Ch.12 Law and Ethics
Digital forensics approaches
-Protect and forget (a.k.a. patch and proceed) Focuses on the defense of the data and the systems that house, use, and transmit it -Apprehend and prosecute (a.k.a. pursue and prosecute) Focuses on the identification and apprehension of responsible individuals, with additional attention on the collection and preservation of potential EM that might support administrative or criminal prosecution
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act
A U.S.-based international effort to reduce the impact of copyright, trademark, and privacy infringement, especially via the removal of technological copyright protection measures
The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986
A collection of statutes that regulates the interception of wire, electronic, and oral communications These statutes work in cooperation with the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution Prohibits search and seizure without a warrant
Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA)
A professional association with a focus on auditing, control, and security Membership comprises both technical and managerial professionals Has a code of ethics for its professionals Requires many of the same high standards for ethical performance as the other organizations and certifications
Association of Computing Machinery
A respected professional society Originally established in 1947 as "the world's first educational and scientific computing society" One of the few organizations that strongly promotes education and provides discounted membership for students Code of ethics requires members to perform their duties in a manner befitting an ethical computing professional
Tort law
A subset of civil law that allows individuals to seek redress in the event of personal, physical, or financial injury
Security professionals must act ethically
According to the policies and procedures of their employers, their professional organizations, and the laws of society
Criminal law
Addresses violations harmful to society Actively enforced and prosecuted by the state
Freedom of Information Act of 1966
All Federal agencies are required to disclose records requested in writing by any person Applies only to Federal agencies and does not create a right of access to records held by Congress, the courts, or by state or local government agencies
The Financial Services Modernization Act
Also called Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 Applies to banks, securities firms, and insurance companies Requires all financial institutions to disclose their privacy policies Describing how they share nonpublic personal information Describing how customers can request that their information not be shared with third parties -Ensures that the privacy policies in effect in an organization are fully disclosed when a customer initiates a business relationship Distributed at least annually for the duration of the professional association
Evidentiary material (EM)
Also called item of potential evidentiary value Any information that could potentially support the organizations legal- or policy-based case against a suspect An item does not become evidence until it is formally admitted to evidence by a judge or other ruling official
Economic Espionage Act (EEA) of 1996
An attempt to protect intellectual property and competitive advantage Attempts to protect trade secrets from the foreign government that uses its classic espionage apparatus to spy on a company Also between two companies Or a disgruntled former employee
Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act Of 1996 (HIPAA)
An attempt to protect the confidentiality and security of health care data Establishes and enforces standards Standardizes electronic data interchange Requires organizations that retain health care information to use information security mechanisms to protect this information Also requires an assessment of the organization's InfoSec systems, policies, and procedures
Fundamental privacy principles
Balance of public responsibility for the use of medical information for the greater good measured against impact to the individual Security of health information
There are currently few international laws relating to privacy and information security
Because of cultural differences and political complexities of the relationships among nations
Deterrence
Best method for preventing an illegal or unethical activity Examples: laws, policies, and technical controls Laws and policies and their associated penalties only deter if three conditions are present: Fear of penalty Probability of being caught Probability of penalty being administered
Policies must be
Distributed to all individuals who are expected to comply with them Readily available for employee reference Easily understood, with multilingual, visually impaired and low-literacy translations Acknowledged by employee with consent form Uniformly enforced for all employees
European Council Cyber-Crime Convention
Empowers an international task force to oversee a range of Internet security functions Standardizes technology laws internationally Attempts to improve the effectiveness of international investigations into breaches of technology law Goal is to simplify the acquisition of information for law enforcement agents in certain types of international crimes, as well as the extradition process
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Enforces accountability for the financial record keeping and reporting at publicly traded corporations -Requires that the CEO and chief financial officer (CFO) assume direct and personal accountability for the completeness and accuracy of a publicly traded organization's financial reporting and record-keeping systems -As these executives attempt to ensure that the systems used to record and report are sound, the related areas of availability and confidentiality are also emphasized
Information security professionals must understand state laws and regulations
Ensure that their organization's security policies and procedures comply
U.S. Copyright Law
Extends protection to intellectual property, including words published in electronic formats 'Fair use' allows material to be quoted so long as the purpose is educational and not for profit, and the usage is not excessive Proper acknowledgement must be provided to the author and/or copyright holder of such works Including a description of the location of source materials, using a recognized form of citation
Department of Homeland Security
Formed when U.S. Secret Service was transferred to it from the Department of the Treasury
Georgia Computer Systems Protection Act
Has various computer security provisions Establishes specific penalties for use of information technology to attack or exploit information systems in organizations
Steps in the digital forensics methodology
Identify relevant items of evidentiary value Acquire (seize) the evidence without alteration or damage Take steps to assure that the evidence is at every step verifiably authentic and is unchanged from the time it was seized Analyze the data without risking modification or unauthorized access Report the findings to the proper authority
Difference between policy and law
Ignorance of policy is an acceptable defense
U.S. Secret Service is a department within the Department of the Treasury
In addition to its well-known mission to protect key members of the U.S. government Also charged with the detection and arrest of any person committing a U.S. federal offense relating to computer fraud, as well as false identification crimes
Code of ethics applies to information security professionals who have earned one of their certifications
Includes four mandatory canons: Protect society, the commonwealth, and the infrastructure Act honorably, honestly, justly, responsibly, and legally Provide diligent and competent service to principals Advance and protect the profession
European Union Directive 95/46/EC
Increases individual rights to process and freely move personal data
Deterring Unethical and Illegal Behavior
InfoSec personnel should do everything in their power to deter unethical and illegal acts Using policy, education and training, and technology as controls to protect information Categories of unethical behavior -Ignorance -Accident -Intent
Information Security and the Law
InfoSec professionals and managers must understand the legal framework within which their organizations operate Can influence the organization to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the nature of the organization and the scale on which it operates
Affidavits and Search Warrants
Investigations begin with an allegation or an indication of an incident Forensics team requests permission to examine digital media for potential EM An affidavit is sworn testimony That the investigating officer has certain facts they feel warrant the examination of specific items located at a specific place
International trade is governed by international treaties and trade agreements
Many domestic laws and customs do not apply
Privacy Laws
Many organizations collect, trade, and sell personal information as a commodity Individuals are becoming aware of these practices and looking to governments to protect their privacy Aggregation of data from multiple sources permits unethical organizations to build databases with alarming quantities of personal information
Some professional organizations have established codes of conduct and/or codes of ethics
Members are expected to follow Codes of ethics can have a positive effect on an individual's judgment regarding computer use
Information Systems Security Association
Nonprofit society of information security professionals Mission is to bring together qualified practitioners of information security for information exchange and educational development Provides conferences, meetings, publications, and information resources to promote information security awareness and education
Differences in computer use ethics
Not exclusively cultural Found among individuals within the same country, within the same social class, and within the same company
The Computer Security Act of 1987
One of the first attempts to protect federal computer systems Established minimum acceptable security practices Established a Computer System Security and Privacy Advisory Board within the Department of Commerce Requires mandatory periodic training in computer security awareness and accepted computer security practice for all users of Federal computer systems
Evidentiary Procedures
Organizations should develop specific procedures and guidance for their use Who may conduct an investigation Who may authorize an investigation What affidavit-related documents are required What search warrant-related documents are required What digital media may be seized or taken offline -What methodology should be followed What methods are required for chain of custody or chain of evidence What format the final report should take, and to whom it should it be given
Search warrant
Permission to search for EM at the specified location and/or to seize items to return to the investigator's lab for examination Created when an approving authority signs the affidavit or creates a synopsis form based on it
Civil law
Pertains to relationships between and among individuals and organizations
System Administration, Networking, and Security Institute (SANS)
Professional research and education cooperative organization Over 156,000 security professionals, auditors, system and network administrators SANS GIAC code of ethics requires: Respect for the public Respect for the certification Respect for my employer Respect for myself
Federal Bureau of Investigation's InfraGard Program
Promotes efforts to educate, train, inform, and involve the business and public sector in information security Every FBI field office has established an InfraGard chapter and collaborates with public and private organizations and the academic community to share information about attacks, vulnerabilities, and threats
The Security and Freedom through Encryption Act of 1997
Provides guidance on the use of encryption Institutes measures of public protection from government intervention Reinforces an individual's right to use or sell encryption algorithms Prohibits the federal government from requiring the use of encryption for contracts, grants, and other official documents, and correspondence
HIPAA Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act Of 1996
Provides guidelines for the use of electronic signatures Based on security standards ensuring message integrity, user authentication, and nonrepudiation Fundamental privacy principles: Consumer control of medical information Boundaries on the use of medical information Accountability for the privacy of private information
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 Further modified by the USA Patriot Act of 2001
Provides law enforcement agencies with broader latitude to combat terrorism-related activities The USA Patriot Act was updated and extended, in many cases permanently Through the USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005
Private law
Regulates the relationships among individuals and among individuals and organizations Family law, commercial law, and labor law
Public law
Regulates the structure and administration of government agencies and their relationships with citizens, employees, and other governments Criminal, administrative, and constitutional law
Ethics are based on cultural mores
Relatively fixed moral attitudes or customs of a societal group
The Georgia Identity Theft Law
Requires that a business may not discard a record containing personal information unless it shreds, erases, modifies, or otherwise makes the information irretrievable
Laws
Rules adopted and enforced by governments to codify expected behavior in modern society The key difference between law and ethics is that law carries the sanction of a governing authority and ethics do not
The Computer Security Act of 1987 Charged the National Bureau of Standards and the NSA (now NIST) with the development of
Standards, guidelines, and associated methods and techniques for computer systems Uniform standards and guidelines for most federal computer systems Technical, management, physical, and administrative standards and guidelines for the cost-effective security and privacy of sensitive information in federal computer systems
Code of ethics tenets
Support the implementation of, and encourage compliance with, appropriate standards, procedures, and information systems controls Perform duties with objectivity, due diligence and professional care, using professional standards and best practices Serve in the interest of stakeholders in a lawful and honest manner, maintain high standards of conduct and character, and not engage in acts discreditable to the profession
Privacy Laws
The Privacy of Customer Information Section of the section of regulations covering common carriers Specifies that any proprietary information shall be used explicitly for providing services, and not for any marketing purposes The Federal Privacy Act of 1974 regulates the government's use of private information Ensure that government agencies protect the privacy of individuals' and businesses' information
Forensics
The coherent application of methodical investigatory techniques to present evidence of crimes in a court or court-like setting
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 (CFA Act)
The cornerstone of many computer-related federal laws and enforcement efforts Amended in October 1996 by the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act Modified several sections of the previous act, and increased the penalties for select crimes
Digital forensics
The investigation of what happened and how Involves the preservation, identification, extraction, documentation, and interpretation of computer media for evidentiary and/or root cause analysis -Like traditional forensics, it follows clear, well-defined methodologies, but still tends to be as much art as science
National Security Agency (NSA)
The nation's cryptologic organization Coordinates, directs, and performs highly-specialized activities to protect U.S. information systems and produce foreign intelligence information Responsible for signal intelligence and information system security
Ethics in Information Security
The student of information security is not expected to study the topic of ethics in a vacuum, but within a larger ethical framework Information security professionals may be expected to be more articulate about the topic than others in the organization Often must withstand a higher degree of scrutiny
Database Right
U.K. version of this directive
The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics From the Computer Ethics Institute Thou shalt not:
Use a computer to harm other people Interfere with other people's computer work Snoop around in other people's computer files Use a computer to steal Use a computer to bear false witness Copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid Use other people's computer resources without authorization or proper compensation Appropriate other people's intellectual output
Organizational Liability and the Need for Counsel
What if an organization does not support or encourage strong ethical conduct by its employees? What if an organization does not behave ethically? If an employee, acting with or without the authorization, performs an illegal or unethical act, causing some degree of harm, the organization can be held financially liable for that action
Managing Investigations in the Organization
When (not if) an organization finds itself dealing with a suspected policy or law violation Must appoint an individual to investigate it How the internal investigation proceeds Dictates whether or not the organization has the ability to take action against the perpetrator if in fact evidence is found that substantiates the charge
Digital forensics can be used for two key purposes:
-Investigate allegations of digital malfeasance A crime against or using digital media, computer technology or related components -Perform root cause analysis If an incident occurs and the organization suspects an attack was successful, digital forensics can be used to examine the path and methodology used to gain unauthorized access, as well as to determine how pervasive and successful the attack was
