5.3 A - Data Security

Question 1

What are all the types of diff cyber security threats (8)

Answer 1

» brute force attacks
» data interception
» distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks
» hacking
» malware (viruses, worms, Trojan horse, spyware, adware and ransomware)
» phishing
» pharming
» social engineering.

Question 2

What is a brute force attack

Answer 2

a ‘trial and error’ method used by cybercriminals to crack passwords by finding all possible combinations of letters, numbers and symbols until the password is found

Question 3

What is a word file

Answer 3

a text file containing a collection of words used

in a brute force attack

Question 4

What is data interception

what is used

Answer 4

an attempt to eavesdrop on a wired or wireless network transmission often using packet sniffing or access point mapping / wardriving

Question 5

What does a packet sniffer do

Answer 5

Examines packets being sent over a network to find the contents of a data packet, which are sent back to the cybercriminal

Question 6

What is wardriving

other name

Answer 6

Using a laptop, antenna, GPS device and software to intercept Wi-Fi signals and illegally obtain data

aka access point mapping

Question 7

What is a WEP

Answer 7

wired equivalency privacy - an algorithm for wireless networks to protect them against data interception by encrypting the data

Question 8

What is a DOS

what can it prevent the user from

Answer 8

Denial of Service - An attack where the normal operation of a website is disrupted by flooding it with requests.

prevent users from:
accessing their emails
accessing websites/web pages
accessing online services (eg banking)

Question 9

What is a DDOS

Answer 9

Distributed Denial of Service - a denial of service (DoS) attack in which the fake requests come from many different computers, which makes it harder to stop

Question 10

How to gaurd against a DOS and DDOS

Answer 10

» using an up-to-date malware checker
» setting up a firewall to restrict traffic to and from the web server or user’s computer
use a proxy server
» applying email filters to filter out unwanted traffic (for example, spam).

Question 11

How to tell if you have been DDOS’d

Answer 11

» slow network performance (opening files or accessing certain websites)
» inability to access certain websites
» large amounts of spam email reaching the user’s email account.

Question 12

What is Hacking

Answer 12

the act of gaining illegal access to a computer system without the owner’s permission

Question 13

How to prevent hacking

Answer 13

Use of firewalls 
frequently changed strong passwords
usernames
Intrusion detection software
Anti-hacking software

Encrypting data - doesn’t prevent hacking but makes data meaningless. Hackers can still delete it, corrupt it, or pass on the data.

Question 14

what is malware

6 types of malware

Answer 14

malicious software that aims to delete corrupt or manipulate data illegally.

Viruses
Ransomware
Adware
Spyware
Trojan horse
worms

Question 15

What are viruses

Answer 15

Program or program code that replicates itself with the intention of deleting or corrupting files or by causing the computer system to malfunction

Question 16

What is an active host

Answer 16

functioning software that a virus can affect by attaching itself to the code or by altering the code to allow the virus to carry out its attack

Question 17

What are worms

Answer 17

Standalone malware that aim to corrupt whole networks not individual computers and don’t need an active host program or any action from the end-user.

Question 18

How does worms spread through the network

Answer 18

They remain inside applications which allows them to move throughout networks.

They rely on security failures within networks to permit them to spread unhindered.

Question 19

What is a Trojan horse

Answer 19

A program which is often disguised as legitimate software but with malicious instructions embedded within it.

Question 20

How does a trojan horse work

Answer 20

Replaces all or part of the legitimate software with the intent of carrying out some harm to the user’s computer system.

Question 21

Why are firewalls and other security measures useless against trojan horses usually

Answer 21

They rely on tricking the end-users and hence the user can overrule the security measures and initiate the running of the malware.

Question 22

What is spyware

how is spyware countered

Answer 22

Gathers information by monitoring a user’s activities on a computer and sends the data back to the cybercriminal who sent out the spyware

Antispyware

Question 23

What is adware

Answer 23

A type of malware that attempts to flood the end-user with unwanted advertising

Question 24

What can adware do

Answer 24

» highlight weaknesses in a user’s security defenses
» be hard to remove – it defeats most anti-malware software since it can be difficult to determine whether or not it is harmful
» hijack a browser and create its own default search requests.

Question 25

What is ransomware

Answer 25

Malware that encrypts data on a user’s computer and ‘holds the data hostage’ until a ransom is paid

Question 26

What is phishing

Answer 26

sending out legitimate-looking emails designed to trick the recipients into giving their personal details the sender of the email

Question 27

What is spear-phishing

Answer 27

Target specific individuals or companies to gain access to sensitive financial information or industrial espionage

Question 28

What is pharming and what makes it diff from phishing

Answer 28

redirecting a user to a fake website in order to illegally obtain personal data about the user without their knowledge

unlike phishing, pharming is initiated without needing any action by the user

Question 29

What is DNS Cache poisoning

what is it used in?

Answer 29

altering IP addresses on a domain name server (DNS) with the intention of redirecting a user’s browser to a fake website

used in pharming

Question 30

How to counter pharming

Answer 30

Anti-virus software

It is very important to check the spelling of websites to ensure the web address used is correct.

Use of https or the GREEN PADLOCK SYMBOL in the address bar is an additional form of defence

Question 31

What is social engineering

Answer 31

manipulating people into breaking normal security procedures (such as giving away their password) in order to gain illegal access to computer systems or to place malware on their computer

Question 32

Emotions that are exploited by social engineers

Answer 32

Fear - user thinks computer is in immediate danger and isn’t given time to make a logical decision

Curiosity

Empathy and trust

Question 33

5 types of social engineering. Explain all and emotion they rely on

Answer 33

Instant messaging - Malicious links are embedded into instant messages (relies on curiosity)

Scareware - pop-up saying that the user has been infected by a viurs. They are told that they are needed to download a fake anti-virus (fear)

Phishing - tricked by the geniuiness of emails. (trust of well known companies)

baiting - malware infected memory sticks in public. User picks it up and plugs it in their computer (curiosity)

phone calls - IT professional calls user and tells them that their device has been compromised. Adviced to download a special software that would allow cyber criminal to take over user’s device and give access to personal information (fear)

Question 34

Explain stages of social engineering

Answer 34

stage 1 - victims are identified and information is gathered about them. attack method decided

stage 2 - victim is targetted.

stage 3 - attack is executed.

stage 4 - remove all traces of malware to cover tracks.D

Question 35

Define Ethical Hacking

Answer 35

occurs when companies authorise paid hackers to test how robust their computer systems are to hacking attacks.

Question 36

How to counter phishing

Answer 36

users need to be aware of new phishing scams;

it is important not to click on any emails links unless totally certain that it is safe to do so

it is important to run anti-phishing toolbars on browsers - alert the user to malicious websites
contained in an email

always look out for https or the green padlock symbol in the address bar

regular checks of online accounts are also advisable as well as maintaining passwords on a regular basis

» ensure an up-to-date browser is running on the computer device and run a good firewall in the
background at all times

be very wary of pop-ups and use the browser to block them;

Question 37

What does the green padlock help counter

substitute for green padlock

Answer 37

substitute: httpS
the letter s - stands for secure

helps counter phishing and pharming both.