Asymmetric Encryption

Asymmetric encryption is also known as public key cryptography which is a relatively new area compared to symmetric encryption. Asymmetric encryption uses two keys to encrypt your plain text. This came to the arena to address an inherent problem with the symmetric cipher. If the eavesdropper somehow get hold of the symmetric secret key, then the whole point of encryption is nullified. This is highly probable because secret key may have to be communicated over unsecure communication channels. As a solution, asymmetric encryption uses two key where one key is publicly available, and the other key is private and is known only to you.

 

Symmetric Encryption

This is the simplest kind of encryption that involves in using one secret key. It is the oldest known encryption method and Caesar cipher falls in to this category. The secret key can be as simple as a number or a string of letters etc. For instance, let us look at a shift cipher which is a simple symmetric encryption technique that can be elegantly demonstrated. We have the plain text ‘I want to send a secret message’ in our hands, and our secret key is to shift each letter by three positions. So if you have ‘A’ in the plaintext, it will become ‘D’ in the cipher text. This is what is known as the Caesar cipher, and your cipher text would look like ‘L zdqw wr vhqg d vhfuhw phvvdjh’. At a glance, it’s incomprehensible, but once you decode it with the secret key, it becomes plain text again. There are a lot of symmetric key encryption algorithms in use today which includes stream ciphers like RC4, FISH, Py, QUAD, SNOW etc. and block ciphers like AES, Blowfish, DES, Serpent, Camellia etc.

Understanding Cryptography Basics

Cryptography is the process of converting plaintext, which is readable text, into ciphertext, which is unreadable or encrypted text. Cryptography can be used on data that people or orga- nizations want to keep private or data that should be accessible to only certain users. In other words, cryptography is used to hide information from unauthorized users. Decryption is the process of converting ciphertext back to plaintext (also called cleartext). As a kid, you might have had a decoder ring from a box of cereal that you could use to write a letter to a friend in secret code. If your friend had the same decoder ring, he or she could decode your letter and read it. 

Content Scramble System (CSS)

CSS, short for "Content Scrambling System," is an encryption system put into place on most commercial DVDs. It protects the DVDs' contents against pirating and provides regional coding – a feature that's used to include FBI warnings or commercials on the disc that you cannot skip. CSS encryption DVDs are the most common DVDs you will come across with movies.

What is CSS Encryption?

Put simply, CSS encryption is a simple line of defense against the world of pirating. Against certain DVD rippers, these measures are sufficient to prevent the unlawful copying of a DVD's contents. However, a growing number of software applications are cropping up that can easily bypass the encryption on a DVD and copy its contents.

The CSS standard is widely accepted simply because it gives manufacturers a reason to make their reading and playing devices compliant with the encryption measures. This is because CSS-encrypted media cannot play on noncompliant devices. Essentially, this forces the hand of every manufacturer to conform to a standard level of protective measures to ensure that they remain compliant and therefore usable by modern consumers.

CSS Stops Pirating  

CSS encryption is intended to protect DVDs' contents from pirating. Depending on the type of DVD, these encryption measures are often sufficient to prevent many DVD ripping software applications from copying a DVD. Yet there is always a software application out there that can overcome the CSS encryption measures currently in place. In most cases, you can still copy any DVD regardless of its security. Only in certain cases, such as DVDs from Netflix or Disney movies, will most DVD copy software applications fail to decrypt the disc.

Most CSS decryption software is used to simply play DVD videos. However, a number of applications can copy a DVD to a hard drive and remove all protective elements from the contents. This means that the software completely bypasses a DVD's Macrovision, CSS encryption, region codes, and user operation prohibitions.

CSS Key Sets

Each DVD with CSS encryption has a set of keys hard coded internally for protection against data copying. While these keys do not prevent the raw image of a DVD from being copied to another media device, they do render any copies unusable. These keys can only be retrieved through proper authentication measures used by traditional DVD players.

Each CSS key set is licensed by the DVD Copy Control Association to be included in such things as DVD movie releases, drives and players. When the term "key set" is referred to generally, this includes the authentication key needed to secure a CSS handshake with the descrambler, the key for the disc itself, and the key for the player, among others.

The key set is stored on the lead-in portion of the CSS encryption disc, an area meant for reading only by compliant drives. This is specially designated because the data is to be read in a special way. The keys cannot be counterfeited, which prevents a simple copying of all of the disc's data.

Newer Encryption Methods

While the 40-bit key size of CSS encryption has provided some protection against pirating, it is still not quite enough. Newer DRM schemes have been put into place for greater protection. Some of these are Content Protection for Recordable Media (CPRM) and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) through the Advanced Access Content System (AACS), a scheme used by HD DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. Both of these DRM schemes provide 56-bit and 128-bit key sizes, which make copying a DVD even more difficult for DVD copy software.

What is Cryprograpy?

The art of protecting information by transforming it (encrypting it) into an unreadable format, called cipher text. Only those who possess a secret key can decipher (or decrypt) the message into plain text. Encrypted messages can sometimes be broken by cryptanalysis, also called codebreaking, although modern cryptography techniques are virtually unbreakable.

As the Internet and other forms of electronic communication become more prevalent, electronic security is becoming increasingly important. Cryptography is used to protect e-mail messages, credit card information, and corporate data. One of the most popular cryptography systems used on the Internet is Pretty Good Privacybecause it's effective and free.

Cryptography systems can be broadly classified into symmetric-key systems that use a single key that both the sender and recipient have, and public-keysystems that use two keys, a public key known to everyone and a private key that only the recipient of messages uses.

Honeypots

Honeypots are typically used in one of two main fashions: as part of an organization’s computer network monitoring and defense, and by security researchers who are trying to keep up with the activities of blackhats.

Production environment Honeypots deployed in a production environment serve to alert ad- ministrators to potential attacks in real time. Because of the advanced level of logging and information that is available on a honeypot, better defenses against the attacks may be able to be devised for implementation on the real servers. Production honeypots tend to be reactive in nature.

Research environment In a research environment, security analysts are trying to figure out what the next generation of attacks by malicious users will be. These honeypots can be quite dynamic, as they are adjusted and tweaked to lure attackers and respond to new attack strategies. Often a research honeypot is actively monitored by a person in real time.

NetBait Honeypot

What is a NetBait?
NetBait is a proprietary technology developed by NetBait, Inc. to prevent, detect and analyze intruders' attacks on companies' networks. NetBait is based on the concept of a "Honeypot," which means that it is a decoy which lures intruders away from actual network data and instead gives them "bait" with false information. NetBait is a set of sophisticated technologies made seamless to license, configure, maintain and adapt to changes in any organization's network security needs.

What type of Honeypot is NetBait?
There are two general types of Honeypot systems: production for improving security and research for learning more about the sources of threats. NetBait can be configured to act as either Production or Research, or a combination of both.

How does NetBait Service work?
The technology behind NetBait is a distributed network of multiple NetBait Nodes independently communicating with our servers and performing attack traffic redirection. Among other things, this architecture allows clients to enjoy a number of wide-reaching benefits that include configuration simplicity, the highest level of resistance to intruder attacks, and low cost of ownership.

What are the hardware and software requirements for setting up a NetBait Host? 
There are no specific hardware or software requirements. The only thing you need is a Personal Computer (i386 will do) with a 1.44 floppy drive, 16MB+ RAM, a Network Interface Card and TCP/IP Internet connectivity. Practically any system up to 10 years old may be seamlessly transformed into a NetBait Host without any hardware or software preparation - just insert your NetBait floppy disk into floppy drive and reboot the PC.