A Framework for Cyber Vulnerability Assessments of InfiniBand Networks

InfiniBand is a popular Input/Output interconnect technology used in High Performance Computing clusters. It is employed in over a quarter of the world’s 500 fastest computer systems. Although it was created to provide extremely low network latency with a high Quality of Service, the cybersecurity aspects of InfiniBand have yet to be thoroughly investigated. The InfiniBand Architecture was designed as a data center technology, logically separated from the Internet, so defensive mechanisms such as packet encryption were not implemented. Cyber communities do not appear to have taken an interest in InfiniBand, but that is likely to change as attackers branch out from traditional computing devices. This thesis considers the security implications of InfiniBand features and constructs a framework for conducting Cyber Vulnerability Assessments. Several attack primitives are tested and analyzed. Finally, new cyber tools and security devices for InfiniBand are proposed, and changes to existing products are recommended

Efficient Passive ICS Device Discovery and Identification by MAC Address Correlation

Owing to a growing number of attacks, the assessment of Industrial Control Systems (ICSs) has gained in importance. An integral part of an assessment is the creation of a detailed inventory of all connected devices, enabling vulnerability evaluations. For this purpose, scans of networks are crucial. Active scanning, which generates irregular traffic, is a method to get an overview of connected and active devices. Since such additional traffic may lead to an unexpected behavior of devices, active scanning methods should be avoided in critical infrastructure networks. In such cases, passive network monitoring offers an alternative, which is often used in conjunction with complex deep-packet inspection techniques. There are very few publications on lightweight passive scanning methodologies for industrial networks. In this paper, we propose a lightweight passive network monitoring technique using an efficient Media Access Control (MAC) address-based identification of industrial devices. Based on an incomplete set of known MAC address to device associations, the presented method can guess correct device and vendor information. Proving the feasibility of the method, an implementation is also introduced and evaluated regarding its efficiency. The feasibility of predicting a specific device/vendor combination is demonstrated by having similar devices in the database. In our ICS testbed, we reached a host discovery rate of 100% at an identification rate of more than 66%, outperforming the results of existing tools.Comment: http://dx.doi.org/10.14236/ewic/ICS2018.

Cyber-security of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS)

This master's thesis reports on security of a Cyber-Physical System (CPS) in the department of industrial engineering at UiT campus Narvik. The CPS targets connecting distinctive robots in the laboratory in the department of industrial engineering. The ultimate objective of the department is to propose such a system for the industry. The thesis focuses on the network architecture of the CPS and the availability principle of security. This report states three research questions that are aimed to be answered. The questions are: what a secure CPS architecture for the purpose of the existing system is, how far the current state of system is from the defined secure architecture, and how to reach the proposed architecture. Among the three question, the first questions has absorbed the most attention of this project. The reason is that a secure and robust architecture would provide a touchstone that makes answering the second and third questions easier. In order to answer the questions, Cisco SAFE for IoT threat defense for manufacturing approach is chosen. The architectural approach of Cisco SAFE for IoT, with similarities to the Cisco SAFE for secure campus networks, provides a secure network architecture based on business flows/use cases and defining related security capabilities. This approach supplies examples of scenarios, business flows, and security capabilities that encouraged selecting it. It should be noted that Cisco suggests its proprietary technologies for security capabilities. According to the need of the project owners and the fact that allocating funds are not favorable for them, all the suggested security capabilities are intended to be open-source, replacing the costly Cisco-proprietary suggestions. Utilizing the approach and the computer networking fundamentals resulted in the proposed secure network architecture. The proposed architecture is used as a touchstone to evaluate the existing state of the CPS in the department of industrial engineering. Following that, the required security measures are presented to approach the system to the proposed architecture. Attempting to apply the method of Cisco SAFE, the identities using the system and their specific activities are presented as the business flow. Based on the defined business flow, the required security capabilities are selected. Finally, utilizing the provided examples of Cisco SAFE documentations, a complete network architecture is generated. The architecture consists of five zones that include the main components, security capabilities, and networking devices (such as switches and access points). Investigating the current state of the CPS and evaluating it by the proposed architecture and the computer networking fundamentals, helped identifying six important shortcomings. Developing on the noted shortcomings, and identification of open-source alternatives for the Cisco-proprietary technologies, nine security measures are proposed. The goal is to perform all the security measures. Thus, the implementations and solutions for each security measure is noted at the end of the presented results. The security measures that require purchasing a device were not considered in this project. The reasons for this decision are the time-consuming process of selecting an option among different alternatives, and the prior need for grasping the features of the network with the proposed security capabilities; features such as amount and type of traffic inside the network, and possible incidents detected using an Intrusion Detection Prevention System. The attempts to construct a secure cyber-physical system is an everlasting procedure. New threats, best practices, guidelines, and standards are introduced on a daily basis. Moreover, business needs could vary from time to time. Therefore, the selected security life-cycle is required and encouraged to be used in order to supply a robust lasting cyber-physical system

Exploring Current Trends and Challenges in Cybersecurity: A Comprehensive Survey

Cyber security is the process of preventing unauthorized access, theft, damage, and interruption to computers, servers, networks, and data. It entails putting policies into place to guarantee the availability, confidentiality, and integrity of information and information systems. Cyber security seeks to protect against a variety of dangers, including as hacking, data breaches, malware infections, and other nefarious actions.  Cyber security has grown to be a major worry as a result of the quick development of digital technology and the growing interconnection of our contemporary society. In order to gain insight into the constantly changing world of digital threats and the countermeasures put in place to address them, this survey seeks to study current trends and issues in the area of cyber security. The study includes responses from end users, business executives, IT administrators, and experts across a wide variety of businesses and sectors. The survey gives insight on important problems such the sorts of cyber threats encountered, the efficacy of current security solutions, future technology influencing cyber security, and the human elements leading to vulnerabilities via a thorough analysis of the replies. The most important conclusions include an evaluation of the most common cyber dangers, such as malware, phishing scams, ransom ware, and data breaches, as well as an investigation of the methods and tools used to counter these threats. The survey explores the significance of staff education and awareness in bolstering cyber security defenses and pinpoints opportunities for development in this area. The survey also sheds insight on how cutting-edge technologies like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are affecting cyber security practices. It analyses the advantages and disadvantages of using these technologies while taking into account issues like data privacy, infrastructure security, and the need for specialized skills. The survey also looks at the compliance environment, assessing how industry norms and regulatory frameworks affect cyber security procedures. The survey studies the obstacles organizations encounter in attaining compliance and assesses the degree of knowledge and commitment to these requirements. The results of this cyber security survey help to better understand the current status of cyber security and provide organizations and individual’s useful information for creating effective policies to protect digital assets. This study seeks to promote a proactive approach to cyber security, allowing stakeholders to stay ahead of threats and build a safe digital environment by identifying relevant trends and concerns

Vulnerability modelling and mitigation strategies for hybrid networks

Hybrid networks nowadays consist of traditional IT components, Internet of Things (IoT) and industrial control systems (ICS) nodes with varying characteristics, making them genuinely heterogeneous in nature. Historically evolving from traditional internet-enabled IT servers, hybrid networks allow organisations to strengthen cybersecurity, increase flexibility, improve efficiency, enhance reliability, boost remote connectivity and easy management. Though hybrid networks offer significant benefits from business and operational perspectives, this integration has increased the complexity and security challenges to all connected nodes. The IT servers of these hybrid networks are high-budget devices with tremendous processing power and significant storage capacity. In contrast, IoT nodes are low-cost devices with limited processing power and capacity. In addition, the ICS nodes are programmed for dedicated functions with the least interference. The available cybersecurity solutions for hybrid networks are either for specific node types or address particular weaknesses. Due to these distinct characteristics, these solutions may place other nodes in vulnerable positions. This study addresses this gap by proposing a comprehensive vulnerability modelling and mitigation strategy. This proposed solution equally applies to each node type of hybrid network while considering their unique characteristics. For this purpose, the industry-wide adoption of the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) has been extended to embed the distinct characteristics of each node type in a hybrid network. To embed IoT features, the ‘attack vectors’ and ‘attack complexity vectors’ are modified and another metric “human safety index”, is integrated in the ‘Base metric group’ of CVSS. In addition, the ICS related characteristics are included in the ‘Environmental metric group’ of CVSS. This metric group is further enhanced to reflect the node resilience capabilities when evaluating the vulnerability score. The resilience of a node is evaluated by analysing the complex relationship of numerous contributing cyber security factors and practices. The evolved CVSSR-IoT-ICS framework proposed in the thesis measures the given vulnerabilities by adopting the unique dynamics of each node. These vulnerability scores are then mapped in the attack tree to reveal the critical nodes and shortest path to the target node. The mitigating strategy framework suggests the most efficient mitigation strategy to counter vulnerabilities by examining the node’s functionality, its locality, centrality, criticality, cascading impacts, available resources, and performance thresholds. Various case studies were conducted to analyse and evaluate our proposed vulnerability modelling and mitigation strategies on realistic supply chain systems. These analyses and evaluations confirm that the proposed solutions are highly effective for modelling the vulnerabilities while the mitigation strategies reduce the risks in dynamic and resource-constrained environments. The unified vulnerability modelling of hybrid networks minimises ambiguities, reduces complexities and identifies hidden deficiencies. It also improves system reliability and performance of heterogeneous networks while at the same time gaining acceptance for a universal vulnerability modelling framework across the cyber industry. The contributions have been published in reputable journals and conferences.Doctor of Philosoph

IoT Health Devices: Exploring Security Risks in the Connected Landscape

The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) spans decades, and the same can be said for its inclusion in healthcare. The IoT is an attractive target in medicine; it offers considerable potential in expanding care. However, the application of the IoT in healthcare is fraught with an array of challenges, and also, through it, numerous vulnerabilities that translate to wider attack surfaces and deeper degrees of damage possible to both consumers and their confidence within health systems, as a result of patient-specific data being available to access. Further, when IoT health devices (IoTHDs) are developed, a diverse range of attacks are possible. To understand the risks in this new landscape, it is important to understand the architecture of IoTHDs, operations, and the social dynamics that may govern their interactions. This paper aims to document and create a map regarding IoTHDs, lay the groundwork for better understanding security risks in emerging IoTHD modalities through a multi-layer approach, and suggest means for improved governance and interaction. We also discuss technological innovations expected to set the stage for novel exploits leading into the middle and latter parts of the 21st century

A Universal Cybersecurity Competency Framework for Organizational Users

The global reliance on the Internet to facilitate organizational operations necessitates further investments in organizational information security. Such investments hold the potential for protecting information assets from cybercriminals. To assist organizations with their information security, The National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Cybersecurity Workforce Framework (NCWF) was created. The framework referenced the cybersecurity work, knowledge, and skills required to competently complete the tasks that strengthen their information security. Organizational users’ limited cybersecurity competency contributes to the financial and information losses suffered by organizations year after year. While most organizational users may be able to respond positively to a cybersecurity threat, without a measure of their cybersecurity competency they represent a cybersecurity threat to organizations. The main goal of this research study was to develop a universal Cybersecurity Competency Framework (CCF) to determine the demonstrated cybersecurity Knowledge, Skills, and Tasks (KSTs) through the NCWF (NICE, 2017) as well as identify the cybersecurity competency of organizational users. Limited attention has been given in cybersecurity research to determine organizational users’ cybersecurity competency. An expert panel of cybersecurity professionals known as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) validated the cybersecurity KSTs necessary for the universal CCF. The research study utilized the explanatory sequential mixed-method approach to develop the universal CCF. This research study included a developmental approach combining quantitative and qualitative data collection in three research phases. In Phase 1, 42 SMEs identified the KSTs needed for the universal CCF. The results of the validated data from Phase 1 were inputted to construct the Phase 2 semi-structured interview. In Phase 2, qualitative data were gathered from 12 SMEs. The integration of the quantitative and qualitative data validated the KSTs. In Phase 3, 20 SMEs validated the KST weights and identified the threshold level. Phase 3 concluded with the SMEs\u27 aggregation of the KST weights into the universal CCF index. The weights assigned by the SMEs in Phase 3 showed that they considered knowledge as the most important competency, followed by Skills, then Tasks. The qualitative results revealed that training is needed for cybersecurity tasks. Phase 3 data collection and analysis continued with the aggregation of the validated weights into a single universal CCF index score. The SMEs determined that 72% was the threshold level. The findings of this research study significantly contribute to the body of knowledge on information systems and have implications for practitioners and academic researchers. It appears this is the only research study to develop a universal CCF to assess the organizational user’s competency and create a threshold level. The findings also offer further insights into what organizations need to provide cybersecurity training to their organizational users to enable them to competently mitigate cyber-attacks

Best practices in cloud-based Penetration Testing

This thesis addresses and defines best practices in cloud-based penetration testing. The aim of this thesis is to give guidance for penetration testers how cloud-based penetration testing differs from traditional penetration testing and how certain aspects are limited compared to traditional penetration testing. In addition, this thesis gives adequate level of knowledge to reader what are the most important topics to consider when organisation is ordering a penetration test of their cloud-based systems or applications. The focus on this thesis is the three major cloud service providers (Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, and Google Cloud Platform). The purpose of this research is to fill the gap in scientific literature about guidance for cloud-based penetration testing for testers and organisations ordering penetration testing. This thesis contains both theoretical and empirical methods. The result of this thesis is focused collection of best practices for penetration tester, who is conducting penetration testing for cloud-based systems. The lists consist of topics focused on planning and execution of penetration testing activities