Jenevieve Limqueco (11117818)

February 10, 2014

Denial-of-Service (DOS) attacks are security software searches for connections which have been half-open for a period of time. There are 3 common forms of DOS attacks: 1) smurf attack is where the DOS attacker uses numerous intermediary computers to flood the target computer with test message, pings. This can be controlled by entity through programming firewalls to ignore an attacking site, once identified. 2) SYN flood attack is when the three-way handshake needed to establish an internet connection occurs, the final acknowledgement is not sent by the DOS attacker, thereby tying up the receiving server while it waits. This can be controlled by 2 ways: a) get internet hosts to use firewalls that block invalid IP addresses. b) Use security software that scans for half-open connections. 3) Distributed DOS (DDOS) can take the form of smurf or SYN attacks, but distinguished by the vast number of zombie computers hijacked to launch the attacks. This can be controlled by using intrusion prevention systems (IPS) that employ deep packet inspection (DPI) to determine when an attack is in progress. IPS works with a firewall filter that removes malicious packets from the flow before they can affect servers & networks. DPI searches for protocol non-compliance & employs pre-defined criteria to decide if a packet can proceed to its destination. Encryption is a computer program that transforms a clear message into a coded (cipher) text form using an algorithm. Encryption algorithms use keys in encrypting & decrypting messages. The 2 general keys being used are public & private keys. Under private key there are 2 techniques: 1) advance encryption standard (AES) is a 128-bit encryption technique that has become a US government standard for private key encryption. AES algorithm uses a single key known to both the sender & the receiver of the message. 2) Triple-DES encryption is an enhancement to an older encryption technique called the Data Encryption Standard (DES). It provides considerably improved security over most single encryption techniques. Two forms of triple-DES encryption are: 1) EEE3 uses 3 different keys to encrypt the message 3 times. 2) EDE3 uses one key to encrypt the message. Another key is used to decode it & garble the message. A third key is used to encrypt the garbled message. System development life cycle (SDLC) is a multiphase process by which organizations satisfy their formal information needs. Under SDLC, there are six activities: 1) systems authorization activities is where all systems should be properly authorized to ensure their economic justification & feasibility. 2) User specification activities is where the users need to be actively involved in the systems development process, so that the system would be customized to perform what the users needs. 3) Technical design activities is where it translates user specifications into into a set of detailed technical specifications for a system that meets the users needs. 4) Internal audit participation is where the organizations internal audit department needs to be independent, objective, & technically qualified. An internal auditor can play an important role in the control of systems of development activities by beng a liaison between users & the systems professionals to ensure an effective transfer of knowledge. 5) Program testing is where all program modules must be thoroughly tested before they are implemented. The results of the test can be compared to the predetermined results to identify programming & logic errors. 6) User test & acceptance procedure is where the individual modules of the system need to be formally & rigorously tested as a whole. The details & results of the tests performed needs to be formally documented & analyzed. Once the test team is sure that the system works then the system can be transferred to the user.