Cybersecurity Threats in the Public Sector - How Prepared are you? - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Cybersecurity Threats in the Public Sector - How Prepared are you?

Symptai Consulting Ltd. Director, Information Security Advisory Certifications CCISO, CEH, CHFI, CND, CISSP, CCSP, CISM, CISA, CSX

Rory Ebanks

Importance of Cyber Security

The internet allows an attacker to work from anywhere on the planet. Security: We must protect our computers and data in the same way that we secure the doors to our homes. Safety: We must behave in ways that protect us against risks and threats that come with technology.

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Some questions to ask yourself

• Do you know if your organization is secure?
• What security strategy does your organization have in

place?

• When was the last time you updated your passwords?
• Do you use the same password for all of your

accounts?

• Do you have your data backed up and can you easily

restore it?

• Do you frequently use open Wi-Fi networks?
• Do you have anti-virus and anti-malware software

installed?

• Do you always check and install the latest updates for

your operating system and software?

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Major threats faced by Public Sector

• Identity theft, fraud, extortion
• Malware (spyware, Trojans and viruses)
• Phishing, spamming
• Social Engineering
• Stolen hardware
• Denial-of-service and distributed denial-of-service attacks
• Malicious insiders
• Human Error/Careless employees

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Major threats faced by Public Sector

• Man-in-the-middle/Sniffing
• Password attack (Brute force or dictionary)
• Website defacement
• Social Media Threat
• Vulnerability exploitation
• Open/Free Wireless

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Physical Security

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Wireless

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Wireless Attack

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Wireless Traffic

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Examples of Incidents this Year

• Exactis - Before June 27th 2018 most people were not familiar with

the Florida-based firm Exactis. The company left its database open to the public exposing nearly 340 million individual records, affecting about 230 million US consumers and 110 million businesses.

• Tesla - On June 14th a disgruntled Tesla employee admitted to

hacking the company’s secret trade information and sharing the data with unnamed 3rd parties.

• Facebook – September 2018 Facebook shared details on a flaw in its

“View As” feature that allowed hackers to takeover Facebook

• accounts. “View As” is what allows users to look at their profile as
• thers see it.

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

SOURCE: JIS (http://jis.gov.jm/everyone-risk- cybercrime) Published: October 12, 2017

Senior Advisor in the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, Trevor Forrest “The country lost US$100M due to cyber criminal activity” “…more than 230,000 threats were detected in the space of a month.” 230K x 12 months = 2.76M INCIDENTS p/yr

2016 LOCAL INCIDENT STATISTICS

1% of

• f 2.76

.76M = = 27.6K .6K BR BREACHES PER ER DAY

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Who are Hackers?

People committed to circumvention of computer security.

• Employees
• Contractors
• Ethical Security professionals
• Neighbors
• Friends
• Customers
• Our Children

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

The Enemy

What was advanced is now average.

• Well planned, strategic approach
• Automation assisted manual attacks
• Sophisticated Malware
• Clear objectives
• Lots of resources

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Passwords

First Line of Defence

• Users
• Authentication (username & password)
• P@ssw0rds: How weak are they?

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Social Engineering

Social engineering, or the “con game,” is the art of manipulating end users into providing confidential or personal information. Phishing: Hackers pretend to be trusted

• rganizations such as banks, company

suppliers, IT staff, or mobile carriers, in

• rder to get your personal information,

such as credit card details or confidential corporate information. Piggybacking/Tailgating: This is when an unauthorized hacker physically follows an authorized employee into a restricted area (e.g. pass through locked doors) or uses their computer to access locked IT systems.

Pharming: Hackers re-create websites that look identical to the original but instead contain malware and/or key loggers to gain your personal

• information. The website URL will look very similar, although it may

have a slight typo or a slightly different domain name. E.g. URLs with a different suffix such as .net instead of .com Social Media: Similar to phishing, hackers will act as a trusted organization or friend and try to obtain your personal information through messages, or get you to click malicious links through posts.

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Scenarios

Phone Call: This is John, the System Administrator. What is your password? Email: Symptai Bank has noticed a problem with your account… In Person: What ethnicity are you? Your mother’s maiden name? and have some lovely software patches! I have come to repair your machine…

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Phishing

• Keep an eye out for phony email messages.
• Things that indicate a message may be fraudulent are:
• misspellings,
• poor grammar
• odd phrasings
• Web site addresses with strange extensions
• Web site addresses that are entirely numbers where there are normally

words

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Phishing Tips

• Don’t trust the display name of who the email is coming from
• Look but don’t click
• Consider the Salutation
• Is the email asking for personal information?
• Beware of Urgency
• Check the email signature
• Be careful with attachments
• Don’t believe everything you see

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Phishing Workflow

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Denial of Service

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Man in the Middle

blog.trendmicro.com

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

What would you do?

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Do not

• Password:
• Don’t use your login name
• Don’t use your personal information such as last name, first name
• Don’t use numbers significant to you or someone close to you
• Don’t use passwords based on simple keyboard patterns
• Don’t share passwords
• Do not turn off security applications
• Do not let unknown people touch your computer/device
• Do not give out your password to anyone including IT Staff
• Do not use insecure wireless connections
• Do not open an unknown website or link
• Do not open an email attachment unless you are certain

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Ways To Protect Yourself

• Strong passwords
• Keep your passwords in a safe place and try not to use the same

password for every service you use online.

• Stay out of Bad Neighbourhoods
• Don't Fall for Pop-ups
• Screen your email
• Keep your devices current with the latest patches and updates
• Protect your computer with security software
• Backup your data

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Ways To Protect Yourself

• Check your financial accounts regularly to ensure no fraudulent

activity has taken place.

• Do the Two-Step: Many companies now offer two-factor

authentication, or two-step verification, for your online accounts.

• Be wary of wireless hot-spots.
• Be wary of applications and files downloaded from the internet.
• When entering information on a website, check the

domain’s security.

• Use secure connections - Encryption: Websites should use SSL

(secure socket layer) to encrypt data.

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Final Remarks

• Plan for failures
• Collaborate with stakeholders and even competitors on common

battles

• The key to protecting yourself is being aware.
• Continuously perform security sensitization sessions for end users.
• User is ultimately responsible.
• We all have a role to play in Cybersecurity.

The only system which is truly secure is one which is switched off and unplugged

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

Questions

Presenter: Rory Ebanks

References

• https://www.gadgetsnow.com/infographics/symantecs-

cybersecurity-predictions-for-2018/articleshow/61980660.cms

• https://appspider.help.rapid7.com/docs/conduct-mobile-application-

testing-using-wifi-pineapple

• https://thebestvpn.com/cyber-security-statistics-2018/
• https://samsclass.info/123/proj10/p3-sniff.htm
• https://jis.gov.jm/everyone-risk-cybercrime/
• https://ifflab.org/top-5-types-of-cybercrimes-tips-for-cybercrime-

prevention/

Presenter: Rory Ebanks