Security

Everyone knows that it is important to lock down the resources on the network. The resources that need to be locked down include folders and the files that are contained in them, as well as some Registry keys that are located on servers and workstations throughout the enterprise. We can’t forget those Active Directory objects …

There are various types and methods of data encryption. Some of the most popular forms of data encryption include single file encryption, folder encryption, volume encryption, whole disk encryption, and of course email encryption. The Windows XP operating system has the ability to perform file and folder encryption. There are 3rd party tools, like PGP Desktop, which can perform whole disk, logical disk, file, and e-mail encryption. If you routinely deal with confidential or sensitive information, or if you are concerned about private information falling into someone else’s hands, encryption may be the way you want to go. However, there are a few things you should be aware of so you don’t have a false sense of security. First, What Is Data Encryption Throughout ancient and modern history people have come up with ways to mask, hide, and verify that information is secure or valid. For instance; the ancient Babylonians …

Spam and e-mail-laden viruses can take a lot of the fun and utility out of electronic communications, but at least you can trust e-mail that comes from people you know – except when you can’t. A favorite technique of spammers and other “bad guys” is to “spoof” their return e-mail addresses, making it look as if the mail came from someone else. In effect, this is a form of identity theft, as the sender pretends to be someone else in order to persuade the recipient to do something (from simply opening the message to sending money or revealing personal information). In this article, we look at how e-mail spoofing works and what can be done about it, examining such solutions as the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and Microsoft’s Sender ID, which is based on it. If you receive a snail mail letter, you look to the return address in the …

Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) have long had a problem with packet fragmentation. This was true five years ago and it is still a problem today. For years the IDS has suffered from several key ailments. Chief amongst them is in how they deal with packet fragmentation. There has been great progress made over the years in how an IDS will deal with packet reassembly, however the problem still remains. Over the past years IDS vendors have grown smarter when it comes to packet fragmentation, and how their IDS’s reassemble these fragments. During the course of this series I will use the following tools: Fragrouter Metasploit Framework Snort tcpdump.exe

Firewalls and other simple boundary devices lack some degree of intelligence when it comes to observing, recognizing, and identifying attack signatures that may be present in the traffic they monitor and the log files they collect. Without sounding critical of such other systems’ capabilities, this deficiency explains why intrusion detection systems are becoming increasingly important in helping to maintain proper network security. Firewalls and other simple boundary devices lack some degree of intelligence when it comes to observing, recognizing, and identifying attack signatures that may be present in the traffic they monitor and the log files they collect. Without sounding critical of such other systems’ capabilities, this deficiency explains why intrusion detection systems (often abbreviated IDS) are becoming increasingly important in helping to maintain proper network security. Whereas other boundary devices may collect all the information necessary to detect (and often, to foil) attacks that may be getting started or …

The problem with running as an administrator is obvious: any malware that attacks users, or the applications they run, will have full control over 90 percent of the computers it infects. The User Account Control (UAC) feature in Windows Vista is the Microsoft solution to a pervasive security challenge—the fact that over 90 percent of users currently on the Windows platform run with administrative privileges. While it is possible to run as a standard user on Windows® XP—and I have—it can be extremely painful. For instance, if you travel frequently while using Windows XP, you’ll find that as a standard user, you’re unable to modify the time zone on your system. UAC is the feature that is supposed to change all that. Actually, that’s the first misconception. UAC is not just a feature; it is a collection of features, most of which are not particularly obvious. I won’t give you …

Internet connectivity and technological advances expose computers and computer networks to criminal activities such as unauthorized intrusion, financial fraud, and identity and intellectual property theft. Computers can be used to launch attacks against computer networks and destroy data. E-mail can be used to harass people, transmit sexually explicit images, and conduct other malicious activities. Such activities expose organizations to ethical, legal, and financial risks and often require them to conduct internal computer investigations. This guide discusses processes and tools for use in internal computer investigations. It introduces a multi-phase model that is based on well-accepted procedures in the computer investigation community. It also presents an applied scenario example of an internal investigation in an environment that includes Microsoft® Windows®–based computers. The investigation uses Windows Sysinternals tools (advanced utilities that can be used to examine Windows–based computers) as well commonly available Windows commands and tools. Some of the policies and procedures …

These tips can help protect the computers you use for school from viruses, hackers, spyware, and other attacks. 1. Perform basic computer safety maintenance Before you surf the Web, you should perform three key maintenance steps to help improve the computer’s security. Visit Protect your computer in 4 steps and follow the steps online to: Use an Internet firewall. Update your computer. Use up-to-date antivirus software. Use up-to-date antispyware software.3   2. Don’t open files from strangers E-mail and instant messaging (IM) can spread viruses and worms if you aren’t careful. (Most e-mail viruses are spread by people who are tricked into opening an infected file.) You should never open a file attached to an e-mail or an instant message unless you recognize the sender and you are expecting the file. For more information on helping to avoid viruses, visit Help avoid viruses that spread through e-mail attachments, 5 reasons …

Trust, or the lack thereof, is a key factor with respect to the adoption of the Hosted Application and the Software as a Service (SaaS) model. The case could be made that data is the most important asset of any business application—data about products, customers, employees, suppliers, and more. In a hosted model, an organization must surrender a level of control over its own data, trusting the service provider. In order to earn this trust, one of the highest priorities for a provider is to create a data architecture that is both robust and secure enough to satisfy tenants or customers who are concerned about surrendering control of vital business data to a third party. A highly secure data architecture is one that provides defense in depth, using multiple defense levels that complement one another to provide data protection in different ways, under different circumstances, against both internal and external …