to figure out which website is the hoax. After students have looked at all three websites and figured out which one is the hoax, they share what they found with their classmates," says one reader in describing a hands-on lesson.
As internet use has become a daily part of most students’ lives, students must know how to protect themselves and their identity at all times—especially when teachers and parents aren’t there to help them. Teaching students about internet safety has been important for as long as the internet has existed, but it’s in the spotlight this year in particular as schools get ready to apply for 2012 eRate discounts on their telecommunications services and internet access. That’s because applicants must amend their existing internet safety policies by July 1, 2012, to include information about how they are educating students about proper online behavior, cyber bullying, and social networking sites. 1. Through gaming.
The Five Biggest Threats to Your Kids’ Privacy, and What You Can Do About Them. Remember back in school, when your teachers warned that everything you did would go on your permanent record? It turns out your teachers have become right. That permanent record is the Internet. It’s hard to be a fully functioning adult in 2014 and not leave behind a digital trail. Now imagine how hard it is for your kids, who have never known a world where the net did not exist. From the moment they emerge from the womb, they’re generating data, which is then eagerly absorbed and stored by Internet companies, government agencies and some evil no-goodniks. Despite federal laws prohibiting the collection of data from children under the age of 13, dossiers are constantly being created about your kids, whether it’s Google capturing their search histories, advertisers creating profiles of their interests, or their grandparents tagging photos of them on Facebook.
Canadian Singles Find New Ways To Meet UrthBox Healthy Snack Boxes. Math Practice - Ages 5-15 Questions, complaints, kudos? Computer Virus Information. What is a computer virus? Think of a biological virus – the kind that makes you sick. It’s persistently nasty, keeps you from functioning normally and often requires something powerful to get rid of it. A computer virus is very similar. Designed to relentlessly replicate, computer viruses infect your programs and files, alter the way your computer operates or stop it from working altogether. It’s estimated that the Conficker virus infected more than 10 million computers in 2009.
Tens of thousands of computer viruses now operate over the Internet, and new computer viruses are discovered every day. How does a computer virus find me? Even if you’re careful you can pick up computer viruses through normal Web activities like: What does a computer virus do? Some computer viruses are programmed to harm your computer by damaging programs, deleting files, or reformatting the hard drive. What are the symptoms of a computer virus? Practice safe email protocol: Apple iOS Now Targeted In Massive Cyber Espionage Campaign. Attack campaign tied to Russia now zeroing in on mobile user's iPhones, iPads. An extensive and sophisticated cyber espionage operation targeting mainly Western military, government, defense industry firms, and the media, now has a new weapon: a spyware app for Apple iPhones and iPads. Operation Pawn Storm, which has been tied to Russia by at least one security research firm, is using a specially crafted iOS app to surreptitiously steal from the mobile device text messages, contact lists, pictures, geo-location information, WiFi status of the device, lists of installed apps and processes -- and to record voice conversations, according to new Trend Micro research.
"The Cold War has returned in cyberspace, and Apple has become the gateway to western elites," says Tom Kellermann, chief cyber security officer with Trend Micro. "Pawn Storm has evolved to now incorporate proximity attacks against Western victims. " "We found two malicious iOS applications in Operation Pawn Storm. More Insights. Nmap. ITDisasterRecoveryPlan.
Mitigating DDoS Attacks with F5 Technology. Introduction Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack types have moved up the OSI network model over time, climbing from network attacks in the 1990s to session attacks and application layer attacks today. Network attacks include DDoS variants such as SYN floods, connection floods, or ICMP fragmentation. Session attacks, which target layers 5 and 6, include DNS and SSL attacks.
Application attacks at layer 7 represent approximately half of all attacks today. Finally, though layer 7 tops the OSI model, attacks are now moving into business logic, which often exists as a layer above the OSI model. But even with these changes in the current threat spectrum, organizations must continue to defend against network and session attacks, too. Meanwhile, the Application Delivery Controller (ADC) has become a strategic point of control in the network. F5 solutions can securely deliver applications while protecting the network, the session, and the user. Mitigating Network Attacks PVA Processing.
Best practices to mitigate DDoS attacks. DDoS attacks are on the rise and growing more complex. A majority of respondents in a recent survey from Neustar indicate a service outage would cost their companies $10,000 or more per hour in lost revenues. Follow these tips to mitigate an attack against your organization. The hactivist group Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters is several weeks into Operation Ababil 2, and, as promised, is once again directing distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks at U.S. banks. The group has vowed to continue disrupting online and mobile banking sites until all instances of the movie "Innocence of Muslims" are removed from YouTube. Numerous banks have been attacked in recent weeks, including PNC Bank, Fifth Third, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and others.
For the financial institutions, it's déjà vu all over again, as they were similarly attacked last September and October. The banks have all suffered daylong slowdowns and, at times, complete outages. Why would someone attack a website? Mitigating Attacks in 2013: The Year Companies Push Hackers Back. In 2012, DDoS attacks revealed a new cyber security trend: attack campaigns that last for days and sometimes even weeks. Unfortunately, many organizations that find themselves under attack don’t know how to change the attack dynamics. Instead of working to halt attacks, many just wait passively for them to conclude. But what about stopping the attack? Why can’t organizations become more proactive and implement counter measures that can halt the attackers from sending additional malicious traffic? According to Cyber Security on the Offense, a recent study by Radware and the Ponemon Institute, 71 percent of respondents gave their organizations an average or below average rating when it comes to their ability to launch or implement counter techniques against hackers and other cyber criminals.
This is a worrisome picture. In 2013, it’s time to get proactive! Establish an emergency response team that can detect and respond to attack campaigns 24×7 for as many days as required. Threat/Vulnerability Assessments and Risk Analysis | Whole Building Design Guide. Home > Threat/Vulnerability Assessments and Risk Analysis by Nancy A. Renfroe, PSP and Joseph L.
Smith, PSPApplied Research Associates, Inc. Last updated: 08-18-2014 Introduction All facilities face a certain level of risk associated with various threats. "Risk is a function of the values of threat, consequence, and vulnerability. Facility owners, particularly owners of public facilities, should develop and implement a security risk management methodology which adheres to the Interagency Security Committee (ISC) standard while also supporting the security needs of the organization. Description A. Figure 1. The first step in a risk management program is a threat assessment. For terrorist threats, the attractiveness of the facility as a target is a primary consideration. Defined: Man-made: There are aggressors who utilize this tactic who are known to be targeting this facility or the organization. B. Once the plausible threats are identified, a vulnerability assessment must be performed.
C. 8 Steps to an Effective Vulnerability Assessment. As we conduct more and more business online, the digital world has become a hacker’s paradise. To combat the growing threat of cyber attacks, many companies are hiring chief information security officers (CISOs) whose main responsibility is to make sure data is secure. Recent high-profile data breaches have demonstrated that it is not a role for the faint of heart.
“We’re like sheep waiting to be slaughtered,” said David Jordan, the CISO for Arlington County in Virginia. “We all know what our fate is when there’s a significant breach.” IT research firm Gartner predicts that by 2020, 30 percent of Global 2000 companies will have been directly compromised by independent cyber activists or cyber criminals. In order to protect information assets, CISOs and other security professionals are facing a difficult challenge: they have to keep up with cyber criminals, check off a growing list of compliance boxes, and keep close tabs on the security practices of their partners and employees. 1. 2. 3.
What is vulnerability analysis (vulnerability assessment)? - Definition from WhatIs.com. ICABC: Industry Insights -- <strong>Risk Management:</strong> Understanding Risk Mitigation. Risk Management: Understanding Risk MitigationIndustry Insights · February 2011 Download PDF Version By Lisa Dorian, CA∙CIA Risk management is all about understanding risks that can impact your organizational objectives, and implementing strategies to mitigate and manage those risks. In this article, we examine the most common mitigation strategies and how they can be used to effectively manage risk. When mitigating or managing risks, here are three steps to consider: What is the organization's appetite and tolerance for risk? Risk mitigation strategies Avoidance Some risks aren't worth taking in the first place. Acceptance Without risk there is no reward. Transference Risk transference is the process of transferring any losses incurred to a third party, such as through the use of insurance policies.
Control A control is a procedure used to either prevent a risk from occurring or detect a risk after it has occurred. Figure 3 shows the link of control activities to the risk prioritization map. Four Types of Risk Mitigation and BCM Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) - MHA Consulting. Risk Mitigation Planning, Implementation, and Progress Monitoring. Definition: Risk mitigation planning is the process of developing options and actions to enhance opportunities and reduce threats to project objectives [1].
Risk mitigation implementation is the process of executing risk mitigation actions. Risk mitigation progress monitoring includes tracking identified risks, identifying new risks, and evaluating risk process effectiveness throughout the project [1]. Keywords: risk, risk management, risk mitigation, risk mitigation implementation, risk mitigation planning, risk mitigation progress monitoring Background Risk mitigation planning, implementation, and progress monitoring are depicted in Figure 1. As part of an iterative process, the risk tracking tool is used to record the results of risk prioritization analysis (step 3) that provides input to both risk mitigation (step 4) and risk impact assessment (step 2).
Risk Mitigation Strategies General guidelines for applying risk mitigation handling options are shown in Figure 2. Untitled. How to Create an Effective Business Continuity Plan. We rarely get a head's up that a disaster is ready to strike. Even with some lead time, though, multiple things can go wrong; every incident is unique and unfolds in unexpected ways. This is where a business continuity plan comes into play. To give your organization the best shot at success during a disaster, you need to put a current, tested plan in the hands of all personnel responsible for carrying out any part of that plan. The lack of a plan doesn't just mean your organization will take longer than necessary to recover from an event or incident.
You could go out of business for good. How Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery Plans Differ Business continuity (BC) refers to maintaining business functions or quickly resuming them in the event of a major disruption, whether caused by a fire, flood, epidemic illness or a malicious attack across the Internet. Tutorial: How to Start a Business Continuity Program Note that a business impact analysis (BIA) is another part of a BC plan.
Business continuity and disaster recovery planning: The basics. What is Business Continuity? Extra credit. The Best Hacking Tutorial Sites - Learn Legal Hacking. These Guys Will Hack Your Phone to Reveal Who It's Secretly Sending Information To. Top 50 Hacking Tools That You Must Have. What is authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA)? - Definition from WhatIs.com. Access Control Fundamentals: Door Control | Security Electronics and Networks. Multi tenancy. Five new threats to your mobile device security. Mobile Devices. How to Secure Your Wireless Network. Securing Your Wireless Network. Wireless Witch: How to Secure Your Wireless Network. Cryptography Breakthrough Could Make Software Unhackable - Wired Science.
Processors That Work Like Brains Will Accelerate Artificial Intelligence. NSA Snooping Was Only the Beginning. Meet the Spy Chief Leading Us Into Cyberwar | Threat Level. What Is Network Security? SY0-401 Differences in Application, Data and Host Security - Get Certified Get Ahead. How to prevent application attacks and reduce network vulnerabilities.
Common Types of Network Attacks. What is social engineering? - Definition from WhatIs.com. 5 Social Engineering Attacks to Watch Out For. Introduction to Cryptography Basic Principles. How to Boost Your Internet Security with DNSCrypt. Top 10 Things You Can Upgrade with a Little Electronics Hacking. Introduction to Computer Security.