A Study of Network Security Issues Faced by the Corporate Sector in Pakistan with Respect of Selected Organizations

Abstract

This research aims to study t he different types and evels of network security issues faced by selected in terms of factors that relate to the integrity and confidentiality of information . The reason for this is the sudden expansion in connectivity organizations and the increasing methods of communication . The intent is to discover how the Pakistan Telecommunications Company (Ltd) has used network security to improve the performance of its Internet Service Providers and strengthen its IT infrastr ucture . The study also covers t he technologi cal opportuni t i es and solutions that are available to individual Internet Service Providers as well as the general users of the Internet . The research Descriptive data fo l lows a collection descriptive styl e of study . methods have been used in acquiring information r egarding Pakistan Telecommunications Company that is providing the inf rastructure for networks oper ating in Pakistan. It ' s objective is to study the secur i t y issues faced by the controller of I SP' s (i . e . PTCL) as well as the security issues being faced by a single ISP ( Paknet) . Paknet has been selected as a means of il l ustrating the hypothesis and its specific security threat s a r e t hen analyzed. Research instruments used consist mainly of primary and secondary research, unstructured interviews and observation . The range of topics covered and t he responses were not constrained by any detailed intervi ew guide (except for the unstructured interview format p l aced at B) . This flexible approach means that the order and of questions in ndent to respondent . each interview has Sampling procedure varied from selected was sampling and the total sample size consisted First the DG IT was contacted for an interview at PTCL . Then regular visits to determined that ISP' s security needs. Specific issues faced have been uncovered by the questionnaire(placed at annex C) . show that the Pakistan Internet Exchange has been type of DoS/DDoS attacks for about three months in 2003 . The highest intensity of these attacks were observed April 2003. DoS attacks fall under the broader category of hacking activities . These attacks are typically aimed at servers connected to the Internet with the intent of degrading or disabling the systems t o the extent that the services become unavailable to legitimate users . Instead of attempting to hack into the target systems to access confidential data , DoS attacks focus on overwhelming the systems with bogus and/or defective traffic that undermines their ability to function normally. (Details are mentioned in the literature review) . Since PIE supports Pakistan' s Government websi tes , break down of these had been devastating. Another attack was the YAHA Worm that choked all the ISP' s downstream activity . Hence, the capability available both from infrastructure and skills point of view were not enough t o handl e these a ttacks . ii Finally results suggest two types of strategic options t are available ; to the Government in terms of improving over al l infrastructure, and the ISP' s improving their forrnance . Firstly, the government needs to set up a purposebuilt facility to host government websites and portals. The facility could centralize the hosting of all portals and ensure that the breakdown of one would not break vital Government communications . could also be taken to employ security and administrators who can find ways of ' loopholes', thus acting on the principle that ' prevention is better than cure ' . In order to limit attacks the PIE network can be divided into access l ayer s each having its own set of routing, switching and management devices to minimize chances of virus spreading . Proper hardware and software can be installed to safeguard att acks , the suggested are Network Intrusion Detection Systems . Secondly, at the ISP level , administrators of corporate firewalls can install anti - spoofing measures to prevent hosts on the Internet from assuming the addresses of i nt ernal hosts and thus reducing the risk of invaders . ISPs can inform and educate their customers to use antivirus software and keeping the software updated. It was noted during the research period that COMSATS is providing its customers with extended information regarding existing and upcoming viruses and how to avoid them . Proper f irewalls can also be applied to protect the authentication, integrity and confidentiality of iii information . The suggested software is Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service. Overall , the thesis covers the basic networking security issues being fa ced and suggests remedies that the Government can follow t o improve its Pakistan Internet Exchange and the opt ions available to Internet Service Provider s to curb communications agai nst intruder attacks.