Week 8 of Lecture

Venue : BK7, Building FTMK.
Date : 7 - 10 -2009
Time : 9.00 a.m. – 10.50 a.m.

Week 8, it’s already week 8, many assignments and projects to deal with, however we still need to attend lecture also. This is gonna be a busy month for us. Well, the lecture for this week was basically the continuation of last week’s lecture on the topic “Security in Networks” and a totally new chapter about “Security in Applications”.
Mr. Zaki started with the topic called Networks Security Control. The table below shows the summary of this topic:

Type of network security control	Explanation
Encryption	Link to Link Cover layer 1 and 2 OSL model. Decryption happens when entering receiving of the computer. End to End Provide security in layer 6 or 7. Protect data in every layer.
Strong Authentication	one entity proves its identity to another by demonstrating knowledge of a secret known to be associated with that entity Use cryptographic mechanisms to protect messages in protocol encryption, integrity mechanism and digital signature.
IPSec, VPN, SSH	IPSec – define standards means for handling encrypted data. It is implemented at IP layer and it provides AH and ESP. SSH - Secure remote login (encrypt data send over the network) SSL – It is to encrypt data over the transport layer. It serves as interface between applications and the TCP/PIP protocols to provide server authentication, optional client authentication and an encrypted communications channel between client and server.
Kerberos	Based on the idea that a central server provides authentication tokens, called tickets, to requesting applications.
Firewall	It is a network security device designed to restrict access to resources according to a security policy.
Intrusion Detection System	It is a device or software tools or hardware tools that monitor activity to identify malicious or suspicious events
Intrusion Prevention System	Network security device that monitors network and system activities for malicious or unwanted behavior and can react, in real-time, to block or prevent those activities
Honeypot	It is a decoy systems that are designed to lure a potential attacker away from critical systems

After that, Mr Zaki taught us about hacking under the topic “Hacking and Prevention”. The examples of 5 hacking phases are reconaisance, scanning, gaining access, maintaining access and covering track. The examples of hacking behaviors are:

• select target using IP lookup tools




• map network for accessible services




• identify potentially vulnerable services




• brute force (guess) passwords




• install remote administration tool




• wait for admin to log on and capture password




• use password to access remainder of network

Finally, Mr. Zaki taught us the new topic known as “Security in Applications”. To understand this chapter, we have to know the securities in Email and Web. The securities in Email are SMIME and PGP; while the securities in Web are SSL, SSH, SET, HTTPS and SFTP. The securities are basically the protocols that we have learnt before in other subjects in the previous semesters. The diagram below shows the way Email works:

I have learnt something quite interesting, initially email cannot carry non-text content until MIME was invented. So, the lecture ended sharp at 11a.m. Again, Mr. Zaki reminded us again about the mid term exam tomorrow, I was worrying… … :(