Ecommerce Security

SECURITY THREATS IN E-COMMERCE

•Three key points of vulnerability:
Client
Server
Communications channel
•Most common threats:
1.Malicious code
2.Unwanted Programs
3.Phishing & Identity theft
4.Hacking and cyber vandalism
5.Credit card fraud/theft
6.Spoofing (Pharming) & Spam (Junk) Web sites
7.Denial of service (DOS) & Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks
8.Sniffing
9.Insider attacks
10.Poorly designed server and client software

Malicious Code

•Malicious code also referred as malware includes a variety of threats such as viruses, worms, Trojan horses, & bots.
•Malicious code in the past often was intended simply to impair computers & was often authored by a lone hacker but increasingly the intent is to steal e-mail addresses, logon credentials, personal data & financial information.
•Malicious code is used to develop integrated malware & networks that organize the theft of information & money.
•VIRUSES:A virus is a computer program that has the ability to replicate or make copies of itself, & spread to other files.

Types of VIRUSES:

•Macro Viruses
•File-infecting viruses
•Script viruses
•Worms
•Trojan Horse
•Bots

a) Macro Viruses
•They are application specific, meaning that the virus affects only the application for which it was written such as MS Word, Excel or PowerPoint.
•When a user opens an infected document in the appropriate application, the virus copies itself to the templates in the application, so that when new documents are created, they are infected with macro virus as well.
•Macro viruses can easily be spread when sent in an e-mail attachment.

b) File-infecting viruses
•They usually infect executable files, such as *.com, *.exe etc files.
•They may activate every time the infected file is executed by copying themselves into other executable files.
•They are also easily spread through e-mails & any file transfer system

c) Script viruses
•They are written programming languages such as VB Script & JavaScript
•The ILOVEYOU virus also known as the Love Bug, which overwrites *.jpg and *.mp3 files, is one of the most famous examples of a script virus.

d) Worms
•Worms are often combined with viruses.
•A worm is designed to spread from computer to computer.
•A worm does not necessarily need to be activated by user or program in order for it to replicate itself.
•For example, the Slammer worm, which targeted a known vulnerability in MS SQL Server database software, infected more than 70% of vulnerable computers worldwide within 10 minutes of its release on the Internet.
•(SQLSlammeris a computerwormthat caused a denial of service on some Internet hosts and dramatically slowed down general Internet traffic, starting at 05:30 UTC on January 25, 2003. It spread rapidly, infecting most of its 75,000 victims within ten minutes.)

e) Trojan Horse
•Unlikeviruses, Trojan horses do not replicate themselves but they can be just as destructive.
•Trojans can be employed by cyber-thieves and hackers trying to gain access to users' systems.
•Users are typically tricked by some form of social engineering into loading and executing Trojans on their systems.
•Once activated, Trojans can enable cyber-criminals to spy on you, steal your sensitive data, and gain backdoor access to your system.

f) Bots
•Bots are known as rebotsare a type of malicious code that can be covertly installed on your computer when attached to the Internet.
•It is an automated process that interacts with other network services.
•Bots often automate tasks and provide information or services that would otherwise be conducted by a human being.