CMGT 441 Week 3 Attack Prevention Paper

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................     3

CYBER ATTACK: WHAT IT IS............................................................................................          3

STEPS OF A CYBER ATTACK..............................................................................................         4

      Placement of Malware on Trusted Website...........................................................................      4

      Client-Side Exploitation.........................................................................................................     4

      Reverse Backdoor..................................................................................................................     4

      Hash Dumping.......................................................................................................................     5

      Pass-the-Hack Attack to Pivot...............................................................................................      5

      Compromise of Domain Controller.......................................................................................     5

      Exfiltration.............................................................................................................................     5

PREVENTION TECHNIQUES...............................................................................................          5

      Risk Assessment and Identity of Weaknesses.........................................................................      6

      Back-up of Vital Information.................................................................................................      6

      Anti-Virus Software and Firewalls........................................................................................      6

      Account Activity Monitoring..................................................................................................      7

CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................     7

APPENDIXES...........................................................................................................................     8

      Appendix A: Cyber Attack Steps 1 through 3 (Figure 1).......................................................      8

      Appendix B: Cyber Attack Steps 4 through 6 (Figure 2).......................................................      9

      Appendix C: SWOT Analysis Example (Figure 3).................................................................   10

REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................        11

Attack Prevention: Preventing Cyber Attacks

     Technology is everywhere, which is evident in the everyday products that we as a society use such as computers, cell phones, global positioning devices, and the Internet. As technology expands and grows, so does the reliance and dependence on these types of products. But reliance and dependence are not the only things that technology brings. Cyber attacks are a gradually increasing occurrence that is derived from technology; however, stopping these types of attacks before they occur is usually more difficult than can be expected, but is overall not impossible. The trick to averting such an attack lies in the programs and applications that one uses for defense that recognizes, detects and notifies the user that an attack is imminent. This can be something as simple as a malware and/or virus program to something more complex such as a firewall. The purpose of this paper is to discuss what constitutes a cyber attack, examine the steps involved in a cyber attack, and determine how to prevent them, which was discussed in the article by Tony M. Damico entitled Cyber Attack Prevention for the Home User: How to Prevent a Cyber Attack (2009) and other sources.