American Military University Cyberstalking Passwords Discussion

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Anthony Simpson(Apr 16, 2020 10:55 PM)- Read by: 2
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Hello Class,
Hopefully you are all doing well and will continue to do well as long as we need to be
quarantined. I know personally speaking that it has been pretty rough with the quarantine
part because I am stuck at home with very little physical activity for myself and my children,
pretty miserable to say the least. This week we are focusing on mobile phone (smart phone)
and PDA applications and out of six of the software tools that were given to us to choose from,
I chose to write about Device Seizure from the producers Paraben.
Paraben is a producer who created the forensic too called Device Seizure, otherwise known as
DS; the device that is used for all things involved with forensics is not only handheld, but
powerful also as it allows the user or investigator to perform logical and physical acquisitions
for data, the recovery of deleted data, and finally – entire data dumps on exactly 2400 models
of mobile devices like PDA’s and smartphones (Hoog, 2011, pp. 1). The main goal of the
forensic tool is to retrieve data from these mobile devices in the best way possible, which just
happens to be software applications. As an organization, Paraben is known for their incredible
capability to keep up with the technology that comes forth with every jump in technological
advances; this means that every time technology jumps to a newer level of sophistication,
Device Seizure will still have the capabilities of acquiring multimedia files such as messages
(text), images, video and audio files (Hoog, 2011, pp. 2).
Anthony
Reference(s)
Hoog, Andrew. (2011). Android Forensic Techniques. Retrieved
from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computer-science/paraben-device-seizure on 16,
April 2020
student 2
Good Evening Class,
1. Passwords are the primary method used to verify the identity of users, and the security of
passwords must be of utmost importance to protect not only the user but the network as well.
Passwords present significant risk factors in terms of security in information systems, as they
are vulnerable to attacks mainly due to user behaviors and practices, but not necessarily
related to the password system itself. Therefore, the most important thing a user can do to
protect an account from hacking is to create a strong password. Morris emphasizes that
“authentication is one of the most critical areas in computer security, and the use of traditional
text-based passwords has been well studied. However, this type of authentication mechanism
has drawbacks” (742). There are several methods to add security to systems, and therefore,
a secure password, depending on the computer’s operating system, can use encryption
programs. For example, in Linux OS we can use shadow file formats. “The shadow password
format stores account information in the /etc/passwd file in a compatible format, and the
password is stored as a single “x” character (i.e., not stored in this file). The /etc/shadow file is
readable only by the root account and is, therefore, less of security risk” (Linux). We need to
be aware that hackers will try to use any means to crack passwords. If an attacker can access
the computer as a regular user, they can run any number of password cracking programs
against it. A shadow password could eliminate this type of attack by storing the password
hashes in the / etc / shadow file readable by the root user. This forces the potential attacker to
try to discover the password remotely but the attacks are much slower and leave visible
traces, as failed connection attempts are logged to the system files. “Hackers can calculate
the percentage of passwords which can be cracked with the implemented algorithm given
several guesses” (Morris, 2019, pg. 745).
2. Computer hacking can be justified and there are specific guidelines when this is applicable.
As we know the rapid pace of technological advancement often makes even prudent
legislation obsolete after a relatively short period of time. The Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) is dated from 2003, however, an update on the privacy rule on the
health data legislation provides de answer to this question. First, let’s see what constitutes a
security breach in this new privacy rule. “An impermissible use or disclosure of protected
health information is presumed to be a breach unless the covered entity or business
associate, as applicable, demonstrates that there is a low probability that the protected health
information has been compromised based on a risk assessment of at least the following
factors” (HIPAA). As we can see, it sounds logical and feasibly to “hack” a computer under the
emergency circumstances as long as the hacker can demonstrate it was done under the
condition prescribed by law. The HHS HIPAA Privacy Rule further clarifies this procedure.
“Covered entities may use and disclose protected health information without individual
authorization as required by law (including by statute, regulation, or court orders). Covered
entities may also disclose to law enforcement if the information is needed to identify or
apprehend an escapee or violent criminal” (HHS, 2000).
3. The term cyberstalking appears in the media with increasing frequency. Cyberstalking may
cause psychological distress similar to that of real-world stalking” (Dreßing, et al., 2009).
Cyberstalking continues to be a major problem in the US, and it is as rampant as ever,
despite efforts by major technology companies to reduce bullying and harassment. The
majority of the cyberstalks are men and the majority of the victims are women. In many cases
the cyberstalking and the victim had a prior relationship, however cyberstalking by strangers
is increasing due to the easy access to social media victim’s information, including pictures,
phone numbers, addresses, etc. In January 2020, a Texas man was arrested and charged
with cyber-stalking female real estate agents in the Waco area. The investigation began in
Texas after about a half-dozen female real estate agents in the Waco area received sexually
explicit photographs sent from cellphone numbers they didn’t recognize. They also received
photos of their own children, evidently copied from social media pages. The photos of their
children were accompanied by descriptions of what the stalker, or stalkers, would like to do to
the children sexually, according to detectives” (KLTV, 2020)
References:
Morris, Robert, Ken Thompson, and Robert Morris. “Password Security.” Communications of
the ACM 22.11 (1979): 594–597. Web.
Linux (2019) Linux Password & Shadow File Formats. Retrieved from
https://www.tldp.org/LDP/lame/LAME/linux-admin-made-easy/shadow-file-formats.html
HIPAA (2019) Breach Notification Rule. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/forprofessionals/breach-notification/index.html
HHS (2002) Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Retrieved from
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/laws-regulations/index.html
Dreßing, H. et al. “Cyberstalking.” Der Nervenarzt 80.7 (2009): 833–836. Web.
Protection of Children Online: Federal and State Laws Addressing Cyberstalking,
Cyberharassment, and Cyberbullying (RL34651). N.p. Print.
KLTV (2020) Texan arrested in cyber-stalking probe. Retrieved from
https://www.kltv.com/2020/01/06/texas-man-charged-with-cyber-stalking-female-real-estateagents-possibly-across-states/
Wellington