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Chapter 10. E-mail Security. Objectives. Understand the use of SMTP in e-mail and attacks on SMTP Explain how e-mail can be secured through certificates and encryption Discuss general techniques for securing e-mail Configure security in popular e-mail tools. Overview of SMTP.
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Chapter 10 E-mail Security
Objectives • Understand the use of SMTP in e-mail and attacks on SMTP • Explain how e-mail can be secured through certificates and encryption • Discuss general techniques for securing e-mail • Configure security in popular e-mail tools Guide to Operating System Security
Overview of SMTP • Enables exchange of e-mail across networks and the Internet • Provides reliable – but not guaranteed – message transport • No logon ID or password required • A client and server process Guide to Operating System Security
Sending E-Mail by SMTP Guide to Operating System Security
Parts of SMTP Messages • Address header • Envelope • Message header • Domain literal • Multihomed host • Host names • Message text Guide to Operating System Security
Overview of SMTP • Protocols used to store and retrieve e-mail • Post Office Protocol (POP) • Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) Guide to Operating System Security
Operating Systems That Use SMTP by Default • Microsoft Outlook Express on Windows 2000/XP/2003 • Microsoft Outlook in Windows-based systems that have Microsoft Office • Ximian Evolution Mail in Red Hat Linux 9.x • Mail in Mac OS X Guide to Operating System Security
E-mail Server Software Systems That Use SMTP • Eudora • Lotus Domino Mail Server • Mailtraq • Merak Email • Microsoft Exchange • Sendmail • SuSE Linux Open Exchange Server Guide to Operating System Security
E-mail Attacks on SMTP • Surreptitious alteration of a DNS server • Direct use of command-line e-mail tools to attack SMTP communications • Spread of unsolicited commercial e-mail (spam) Guide to Operating System Security
DNS Server Directing E-mail Guide to Operating System Security
E-mail Attacks Through Altering DNS Server Information Guide to Operating System Security
Using Command-Line Tools for E-mail Attacks • Windows 2000/XP/2003 • Attacker can use maliciously constructed e-mail to attack an SMTP server • UNIX/Linux • Easier; attacker can use built-in e-mail command-line options Guide to Operating System Security
Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (UCE) • Relatively inexpensive for sender • Expensive for users whose resources are diminished by UCE traffic • Expensive in terms of wasted time (estimated 25% of all Internet e-mail traffic is spam) Guide to Operating System Security
Ways to Control UCE (Spam) • Turn off open SMTP relay capability • Configure SMTP server to have restrictions • Require a computer to authenticate to Microsoft Exchange before e-mail is relayed • Direct e-mail not addressed to internal recipients to a bogus IP address • Obtain tools to block e-mail Guide to Operating System Security
Securing E-mail Through Certificates and Encryption • Ensures privacy • Reduces chances of forgery or someone other than sender adding an attachment • Accepted methods • Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) • Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) Guide to Operating System Security
Using S/MIME Encryption • Provides encryption and authentication fore-mail transmissions • An extension of MIME Guide to Operating System Security
MIME • Provides extensions to original SMTP address header information • Different types of message content can be encoded for transport over the Internet • Additional header fields • MIME-version • Content-type • Content-transfer-encoding • Content-ID • Content-description Guide to Operating System Security
Using S/MIME Encryption • Uses digital certificates based on X.509 standard • Has flexibility to use 168-bit key Triple DES • Designed to follow Public-Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS) Guide to Operating System Security
Using PGP Security • Provides encryption and authentication fore-mail transmissions • Sometimes preferred by users of open systems (UNIX/Linux); enables use of X.509 or PGP digital certificates • Unique characteristic of PGP certificate: web of trust Guide to Operating System Security
Contents of PGP Digital Certificate • PGP version number • Public key • Information about certificate holder • Digital signature of certificate holder • Validity period of the certificate • Preferred algorithm for the key Guide to Operating System Security
Typical Encryption Methods Used by PGP • CAST • IDEA • Triple DES Guide to Operating System Security
Other Techniques for Securing E-mail • Train users • Scan e-mail • Control the use of attachments Guide to Operating System Security
Training Users for E-mail Security • Never send personal information or a password response via e-mail • Delete e-mail from unrecognized sources • Use message filtering, if available Guide to Operating System Security
Scanning E-mail • Place virus scanning software on e-mail gateway • Update virus definitions frequently • Quarantine specific kinds of attachments • Scan zipped files • Scanner code should be written to be relatively fast Guide to Operating System Security
Controlling the Use of Attachments • Delete attachments from unknown sources • Never configure software to automatically open attachments • Avoid using HTML format for opening e-mail • Use virus scanner on e-mail before opening it • Place attachments in quarantine Guide to Operating System Security
Backing Up E-mail • For storage • To ensure that unread e-mail is not lost if server goes down Guide to Operating System Security
Configuring Security in Popular E-mail Tools • Microsoft Outlook Express • Microsoft Outlook • Ximian Evolution Mail in Red Hat Linux 9.x • Mail in Mac OS X Guide to Operating System Security
Microsoft Outlook Express • Included with Windows 2000/XP/2003 • Can obtain messages from SMTP-based servers running e-mail server software • Can be used to access newsgroups Guide to Operating System Security
Microsoft Outlook Express Guide to Operating System Security
Security Measures Supported by Outlook Express • S/MIME (version 3) • 40-bit and 128-bit RC2 encryption • 64-bit RC2 encryption • 56-bit DES encryption • 168-bit Triple DES encryption • Digital signatures encrypted using SHA-1 Guide to Operating System Security
Configuration Options for Outlook Express Guide to Operating System Security
Microsoft Outlook Express • Enables you to export e-mail to Microsoft Outlook or a Microsoft Exchange server • Can be used to back up messages from other systems • Enables you to block or filter messages from unwanted sources Guide to Operating System Security
Microsoft Outlook • Included with Microsoft Office • Has multiple capabilities • E-mail communications • Calendar • Ability to track tasks, list contacts, and make notes Guide to Operating System Security
Microsoft Outlook Security Features • S/MIME (version 3) • 40-bit and 128-bit RC2 encryption • 64-bit RC2 encryption • 56-bit DES encryption • 168-bit Triple DES encryption • Digital signatures encrypted using SHA-1 • V1 Exchange Server Security certificates Guide to Operating System Security
Configuration Options for Microsoft Outlook Guide to Operating System Security
Microsoft Outlook • Ability to back up messages by exporting to a file (many file types available) • Ability to add specific Web sites to junk e-mail list Guide to Operating System Security
Ximian Evolution Mail inRed Hat Linux 9.x • Processes e-mail • Schedules activities on a calendar • Records tasks • Creates list of contacts • Summary function (weather, inbox/outbox totals, appointments, updates and errata) Guide to Operating System Security
Ximian Evolution Mail inRed Hat Linux 9.x Guide to Operating System Security
Ximian Evolution Mail inRed Hat Linux 9.x • Capability to configure more than one account with unique properties • Can be configured to use either PGP security or GnuPG Guide to Operating System Security
Configuration Options for Evolution Mail Guide to Operating System Security
Apple Mail (Continued) • Comes with Mac OS X • Focuses on handling e-mail activities • Enables creation of filters to reject mail from unwanted or unknown sources • Capability to configure different accounts Guide to Operating System Security
Apple Mail (Continued) Guide to Operating System Security
Apple Mail (Continued) • Uses PGP for security • Can specify use of SSL for security over Internet links to e-mail • Provides different authentication methods for verifying access to an e-mail account • Password authentication • Kerberos version 4 and version 5 • MD5 challenge-response Guide to Operating System Security
Summary • How operating systems use SMTP for e-mail • Sources of e-mail attacks • Over 90% of malicious software strikes throughe-mail • How certificates and encryption can protecte-mail • How to configure security in e-mail software typically used with operating systems Guide to Operating System Security