Month: October 2022

The act of altering a domain name’s registration without the original owner’s consent or by abusing privileges on domain hosting and domain registrar systems is known as domain hijacking. The business of the original domain name owner suffers greatly from domain name hijacking, which has a variety of consequences, including:

Financial losses: Businesses that depend on their websites for sales, such as e-commerce and SaaS firms, stand to lose millions of dollars if they lose ownership of one of their most important assets, the domain. One of the biggest cybersecurity concerns facing internet organizations is domain hijacking.

Damage to reputation: Domain hijackers may take over an infected domain’s email accounts and use the name to support other cyberattacks like malware installation or social engineering assaults.

Regulatory damages: By acquiring control of a domain name, hijackers might replace the genuine web page with a copycat one intended to collect sensitive information (PII). This practice is known as phishing. The objective is to any information that might be used in identity theft or to obtain unauthorized access to consumer accounts, including account information, contact information (such as email addresses and phone numbers), social media accounts, personal data, and IP addresses.

Top Domain Hijacking Techniques

• The most effective method is social engineering (phishing). The domain hijacker may impersonate the registrar and phone the domain owner, or he may persuade him to enter the required data on a phony login page.
• Another technique involves the attacker claiming to be the domain owner in order to persuade a domain registrar to transfer domain control to them.
• The hijacker may also use the registrar system’s vulnerability to their advantage.
• Using obsolete software, especially old WordPress installations, is risky since they might be exploited for weak passwords or subject to SQL injection attacks.
• A victim’s PC may be infected with malware by hijackers in order to get passwords.
• Another option for domain hijackers is to wait until the domain is about to expire in the hopes that a human mistake would prevent the renewal in time.

What is the Process of Domain Hijacking?

Typically, domain hijacking happens when someone gains access to a domain name registrar without authorization or takes advantage of a vulnerability therein, via social engineering, or by accessing the domain name owner’s email address and then changing their domain name registrar password.

In order to impersonate the real domain name owner and convince the domain registrar to change the registration details or transfer the domain to another registrar under their control, it is also a frequent practice to obtain personal information about the real domain name owner. Other techniques include keyloggers stealing login passwords, email vulnerabilities, vulnerabilities at the domain registration level, and phishing assaults.

How to Get Back Stolen Domains

What your registrar can do to stop the assault will have a significant impact on your ability to reclaim a hijacked domain. Sometimes the original owner might get the registration information. When the hijacker was able to shift to another registrar, especially if that registrant is based in a foreign country, things become trickier.

Ask your registrar to use ICANN’s Registrar Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy when a stolen domain is moved to another registrar in an effort to reclaim ownership of the name. There is also the possibility of using ICANN’s Uniform Domain Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) to try to reclaim stolen domain names, however, this approach may not be suitable in all circumstances.

In certain circumstances, this won’t work, and you’ll need to file a lawsuit to regain the domain. The genuine problem (loss of website and/or email) may take a while to resolve because of the extensive procedure involved.

Register immediately by calling (416) 471-4545 or by visiting http://www.cybercert.ca.

A hashing algorithm is a function that produces a fixed-length numeric string output from a data string. In most cases, the output string is much shorter than the original data. Since hash algorithms are intended to be collision-resistant, it is very unlikely that two pieces of data would ever produce the same text.

The MD5 (Message-Digest algorithm 5) and the SHA-1 were the most used hashing algorithms. But MD5 and SHA-1 are considered no more secure hashing algorithms since it was hacked and was replaced by a secure SHA-2, which is a more secure hashtag. The SHA-256 algorithm returns hash value of 256-bits or 64 hexadecimal digits.

We would have to go through each and every item in the list if we were to search for anything in it. On the other hand, if we utilized a hashing algorithm to index a place based on the object’s key, we could instantly access its value by traveling to that specific index. Hashing expedites the process of locating an item on a list.

A hash function essentially transfers one piece of data to another. They are used to produce indices and checksums, among other things. Passwords are encrypted and signed using cryptographic hashes. Wikipedia has a well-written explanation that is probably more concise than mine.

Since hashing algorithms are intended to be collision-resistant, it is very unlikely that two pieces of data would ever produce the same text. When transferring or storing digital files, it is standard practice to verify data integrity using SHA-2.

Hash functions are utilized for three main reasons:

A value may map to a location by being hashed into a number for quick search. As a result, a value may be discovered all at once rather than having to be sought in a lengthy list. These types of data collections are referred to as dictionaries, hashmaps, hashtables, hashsets, etc.

Password storing and comparison – a server may keep the hash value rather than the password by employing a one-way hash (i.e., it cannot be reversed). The user’s password is then transformed into the hash value and submitted to the server for comparison when they log in again. As a result, the server never receives or sees the password itself; instead, some value is derivable from the password. It protects the user’s credentials against various espionage techniques.

Data integrity tests, such as CRC hashing, cause hashes to vary considerably even though the data is just slightly changed. This implies that comparing data supplied via a communication channel against a hash may detect data corruption. Most types of networks divide data into packets, each of which contains a hash that allows the recipient to verify that they got the data correctly by comparing the computed hash of the received data to the received hash.

Thus, the “issues” that hashing algorithms addressed were:

• locating a certain item in a long list without having to hunt for it.
• saving “passwords” and login information without ever transmitting or really keeping any such information.
• ensuring that no damaged data is received after being transmitted.

Learn more by registering for CISSP by calling (416) 471-4545 or visiting http://www.cybercert.ca

In Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), certificates are used for authentication in place of Email ID and Password. PKI utilizes asymmetric encryption, which employs public and Private Keys, to encrypt communication. The management of certificates and keys is handled by PKI, which also generates a very secure environment that users, programs, and other devices may utilize. For both parties to trust one another and verify their validity, PKI employs X.509 certificates and public keys, where the key is used for end-to-end encrypted communication.

While the user verifies the server’s authenticity to ensure it is not a spoof, PKI is mainly utilized in TLS/SSL to secure connections between the user and the server. IoT device authentication may also be done using SSL certificates.

The purpose of Public Key Infrastructure

PKI provides a mechanism to identify users, gadgets, and applications while delivering strong encryption to ensure that both sides’ communications stay private. PKI offers digital signatures and certificates in addition to authentication and identification to let certificate holders build personalized login credentials and verify their identity.

PKI is used by TLS/SSL, which is used across the Internet. The client obtains the certificate and verifies it to guarantee its validity before communicating with the server (in this example, a web browser). Afterward, it uses asymmetric encryption to secure all communication with and from the server. The public key, signature method, issuer of the certificate, certificate holder, and other details are all included in the digital certificate.

PKI is used in software signing, digital signatures, and SSL across the internet. Smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, passports, mobile banking, and other gadgets employ PKI. Organizations use PKI in various methods to maintain security at its highest level, solve compliance difficulties, adhere to all legislation, and keep everything secure.

What encryptions are used in Public Key Infrastructure?

Symmetric and asymmetric encryption are both used by PKI to safeguard all of its resources.

In asymmetric encryption, two different keys are used for encryption and decryption, also known as public key cryptography. A public key is one of them, while a private key is the other. Although the private key cannot be produced from the public key, the public key may be used to create the private key. Only the public key may decode encryption and vice versa. This pair of keys is called a “public and private key pair.”

A public key that will start a secure conversation between two parties is connected to SSL certificates for encrypted communication between a client and a server. In comparison to symmetric encryption, asymmetric encryption is more recent and slower. A secret key is exchanged via asymmetric encryption during the first handshake between the two parties.

For subsequent communication, symmetric encryption is established using the exchanged secret key. Because symmetric encryption is quicker than asymmetric encryption, solid end-to-end security may be achieved by combining the two.

Digital certificates: what are they? What does it do?

In PKI, digital certificates are often utilized. A digital certificate is a particular form of identity for a person, thing, server, website, and other application. Digital certificates are used to authenticate and verify an entity’s legitimacy. It also enables two computers to trust and establish encrypted communication without worrying about becoming spoofs. Additionally, it aids in verification, which facilitates the growth and credibility of e-commerce in the payment industry.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) assists under-resourced security operations analysts in keeping ahead of threats as cyberattacks increase in number and complexity. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies like machine learning and natural language processing curate threat information from millions of research papers, blogs, and news articles to provide quick insights to cut through the noise of daily alerts, significantly lowering reaction times.

The world’s dangerous environment is evolving. Consumers who use the internet nowadays confront several new hazards. Massive, mainly automated botnets that infect consumer electronics are one issue. On the other hand, social engineering (or phishing) assaults aim to trick people into disclosing their cash and personal information.

Security solutions in the past were primarily reactive: researchers at cybersecurity businesses would find new malware samples, analyze them, and add them to malware lists. Although the industry continues to use this strategy, it is now operating more proactively, particularly in light of concerns from social engineering.

In this change, machine learning or AI algorithms are crucial. They are tremendously helpful for quickly automating decision-making processes and identifying patterns from incomplete or altered data, even if they are not a one-stop solution for all cybersecurity issues. These algorithms function by first learning from real-world information, such as current security risks, false positives, and the most recent dangers discovered by researchers across the globe.

AI algorithms are very effective pattern-detection tools that outperform antiquated list-based security methods. AI improves and outperforms these systems by spotting new threats with irregular patterns. This level of AI competency requires significant learning, which can only be attained with reliable data sources for each danger vector.

Systems that use machine learning are not perfect and are subject to error. However, once the algorithms have a margin of error that is sufficiently small, they become essential for online security since they make decisions quickly while minimizing user friction. This is important for scaling up cybersecurity and has a positive side effect of employing AI. It increases security and effectively addresses a wide range of threats.

Due to the nature of security threats, malware, and adversarial tactics—which often develop by building upon prior exploitations and viruses—AI algorithms can avoid specific fresh attacks. Every year, very few original surfaces; instead, most criminal actors either employ malware-as-a-service suites or modify already-existing, released dangerous code.

The ability to warn users before they reach dubious websites, especially phishing sites, is one of the most exciting and significant developments in AI cybersecurity. Using AI to stop new attacks before they surface on industry databases is crucial since social engineering attempts often do the most significant harm and cause customers to lose their privacy and money.

In the future, cloud-based AI-driven cybersecurity will also have a crucial function beyond traditional firewalls and antivirus software since it may be installed on the router to improve the security of all devices connected to a network.

Call +1 416-471-4545 or go to https://www.cybercert.ca/ to register for our course.

An encrypted connection known as a VPN tunnel ensures that neither your ISP nor the sites you visit have access to your personal information or your online activities, barring the practical impossibility of cracking the encryption. The alpha and omega of online safety, according to many VPN providers, are tunnels since they significantly increase the security of your internet connection.

In order to circumvent some of this monitoring, a VPN, or virtual private network, reroutes your connection and then encrypts it. Your connection is redirected via one of its servers rather than through your ISP to the website. This changes your IP address to the server’s, giving the impression that you are in another place. This makes it more difficult to track you and makes it easier for you to get over local limitations.

One helpful approach to picture VPN tunnels is to imagine yourself operating a vehicle. Anyone can see you while you’re driving on the open road. It becomes much more difficult as soon as you enter a tunnel. The tunnel in a VPN also includes guards on either end and some kind of anti-surveillance security within, to extend the analogy a bit further.

A VPN employs what is referred to as a protocol to encrypt your connection. A protocol is kind of agreement between two computers on how to “speak” to each other using certain rules. This establishes specifications for a VPN protocol, including the kind of encryption to be used and the ports via which traffic should be routed.

There are other encryption methods available, but AES is by far the most used. It is available in two versions: 128-bit and 256-bit, the latter of which is sometimes referred to as “military-grade encryption.” However, in terms of security, It doesn’t seem to be much of a difference in practice. Your speed is one of several variables that might be impacted by the protocol type. In general, your connection will be slower the “heavier” the encryption.

This is still a modest price to pay for greater online security and some degree of anonymity, however. A solid VPN service can shield you from monitoring and other types of intrusion, however, you’ll still need to utilize incognito mode to further cover your digital trails and take some common sense measures like avoiding opening questionable links.

Typically, when a user connects a device to a VPN, the VPN tunnel receives all of the user’s network traffic. Split tunneling enables a portion of the traffic to leave the VPN tunnel. Split tunneling essentially allows users’ devices to connect to two networks at once, one public and one private. The Safe Shell (SSH) protocol creates secure tunnels as well as encrypted communications between clients and servers. SSH works at the application layer, or layer 7, of the OSI model. The network layer is where IPsec, IP-in-IP, and GRE function in contrast.

A tunneling mechanism called IP-in-IP is used to include IP packets within other IP packets. IP-in-IP is not utilized for VPNs and does not encrypt packets. Its primary application is to create network pathways that are otherwise unavailable.

Call +1 416-471-4545 or go to https://www.cybercert.ca/ to receive your 25% discount on all cyber security courses.

Cybersecurity layers of protection

I’ve said that adding more layers of security may make your data safer in order to clarify why we need firewalls, antivirus software, and passwords in addition to security solutions (if done right). Making a hacker clear as many hurdles as you can before they can access your sensitive data will lower your risk.

Here, locking up the royal jewels is the parallel. Then you close the lockable chest that is enclosed in the vault and place the box inside. If you want to take the comparison a step further, you might imagine everything as being contained inside a fortress that is encircled by castle walls and all of which is guarded by a moat.

Putting extra security measures in place might make it more difficult for the wrong individuals to access your sensitive data, even if a hacker manages to get past one tier of defense. Because of this, you often need to go through numerous stages, such as inputting a password to access your computer, another one to access a particular program or service, and then utilizing 2-factor authentication to confirm your identity.

Cybersecurity arms race

When it comes to cybersecurity, both sides are continually improving their weapons and defenses, much as in an arms race. You must constantly improve your security plan or you risk falling behind the pack while using a sword and shield to fend off fighter jets.

On the one hand, hackers are continuously developing new phishing tactics, making new and more deadly varieties of malware, constructing traps for victims to fall into, and looking for new weaknesses to attack.

On the other hand, in order to avoid becoming a victim of new threats, the good guys need to create safeguards against them, update security software definition files continuously, patch software and operating systems on a regular basis, be vigilant online and inform everyone in their organization about them.

Your primary email holds the keys to many other accounts

Recently, we had to explain to a computer newbie why hackers may potentially access other accounts tied to the main email account if they get access to it (banking, shopping, secondary email accounts, etc.).

The analogy we used to make everything make sense was as follows: Assume that your family members dwell in several homes, and you store the keys to each location at your principal household. If someone breaks into the main home, they may enter the other residences as well since they have access to all the keys. You must thus replace the locks at every residence if you want to be secure; otherwise, you risk another break-in.

This entails updating any account passwords that are connected to your main email address in the real world. Make sure that no one has tampered with your associated cellphone numbers, backup email addresses, and security questions across all of your accounts, since these are additional entry points the bad guys may use even if the primary passwords are changed.

Call +1 416-471-4545 or go to https://www.cybercert.ca/ to receive your 25% discount on all cyber security courses.

A communication, piece of software, or digital document can have its integrity and validity verified using a digital signature, which is a mathematical process. It gives much more intrinsic security than a handwritten signature or stamped seal, yet it is the digital version of them. The issue of tampering and impersonation in digital communications is addressed by a digital signature.

The origin, authenticity, and status of electronic documents, transactions, or digital messages may be verified using digital signatures. They can also be used by signers to confirm informed consent. Any message, encrypted or not, can utilize a digital signature as long as the recipient has the assurance of the sender’s identity and that the message was sent intact. Because a digital signature is specific to both the document and the signer and links them together, it is challenging for the signer to claim not to have signed something.

It is simple to sign any outgoing emails and authenticate digitally signed incoming messages because the majority of current email applications accept the usage of digital signatures and digital certificates. Additionally, digital signatures are frequently employed to demonstrate the veracity, accuracy, and nonrepudiation of communications and transactions made via the internet.

Public key cryptography, commonly referred to as asymmetric cryptography, is the foundation of digital signatures. Two keys are produced using a public key method, such as RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman), to create a pair of keys that are mathematically connected, one private and one public.

Public key cryptography’s two mutually authenticating cryptographic keys are how digital signatures function. Data connected to the digital signature is encrypted using a private key by the person who makes it, and can only be decrypted using the signer’s public key.

A fault with the document or the signature is present if the receiver cannot access the document using the signer’s public key. Digital signatures are verified in this way.

With digital signature technology, all parties must have faith that the person who created the signature has protected the confidentiality of the private key. If a third-party gains access to the private signing key, they might forge digital signatures in the private key holder’s name.

What advantages can digital signatures offer?

• The fundamental advantage of digital signatures is security. Digital signatures have security features built in that make sure documents aren’t changed and signatures are authentic. The following security techniques and characteristics are applied to digital signatures:
• Passwords, codes, and personal identification numbers (PINs). used to validate a signer’s identity and to certify that their signature is genuine. The most often utilized techniques are email, username, and password.
• Asymmetric encryption utilizes a public key technique that combines encryption and authentication using both private and public keys.
• Checksum. The total of the right digits in a piece of digital data is represented by a lengthy string of letters and numbers. This string may be compared in order to find faults or changes in the digital data. Data fingerprints are created via checksums.
• periodic redundancy review (CRC). In digital networks and storage devices, an error-detecting code and verification function is utilized to find modifications to raw data.
• Validation by the certificate authority (CA). By accepting, authenticating, issuing, and maintaining digital certificates, CAs serve as trustworthy third parties and provide digital signatures. False digital certificates may be prevented by using CAs.
• Validation by a trust service provider (TSP). A TSP is a natural person or business that validates digital signatures for clients and provides validation results.

Call +1 416-471-4545 or go to https://www.cybercert.ca/ to receive your 25% discount on all cyber security courses.