5.3 Cyber Security

Question 1

What are the cyber security threats?

Answer 1

1. Brute force attacks
2. Data interception
3. Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks
4. Hacking
5. Malware (viruses, worms, trojan horse, spyware, adware and ransomware)
6. Phishing
7. Pharming
8. Social engineering.

Question 2

How does brute force attacks?

Answer 2

A hacker tries to crack your password by systematically trying all the different combinations of letters, numbers and other symbols.

Question 3

What are the solutions to brute force?

Answer 3

1. Use long password with a variation of characters e.g. upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
2. Limit the number of attempts allowed for inputting the password.

Question 4

How does data interception work?

Answer 4

Data interception is a form of stealing data by tapping into a wired or wireless communication link. The intent is to compromise privacy or to obtain confidential information.

Interception can be carried out using a packet sniffer, which examines data packets being sent over a network.

Question 5

What is packet sniffing?

Answer 5

It is a method used by a cybercriminal to examine data packets being sent over a network and to find the contents of a data packet, which are sent back to the cybercriminal.

Question 6

What is war driving?

Answer 6

The act of locating and using wireless connections illegally.
Wi-Fi (wireless) data interception can be carried out using a laptop or smartphone, antenna and a GPS device outside a building or somebody’s house. The intercepted Wi-Fi signal can then reveal personal data to the hacker, often without the user being aware this is happening.

Question 7

What are the solutions to data interception?

Answer 7

1. Use of Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption
2. Use of firewalls to prevent outside users from gaining access
3. Protect the use of wireless device with complex passwords before the internet can be accessed

Question 8

What is Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks?

Answer 8

A denial of service (DoS) attack is an attempt at preventing users from
accessing part of a network, notably an internet server.

The attacker may be able to prevent a user from:
• accessing their emails
• accessing websites/web pages
• accessing online services (such as banking).

Question 9

What are the solutions to Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks?

Answer 9

• Using an up-to-date malware checker
• Setting up a firewall to restrict traffic to and from the web server or user’s computer
• Applying email filters to filter out unwanted traffic (for example, spam)
• Use a proxy server to redirect unauthorised traffic.

Question 10

What is Hacking?

Answer 10

Hacking is generally the act of gaining illegal access to a computer system without the user’s permission.

This can lead to identity theft or the gaining of personal information; data can be deleted, passed on, changed or corrupted.

Question 11

What is Ethical Hacking?

Answer 11

Authorise hackers paid by companies to check out their security measures and test how robust their computer systems are to hacking attacks.

Question 12

What are the solutions to Hacking?

Answer 12

1. Use complex password with a variation of characters e.g. upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
2. Use of anti-hacking software
3. Use firewall to monitors for malicious traffics
4. Use encryption for sensitive data

Question 13

What is Malware?

Answer 13

Malware, short for malicious software is any intrusive software developed by hackers to steal data and damage or destroy computers and computer systems.
Examples of malware include viruses, worms, Trojan horse, spyware, adware, and ransomware

Question 14

Definition of viruses

Answer 14

Viruses are programs that can replicate/copy themselves with the intention of deleting or corrupting files, or causing the computer to malfunction.
They need an active host program on the target computer or an operating system that has already been infected before they can run.

Question 15

Definition of worms

Answer 15

Worms are a type of stand-alone malware that can self-replicate. Their intention is to spread to other computers and corrupt whole networks.
Unlike viruses, they don’t need an active host program to be opened in order to do damage.

Question 16

Definition of Trojan horse

Answer 16

A Trojan horse is a program which is often disguised as legitimate software but with malicious instructions embedded within it.
Once installed on the user’s computer, the Trojan horse will give cyber criminals access to personal information on your computers, such as IP addresses, passwords and other personal data.

Question 17

Definition of Spyware

Answer 17

Spyware is software that gathers information by monitoring a user’s activities carried out on the user’s computer. The gathered information is sent back to the hackers who originally sent the spyware.

Question 18

Definition of Adware

Answer 18

Adware is the least dangerous of malware that attempt to flood user with unwanted advertising.
It could redirect a user’s browser to a website that contains promotional advertising in the form of pop-ups or redirect search requests.

Question 19

Definition of Ransomware

Answer 19

Ransomwares are programs that encrypt data on a user’s computer and hold the data hostage. The cybercriminal waits until the ransom money is paid, and the decryption key is then sent to the user.

Question 20

What are the solutions to Malware?

Answer 20

1. Install anti-malware software (antivirus and antispyware software) and scan the computer regularly
2. Don’t download or install software from unknown sources
3. Be careful when opening emails or attachments from unknown senders
4. Do regular back ups of important files
5. Keep your operating system, browsers and software updated
6. Use firewall protection

Question 21

What is Phishing?

Answer 21

Legitimate-looking emails with link or attachment when click will send the user to fake website with the intention to trick the user into responding with personal data (for example, bank account details or credit/debit card details).

Question 22

What is spear phishing?

Answer 22

The cybercriminal targets specific individuals or companies to gain access to sensitive financial information or industrial espionage.

Question 23

What are the solutions to Phishing?

Answer 23

1. Security awareness training for the users to become aware of how to identify phishing scams
2. The user should always be cautious not to click on any email’s links unless totally certain that it is safe to do so
3. it is important to run anti-phishing toolbars on browsers since these will alert the user to malicious websites contained in an email
4. Always look out for https or the green padlock symbol in the address bar
5. Regular checks of online accounts are also advisable as well as maintaining passwords on a regular basis
6. Keep your browser up to date and firewall running on the computer device
7. Be very cautious of pop-ups and use the browser to block them

Question 23

What are the solutions to Phishing?

Answer 23

1. Security awareness training for the users to become aware of how to identify phishing scams
2. The user should always be cautious not to click on any email’s links unless totally certain that it is safe to do so
3. it is important to run anti-phishing toolbars on browsers since these will alert the user to malicious websites contained in an email
4. Always look out for https or the green padlock symbol in the address bar
5. Regular checks of online accounts are also advisable as well as maintaining passwords on a regular basis
6. Keep your browser up to date and firewall running on the computer device
7. Be very cautious of pop-ups and use the browser to block them

Question 24

What is Pharming?

Answer 24

Pharming is malicious code installed on a user’s computer or on an infected website. The code redirects the user’s browser to a fake website without the user’s knowledge.
Often the website appears to come from a trusted source and can lead to fraud and identity theft.

Question 25

What is DNS cache poisoning?

Answer 25

DNS cache poisoning changes the real IP address values to those of the fake website and the user’s computer will connect to the fake website.

Question 26

What are the solutions to Pharming?

Answer 26

1. Use anti-spyware software to identify and remove pharming code from the hard disk
2. It is very important to check the spelling of websites to ensure the web address used is correct.
3. Check for https or the green padlock symbol in the address bar.
4. Use anti-malware software to ensure the sites you visit are trustworthy.
5. User should always be alert and look out for clues that they are redirected to another website

Question 27

What is social engineering?

Answer 27

Social engineering is manipulating people into breaking normal security procedures (e.g. passwords) to gain illegal access to computer systems or to place malware on their computer.

Question 28

What are the 3 most common exploitation of human emotions in social engineering?

Answer 28

1. Fear – the user is panicked into believing their computer is in immediate danger and isn’t given time to logically decide if the danger is genuine or not
2. Curiosity – the user can be tricked into believing they have won a prize and giving their information willingly.
3. Empathy and trust – a real belief that all genuine-sounding companies can be trusted, therefore emails or phone calls coming from such companies must be safe

Question 29

What are the solutions to social engineering?

Answer 29

1. Don’t open emails and attachments from suspicious sources
2. Be wary of tempting offers
3. Security awareness training for users to be aware of the dangers of social engineering
4. Install anti-malware software to block phishing and malicious website.
5. Delete any request for financial information or passwords