ECOM6013 Topic 6 E-Commerce Security

Author: pseudoyu | 799 words, 4 minutes | comments | 2020-09-26 | Category: Develop

e-commerce, ecom6013, hku

Translations: ZH

ECOM6013 E-Commerce Technologies

Topic 6 E-Commerce Security

Good E-Commerce Security

  • Highest degree of security
    • New technologies
    • Organizational policies and procedures
    • Industry standards and government law
  • Other factors
    • Cost of security vs. potential loss
    • Security often breaks at weakest link

The Tense Between Security and Other Values

  • Security vs. Easy of use
    • More Secure -> More difficult to use + slower
  • Security vs. Desire of individuals to act anonmously

Basic E-Commerce Security Issues and Landscape

  • E-Commerce security requirements
    • Authentication (verify the real identity)
    • Authorization (determine the entity’s access)
    • Auditing
    • Availability
    • Nonrepudiation (assurance that trading partners can’t falsely deny their purchase or transaction)
  • Risk (a vulnerability will be known and used)
  • Social engineering (non-technical attack, trick users to do some certain actions)
  • Spam

E-Commerce of Today

  • Threats
    • Money thefts
    • Identity thefts
    • Malware
  • Solutions
    • Authentication
    • Intrusion checking
    • Firewalls
    • Education

Security Threats in the E-Commerce Environment

  • Three key points of vulnerability
    • Client
    • Server
    • Communication pipeline (network channels)

vulnerable_points_in_ecommerce

Most Common Security Threats

  • Malicious code
    • Viruses
    • Worms
    • Ransomeware
    • Trojan horses
    • Backdoors
    • Bots, botnets
  • Unwanted programs
    • Browser parasites
    • Adware
    • Spyware
  • Phishing
    • Deceptive online attack to obtain confidential information
    • Social engineering, e-mail scams, spoofing legitimate websites
    • Used for identity fraud and theft
  • Hacking and cybervandalism
    • Hackers vs. Crackers
    • Cybervandalism (intentionally disrupting, defacing, destroying websites)
    • Hacktivism
  • Data breach
  • Credit card fraud/theft
  • Spoofing
  • Pharming
  • Spam / junk websites
  • Denial of sevices (DoS) attack (useless traffic to overwhelm network)
  • Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack (multiple computers to attack target network)
  • Sniffing (eavesdropping program that monitors information traveling over a network)
  • Insider jobs
    • Single financial threats
    • Poorly designed security policy and server / client software
  • Social network issues
  • Mobile platform issues
  • Cloud security issues
  • IoT security issues

The Information Assurance Model and Defense Objectives

  • CIA security triad
    • Confidentiality
    • Integrity
    • Availability

Three Dimensions in Internet Security

  • Integrity
  • Nonrepudiation
  • Authenticity
  • Confidentiality
  • Privacy
  • Availability

Technology Solutions

  • Protecting internet communications
    • Cryptography
  • Securing channels of communication
    • SSL, TLS
      • Establishes a secure, negotiated client-server session in which URL of requested document, along with contents, is encrypted
      • ssl_protect
    • S-HTTP
      • Provides a secure message-oriented communications protocol designed for use in conjunction with HTTP
    • VPNs
      • Allows remote users to securely access internal network via the Internet, using Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP)
    • Wi-Fi
  • Protecting networks
    • Firewalls
    • Proxy servers
    • Intrusion Detection System (IDS)
    • firewall
  • Protecting servers and clients
    • OS security
      • Upgrades
      • Patches
    • Anti-virus software
      • Easiest and least expensive way to prevent threats to system integrity
      • Requires daily updates

Managing Risks

  • Technology
  • Effective management policies
  • Public laws and active enforcement

A Security Plan: Management Policies

  • Risk assessment
  • Security policy
  • Implementation plan
    • Security organization
    • Access controls
    • Authentication procedures, including biometrics
    • Authorization policies, authorization management systems
  • Security audit

security_plan

Basic Concepts of User Authentication

  • Something you know
    • Password
    • PIN
    • OTP
  • Something you have
    • Physical key
    • Token
    • Magnetic card
    • Smartcard
  • Something you are
    • Fingerprint
    • Voice

Best use 2 Factors Authentication (2FA)

Encryption

  • Transfer data into cipher text readable only by sender and receiver
  • Secures stored information and information transmission
  • Provide 4/6 key dimensions of E-Commerce security
    • authentication
    • Confidentiality
    • Message Integrity
    • Nonrepudiation

Symmetric Key Cryptography

  • Sender and receiver use same digital key to encrypt and decrypt message
  • Requires different set of keys for each transaction
  • Strength of encryption
    • Length of binary key used to encrypt data
  • Standards
    • Data Encryption Standard (DES, 1977)
    • Advanced Encryption Standard (AES, 2000)
    • Other standards use keys with up to 2,048 bits

Public Key Cryptography

  • Uses two mathematically related digital keys
    • Public key (widely disseminated)
    • Private key (kept secret by owner)
  • Both keys used to encrypt and decrypt message
    • Once key used to encrypt message, same key cannot be used to decrypt message
    • Sender uses recipient’s public key to encrypt message
    • Recipient uses his/her private key to decrypt it

public_key_cryptography

Public Key Encryption Using Digital Signatures and Hash Digests

  • Hash function
    • Mathematical algorithm (e.g. MD5 and SHA-1) that produces fixed-length number called message or hash digest
  • Sender applies hash function to the message and then encrypts the message AND the hash digest with recipient’s public key
  • Sender then encrypts the whole package with sender’s private key, creating digital signature for authenticity, nonrepudiation
  • Recipient first uses sender’s public key to authenticate the message and then the recipient’s private key to decrypt the hash digest and the message

public_key_cryptography_digital_signature

Digital Envelop

  • Addresses weaknesses of
    • Public key encryption (computationally slow)
    • Symmetric key encryption (insecure transmission lines)
  • Uses symmetric key encryption to encrypt document
  • Uses public key encryption to encrypt and send symmetric key

digital_envelop

Digital Certificates and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)

  • Digital certificate
    • Name of subjects/company
    • Subject’s public key
    • Digital certificate serial number
    • Expiration date, issuance date
    • Digital signature of certification authority (trusted third party institution) that issues certificate
  • Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
    • CAs and digital certificate procedures that are accepted by all parties

digital_certificate

Limits to Encryption Solutions

  • Doesn’t protect storage of private key
  • No guarantee that verifying computer of merchant is secure
  • CAs are unregulated, self-selecting organizations

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pseudoyu

Author

pseudoyu

Backend & Smart Contract Developer, MSc Graduate in ECIC(Electronic Commerce and Internet Computing) @ The University of Hong Kong (HKU). Love to learn and build things. Follow me on GitHub


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