Big Idea 5.6 Safe Computing

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Personal Identifiable Information (PII)

Personal Identifiable Information or PII is a type of information that is specific to you. For example, your age or race would be an example but something like your favorite cat isn’t (Will insists your diet is a PII but it’s not).

There are times when we want to post our PII online. For example, you would want to upload it to your job profile or a site like LinkedIn because you want people to see it. However, be careful where you upload this data. It will be known by everyone since it’s public.

Some things that you should be cautious about to upload (gray area) would be:

  • Birth date
  • Place of birth
  • Address
  • Phone number
  • Maiden names
  • Drivers License Number

There are things, however, that you will most likely have to upload publicly OR can be found with a quick search. For example:

  • Name
  • Date of Birth
  • SSN
  • Bank Account info
  • Email
  • Picture
  • What high school you attended
  • What college you went to
  • Properties you own
  • State/City of residence
  • Previous residence

You could upload this online (some you have to. Ex: home address for Amazon) but be careful where you upload it. You don’t want to post your mother’s maiden name on social media.

Things that you should keep confidential would be:

  • Private credentials for accounts and what-not
  • Two-factor authentication
  • This is common for sensitive things like financial data
  • Social security numbers
  • Tax records
  • Medical information
  • Financial data

Most if not all financial and government documents should be kept private. However, there will be times when you need to share this. For example, if you are applying for a RealID (form of identification), you will need to submit your social security number.

POPCORN HACK 1:

How do you decide what personal information to share online and what to keep confidential?

Beware, Establish practices for your own Safety

Authentication

Authentication measures protect devices and information from unauthorized access.

Strong Passwords

The easier the password is to guess, the easier it is to make a mess. Strong passwords:

  • 10 or more characters
  • Must contain a symbol
  • Must contain a number
  • Must contain lowercase and uppercase letters
  • Avoid dictionary words/things known about you (ex. “Password”, “123456”, your birthday, your name, your pet’s name, etc.) The above are things hackers can look for while guessing your password

    Types of Authentication

  • What the user knows (ex. passwords, answers to security questions, etc.)
  • What you are (ex. biometric data like eye scan, palm print, thumbprint, etc.)
  • What you have (ex. keycards, etc.)

    Multi-factor Authentication

    When one or more of these authentication measures are used, it is considered multi-factor authentication.

Precautions

  • Run Virus scans to help prevent malicious code from getting into and affecting your system.
  • Keeping the operating system and other software up to date can also fix errors that would allow a virus or malware to compromise a system.

POPCORN HACK 2:

How can multi-factor authentication enhance security?

Nefarious Uses of Internet

Virus and Malware

Virus

  • Viruses can allow unauthorized access by modifying the operating system to accept any user without authentication.
  • Virus malicious programs that can copy themselves and gain access to systems that they are not supposed to be in.

    Malware

  • Malware is often intended to damage a computing system or take partial control over its operation.
  • Infiltrates a system by posing as legitimate programs or by attaching itself to legitimate programs, like an email attachment.
  • Malware is often sent in attachments to things in email. Often they request you to click on an attachment and it starts the process of adding a virus to your computer.

    Phishing: Phishing is an attempt to trick a user into providing personal information (PII) by using social manipulation. Phishing emails look like they’re from a trusted source. They may appear to be an email from a bank or credit card company or a store. They could also be from a Nigerian prince or a fish who is phishing.

They try to trick you into clicking a link and may try to scare you or lure you with the promise of something like money. The link could cause unexpected harm. They may install a virus or keylogger on your computer. A keylogger records keystrokes made by the user which can be used to get credentials. They could also turn your computer into a rogue access point or a fake wireless network which can be used to infect other computers.

Factors to Increase Security of System

Encryption is a good way to increase security of a system.

  • Passwords vs. keys: A password is something used to login or unlock an account, while a key is used to encrypt/decrypt the data being used or transferred by that account.
    Demoing cryptography
  • Symmetric Encryption - Basic ciphers or codes
  • Symmetric encryption uses one key to encrypt and decrypt
    • Examples: Caesar Cipher, Morse Code, Rail Fence Cipher, PSK, etc.
  • Asymmetric encryption is much more secure. It uses public keys to encrypt and private keys to decrypt.
    • Examples: RSA, Diffie-Hellman, Public Key Encryption

“Alice and Bob”

Alice wants to send an encrypted message to her friend Bob. With symmetric key encryption, the following process ensues:
Alice and Bob Symmetric

Pretty simple, right! You know what else is simple? Trying to share the encryption/decryption key without letting anyone else know. Enter: Asymmetric Encryption

Bob Public Alice Public

POPCORN HACK 3:

What are the key differences between symmetric and asymmetric encryption?

SSL/TLS

Uses a Certificate Authority(CA) to generate a signed certificate that proves the server’s legitamacy.

CA Diagram

Authentication: SSL/TLS certificates ensure the identity of the server and sometimes the client. They contain information about the entity they are issued to, including the domain name and public key.

Encryption: SSL/TLS certificates facilitate encrypted communication between the client and server. They enable the encryption of data transmitted over the internet, preventing eavesdropping and unauthorized access.

Certificate Authorities (CAs): CAs issue SSL/TLS certificates after verifying the identity of the certificate requester. They act as trusted third parties that sign and validate the authenticity of certificates.

Public and Private Keys: SSL/TLS certificates use asymmetric encryption, involving a public key to encrypt data and a private key to decrypt it. The public key is embedded in the certificate while the corresponding private key is securely held by the server.

Handshake Protocol: When a client connects to a server, they engage in a handshake protocol to establish a secure connection. This involves agreeing on encryption algorithms, exchanging keys, and verifying the authenticity of the certificates.

Expiration and Renewal: SSL/TLS certificates have a validity period. They need to be periodically renewed to maintain secure communication. Expired certificates can disrupt services and pose security risks.

HTTPS: SSL/TLS certificates are commonly used in web browsers to enable HTTPS connections. They signal a secure connection, ensuring data integrity, confidentiality, and authenticity between the web server and the user’s browser.

  • Ex: When we used certbot to make our backend server run using HTTPS in the passion project

Firewall and antivirus Firewall and antivirus software is a really good and easy way to protect your computer. Pretty much all computers come with this software and are enabled as a default. Just make sure to not disable it!

Homework

  1. Describe PII you have seen on a project in CompSci Principles. Managing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is essential for security and privacy in computer science concepts. PII is any data that may be used to identify a specific person, including social security numbers, names, addresses, and more. PII must be protected in a project by adhering to best practices, which include encryption, access controls, and secure storage techniques.
  2. Describe good and bad passwords? What is another step that is used to assist in authentication? Good Passwords: Strong passwords usually consist of a combination of capital and lowercase letters, digits, and special characters. They frequently use a combination of unrelated words or phrases, making them distinctive and difficult to guess. Another issue is length; passwords that are longer are typically more safe. Bad Passwords: Typically, bad passwords are straightforward and quick to figure out. Common words, sequential letters (like “123456”), or readily available personal information like names or birthdates are frequently used. Using the same password for several accounts is likewise not a good idea. Extra Authentication Step: To improve security, there is an extra step called multi-factor authentication (MFA). It entails identity verification using several separate techniques, including a password and a temporary code sent to a mobile device.
  3. Try to describe Symmetric and Asymmetric encryption. Symmetric Encryption: In symmetric encryption, the encryption and decryption processes share a single key. All parties involved must safely share the same key. Compared to asymmetric encryption, it is faster, but key exchange needs to be done securely. A pair of keys is used in asymmetric encryption: a public key is used for encryption, while a private key is used for decryption. While the private key needs to be kept confidential, the public key can be shared freely. It offers a safe way to communicate without requiring a shared secret key.
  4. Provide an example of encryption we used in AWS deployment. Frequently, Amazon S3 and AWS Key Management Service (KMS) are used to implement encryption. For instance, you may set up server-side encryption for an S3 bucket, which encrypts data automatically before storing it and transparently handles decryption upon data retrieval.
  5. Create a python script that lets the user input a password that is checked by the program
    BONUS: Use online wordlists to compare the password, preventing dictionary attacks
# Code Here for Q5
def check_password_strength(password):
    # Check password criteria (e.g., minimum length)
    min_length = 8
    if len(password) >= min_length:
        return True
    else:
        return False

# Get user input for password
user_password = input("Enter your password: ")

# Check password strength
if check_password_strength(user_password):
    print("Password is strong!")
else:
    print("Password is weak. Ensure it meets the minimum length requirement.")

Password is weak. Ensure it meets the minimum length requirement.