Chapter 17Human Resources Security

Security Awareness, Training, and Education

The topic of security awareness, training, and education is mentioned prominently in a number of standards and standards-related documents, including ISO 27002 (Code of Practice for Information Security Management) and NIST Special Publication 800-100 (Information Security Handbook: A Guide for Managers).

Benefits to Organizations

Security awareness, training, and education programs provide four major benefits to organizations:

• Improving employee behavior• Increasing employee

accountability• Mitigating liability for employee

behavior• Complying with regulations and

contractual obligations

Human Factors

Principal problems associated with employee behavior are:

Errors and omissions Fraud

Actions by disgruntled employees

Employee behavior is a critical concern in ensuring the security of computer systems and

information assets

Table 17.1 Comparative Framework

Awareness

• Seeks to inform and focus an employee's attention on security issues within the organization

• Aware of their responsibilities for maintaining security and the restrictions on their actions

• Users understand the importance of security for the well-being of the organization

• Promote enthusiasm and management buy-in

• Program must be tailored to the needs of the organization and target audience

• Must continually promote the security message to employees in a variety of ways

• Should provide a security awareness policy document to all employees

NIST SP 800-100 ( Information Security Handbook: A Guide for Managers ) describes the content of awareness programs, in general terms, as follows:

“Awareness tools are used to promote information security and inform users of threats and vulnerabilities that impact

their division or department and personal work environment by explaining the what but not the how of security, and communicating what is and what is not allowed. Awareness not only communicates information security policies and procedures that need to be followed, but also provides the foundation for any sanctions and disciplinary actions imposed for noncompliance. Awareness is used to explain the rules of behavior for using an agency’s information systems and information and establishes a

level of expectation on the acceptable use of the information and information systems.”

Training• What people should do and how

they should do it

Designed to teach people the skills to

perform their IS-related tasks more securely

• Focus is on good computer security practicesGeneral users

• Develop a security mindset in the developer

Programmers, developers, system

maintainers

• How to make tradeoffs involving security risks, costs, benefitsManagers

• Risk management goals, measurement, leadershipExecutives

Education• Most in depth program

• Targeted at security professionals whose jobs require expertise in security

• Fits into employee career development category

• Often provided by outside sources o College courseso Specialized training programs

Employment Practices and Policies

• Managing personnel with potential access is an essential part of information security

• Employee involvement:o Unwittingly aid in the commission of a violation by failing

to follow proper procedureso Forgetting security considerationso Not realizing that they are creating a vulnerabilityo Knowingly violate controls or procedures

Security in the Hiring Process

• Objective: o “To ensure that employees, contractors and third party users

understand their responsibilities, and are suitable for the roles they are considered for, and to reduce the risk of theft, fraud or misuse of facilities”

• Need appropriate background checks and screeningo Investigate accuracy of details

• For highly sensitive positions:o Have an investigation agency do a background checko Criminal record and credit check

Employment Agreements

Employees should agree to and

sign the terms and conditions of

their employment contract, which

should include:

I. Employee and organizational

responsibilities for

information security

II. A confidentiality and non-

disclosure agreement

III. Reference to the

organization's security policy

IV. Acknowledgement that the

employee has reviewed and

agrees to abide by the policy

During Employment

• Ensure that employees, contractors, and third-party users are aware of information security threats and concerns and their responsibilities and liabilities with regard to information security

• Are equipped to support the organizational security policy in their work• Reduce the risk of human error

Objectives with respect to current employees:

• A comprehensive security policy document• An ongoing awareness and training program

Two essential elements of personnel security during employment are:

• Least privilege• Separation of duties• Limited reliance on key employees

Security principles:

Termination of Employment

• Termination security objectives: • Ensure employees, contractors, and third party users exit

organization or change employment in an orderly manner• The return of all equipment and the removal of all access

rights are completed

Critical actions:

• Remove name from all authorized access lists• Inform guards that ex-employee general access is not

allowed• Remove personal access codes, change physical locks and

lock combinations, reprogram access card systems• Recover all assets, including employee ID, documents,

data storage devices• Notify by memo or email appropriate departments

Email and Internet Use Policies

• Organizations are incorporating specific e-mail and Internet use policies into their security policy document

• Concerns for employers:o Work time consumed in non-work-related activitieso Computer and communications resources may be

consumed, compromising the mission that the IS resources are designed to support

o Risk of importing malwareo Possibility of harm, harassment, inappropriate

online conduct

Suggested Policies

Business use only

Policy scope

Content ownership Privacy

Standard of conduct

Reasonable personal

use

Unlawful activity

prohibited

Security policy

Company policy

Company rights

Disciplinary action

Security Incident Response

• Response procedures to incidents are an essential control for most organizationso Procedures need to reflect possible consequences of an

incident on the organization and allow for a suitable responseo Developing procedures in advance can help avoid panic

• Benefits of having incident response capability:o Systematic incident responseo Quicker recovery to minimize loss, theft, disruption of serviceo Use information gained during incident handling to better

prepare for future incidentso Dealing properly with legal issues that may arise during

incidents

Computer Security Incident Response Team

(CSIRT)

CSIRTs are responsible for:

Rapidly detecting incidents

Minimizing loss and destruction

Mitigating the weaknesses that were exploited

Restoring computing services

Security Incidents

“Any action that threatens one or more of the classic security services of confidentiality, integrity, availability, accountability, authenticity, and reliability in a system”

Unauthorized access to a system• Accessing information not authorized to see• Passing information on to a person not authorized to see it• Attempting to circumvent the access mechanisms• Using another person’s password and user id

Unauthorized modification of information on the system• Attempting to corrupt information that may be of value• Attempting to modify information without authority• Processing information in an unauthorized manner

Table 17.2

Security Incident

Terminology

Detecting Incidents• Incidents may be detected by users

or administration staffo Staff should be encouraged to make reports of system

malfunctions or anomalous behaviors

• Automated toolso System integrity verification toolso Log analysis toolso Network and host intrusion detection systems (IDS)o Intrusion prevention systems

Triage Function

Goal:

• Ensure that all information destined for the incident handling service is channeled through a single focal point

• Commonly achieved by advertising the triage function as the single point of contact for the whole incident handling service

Responds

to incoming information by:

• Requesting additional information in order to categorize the incident

• Notifying the various parts of the enterprise or constituency about the vulnerability and shares information about how to fix or mitigate the vulnerability

• Identifies the incident as either new or part of an ongoing incident and passes this information on to the incident handling response function

Responding to Incidents

• Must have documented procedures to respond to incidents

• Procedures should:

Detail how to identify the cause

Describe the action taken to recover from the incident

Identify typical categories of

incidents and the approach taken to respond to them

Identify management

personnel responsible for making critical

decisions and how to contact them

Identify the circumstances when

security breaches should be reported

to third parties such as the police or relevant CERT

Documenting Incidents

• Should immediately follow a response to an incidento Identify what vulnerability

led to its occurrenceo How this might be

addressed to prevent the incident in the future

o Details of the incident and the response taken

o Impact on the organization’s systems and their risk profile

Table 17.3: Examples of Possible Information Flow to and from the Incident

Handling Service

Chapter 19Legal and Ethical Aspects

“Computer crime, or cybercrime, is a term used broadly to describe criminal activity in which computers or computer networks are a tool, a target, or a place of criminal activity.”

--From the New York Law School Course on Cybercrime, Cyberterrorism, and Digital Law Enforcement

Types of Computer Crime

• The U.S. Department of Justice categorizes computer crime based on the role that the computer plays in the criminal activity:

Computers as targets

Involves an attack on data integrity, system integrity,

data confidentiality,

privacy, or availability

Computers as storage devices

Using the computer to store stolen password

lists, credit card or calling card numbers,

proprietary corporate

information, pornographic image files, or

pirated commercial software

Computers as communications

tools

Crimes that are committed online,

such as fraud, gambling, child

pornography, and the illegal sale of

prescription drugs, controlled

substances, alcohol, or guns

Table 19.1

Cybercrimes Cited

in the Convention

on Cybercrim

e

(page 1 of 2)

Table 19.1 Cybercrimes Cited in the Convention

on Cybercrime (page 2 of 2)

Table 19.2

CERT 2007

E-Crime

Watch

Survey

Results

(Table can be found on page 614 in the textbook)

Law Enforcement Challenges

• The deterrent effect of law enforcement on computer and network attacks correlates with the success rate of criminal arrest and prosecution

• Law enforcement agency difficulties:o Lack of investigators knowledgeable and experienced in dealing with

this kind of crimeo Required technology may be beyond their budgeto The global nature of cybercrimeo Lack of collaboration and cooperation with remote law

enforcement agencies

• Convention on Cybercrime introduces a common terminology for crimes and a framework for harmonizing laws globally

Cybercriminals

The lack of success in bringing them to justice has led to an increase in their numbers, boldness, and the global scale of

their operations

Are difficult to profile

Tend to be young and very computer-

savvy

Range of behavioral characteristics is

wide

No cybercriminal databases exist

that can point to likely suspects

Cybercrime Victims

Are influenced by the success

of cybercriminals and the lack of success of

law enforcement

Many of these organizations

have not invested

sufficiently in technical,

physical, and human-factor resources to

prevent attacks

Reporting rates tend to be low

because of a lack of confidence in

law enforcement, concern about

corporate reputation, and a

concern about civil liability

Working with Law Enforcement

• Executive management and security administrators need to look upon law enforcement as a resource and tool

• Management needs to:o Understand the criminal investigation processo Understand the inputs that investigators needo Understand the ways in which the victim can

contribute positively to the investigation

Copyright

• Protects tangible or fixed expression of an idea but not the idea itself

• Creator can claim and file copyright at a national government copyright office if:

oProposed work is original

oCreator has put original idea in concrete form

Copyright Rights• Copyright owner

has these exclusive rights, protected against infringement:

oReproduction rightoModification rightoDistribution rightoPublic-performance

rightoPublic-display right

• Examples include:

oLiterary works

oMusical works

oDramatic works

oPantomimes and choreographic works

oPictorial, graphic, and sculptural works

oMotion pictures and other audiovisual works

oSound recordings

oArchitectural works

oSoftware-related works

Patent• Grant a property right to the inventor

• “The right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States

• Types:

Utility

• Any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter

Design

• New, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture

Plant

• Discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant

Trademark• A word, name, symbol,

or device • Used in trade with goods

• Indicates source of goods

• Distinguishes them from goods of others

• Trademark rights may be used to:o Prevent others from using

a confusingly similar mark

o But not to prevent others from making the same goods or from selling the same goods or services under a clearly different mark

Intellectual Property Relevant to Network and Computer Security• A number of forms of intellectual property are

relevant in the context of network and computer security

• Examples of some of the most prominent:

Software• Programs

produced by vendors of commercial software

• Shareware• Proprietary

software created by an organization for internal use

• Software produced by individuals

Databases• Data that is

collected and organized in such a fashion that it has potential commercial value

Digital content

• Includes audio and video files, multimedia courseware, Web site content, and any other original digital work

Algorithms• An example of a

patentable algorithm is the RSA public-key cryptosystem

U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright ACT (DMCA)

• Signed into law in 1998

• Implements WIPO treaties to strengthen protections of digital copyrighted materials

• Encourages copyright owners to use technological measures to protect their copyrighted workso Measures that prevent access to the work o Measures that prevent copying of the work

• Prohibits attempts to bypass the measureso Both criminal and civil penalties apply to attempts to

circumvent

DMCA Exemptions• Certain actions are exempted from the provisions

of the DMCA and other copyright laws including:

• Considerable concern exists that DMCA inhibits legitimate security and encryption researcho Feel that innovation and academic freedom is stifled and open source

software development is threatened

Fair useReverse

engineering

Encryption

research

Security testing

Personal

privacy

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

• Systems and procedures that ensure that holders of digital rights are clearly identified and receive stipulated payment for their workso May impose further restrictions such as inhibiting printing or

prohibiting further distribution

• No single DRM standard or architecture

• Objective is to provide mechanisms for the complete content management life cycle

• Provide persistent content protection for a variety of digital content types/platforms/media

Privacy• Overlaps with computer security

• Dramatic increase in scale of information collected and stored

o Motivated by law enforcement, national security, economic incentives

• Individuals have become increasingly aware of access and use of personal information and private details about their lives

• Concerns about extent of privacy compromise have led to a variety of legal and technical approaches to reinforcing privacy rights

European Union (EU) Directive on Data Protection • Adopted in 1998 to:

o Ensure member states protect fundamental privacy rights when processing personal information

o Prevent member states from restricting the free flow of personal information within EU

• Organized around principles of:

Notice Consent Consistency Access

Security Onward transfer

Enforcement

United States Privacy Initiatives

• Deals with personal information collected and used by federal agencies

• Permits individuals to determine records kept• Permits individuals to forbid records being used

for other purposes • Permits individuals to obtain access to records

and to correct and amend records as appropriate• Ensures agencies properly collect, maintain, and

use personal information• Creates a private right of action for individuals

Privacy Act of 1974

Also have a range of other privacy laws

ISO 27002 states . . . “An organization’s data policy for privacy and protection of personally identifiable information should be developed and implemented. This policy should be communicated to all persons involved in the processing of personally identifiable information. Compliance with this policy and all relevant legislation and regulations concerning the protection of the privacy of people and the protection of personally identifiable information requires appropriate management structure and control. Often this is best achieved by the appointment of a person responsible, such as a privacy officer, who should provide guidance to managers, users and service providers on their individual responsibilities and the specific procedures that should be followed. Responsibility for handling personally identifiable information and ensuring awareness of the privacy principles should be dealt with in accordance with relevant legislation and regulations. Appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personally identifiable information should be implemented.”

Privacy and Data Surveillance

• Demands of homeland security and counterterrorism have imposed new threats to personal privacy

• Law enforcement and intelligence agencies have become increasingly aggressive in using data surveillance techniques to fulfill their mission

• Private organizations are exploiting a number of trends to increase their ability to build detailed profiles of individuals

o Spread of the Interneto Increase in electronic payment methodso Near-universal use of cellular phone communicationso Ubiquitous computationo Sensor webs

• Both policy and technical approaches are needed to protect privacy when both government and nongovernment organizations seek to learn as much as possible about individuals

Ethical Issues

• Many potential misuses and abuses of information and electronic communication that create privacy and security problems

• Basic ethical principles developed by civilizations apply

o Unique considerations surrounding computers and information systems

o Scale of activities not possible before

o Creation of new types of entities for which no agreed ethical rules have previously been formed

• Ethics:

“A system of moral principles that relates to the benefits and harms of particular actions, and to the rightness and wrongness of motives and ends of those actions.”

Ethical Issues Related to Computers and Information

Systems

• Some ethical issues from computer use:o Repositories and processors of informationo Producers of new forms and types of assetso Instruments of actso Symbols of intimidation and deception

• Those who understand, exploit technology, and have access permission, have power over these

• Concern with balancing professional responsibilities with ethical or moral responsibilities

• Types of ethical areas a computing or IS professional may face:o Ethical duty as a professional may come into conflict with loyalty to employero “Blowing the whistle”o Expose a situation that can harm the public or a company’s customerso Potential conflict of interest

• Organizations have a duty to provide alternative, less extreme opportunities for the employeeo In-house ombudsperson coupled with a commitment not to penalize employees for

exposing problems

• Professional societies should provide a mechanism whereby society members can get advice on how to proceed

Professional/Ethical Responsibilities

Codes of Conduct• Ethics are not precise laws or sets of facts• Many areas may present ethical ambiguity• Many professional societies have adopted ethical

codes of conduct which can:

1

• Be a positive stimulus and instill confidence

2• Be educational

3• Provide a measure of support

4• Be a means of deterrence and discipline

5• Enhance the profession's public image

Comparison of Codes of Conduct

• Both codes place their emphasis on the responsibility of professionals to other people

• Do not fully reflect the unique ethical problems related to the development and use of computer and IS technology

• Common themes:

o Dignity and worth of other people

o Personal integrity and honesty

o Responsibility for work

o Confidentiality of information

o Public safety, health, and welfare

o Participation in professional societies to improve standards of the profession

o The notion that public knowledge and access to technology is equivalent to social power

The Rules• Collaborative effort to develop a short list of guidelines

on the ethics of computer systems

• Ad Hoc Committee on Responsible Computing

o Anyone can join this committee and suggest changes to the guidelines

o Moral Responsibility for Computing Artifacts

• Generally referred to as The Rules

• The Rules apply to software that is commercial, free, open source, recreational, an academic exercise or a research tool

o Computing artifact

• Any artifact that includes an executing computer program

As of this writing, the rules are as follows:

1) The people who design, develop, or deploy a computing artifact are morally responsible for that artifact, and for the foreseeable effects of that artifact. This responsibility is shared with other people who design, develop, deploy or knowingly use the artifact as part of a sociotechnical system.

2) The shared responsibility of computing artifacts is not a zero-sum game. The responsibility of an individual is not reduced simply because more people become involved in designing, developing, deploying, or using the artifact. Instead, a person’s responsibility includes being answerable for the behaviors of the artifact and for the artifact’s effects after deployment, to the degree to which these effects are reasonably foreseeable by that person.

3) People who knowingly use a particular computing artifact are morally responsible for that use.

4) People who knowingly design, develop, deploy, or use a computing artifact can do so responsibly only when they make a reasonable effort to take into account the sociotechnical systems in which the artifact is embedded.

5) People who design, develop, deploy, promote, or evaluate a computing artifact should not explicitly or implicitly deceive users about the artifact or its foreseeable effects, or about the sociotechnical systems in which the artifact is embedded.

Revision for exam

• Link in class