Networking Attacks and Security Algorithm

ANIKET RAMANIKET RAM
9 min read

What we will discuss in this article?

In today's era of technology, the dependence of humans on computers is increasing. The number of users of computers is increasing day by day all transactions as well as digital data transformations are done with the help of the network, so third parties or intruders can attack the network to get data and use it in the wrong way. In This article, we will discuss types of networking attacks.

What is a networking attack and why do we need security?

With the development of the Internet and new networking technology, the world is becoming increasingly connected (Computer N.N). Worldwide, there is a lot of private, business, military, and governmental data on networking infrastructure. Whether they are big, small, or government entities, many organizations are impacted by network security. A breakdown in network security could allow an intruder to cause a variety of damage (Hilbert, 2013). People must therefore be aware of network security issues and various network attacks.

A network attack is commonly described as an intrusion on your network infrastructure that first gathers data and analyses your environment in order to take advantage of any open ports or vulnerabilities that may already be there. Along with unauthorized access to your resources, this could also happen.

Basics Of Networking Attacks Security Algorithms-

Before going forward we need to know about these terms we have used in this article:

  1. Plain Text- Plain text is in the format of an encryption algorithm, a method of turning data or facts into cipher text. If we want to transfer data from one place to another, the original data or message will be in the form of plain text, i.e., that data will be in an understandable or readable format. An understandable format means that we can read the text and understand the concept of that text. Plain text is understandable by the sender as well as the recipient. The main disadvantage of plain text is that if a third person or an intruder accesses that data, that intruder can easily attack that data and read that data or information as that text was in plain text format and anyone could easily read and understand that data.

  2. Cipher text- Cipher text is a type of text that we can read but that humans cannot understand. Cipher-text had no sequence; this format is known as cipher-text. If the intruder can get that text, then there is no problem if he cannot understand that data. "Then we get a question: if the intruder cannot understand that ciphertext, then how can the receiver understand it?" The answer is that the receiver is an authorized or authenticated person. The receiver had the authority to read, and that authority was given by the sender. Seder wants to send a message to the receiver. The receiver had the authority to read the message, but the intruder did not have any legal authority to read the data. That’s why we call that person a "third person" or an "intruder". We can say that message belongs to the receiver; the intruder data was only made for the receiver, and no one else but the receiver can read that data, so there are specific techniques and algorithms through which we can convert cipher text into plain text. On the sender side, data was converted into cipher text, and on the destination side, or receiver side, cipher text was converted into plain text or decrypted text. The intruder doesn’t have any idea then how to decrypt that data. Intruders don’t know which algorithm is used to decrypt that data. So, when data is sent from the sender side to the receiver side, any third party or intruder cannot access the data, and anyone cannot understand that data. That’s why that data was confidential.

  3. Encryption- The solution is that to overcome the intruder problem, one must convert the data into a non-understandable form. This process is called encryption. Encryption is the process of turning understandable data into non-understandable data. "Plain text" refers to the state before encryption, whereas "encrypted text" refers to the process of transforming that information into an unreadable format. The reverse process of encryption is called decryption.

  4. Cryptography- Cryptography is the art of hiding data. Data was present in secrecy form; data was transferred from the sender side to the receiver side in secrecy form, and then the receiver used their algorithms and techniques to make the data readable and techniques to make the data readable. When an intruder can get that message, then the intruder cannot understand that message or the data that was written in it. That’s how cryptography works.

  5. Cryptanalyst- Various intruders use a lot of techniques and algorithms to convert cipher text into plain text and then want to break cipher text and understand what was written in that text. The person who is doing all those things is known as a crypto-analyst and the process of breaking cipher text into an understandable format is known as cryptanalyst, which is performed by a crypto-analyst.

  6. Key- A key is a unique code, or we can say that it is a unique number that maintains the secrecy of the message or secret code. We use a key during the encryption process. The key is used with the original data and then encrypts that data using the key, making it secret. The encrypted data is sent to the rendering side, where the receiver will also use their key and then decrypt it. "The key is the unique number used in the encryption and decryption processes."

Types of Networking Attacks

There are two types of networking attacks:

Passive Attack

In a passive attack, if the sender sends the message to the receiver, then the intruder can only read the message but can’t modify it. An intruder can observe the message if he makes no modifications. The sender and receiver have no idea that a third person is accessing their data. That person was reading the data but not making any modifications to it. not making any changes in a bit, byte, word, or any type of modification, so it is very difficult to identify the sender and receiver that a third person was accessing their data because there is no modification in data.

There are two techniques are there in passive attack-

  1. Release of message content- This technique is the most primitive type of attack in this method. If the sender sends data to the receiver, then the intruder absorbs the message. So, there is no privacy between the sender and the receiver. The recipient was the authorized person to read the message, but the intruder was also reading the message, which means the privacy of the message was over with the release of the message.

  2. Traffic analysis*-* In a passive attack, the sender sends the message in encrypted form, and the encrypted message is sent to the receiver. The intruder cannot read the message because it is in encrypted form, so he has seen the message or absorbed the message, but he can't understand the message. So, there was an encryption key there that was only shared between the sender and the receiver. When the message was sent to the receiver, he used the key to decrypt the message and read it, but the intruder did not have that key, which is why he couldn't read the message. But through traffic analysis, the intruder can identify the origin of the message from where it came and where it went. The intruder may not know what the message was, but he knows from whom the message is going and from whom it is receiving. From the message packet, the intruder was identifying the trafficking of messages and packages. Sometimes intruders identify traffic through message size.

Active attack

in an active attack, the intruder was actively participating. I.e., during data transmission, a third person was altering the data, modifying the data, and inducing noise and an error bit. When this type of thing is happening, it's called an "active attack." I.e., when the transmitted data is modified by a third party or a third client, it is called an "active attack".

There are 3 types of active attacks:

  1. Masquerade: In a masquerade attack, an intruder steals the username and password, then logs in using the name of the sender and sends the messages they want, with the receiver thinking this is the message from the sender, but in actuality, the sender did not send the message. In the name of the sender, the intruder sends the message to the receiver. Also, the intruder can access the services, resources, and data of the sender because the intruder has a username and password. Intruders can access confidential data and read, write, delete, and insert data. An intruder can use all the resources of the sender. With recourses like hardware resources, software resources, and memory resources, an intruder can access all that was made for the sender. The sender paid some cost to create an account, and then the sender got that account, but the intruder was using that resource for free. Those things will happen when the masquerade attack happens.

  2. Relay: A relay attack means the modification of the message. When a sender sends a message to the receiver, the receiver takes the message and reads it. Also, in that message, do intruders modify, alter, and produce noise? also, add an error bit. An error bit means data that does not belong to the original data and is called an "error bit." When the error bit was added, then that message was corrupted. Then the intruder sends the corrupted message to the receiver. So, we can say that the receiver had a corrupted message and was not receiving the original message. In a relay attack, the integrity of the message will be compromised.

  3. Denial of Service: In a denial of service attack, availability will be overridden even though the sender's recourse was there, the sender was connected to the internet, and the sender wanted to connect herself to resources, so he connected through the internet. Since the internet was also having some capacity when it was having a heavy load, it got congested. That's why the sender would not get her data, and the intruder would continuously send requests to the server that were unnecessary, unnecessary packets that were unnecessary, unnecessary messages and unnecessary packets that were sent to The intruder had only one motive: to slow down the message because the sender would not provide his data.

Conclusion

In this article, we have learned about networking attacks and their types. In the next article, we will discuss security algorithms and their types.

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ANIKET RAM
ANIKET RAM