Cybersecurity Introduction - Netacad.com

How are hardware vulnerabilities mitigated

Malware protection and a physical security.

Exploit

A program written to take advantage of a known vulnerability.

Script Kiddie

Amateurs that use instructions or existing tools online to launch attack

Gray Hat Hacker

Between white and black hat attackers. The gray hat attackers may find a vulnerability in a system. Gray hat hackers may report the vulnerability to the owners of the system if that action coincides with their agenda. Some gray hat hackers publish the facts about the vulnerability on the Internet so that other attackers can exploit it.

Hacker

Breaks into computers or networks to gain access

White hat hacker

Breaks into networks or computer systems to discover weaknesses so that the security of these systems can be improved.

Buffer Overflow

By changing data beyond the boundaries of a buffer, the application accesses memory allocated to other processes.

Non-Validated Input

Data coming into the program could have malicious content, designed to force the program to behave in an unintended way.

Weaknesses in security practices

Developers should not attempt to create their own security algorithms because it will likely introduce vulnerabilities. It is strongly advised that developers use security libraries that have already created, tested, and verified.

Goal of an Attack

Gain access to a system, the data it hosts or to a specific resource.

Main purpose of cyberwarfare

Gain advantage over adversaries, whether they are nations or competitors.

State-Sponsored Attackers

Gather intelligence or commit sabotage on behalf of their government. These attackers are usually highly trained and well-funded, and their attacks are focused on specific goals that are beneficial to their government.

Cyber Criminals

Groups of professional criminals focused on control, power, and wealth. The criminals are highly sophisticated and organized, and they may even provide cybercrime as a service to other criminals

Cyberwarfare

Internet-based conflict that involves the penetration of computer systems and networks of other nations.

Hardware Vulnerabilities

Introduced by hardware design flaws.

Hacktivists

Make political statements to create awareness to issues that are important to them.

Buffers

Memory areas allocated to an application.

Organized Hackers

Organizations of cyber criminals, hacktivists, terrorists, and state-sponsored hackers.

Access Control

Process of controlling who does what and ranges from managing physical access to equipment to dictating who has access to a resource, such as a file, and what they can do with it, such as read or change the file.

Access-Control Problems

Security vulnerabilities are created by the improper use of access controls.

Black Hat Hacker

Takes advantage of any vulnerability for illegal personal, financial or political gain

Attack

The act of using an exploit against a vulnerability.

What can buffer overflow lead to?

This can lead to a system crash, data compromise, or provide escalation of privileges.

Race Conditions

When the output of an event depends on ordered or timed outputs. A race condition becomes a source of vulnerability when the required ordered or timed events do not occur in the correct order or proper timing.