Computer security

Definition:
computer security refers to the protection
given to computers and the information
contained in them from unauthorised access.
The practice of computer security also
includes policies, procedures, hardware, and
software tools that are necessary to protect
the computer systems and the information
processed, stored, and transmitted by the
systems.
These three aspects are responsible for
effective computer security
Confidentiality:
Confidentiality ensures that information is avilable
only to those persons who are authorized to
access it.
Integrity:
Integrity ensures that information cannot be
modified in unexpected ways , as loss of integrity
could result from human error, international
tempering, or even catastrophic events.
Availability
Availability prevents resources from being
deleted or becoming inaccessible. This applies
not only to information, but also to the
machines on the network and other aspects of
the technology infrastructure.

Security threats

Computer systems are vulnerable to many
kinds of threats that can cause various types of
damages, which may result in significant data
loss. Such damages can range from errors that
can cause harm to database integrity to natural
calamity destroying entire computer centres.
A threat can come from any person, object, or
event that if realised could potentially cause
damage to the computer network.
Some of the commonly occuring
threats to a network are:
Errors and omissions:
Fraud and theft
Loss of physical and infrastructure support
Hacker and crcker
Malicious code and software
Foreign government espionage
Malicious programs
virus
Viruses are program, which are designed to
replicate, attach to other programs, and
perform unsolicited and malicious actions.
It executes when an infected program is
executed.
The different types of viruses are:
Boot sector virus
File infecting virus
Polymorphic virus
Stealth virus
Multipartite virus

worms
Worms are program that are constructed to
infiltrate on the legitimate data processing
programs and alter or destroy the data. Worm
programs often use network connections to
spread from on computer system to another
system.
Trojan horses
The term trojan horse is an ancient Greek
mythology.
In computer technology, there are programs ,
which perform destructive activities. These
programs enter into a computer through an e-
mail or free programs that have been
downloaded from the internet. Once safely
passed into the computer, they may lie
dormant for months before they are activated
or given complete control of the computer to
a hacker .
Logic bomb
A logic bomb is a program , or portion of a
program, which lies dormant until a specific
piece of program l0gic is activated.
For example:
The well-known logic bomb is a michelangelo,
which has a trigger set for michelangelos
birthday. On the given birth date, it causes
system crash or data loss or other unexpected
interactions with existing code.
Cryptography
Cryptography is the process of altering
messages to hide their meaning from
adversaries who might intercept them.
Cryptography provides an important tool for
protecting information and is used in many
aspects of computer security.
Cryptography relies upon two basic
components: an algorithm and a key.
communication over the internet , for
example, e-mail, is not secure if no encryption
is used.
What is Cryptography?
Cryptography derived its name from a
Greek word called Kryptos which
means Hidden Secrets.

Cryptography is the practice and study
of hiding information. It is the Art or
Science of converting a plain
intelligible data into an unintelligible
data and again retransforming that
message into its original form.

It provides Confidentiality, Integrity,
Accuracy.


Cryptography techniques are
broadly classified into three types:

Secret key cryptography: uses a single key for
both encryption and decryption.
Public key cryptography: uses one key for
encryption and another for decryption.
Hash functions: uses a mathematical
transformation to irreversibly encrypt
information.
What is Encryption / Decryption
Encryption
The process of converting plain text into an
unintelligible format (cipher text) is called
Encryption.

Decryption
The process of converting cipher text into a plain
text is called Decryption.
What are the Types of Cryptography
Symmetric Key Cryptography (Secret Key Cryptography)
Same Key is used by both parties
Advantages
1. Simpler and Faster

Disadvantages
1. Less Secured




Image taken from :-
www.google.com
Asymmetric Key Cryptography (Public Key Cryptography)
2 different keys are used
Users get the Key from an Certificate Authority

Advantages
1. More Secured
2. Authentication

Disadvantages
1. Relatively Complex



Image taken from :-
www.google.com

Why Digital Signatures?
To provide Authenticity,
Integrity and Non -
repudiation to electronic
documents
To use the Internet as the
safe and secure medium
for e-Governance and e-
Commerce
What is Digital Signature?
A digital signature is an electronic signature that can be used
to authenticate the identity of the sender of a message or the
signer of a document, and possibly to ensure that the original
content of the message or document that has been sent is
unchanged.
Digital signatures are easily transportable, cannot be imitated
by someone else, and can be automatically time-stamped. The
ability to ensure that the original signed message arrived
means that the sender can not easily repudiate it later.
The originator of a message uses a signing key (Private Key) to
sign the message and send the message and its digital signature
to a recipient
The recipient uses a verification key (Public Key) to verify the
origin of the message and that it has not been tampered with
while in transit
Digital signatures employ a type of Asymmetric
Cryptography. The Scheme typically consists of
three Algorithms




A key generation algorithm that selects a private key
uniformly at random from a set of possible private
keys. The algorithm outputs the private key and a
corresponding public key.
A signing algorithm that, given a message and a
private key, produces a signature.
A signature verifying algorithm that, given a message,
public key and a signature, either accepts or rejects
the message's claim to authenticity


Hash value of a message when encrypted with the private key of a
person is his digital signature on that e-Document
Digital Signatures
Each individual generates his own key pair
[Public key known to everyone
&
Private key only to the owner]
Private Key Used for making Digital Signature
Public Key Used to verify the Digital Signature
Smart Card
iKey
Hardware Tokens
Smart Cards
The Private key is generated
in the crypto module residing
in the smart card.
The key is kept in the
memory of the smart card.
The key is highly secured as it
doesnt leave the card, the
message digest is sent inside
the card for signing, and the
signatures leave the card.
The card gives mobility to the
key and signing can be done
on any system (Having smart
card reader).
iKeys or USB Tokens
They are similar to smart cards in
functionality as
Key is generated inside the
token.
Key is highly secured as it doesnt
leave the token.
Highly portable.
Machine Independent.

iKEY is one of the most commonly
used token as it doesnt need a
special reader and can be connected
to the system using USB port.
Private Key Protection
The Private key generated
is to be protected and kept
secret. The responsibility
of the secrecy of the key
lies with the owner.

The key is secured using

PIN Protected soft token
Smart Cards
Hardware Tokens
Digital Signatures
Digital Signatures are numbers
Same Length 40 digits
They are document content dependent
I agree
efcc61c1c03db8d8ea8569545c073c814a0ed755
My place of birth is at Gwalior.
fe1188eecd44ee23e13c4b6655edc8cd5cdb6f25
I am 62 years old.
0e6d7d56c4520756f59235b6ae981cdb5f9820a0
I am an Engineer.
ea0ae29b3b2c20fc018aaca45c3746a057b893e7
I am a Engineer.
01f1d8abd9c2e6130870842055d97d315dff1ea3
These are digital signatures of same person on different documents
Paper Signatures V/s Digital Signatures
Parameter Paper Electronic
Authenticity
May be forged Can not be copied
Integrity
Signature
independent of the
document
Signature depends
on the contents of
the document
Non-
repudiation
a. Handwriting
expert needed
b. Error prone
a. Any computer
user
b. Error free
V/s
How digital signature is using
Digital signature are created and verified by
cryptography.
Digital signature use public key cryptography
technique, which employs an algorithm using
two different but mathematically related keys:
one for creating a digital signature or
transforming data into a seemingly
unintelligible form, and another key for
verifying a D.S or returning the message to its
original form.
Hash function , is used in both creating and
verifying a D.S.
Use of D.S usually involves two processes, one
performed by the signer and the other by the
receiver of the D.S. these are:
Digital Signature creation
Digital Signature verification
Message exchange using digital signature
Firewall
Firewall makes decisions on whether or not data
should be allowed to pass based upon a security
policy. For each packet of data, the firewall
compares known components of the packet to a
security rule set and decides if the packet should be
allowed to pass. In addition, firewall has security
rules that involve altering the packet in some basic
way before passing the data. With a sensible
security policy and a security rule set designed to
implement that policy, a firewall is used in
protecting local area networks from attacks.
Figure 1: Hardware Firewall.
Hardware firewall providing protection to a Local
Network.
Figure 2: Computer with Firewall Software.
Computer running firewall software to provide protection
Types of firewall
Packet filtering
Application-level gateway
Circuit-level gateway
User identification and authentication:

Identification and authentication (I&A) is another
line of defence against the unauthorised people from
entering into a computer system.
There are three ways of authenticating users identity.
This can be done either by using alone or in
combination with others:
Users requirement(pwd, pin, cryptography key)
Users possessions(ATM card or smart card)
Users biometric(voice pattern, hand writting
dynamics, finger print).
Biometrics technique
Biometric authentication technologies use the
unique characterstics of an individual to
authenticate the persons identity. These
include physiological attributes or behavioural
attributes.
biometric authentication is technically
complex and expensive, and user acceptance
can be difficult.
Security policy
A security policy is a formal statement of the
rules for people who are given access to an
organisations technology.

components of security policy:
Computer technology purchasing guidelines.
Privacy policy
Access policy
Accountability policy
Authentication policy
Information technology system and network
maintenance policy.
Violations reporting policies.