Malicious user — meaning a rogue employee, contractor, intern, or other user who abuses his or her trusted privileges — is a common term in security circles and in headlines about information breaches. The issue isn’t necessarily users “hacking” internal systems, but rather users who abuse the computer access privileges they’ve been given. Users ferret … Read more
Hacker has two meanings: Traditionally, hackers like to tinker with software or electronic systems. Hackers enjoy exploring and learning how computer systems operate. They love discovering new ways to work — both mechanically and electronically. In recent years, hacker has taken on a new meaning — someone who maliciously breaks into systems for personal gain. … Read more
Where does reverse engineering fit in for the ethical hacker? Reverse engineering is often viewed as the craft of the cracker who uses her skills to remove copy protection from software or media. As a result, you might be hesitant to undertake any reverse engineering effort. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is often brought … Read more
Although you can’t know about and detect all vulnerabilities in advance of deployment, you certainly can be proactive in mitigating the potential of a SCADA security breach by taking the following defense-in-depth methods into consideration: • Develop a security policy. • Implement ACLs (access control lists). • Use MAC address filtering. • Use VLAN segmentation. … Read more
SCADA uses several protocols. The most common protocols are • Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control (OPC) • Inter-Control Center Protocol (ICCP) • Modbus • Distributed Network Protocol version 3 (DNP3) OPC OLE for Process Control is a software interface standard that allows Windows programs to communicate with industrial hardware devices. OPC is implemented … Read more
SCADA stands for supervisory control and data acquisition. SCADA networks control and monitor the critical utility and process control infrastructures for manufacturing, production, and power generation for utility companies, including electricity, natural gas, oil, water, sewage, and railroads. The development of SCADA can be traced back to the beginning of the 19 th century through … Read more
To protect against VoIP attacks, you should follow the same conventional methods and security best practices that you use for any other software segment. Test your system thoroughly via penetration testing and implement a strategy of defense in depth that encompasses the entire system. Defense in depth is achieved by • Making it harder for … Read more
VoIP architectures and services are prone to several types of attacks. These can be categorized into vulnerabilities or exploits that violate any of the CIA (confidentiality, integrity, and availability) tenants, detailed here: • Confidentiality Attacks include eavesdropping, packet sniffing, password cracking, social engineering, information leakage • Integrity Attacks include message, log, and configuration tampering, and … Read more
A number of protocols are utilized in VoIP communications. As we explore further, you will find that certain protocols have rather comprehensive methods and functions. This potentially increases the probability for exploitation due to the number of error paths and use-case scenarios that can be generated. The most common protocols used by VoIP are: • … Read more
VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a type of transmissions medium that is responsible for the delivery of real-time voice and data communication. Unlike its analog predecessor in which the transport functionality was routed via the public switched telephone network (PSTN), calls are now converted from an analog signal to a digital format, which … Read more