Security and Privacy

11.1 Defining Security and Privacy

  • Security: Protecting data's confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
    • Applicable to private messages and public websites.
    • Protects against unauthorized access, modification, or disruptions.
    • Like a padlock on a door.
  • Confidentiality: Protection from unauthorized access.
  • Integrity: Protection from unauthorized modification.
  • Availability: Ability to access data in a timely manner.
  • Privacy: Protecting the confidentiality and control of personal data.
    • Overlaps with security, focusing on confidentiality.
    • Protects user identity and personal data (name, address, etc.).
    • Includes control over how personal data is used or shared.
    • Like curtains on a window.

Key Terms

  • Security: Protecting data's confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
  • Personal data: Data that can identify an individual.
  • Privacy: Protecting the confidentiality and control of personal data.

Comparison between Security and Privacy

  • Security:
    • Definition: Protecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data.
    • Kind of Data: Data in general.
    • What Data is Protected From: Unauthorized access/modification and reduced accessibility.
    • How Protection is Enforced: Technical (encryption) and legal (Computer Misuse Act) measures, plus best practices.
  • Privacy:
    • Definition: Protecting the confidentiality and control of personal data.
    • Kind of Data: Personal data specifically.
    • What Data is Protected From: Unauthorized access and reduced control over personal data use.
    • How Protection is Enforced: Technical (encryption) and legal (Personal Digital Protection Act) measures, understanding privacy policies.

11.1.1 Confidentiality

  • Definition: Protecting data from unauthorized access.
  • Applies to both security and privacy.
  • Unauthorized access: Data used without permission.
  • Consequences for individuals: Identity theft, financial loss, bullying.
  • Consequences for businesses: Financial losses, loss of trust, legal repercussions.

11.1.2 Integrity

  • Definition: Protecting data from unauthorized modification.
  • Applies to security
  • Unauthorized modification: Data altered or made incomplete without permission.
  • Consequences: Data becomes untrustworthy.
  • Examples: Modified bank transactions or healthcare records leading to incorrect treatments.

11.1.3 Availability

  • Definition: Providing timely and uninterrupted data access.
  • Applies to security
  • Data inaccessibility: Caused by equipment failure, network issues, or natural disasters.
  • Example: Denial-of-service attacks causing server overloads.
  • Relationship between integrity and availability: Unauthorized modification can corrupt data, affecting its usability.
  • Data Corruption: Introduction of errors and inconsistencies into data.
  • Effects of Data Corruption on Availability:
    • Vary depending on the amount and type of corrupted data.
      • Small amount of corrupted data is like having smudged cells in a printed table, only affecting the corrupted data itself.
      • Large amount of corrupted data is like having smudged headers in a printed table, affecting the entire table of data.
  • Consequences of disrupted availability: Business interruptions leading to financial losses and interference with emergency responses, endangering lives.
  • Denial-of-service attack: A type of attack where a server is overwhelmed with excessive requests such that it cannot respond or responds very slowly to legitimate requests.

11.2 Threats

  • Human Actions:
    • Threaten data integrity through physical or non-physical means.
      • Physical: Damage or extreme temperatures on storage media.
      • Non-Physical: Overwriting data or incorrect data entry.
      • Human actions can also threaten privacy through the malicious or accidental exposure of private data.
  • Adware:
    • Malware that installs without user knowledge and displays ads.
    • Threatens computer integrity and can lead to further malware installations.
    • May collect user data and promote phishing sites.
    • Adware: A type of malware that installs itself without the user’s knowledge and displays unwanted advertisements.
  • Spyware:
    • Hidden malware secretly collecting and transmitting personal user data.
    • Threatens both security (confidentiality) and privacy.
    • Spyware: A type of hidden malware that secretly collects personal information about its users and transmits this information to attackers without the users’ knowledge
  • Malicious software (or malware): Software that is intentionally used to damage, disrupt or gain unauthorised access to a computer system
  • Viruses and Worms:
    • Viruses: Attach to programs/files, spreading copies to infect others.
    • Worms: Spread copies to other computers without needing to attach to existing files.
  • Cookies:
    • Small data pieces stored by browsers when visiting websites.
    • Track user movements and preferences within a site.
    • Advertising companies use cookies to track users across multiple sites, threatening data privacy.
  • Phishing:
    • Uses fake emails/websites from reputable companies to steal personal data.
    • Threatens security (confidentiality) and privacy.
    • Phishing: The use of emails, messages and fake websites that appear to be from reputable companies to steal personal data from users
  • Pharming:
    • Intercepts requests to legitimate websites and redirects users to fake sites.
    • Aims to steal personal data, like phishing, but is more serious.
    • Requires malware on the user's computer or control over a network device.

11.3 Defenses

  • Multiple forms of defense are needed so threats that manage to overcome weaknesses in one form of defence can be stopped by the other forms of defence that are present.
  • Anti-Malware Programs:
    • Detect and prevent malware from running.
    • Remove existing malware.
    • Rely on signature lists that must be updated regularly.
    • Anti-malware: Software to detect, remove and stop malware from running
    • Signature (malware): Identifying characteristics that are used to detect a known version of some malicious software
    • Trojan horses: Malware programs that pretend to be legitimate software.
  • Firewalls:
    • Hardware or software that monitors network traffic.
    • Blocks or permits data based on set rules.
    • Protects networks from unauthorized access.
  • Firewall: Device or computer program that prevents unauthorised access to or from a network
  • Encryption:
    • Encodes data, requiring a secret key to read.
    • Protects data from unauthorized access.
  • Encryption: Process of encoding a message so that a secret key is needed to decode the data
  • Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA):
    • Requires organizations to:
      • Seek consent for data collection.
      • Disclose the purpose of data collection.
      • Retain data only as long as necessary.
    • Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA)
      : Law that governs the collection, protection and use of personal data in Singapore
  • Good Computing Practices:
    • Use Strong Passwords: Avoid common passwords and update them regularly.
    • Authentication: Process of verifying the identity of a user
    • Multi-Factor Authentication: Use multiple authentication factors (something you know, own, or are).
      • Authentication factor: Category of evidence that is used for authentication: something the user knows or owns, or something that is measured from a physical part of the user.
      • Two-factor authentication: Type of authentication that uses evidence from both something the user knows and something the user owns.
      • Security token: Device that is used specifically for authentication purposes.
      • Biometrics: Type of authentication based on the measurement of human physical characteristics
    • Identify Scam Attempts: Recognize signs of phishing emails.
    • Update Software Regularly: Fix bugs that can be exploited by malware.
    • Manage Cookies: Control how websites track your movements.
    • Make Regular Backups: Restore data after corruption or accidental loss.

11.4 Analysis

  • Anti-malware, Firewalls, and Encryption against Threats
  • Anti-Malware:
    • Highly Effective against Adware and Spyware.
    • Somewhat Effective against Phishing and Pharming.
  • Firewalls:
    • Somewhat Effective against Adware, Spyware, Phishing, and Pharming.
  • Encryption:
    • Somewhat Effective against Spyware and Human Actions.
  • PDPA:
    • Highly Effective against Cookies and Human Actions.