Some Fundamental Concepts About Information Technology Security & Risks. Please suggest any edit/changes if required. I hope this will help you guys :)

1. IT SECURITY & RISK
Fundamental Concepts
TANUJ PANDEY

2. Security Fundamentals
(Confidentiality/Integrity/Availability):
Fig 1: CIA Triad
• Confidentiality is a set of rules that limits access to information i.e. prevent any data from unauthorized access.
E.g. Credentials, Credit card details, or any PII (Personal identifiable information).

3. Integrity is the assurance that the information is trustworthy and accurate i.e. data is received by
any receiver is accurate or valid without any modification or tampering.
Availability is a guarantee of reliable access to the information by authorized people. When any
Authorized
Impact of loss of CIA:
There are level of ratings for measuring impact of loss of CIA that can be faced by any organization:
(I):Low(Rating of 1): Limited adverse effect on organizational operation assets, or individuals.
(II)Medium(Rating of 2): Serious adverse effect on organizational operation assets, or individuals.
(III):High(Rating of 3) Severe or catastrophic adverse effect on organizational operation assets, or individuals.

4. AAA(Authentication, Authorization, Accountability):
• Authentication provides access controls for systems by checking
too see if a user’s credential matches with credentials in a
database of authorized or in a data authentication server.
• Authentication is important because it enables organization to
keep their networks secure by permitting only authenticated
users.
• Authentication used to protect any computer Systems, Networks,
Databases, Websites & Other Network based application or
services.

5. • Authorization is a process of giving someone permission to do
something.
• In multi users computer system a system administrator defines for
system which user are allowed access to system & what privileges of
use (such as access to directories, hours of access, amount of
allocated space, and so forth.
• Accountability is an insurance that an individual or an organization
will be evaluated on their performance for which they are
responsible.
• Accountability and transparency are generally considered the two
main pillars of good corporate governance.

6. Risk:
• A Risk in terms of Information Technology is when any information has long been
appreciated, valuable & important asset & if there is any risk of security breach
through which we can face a broad impact on our business.
• To calculate the risk: Risk=Loss*Impact.
• Types of Risk:
• Qualitative Risk: A qualitative risk analysis prioritizes the identified project risks
using a pre-defined rating scale. Risks will be scored based on their probability or
likelihood of occurring and the impact on project objectives should they occur.
• Quantitative Risk: A quantitative risk analysis is a further analysis of the highest
priority risks during a which a numerical or quantitative rating is assigned in order
to develop a probabilistic analysis of the project.
•

7. Risk Analysis:
• Risk analysis performed as a part of IT risk assessment & involves
identify risk, threats, & determining how to manage them.
• In the risk analysis we focus on:
*Issue
*Consequences
*Likelihood
*Impact level
*Risk level
*Mitigation Strategy
*Status

8. Risk Assessment:
• An IT Risk Assessment states you about the state of security of your IT
infrastructure it can facilitate decision making on your organizational security
strategy.
• Purpose Of Risk Assessment:
(I)Identify threats & Vulnerabilities.
(II)Enhance Enterprise wide security.
(III)Justify Security Investments.
(IV)Risk Mitigation:
1.Preventive
2.Mitigation
3.Recovery
Fig 1.1: Risk

9. Risk Management:
• There are four phases of risk management:
(I) Plan: Make plans for potential risks & Vulnerabilities.
(II) Assess: Identify a risk and take an appropriate action regarding to that.
(III) Handle: When we assess a risk, We mitigate the risk in this phase.
(IV) Monitor & Report: Check on a regular basis to get the status of security.
Fig 1.2: Risk Management

10. Basic Principles Of IT Security:
• Principle 1. There is no such thing as absolute security.
• Principle 2.The three security goals are Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability.
• Principle 3. Defense in depth as security. (Protects, Detects & Records).
• Principle 4. When left on their own people tend to make worst decisions. (Sharing credentials in exchange for
worthless goods).
• Principle 5. Computer Security depends on two types of requirements: Functional(What a system should do) &
Assurance(How functional requirements should implemented & Tested).
• Principle 6. Security through obscurity is not an answer. (Do not depend only on one mechanism)
• Principle 7. Security=Risk Management. ( What is likelihood that this loss will occur? ).
• Principle 8. Three types of controls are: (Layers of protection)
(i) Preventive (ii) Detective (iii) Corrective(Responsive).
Principle 9. Complexity is the enemy of security. ( Security mechanism must be known to authorized user).
Principle 10. Fear, Uncertainty, and doubt do not work in selling security. (Information Security Managers must justify
all investments in security using techniques).
Principle 11. People, Process and Technology are all needed to adequately secure a system or facility. (Series of
countermeasures & Controls).
Principle 12. Open disclosure of vulnerabilities is good for security.

11. Controls:
Security Controls are safeguards or countermeasures to avoid, detect, minimize security risks to physical/Logical
property, Information, computer systems or other assets.
Types of Controls:
(I): Preventive: Preventive controls are designed to keep errors and irregularities from occurring in the first place.
(II): Detective: Detective controls are designed to detect errors or irregularities that may have occurred.
(III): Corrective (Responsive): Corrective controls are designed to correct errors or irregularities that have been
detected.
Various Controls which can be used to prevent security breaches:
*Firewalls
*IDS (Intrusion Detection System)
*Biometric Access
*Encryption
*CCTV (Closed Circuit Television)
*Strong Authentication
*Motion Sensors
*Security Guards

12. Access Control:
• Access control is a way of limiting access to a system or to Physical/Logical access resources.
• Access control is a process by which users are granted access & certain privileges to systems resources
• or information.
• Access control is a fundamental concept in IT Security which minimize the risk in an organization.
• Access control are of two types:
(I): Physical Access: Limits access to physical IT Assets. E.g. Guards/CCTV’s at main server room.
(II): Logical Access: Limits Access to computer Network system files & Data. E.g. credentials, validation,
authorization, and accountability should be defined for each users separately.
Fig 1.3:Access Control

13. Threat/ Threat Agents:
• A Threat is a possible danger that might exploit a vulnerability to breach security & therefore cause possible harm.
• A Threat can be intentional (i.e. hacking an individual or organization) or accidental (e.g. Possibility of a computer
• Malfunctioning) or any natural disaster.
• Threat Agent is fundamental to identify who would want to exploit the assets of a company, and how they might
use them against the company.
• Threat Agents can take one or more of following actions against an asset:
• Access: Simple Unauthorized access.
• Misuse: Unauthorize use of assets.
• Disclose: Any Sensitive Information.
• Modify: Unauthorize change to an asset.
• Deny Access: Includes destruction theft of a non-data asset.

14. Exploit/Vulnerability:
• An exploit is a piece of software, a chunk of data, or a sequence of commands that takes advantage of
a bug or vulnerability to cause unintended or unanticipated behaviour to occur on computer software,
hardware, or something electronic.
• Vulnerability is a cyber-security term that refers to a flaw in a system that can leave it open to
attack.
• A vulnerability may also refer to any type of weakness in a computer system itself, in a set of
procedures, or in anything that leaves information security exposed to a threat.

15. Cryptography:
• Cryptography is a method of protecting information and communications.
• Cryptography is most often associated with scrambling plaintext (ordinary text, sometimes
referred to as cleartext) into ciphertext (a process called encryption), then back again (known
as decryption).
• Cryptography has two encryption algorithms:
• 1.Symmetric Key: Uses only one key for encryption.
• 2.Assymmetric Key: Uses different keys one for encryption & other for one decryption.
• Cryptography has four Objectives:
(I)Confidentiality
(II)Integrity
(III)Non-Repudiation
(IV)Authentication