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Structure of Hair and its Characteristics

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Structure of Hair 1. Cuticle The cuticle is the outermost translucent layer of the shaft of the human hair. It is smooth and flat and acts as a protective layer for the hair. The cuticle looks like fish scales or roof tiles. It is an important part of the hair that determines the hair species. 2. Cortex The cortex is the middle layer of the hair which is made up of long thin cells. It consists of long keratin filaments that are held together by disulfide and hydrogen bonds. It also contains the natural hair coloring material (pigment) which is called melanin. It provides stability, elasticity, and a unique color to the hair. 3. Medulla The medulla is the central core of the hair which is composed of soft keratin protein which may be either absent or present. If present, it may be fragmental, interrupted, or continuous. It is absent in some species and does not determine the species of hair. Characteristics of hair to determine the species, race, sex, and site 1. Color The color o
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5 Steps to Secure the Crime Scene

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Securing the scene of the crime A crime scene has certain physical evidence which forms the basis to link the victim, suspect, and crime scene. Anyone entering the crime scene can contaminate these pieces of evidence which can change the original crime scene.  Thus, it is necessary to secure the crime scene not only from the onlookers, press, etc but also from inexperienced police personnel. 5 steps to secure the crime scene If the victim is dead then its body should not be removed but instead left undisturbed until the proper documentation is done. If the victim is still alive then medical assistance should be provided as soon as possible to save a costly human life. The crime scene should be cordoned off with "crime scene do not cross" tapes or any physical barriers like barricades, vehicles, etc. Once the cordoning is done, two or three officers should be deployed around the barrier to prevent unauthorized entry of people especially curious onlookers. A contamination l
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8 Signs of a Computer Security Incident

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What is a security incident? A security incident is a breach of sensitive and confidential information stored in a computer system. Following are the signs of security incident. 1. Unusual behavior from privileged user accounts Any unusual behavior of a privileged user account like sending information to another location through the mail, login into the account during non-official hours, frequent login in accounts, etc might be a sign of a security incident. 2. Unauthorized insiders trying to access servers and data Insiders like employees of the company, former employees, etc attempt to access the server and data stored in it. The signs can be requesting access to data that is not related to their jobs, logging in at abnormal times, etc might be some signs of a security incident. 3. Irregular behavior in outgoing traffic Traffic that is leaving the servers abnormally can be a sign of a security incident. This could include uploading large files to the personal cloud, downloading large
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Classification of Data in Cybersecurity

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What is Data? Data is the raw/discrete information like numbers, binary data, metadata, etc. Different types of data use classified ascending to their type, sensitivity and it's value. Following are the various types of classification of data. Classification of Data 1. Based on sensitivity levels (a) High-sensitive data This includes data that is highly sensitive or important and its leak would have a catastrophic result. For eg, Financial records, intellectual property, and authentication data. This data need to be encrypted while saving on servers and only some administrators should be given permission to access it. (b) Medium-sensitive data This includes data that is moderately sensitive and its leak would not have an extreme or catastrophic result. For eg, email and documents have no confidential data. This data can be encrypted with passwords but generally, it is not necessary and only those documents which contain some sensitive information need to be encrypted. (c) Low-sens
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Nikto: Definition, Features and Disadvantages

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What is Nikto? Nikto is an open source (GPL) web server scanner which performs tests against 6700 potentially dangerous files and programs. Nikto also checks for outdated versions of over 1250 servers. It is created by David Lodge and Chris Sullo and its first version is released on 27, December 2001. It is written in the Perl programming language. It checks for the presence of multiple index files and HTTP server options. Features of Nikto 1. It can find SQL injection, XSS, and other common vulnerabilities. 2. It can identify installed software via headers, favicons, and files. 3. It can also guess the subdomains of the scanned domain. 4. The reports generated by it can be exported as plain text, XML, HTML, and CSV format. 5. It can be integrated with Nessus. 6. It exports to Metasploit. 7. It can be auto paused at a specific time. 8. It can be easily updated via the command line. 9. It includes support for SSL (HTTPS) websites. 10. It has full HTTP proxy support. Disadvantage o
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Nessus: Definition, Architecture and Features

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What is Nessus? Nessus is a proprietary vulnerability scanner developed by Tenable Inc. Nessus is an open source (under GPL license) network vulnerability scanner that has a database of common vulnerabilities which is matched with the vulnerabilities of the system. Nessus works by testing each port on the server/computer and then finding any potential vulnerabilities. Architecture of Nessus 1. Modular Architecture It provides flexibility to the tester to deploy the scanner and connect to the client from any machine with a web browser. 2. Plugin Architecture It provides flexibility to the tester to add plugins and groups into one of 42 families. Through this, users can easily add their test by selecting specific plugins. Features of Nessus Nessus is written in NASL language which is Nessus Attack Scripting Language which is designed specifically to write security tests easily and quickly. Nessus has an inbuilt feature of auto-updating its database which helps to update and disclos
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Vulnerability Assessment: Definition, Types and Importance

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What is Vulnerability Assessment? The process of identifying security voids and weaknesses in an information system is known as vulnerability assessment. It checks and evaluates the suspected vulnerabilities in a system and provides information about its severity that is whether it is low, high, or critical, and suggests a way to mitigate them. Threats like SQL injection, XSS injection, DoS attack, etc on a system can be prevented by vulnerability assessment. Types of Vulnerability Assessment 1. Host Assessment It includes vulnerability assessment of servers, workstations, and other network hosts. This assessment examines ports and services that the host is using. 2. Network Assessment It includes vulnerability assessment of public and private networks on which the system is connected. This type of assessment can also detect vulnerabilities in wired and wireless networks. 3. Database Assessment It includes vulnerability assessment of databases or big data systems. This assessment i
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Phases of Incident Response Plan in Cybersecurity

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An Incident response plan contains a series of phases that address a suspected data breach. Each phase contains some set of instructions that should be followed while implementing an incident response plan. Phases of Incident Response Plan  1. Preparation  This is the first phase of the incident response plan. In this phase, we ensure that the employees are properly trained and ready to deal with any security incident. We assign incidence response roles and responsibilities to each employee according to his skill. Also, in this phase, we conduct mock security, incidents in order to evaluate the capabilities of employees. 2. Identification In this phase, we identify the security incident on an organization's computer system. We also check how many systems are affected and their severity level. We also try to find out the source of that attack and analyze its degree of input on our computer systems and network. 3. Containment In this phase, we ensure that the breach does not spre
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Computer Security Incidents and their Types

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What is a Computer Security Incident? A computer security incident is an event related to the breach of data and security of a system due to failed protective measures. Computer security incident involves unauthorized access, use, breach, modification, or destruction of data. Types of Computer Security Incidents  Following are some types of computer security incidents: 1. Unauthorized Access Attack This type of security incident involves unauthorized access to a system by a malicious attacker or person. Cybercriminals can access the accounts of users to extract personal information like Bank details, Addresses, Contact details, etc, and use this information for causing harm. Two-factor authentication reduces the chances of unauthorized access attacks. 2. Privilege Escalation Attack This type of security incident happens when an attacker gains unauthorized access to a computer and also takes admin privileges or blocks the privileges of the original admin. This security incident allows
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W3AF: Introduction, Architecture and Features

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What is W3AF? W3AF stands for web application attack and Audit framework. It is an open-source framework. It is an open-source framework for auditing and exploiting web applications. It provides facts about security vulnerabilities and bugs for use in penetration testing. The scanner offers a graphical user interface and a command line interface. It is written in python programming language and compatible will all major operating systems like windows, Linux, FreeBSD, etc. Architecture of W3AF The W3AF framework is divided into three parts: 1. The core coordinates the whole process and provides libraries for use in plugins. 2. The user interfaces, allow the user to configure and start scans. 3. The plugins, which find links and vulnerabilities. Features of W3AF 1. It provides web service support. 2. It exploits SQL injection (blind), O.S Commanding, remote file inclusions, local file inclusions, XSS, and more. 3. It provides good harmony among plug-ins. 4. It has a discovery plugin
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