Cmgt 400 Common Information Security Research Paper

Common Information Security Threats

CMGT 400
August 29, 2014
Common Information Security Threats
Information is what keeps this seemingly chaotic world functioning systematically. Not so long ago, information was physically present, printed or written on papers. To convey important information or messages, we used letters that took some time to reach its destination. Once our civilization invented and learned how to use electricity to store and send information, we never stopped since. Most of our important information is now being created, stored and sent through vast network of information superhighways. Information security threats were present even before we went digital and information security threats pose much greater
In very basic terms, phishing involves a fraudster masquerading as a financial institution in order to steal a customer 's account information. More recently, criminals have been using increasingly sophisticated spy ware including Trojan horse, key logging and screen scrapper programs – which capture screen shots to obtain end user credentials (Reavley, 2005). No banking institution is immune to phishing. A financial want of desperate individuals is the driving force behind this threat also. They pray on almost all of the banking institutions regardless of their information security infrastructure. Banks now days take many anti-phishing measures to protect their customers. It is not so much of banking institution information security vulnerability but an internet browser security issue. Many browser now have an anti-phishing extension plug-in available for users to safely enter their important information
Hostile users send a flood of fake requests to a server, overwhelming it and making a connection between the server and legitimate clients difficult or impossible to establish. The distributed denial of service (DDoS) allows the hacker to launch a massive, coordinated attack from thousands of hijacked (zombie) computers remotely controlled by the hacker. A massive DDoS attack can paralyze a network system and bring down giant websites. For example, the 2000 DDoS attacks brought down websites such as Yahoo! and eBay for hours. Unfortunately, any computer system can be a hacker’s target as long as it is connected to the Internet. DoS attacks can result in significant server downtime and financial loss for many companies, but the controls to mitigate the risk are very technical. Companies should evaluate their potential exposure to DoS attacks and determine the extent of control or protection they can afford Lin, P. (2006,