Robert Burdwell

The Ontology of Malwares

Absolute security is almost impossible. On a daily basis the security of many systems is compromised. Attackers utilize different techniques to threaten systems’ security. Among different threats to systems’ security, malware poses the highest risk as well as the highest negative impact. Malware can cause financial losses as well as other hidden cost. For example, if a company system has been compromised, the company could suffer negatively on the reputation and trust level from a publicized malware incident. This chapter provides a detailed description about different malware categories and how to protect against each type.

Web Forensics-Chapter Competencies

This chapter covers web forensic procedures commonly used by digital forensics professionals. The focus of the web forensics is on email communications, web browsing, and archived transmissions. The chapter explores the process of analyzing emails and web browsers when fraud or unauthorized activities have been identified.

Security and Risk Management and Planning: Lesson Plans

This chapter covers risk management and planning associated with information security. The focus is on incident responses, disaster recovery, and business continuity. The chapter explains risks, strategies, communication, and organization policies for managing security and risk for an organization. Students will utilize tools to identify and manage security risks. From a knowledge standpoint, we will review risk tolerance, processes for managing risks, impact of risks, security incidents, review disaster recovery planning processes, risk responses, tools for tracking risks, and risk metrics. As part of skills for the chapter, we will review the process for creating incident response plans, disaster recovery plans, risk models, and risk assessments. The application component of this chapter will focus on developing a risk assessment, security awareness plan, and impact assessment plan.

Web and Database Security

Security in web applications is the most important concern when it comes to processing transactions in the web. One of the major issues is the security and privacy of data and information transferred, stored and processed through at real time. These days, many online transactions between client and server are executed at the cloud data centers, where such sensitive data run on virtual resources. Like Several other systems, web-based systems, Cloud Web applications are vulnerable and proned to various types of web Injection attacks which result from transferring untrusted content from web to the server side so a secure communication should be satisfied to prevent web security threats. This chapter will introduce the types of attacks that target web applications. In addition, several examples on many attack scenarios are introduced.

Introduction to Information Security

Nowadays, security is becoming number one priority for governments, organization, companies, and individuals. Security is all about protecting critical and valuable assets. Protecting valuable and critical assets, whether they are tangible or intangible, is a process that can be ranged from being unsophisticated to being very sophisticated. Security is a broad term that serves as an umbrella for many topics including but not limited to computer security, internet security, communication security, network security, application security, data security, and information security. In this chapter, and following the scope of the textbook, we will discuss about information security and provide an overview about general information security concepts, recent evolutions, and current challenges in the field of information security.

Mobile and Wireless Security: Lesson Plans

Mobile and wireless usage by humans continue to grow rapidly in the last few years. Number of subscribers to mobile service provides exceed the number of human population (As in many cases, users carry more than one mobile or phone). Many consumer reports showed that in the recent years the number of smart devices sold exceeds the number of desktops and laptops. Many users are shifting their usage in many aspects from desktops and laptops to smart devices. Mobile internet usage, e-commerce, Online Social Networks (OSNs), etc. are all showing mobile platforms take-over from desktops and laptops.

Encryption and Information Protection/Integrity and Concealment Methods: Lesson Plans

Information protection is a key goal to most of information security controls. Without information hiding and protection mechanisms the whole e-commerce and remote communication mechanisms will not be possible. As users in the Internet communicate without seeing each other, mechanisms should exist to validate the identity of each party of the communication activity to the second party. Their communication and all information exchanged between them should be also protected so that no third party can possible see or expose such data or information.

Software Code Security: Lesson Plans

In information systems, software programs are major components that exist to implement services/functions. They integrate hardware, network and environment to provide services for users that can vary based on the software goal.

Disk and Computer Forensics: Lesson Plans

In digital investigations, many software and hardware components can be searched for possible relevant evidences. Digital forensic investigators should not only have knowledge on the subject case, but also on technical skills related to how to search for and acquire relevant information. Skills in disk and computer forensics continuously evolve with the evolution of computer hardware, software, operating systems and environments.

Security and Access Controls: Lesson Plans

Access controls are considered as important security mechanisms. They usually target (authenticated users: Those users who can legally access subject information system or resource). This indicates that they typically come after an initial stage called (authentication). In authentication, the main goal is to decide whether a subject user, traffic or request can be authenticated to access the information resource or not. As such authentication security control decision or output is a binary of either, yes (authenticated; pass-in), or no (unauthenticated; block). Access control or authorization is then considered the second stage in this layered security control mechanism. For example, it is important to decide whether subject user has a view/read, modify, execute, etc. type of permission or privilege on subject information resource. In this chapter, we will cover issues related to access controls in operating systems, databases, websites, etc.