Week 4. Do security threats change over time?

Do Security threats change over time? 

The answer to the question is yes, threats change constantly.  Every new application, device, OS etc. will have some sort of vulnerability associated with it, known and unknown, so the sooner you accept this premise the happier you will be.

Vulnerabilities, such as, a security hole that wasn’t tested or even thought about, to back doors intentionally made in the device or system, to security issues that were intentionally created by nefarious actors, will be present to some degree.   With these holes in security come avenues in which attackers can gain access and compromise your organization, once inside, the attacker can exploit Elevation of Privilege (EoP) flaws or plant whatever time bombs he or she wants.  These bombs may prove disastrous and may even cripple your network if not addressed. 

Elevation of Privilege (EoP) occurs when an attacker is granted more authority or permissions within a network system.  An example may be; an attacker gains access into a device or system and only has “Guest” (read only) access, but by manipulating the system in some manner, he or she is able to “Elevate” the permissions to a “Standard” (read-some write) account or even worse, an “Administrative” account (Full Read-Write), thus giving themselves the ability to perform actions that can compromise the software, device or network.  What the attacker is looking for is a way to manipulate the system in some manner to gain full access, or just enough to perform nefarious deeds.  Check out Testing for Privilege escalation (OTG-AUTHZ-003) at owasp.org, good data for your security toolkit…

As technology changes, so do the vulnerabilities and threats, some are benign and do not pose a big problem while others present an enormous risk to the bottom line of any organization.  Devices we use every day that were once thought of being impermeable to threats, or to some degree, have their flaws too.  In an article in Trendmicro.com (March 22, 2016) titled, Researchers Uncover iMessage Encryption Flaw,  it’s stated that Researchers at John’s Hopkins University have allegedly found a security flaw in Apples encryption techniques with iMessages.  “The Baltimore-based institution shared details of a flaw in iOS and OSX in transmitting messages via the instant messaging application, iMessage—one that could allow an attacker to decrypt sent photos, videos, and messages”.  It’s a good read, check it out.

How a business looks at threats will determine how successful they will be going into this new Cyber Security threat future we are heading full steam ahead into.  Gone are the days where you can do just enough to get by, or even worse, nothing at all because the “capital can be used more efficiently elsewhere”. These old school mindsets must be stopped and these people fully educated about what business (Security) life has evolved into.   

 “Cyber-security threats have become much more organized and industrialized. There’s been an entire ecosystem that’s been established around the industrialization of cyber threats. It’s almost become a service offering and, as the real and perceived value of cyber targets increases, we’re seeing a corresponding increase in the investment being made in new and innovative cyber threats”.  Bill Ross, Director, Cyber Mission Assurance Systems,
General Dynamics C4 Systems. (2015).