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Chapter 12. Communication Controls. IS Auditor Role. Collect evidence to ascertain an entities ability to: Safeguard assets Provide data integrity Efficiency of systems Effectiveness of systems. Communication Subsystem Exposures. 1) Transmission Impairments
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Chapter 12 Communication Controls
IS Auditor Role • Collect evidence to ascertain an entities ability to: • Safeguard assets • Provide data integrity • Efficiency of systems • Effectiveness of systems
Communication Subsystem Exposures 1) Transmission Impairments a) Attenuation--weakening of a signal b) Delay Distortion--signal transmitted through bounded media c) Noise--random electric signals 2) Component Failure • hardware, software, transmission media 3) Subversive Threats
Active Attack Types Intruders can: • Insert a message • Delete a message • Modify the contents of a message • Alter the order of messages • Duplicate messages • Deny message services • Establish spurious associations
Physical Component Controls • Transmission Media • bounded (or guided), unbounded • Communication Lines (public lines vs private lines) • Modems (modulator/demodualtor) Next slide • Port-Protection Devices (mitigate exposures to dial up access)
Three Functions of Modem • Increase speed by multiplexing • Perform equalization for line errors and adjust for better line characteristics • Variable speed modem will compensate for various levels of noise
Port-Protection Devices • Force call to only authorized number • Voice/ data switching • Request password • Audit trail of successful/unsuccessful attempts
Multiplexors and Concentrators • Both allow the bandwidth or capacity of a communication line to be used more effectively • Multiplexors • frequency-division multiplexing • time-division multiplexing • Concentrators • message switching (entire message waits for clear comm. Path) • packet switching (a message is broken into several small packets) • line switching (circuit switching to find available line)
Line Error Controls (to avoid distortion, noise, and attenuation) • Error Detection • loop checking involves the receiver sending the message back to the sender • parity checking involves adding an extra bit to a string of bits • cyclic redundancychecking involves the block of data to be transmitted is treated as a binary number
Line Error Controls • Error Correction • Forward error correcting codes enables line errors to be corrected at the receiving station • Retransmissions of data in error (backward error correction), the sender sends the data again if the receiver indicates the data has been received in error
Flow Controls • Stop-and-waitflow control--the sender will not transmit another frame until it receives an acknowledgment from the receiver. • Sliding-window flow control--both sender & receiver hold multiple frames of data to overlap transmission and processing of data.
Topological Controls • Local Area Network Topologies • privately owned • provide high-speed communication • confined to limited geographic areas • Types of Topologies • bus topology • tree topology • ring topology • star topology
Bus Topology • Nodes in the network are connected in parallel to a single communication line • Types of bus • broadband bus (uses analog signaling) • baseband bus (uses digital signaling)
Tree Topology • Nodes in the network are connected to a branching communication line that has no closed loops • Use analog signaling to broadcast messages in the direction of the root of the tree.
Ring Topology • Nodes in the network are connected via repeaters to a communication line that is configured as a closed loop • Often data is transmitted only in one direction on the ring • Point-to-point topology--each node is connected directly to another node
Star Topology • Nodes in the network are connected in a point-to-point configuration to a central hub • Hub can route messages from one node to another or a subset of nodes
Wide Area Network Topologies • Characteristics: • Often encompass components that are owned by other parties • Provide relatively low-speed communication among nodes • Span large geographic area • Conceptually every node in the network can have a point-to-point connection with every other node
Channel Access Controls • Polling Methods • Centralized polling (one node keep polling) • Distributed polling (token passing) • Contention Methods • Carrier sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) – each node compete with other nodes but differences will be resolved
Link Encryption • Protects data traversing a communication channel connecting two nodes in a network • Cryptographic key might be common to all nodes in the network • Reduces expected losses from traffic analysis
End-to-End Encryption • Protects the integrity of data passing between a send and a receiver, independently of the nodes of the data traverses • The sender encrypts data before it is given to the network for transmission to the receiver
Other Subversive Threat ControlsSee Table 12-2 • Stream Ciphers • Error Propagation Codes • Message Authentication Codes • Message Sequence Numbers • Request-Response Mechanisms
Internetworking Controls • Internetworking is the process of connecting two or more communication networks together to allow the users of one network to communicate with the users of other networks. • Threetypes of devices are used • Bridge (e.g. Bus), Router (e.g., Bus and Ring), Gateway (e.g., Bus, Ring, MS NT, Novel)
Communication Architectures & Controls • Open-systems interconnection (OSI) • IBM’s system network architecture (SNA) • Transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP)
Accounting Audit Trail • Must allow a message to be traced through each node in a network • Examples • unique identifier of the source node • unique identifier of the person authorizing dispatch of the message • time and date of dispatch
Operations Audit Trail • The performance and the integrity of the network depend on the availability of comprehensive operations audit trail data. • Examples: • number of messages that have traversed each link • number of messages that have traversed each node • Queue lengths at each node