"Threat Profiling AssignmentThreat Profiling Student Name:Student Number:University:Date of Submission:1 Threat Profiling AssignmentIntroductionIn cyber security domain, vulnerability is a kind of bug or a flaw in a secured system that isleft open to cyber attacks. Vulnerability can also be defined as a type of limitation in asystem, procedures or any component of information security that is open to cyber threats. Intotal there are three elements that are made use of in security vulnerability. They are: (1) asystem flaw, (2) access of flaw to hacker / attacker and (3) hacker ability to use the flaw.(Techopedia.com, 2015) There are total five types of security vulnerability. They arementioned as follows:1. Buffer overflows2. Problems related to access – control3. Unvalidated Input4. Limitations in system authorization, authentication or cryptography process5. Race conditions (Developer.apple.com, 2014) Threat ProfileName of the Threat:Security vulnerability covered in this report is named as FREAK attack. FREAK attackstands for Factoring Attack on RSA-EXPORT Keys. (Us-cert.gov, 2015) It was announcedrd recently on 3 of March 2015. FREAK attack is of the type SSL / TLS vulnerability. It wasdiscovered at INRIA campus located in Paris by Karthikeyan Bhargavan and miTLS group.(Freakattack.com, 2015) System it attacks:FREAK attack is a weakness or limitation in SSL / TLS implementation that allows a hackerto attack and exploit (decrypt) secured interactions between potential clients and servers. (Us- cert.gov, 2015) FREAK attack mainly targets client side operating systems that includeAndroid, Windows and iOS. (4sysops.com, 2015) Possibility of FREAK attack is high whena connection or communication is set up between a vulnerable browser and a susceptible webserver that accepts encryption of the type “export – grade”. 2 Threat Profiling AssignmentServersUsers are usually put at risk in FREAK attack from servers that accept cipher suites of thetype RSA_EXPORT. After examination it was found that more number of servers (more thana third) was put to risk which contained browser – trusted certificates. Table 1 provides a list of servers that are vulnerable to FREAK attack.Server Type Percentage of present Percentage of changes sincerd vulnerability March 3HTTPS Servers that belong 8.5 % Decrease from 9.6 %to Alexa Top 1 milliondomain namesHTTPS Servers having 6.5 % Decrease from 36.7 %Browser – trusted certificatesAll HTTPS Servers 11.8 % Decrease from 26.3 %Table 1 A list of servers that are vulnerable to FREAK attackSource: (Freakattack.com, 2015)ClientsClients or browsers are also susceptible to FREAK attack. The reason is presence of bugs inthe implementation that provide access to an attacker to make use of weak and export – gradetype of encryption. Table 2 provide a list of browers that are vulnerable to FREAK attack. Browser TypeStatusInternet Explorer Patch AvailableChrome on Operating System - Android Patch AvailableChrome on Operating System - Mac Patch AvailableSafari on Operating System – MacPatch Available3 Threat Profiling AssignmentSafari on Operating System – iOSiOS 8 AvailableBlackberry Browser - Stock Android Browser - Opera on Operating System – Mac Patch AvailableTable 2 list of browers that are vulnerable to FREAK attackSource: (Freakattack.com, 2015)How it performs its attack:FREAK attack is performed in two parts as the Server must also acquire “Export gradeRSA”. (Globalsign.com, 2015) SSL / TLS components have three different behaviours thatcontribute to FREAK attack. They are described as follows:1. Clients such as Apple SSL /TLS and Open SSL contain a flaw wherein a clientacquires from server and that is weaker “export grade” keys of the type RSA with 512bytes. This process take place even if such weak security is not requested from theserver2. After the requirement of “export – grade” security expiry, there is still presence ofsupport from SSL /TLS servers3. Generally generation of RSA key is quite costly when compared to other keysgeneration. Thus, SSL /TLS servers produce only one export – grade key after theserver booting process. This key is hence used for every session instead of generatingnew key every time. (Archer, 2015)Together, these three practices can be misused to compromise protection and respectability ofa safe association. Following are the steps involved in FREAK attack implementation: - a customer, for example, an Android gadget contacts a web server and appeals astandard RSA suite 4 Threat Profiling Assignment- an attacker, maybe on the neighbourhood remote LAN utilized by the customer,blocks this appeal and changes it to request the fare grade RSA suite rather and afterthat sends it on to the server- the server acknowledges this appeal, and because of conduct (2) reacts to the firstcustomer with a 512b (fare grade) RSA key rather than the standard security key - because of conduct (1), the customer noiselessly acknowledges this key and adjusts toutilize fare grade crypto - in the mean time, the attacker directs a calculating assault against the RSA modulusbeing used and has the capacity recoup the RSA decoding key. In mid 2015, thisassault takes under 8 hours and expenses about $100 in distributed computing - at the point when the customer sends its competitor premaster mystery to the server,the assailant captures it and unscrambles it, permitting recuperation of the sessionexpert mystery - the assailant can now see (and adjust) the whole discussion in the middle of customerand server as though it were "liberated", on the grounds that it has the expert key tothe discussion - because of conduct (3), the assailant can see and adjust all fare grade sessions for thatserver the length of the server stays up (Archer, 2015)Mitigation Strategies:- For Server: One has to ensure immediate disabling support for cipher suites such asTLS export. During this period, one should also disable other insecure cipher suitesand later forward secrecy has to be enabled. Mozilla security guide can be made useof and its SSL generator to secure server HTTPS software. Further, configuration hasto be vigorously tested using various tools such as SSL server testing and Qualys SSLLabs.- For Browser: One ahs to ensure on installing latest version of browser and keeptracking for frequent updates. Updates are made available for browsers that aresusceptible for FREAK attacks5 Threat Profiling Assignment- For Developer or System Admin: Developer has to ensure up – to – date usage of TLSlibraries. Libraries that are affected from FREAK are Apple Secure Transport,Microsoft Schannel and Unpatched Open SSL. These affected libraries are usedinternally by several other programs. Also, the developer has to ensure that softwaredo not provide support to export cipher suites as these can be utilized further.(Freakattack.com, 2015) Risk to Organisations:Impact of FREAK attack is not severe when compared to other security vulnerabilities suchas Bash bug etc. The effect of misuse of this vulnerability is where an attacker or hacker hasthe capacity perform Man-in-the-Center attacks, the capacity to mimic any server and powerthe association with clear-content encouraging eaves dropping and content alteration.(Theregister.co.uk, 2015) Attacker has the power to read and modify any client – servercommunication. Ranked List of threats:Threat Name ImpactShellshock or Bash bug HighHeartbleed HighFREAK attack MediumPoodle LowTable 3 Ranked list of threats according to their impactConclusionrd FREAK attack is recently announced security vulnerability. It was discovered on March 3 in2015. FREAK attack mainly targets client side operating systems that include Android,Windows and iOS. The attacker basically makes use of three behaviours to attack a securedsystem. Once the secured network is hacked, the attacker can read and modify theconversations between clients and servers. Impact of FREAK attack is not high whencompared to Bash Bug or Heartbleed vulnerabilities. 6 "