Straightening the Tangle

As the call for high-speed Internet and broadband is making waves among

enterprises, hackers and fraudsters are having a ball of a time finding exciting

opportunities to access vital documents in bandwidth-intensive unprotected

networks of organizations. The network, according to experts is no longer

delineating a physical network perimeter, people using the system-employees,

customers, and partners constitute the new boundaries.

It started as a joy ride on the cyber highway, but has turned into something

constituting more violence than could be easily accepted. Cyber criminals who

for financial and monetary gains feel no diffidence in exploiting network

vulnerabilities are now using the Web as one of the biggest areas of attack to

launch and spread into the mainstream. Although there are various security

solutions available today, but despite all promises, they are ineffective to

secure the varied vulnerabilities in the networks.

“By targeting CEOs, criminals are trying to gain access to larger bank

accounts, login credentials or email addresses to spam an entire organization,”

says Niraj Kaushik, country manager, Trend Micro, India and Saarc.

Moreover, an unsecured broadband connection provides a rattling opportunity

to cyberpunks who, with the help of efficacious software, can successfully hack

in to unearth account details, steal cash, use email for illegal means, and make

the system defunct for use.

“While virus attacks are becoming a common occurrence in all consumer

segments, data theft has emerged as a growing concern for enterprises. But for

an Internet user in common, the phishing, hacking, and online fraudulent

activities are becoming a menace,” says Venu Palakirti, sales director,

F-Secure, India & Saarc region.

The changing parameters have also opened up a new discourse for thinking

minds who believe that besides perimeter security, an enterprise has to deal

with application security if it has opened its wireless networks for its

workforce.

Changing Scenario



With the continuous rise in cellular subscriber base, the enterprises are

now jumping into the bandwagon of smart phones to keep their workforce

connected. Thereby the entire ecosystem of broadband security has matured into a

new silhouette where the path to designing the right solution starts with

recognizing the changing scenario of Web attacks and its impact on the security

needs for the organization.

“This is particularly relevant to broadband, which is an 'always-on'

connection, which means that people can access your information even when you're

not surfing the Web,” says Col HS Bedi, CMD, Tulip Telecom.

According to recent findings on the state of the Internet by Akamai, the

trend of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, continues to target

exploits that were identified years ago, suggesting there is still a significant

population of insufficiently patched systems connected to the Internet. Also,

enterprises, with various forms of security solutions may have the perception of

full protection, but they are not devoting proper attention to the wireless

devices that could lead to crucial information becoming available to outsiders.

Experts also believe that India's unsafe security environment could be

costing its BPO industry an estimated $500 mn annually.

This clearly indicates that many organizations are living in a false sense of

security, with none or lack of proper IT framework. And the dilemma is the way

in which cyberpunks work; it is difficult to nab them as they always keep

themselves ahead in this 'catch me if you can' game.

Also, with the lack of security framework, it is difficult to trace them as

they can operate from anywhere and everywhere. High-speed Internet connections

are more prone to attacks, as cyberpunks can use port scans to check if a user

is online; and hence can takeover the user's computer.

Wire-based networks offer an inbuilt component of security, as it requires

someone to physically tap into the communication medium to access data. It is

also noteworthy that physical tapping is more vulnerable to detection as

compared to tapping Wi-Fi/WiMax signals.

While the surfacing of new technologies certainly brings expediency and

flexibility, enterprises and individuals also need to be vigilant about the way

they transmit their precious information on these technologies.

“Enterprises need to assume that they're not protected and provide the

security that enables them to interact and connect with the organization safely

and to have confidence in that connected experience is a must,” says R

Subramaniam, senior solution architect, Microsense.

The organizations are also finding it complicated to deal with the growing

number of known and unknown threats in a complex business environment where

endpoint costs are rising and the entire ecosystem of Internet security is

getting more and more multifarious.

“As network connectivity becomes more pervasive and bandwidth increases, the

spread of worms and viruses can happen at a faster pace, further compounding the

problem,” says Mahesh Gupta, business development manager, network security,

Cisco India & Saarc.

Surpassing Wired Networks



The emersion of wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi, WiMax, 3G, etc has

fashioned a new meaning to communication. With mobility as the foremost priority

among business users; WiMax and Wi-Fi technologies are expected to be very

popular and crucial for the penetration of broadband services in India.

As compared to dial-up users, broadband users, according to experts are

nearly five times more likely to be targeted, with attackers looking to hijack

the hosts to use as stepping stones for further attacks, for storage of illegal

copied software, and to launch new waves of spam mails. Although, a properly

secure wireless network could be a great asset and provide free mobility and

access at difficult points that are not easily reached by wireline networks.

“The organizations should not compromise on performance while going wireless.

Besides security, the productivity of performance should also be taken into

account while deploying any wireless solution,” says Balakrishnan Anantharaman,

country manager, Blue Coat, India.

To assure easier connectivity over air, enabling larger mobility for

professionals, the adoption of Wi-Fi has gained colossal recognition among

enterprises in recent years. However, it is interesting to note that a large

number of users are oblivious to the fact that they are actually transmitting

crucial information over the air, which can be effortlessly viewed by others.

“It is better to be safe than sorry, and in the dark world of security it

pays to be paranoid. Unless the CIO's get comfortable with the Wi-Fi technology

they must keep the Wi-Fi and wireline networks isolated from each other which is

a good rule to follow in any case,” says Rana Gupta, business head, Safenet,

India & Saarc.

While some experts believe that there is no risk to wireless connectivity if

one has a normal security plugged in the device, others are of the opinion that

the risk of Internet crime increases with the use of wireless connection.

Concerning wireless security, Amuleek Bijral, country manager, RSA, India and

Saarc, the security division of EMC, says, “In the plain vanilla format a

wireless network is prone to more kinds of attacks than wireline. But wireless

networks with apposite security infrastructure and measures in place can become

a much more valuable asset than a wireline network.”

Vulnerabilities of a wireless network were recently witnessed when terrorists

hacked the Wi-Fi network and sent terror mail to various media organizations in

the country. The initial investigations revealed that the attackers hacked the

Wi-Fi capacity of a college in Mumbai and sent the mail through remotely

accessed logs. On similar lines, the terrorists used an unprotected Wi-Fi

network of a US national at his Mumbai residence to send emails to various media

channels few minutes before the recent blasts in Ahmedabad.

The incidents visibly illustrate the high intensity of hackers who in order

to materialize their illegal objectives, can go to any extent. The cyber attacks

are now expected to cause maximum damage and there are various professional

tools being used by the criminals to fulfill their means.

“As wireless networking works by sending information over radio waves,

signals from it can easily be intercepted.”

Echoing similar insights, Captain Raghu Raman, CEO, Mahindra Special Services

Group (MSSG), says, “Attackers can easily exploit vulnerabilities in a wireless

network to hack into secure networks, if not monitored. It is important to

educate users on the use of wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi.” It is

therefore imperative for enterprises to first understand the benefits that

accrue to the organization by virtue of deploying wireless networks before

getting worried about security aspects.

“Wi-Fi and WiMax security, although looks good on paper, when it comes to

reality, it is not trustworthy. Wireless connectivity will take some more time

to gain confidence among masses,” says Ajay Masur, CIO, HIRCO.

Upendra Patel, CTO, eInfochips, says, “We would prefer wired network over

wireless for our enterprise because of its reliability, speed, performance,

scalability, and flexibility. Wireless can only be used optionally for indoor

use within the premises of LAN, confined to restricted usage for roaming users.”

It is indispensable for service providers and vendors to prevent the flaws

that exist in the system. Further, while the level of awareness is quite high in

large enterprises it is below par in SME's in India. The CIO fraternity strongly

believes that there is a critical need for an awareness drive to install

confidence about wireless security among customers.

“As enterprises look for integrated solutions, broadband security providers

have come up with a single application that can combine all these solutions in

addition to bandwidth and multiple ISP link management,” says AK Sekhar, CTO,

YOU Telecom.

The biggest challenge is to implement security without making technology

implementation complex, without generating too much administrative overheads,

and without compromising the security of information which is going to flow

across the enterprise.

“There is now more concern about Web 2.0 applications due to different types

of API's. These new interfaces are potential sources for emerging threats that

cannot be handled by earlier security measures. Nobody really knows what kinds

of vulnerabilities are created by these new APIs,” says Rama Subramanium, head,

systems engineering, Juniper Networks.

As the security architecture is being engrossed throughout enterprise- wide

systems, an enterprise requires diversity of expertise to administer security at

different levels. With servers and processors becoming more and more powerful,

the architecture will change to allow for several applications to run on virtual

machines on the same hardware server.

The Way Out



The growing wigwag of Internet security threats has initiated a plethora of

security concerns among enterprises. Banking on the new emplacement of

connectivity, escalating economy, lack of proper legal system, and unremitting

rise in Internet usage among enterprises and common users, cyber criminals are

eyeing India as one of the most beloved destinations for illegal activities. And

with increased HSPDA and Wi-Fi availability, mobility is becoming more feasible.

This combined with the Web 2.0 escalation there would be an appearance of new

applications, new APIs and, correspondingly, new security concerns.

In the current threat milieu, there are myriad ways in the form of cookies,

firewall, phishing, spam, spyware, Trojan horses, viruses, etc, through which a

hacker can monitor each and every step of an individual on the Web.

According to Prosenjeet Banerjee, head, global security services, HCL Comnet,

“The awareness level among many enterprises is still very low. Though wireless

adoption is to bring more openness among connectivity, confidential integrity of

the organization should not be compromised. Enterprises should be aware of what

they are getting into before deploying any solution or service.”

Although the industry has seen considerable improvement in the broadband

security segment during the last few years, there are various issues that need

to be resolve. Service providers, device vendors, and security vendors need to

work together to offer end-to-end secure solutions to customers, and to

exterminate insecure implementations.

“Essentially, ports are doors that an application goes through to communicate

through the Internet, so when attackers run a port scan they're looking for

ports that are open. They can see that there's a live computer at a certain IP

address. And while dial-ups often connect using different IP addresses,

broadband IP addresses are more likely to be static, which makes it easier for a

hacker to penetrate them,” says Dhupar, of Symantec India.

One has to move ahead with the technology and not limit them from using a new

technology. For a CIO or CTO, understanding the security concerns and

evaluations such as installing patches, employing firewalls, regular updates on

anti-virus solutions, use of intrusion detection systems, etc, can play a very

crucial role to safeguard the interests of an organization.

Given the cornucopia of wireless access devices coupled with competitive

prices and mobile work culture, the Internet security challenges are only going

to worsen. Wireless networks provide an easy accessibility to hackers who, for

instance, can park a car outside the campus or office and clasp into the

wireless network of the enterprise. While WEP encryption can protect the network

to an extent, other security measures such as 2factor authentication should be

employed to protect wireless networks.

Also, experts believe that protection of layers is important, as a solitary

breach could affect the entire network through cascading attacks. It is also

important to verify the mobile computing devices, data encryption through a

variety of encryption methodologies, and to have standard VPN solutions for the

wired world or optimized TCP/IP protocol for wireless networks before sending

any data.

To overcome various Internet security challenges enterprises need more

comprehensive policies and solutions that would be proactive rather than

reactive.

To effectively avoid disruptions caused by Internet security threats,

organizations must adopt end-to-end security solutions to address domains such

as network endpoints from attack, and network admission control and protection

from threats emerging from guest/non-corporate assets. In addition, content

security (for threats emerging from mail and Web) and configure management is

also pivotal.

“There are concerns raised by middle and large enterprise on security threats

through Wi-Fi LAN. And for the same we propose the 802.1 authentication in Wi-Fi

LAN, and hence don't allow any foreign devices to have access to the LAN,” says

PK Saji, VP, technology, Sify Technologies.

Considering the variety of applications that an enterprise uses to accomplish

its business activities, a unified key management solution is very crucial. The

security concerns are dramatically rising, and, as organizations are going

digital, the security architecture is being engrossed throughout enterprise wide

systems.

Jatinder Singh



jatinders@cybermedia.co.in