- Email: [email protected]
Marketplace
March 7990
Computer Fraud C?Security Bulletin
3% on the previous year. The latest figures are provided by APSAIRD, an association of insurance companies, and show that 47.5% of losses came from fraud, sabotage and other related acts. A total of 1400 cases were reported during the year. Fraud and sabotage of software accounted for Ffr 2300 million in losses, up 15% on 1987, and unauthorized use of data cost an estimated Ffr 480 million, up 26%. Premiums paid to insurance companies rose 17.8% to Ffr 980 million.
institutions are asked to submit research projects, either applied or theoretical, for the 1990 awards. Since 1986, the foundation has granted over $50 000 in research funds, and projects to benefit from this include: ‘Strategies and tactics for security professionals for addressing, preventing and resolving ethical problems’, Dr Michael H. Miller. ‘Prevention, detection and investigation of fraud by the combined resources of audit and security’, T.L. Williams.
Phillip Hill
VIRUSES INVADE SOUTHEAST ASIA An epidemic of computer viruses has struck Bangkok in the last few months causing havoc to an estimated half of the PCs in Thailand’s capital, according to reports in Asia Technology. The viruses are thought to have been picked up in pirated software, the production of which is a thriving cottage industry in a country which has no copyright laws covering software. Eight varieties have so far been reported, of which the Israeli and Pakistani strains are the two most prevalent. Three groups in Indonesia are working on hardware and software capable of destroying viruses. The Jagad Semesta Co. is marketing a chip which it claims will destroy an invading virus, even if it is lodged in the central command file. It costs $90. The Institute of Technology, Bandung and lnfocomputer magazine are both planning to market anti-virus products.
SPONSORSHIP RESEARCH
FOR SECURITY
The Asis Foundation annually sponsors a research competition to stimulate contributions to the body of knowledge for the security profession. Academics, practitioners and
01990
Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd
‘The reporting and collection of management and employee fraud data: current practices and developing trends in American business’, Regis W. Becker. ‘Crime in large corporations by employees’, Marc J.M. Cools. Previous awards have been in the $3000 to $5000 range, however the foundation will accept proposals for larger projects. Interested parties can request an application form from the ASIS Foundation, 165 North Fort Myer Drive, Suite 1200, Arlington, Virginia 22209, USA. Telephone enquiries are welcome, contact Jacky Hemphill on +l 703 522 5800. The proposal deadline is 1 July 1990.
MARKETPLACE One of Europe’s major firms in the high security Tempest market has completed a management buyout from its US parent. The management takeover at Data Delta Systems was led by the chairman, Sir James Glover, who was recently Commander-in-Chief of the UK’s land forces. It was previously a wholly owned subsidiary of Data Delta Systems Corp. of Maryland, USA. The new company will be known as IT Security International. The new company aims to meet demands not only for radiation and signal suppression, but also for data encryption, access control systems, fault tolerance and physical security requirements. For more information phone Colin Hanmore on +44 (0)707 333833.
Computer Fraud & Security Bulletin
OmniSoftware has announced Quarantine, a new virus prevention and security system for LAN operations which alerts managers of tampering with both operating and data files, failing disk controllers and other deteriorating storage hardware. Quarantine is compatible with network software including Netware 2.0 and 2.1, Banyan Vines, OS/LAN Manager and PC-LAN Manager. Prices start from $895 for a single server. For more information contact OmniSoftware on +1 215 860 5010. Marconi Security Systems, in association with GEC-Marconi Software Systems, is to market the VSLAN secure networking system licensed from the Verdix Corporation in the US. The Verdix Secure LAN (VSLAN) claims to provide a secure networking facility for linking mainframes and workstations operating at different security levels. VSLAN operates with the physical and data link protocol layers of the OSI (802.3) reference model. It consists of a single Network Security Center (NSC) and up to 64 networked devices, and provides a centralized management facility to control the operation of the VSLAN and to collect and export audit data. VSLAN is currently be evaluated for the B2 level of certification, according to the US National Computer Security Center guidelines. For more information call Alistair Freeborn on +44 (0)1 906 6462. Nighthawk Electronics Ltd has announced a security system for IBM-compatible PCs. Known as PC Guardian, the system is based on a magnetic card reader which controls access to and use of PCs, and keeps a log of system usage. It can also disable a PC's floppy drive, thus helping to prevent virus attacks. PC Guardian comprises of a small circuit board which is placed inside the PC, and a compact card reader. The reader is connected to a serial port but does not affect the use of this for another peripheral device. For more details phone Valerie Langmaid on +44 (0)799 40881. Pilkington AEP Ltd has released the DE200 Data Encryption System, which is
6
March 1990
designed to protect files stored on either the hard or floppy disks of a PC. The main component is a circuit board which fits in a standard expansion slot in the back of IBM-compaticle PCs. The board is then accessed by a small, menu-driven utility which transfers data between the source file, the DE200 circuit board and the destination file. The encryption uses a block text algorithm. For more details contact Kambiz Pourhardy on +44 (0)744 612646.
PC-BASED AUDITING SELECTING THE RIGHT FILE INTERROGATION TOOL This is the first of two articles concerning the use of PC-based techniques for the direct interrogation of data files for audit purposes. Both articles are based on a paper given at the EDPAA CACS Conference in Baltimore in April 1989 and at Compsec/EDPAA European Conference in October 1989. In this first article the background to the use of these techniques is examined, together with a review of the various technical developments that have led to the availability of the current generation of PC-based tools. Introduction
Auditors, internal and external, have been making use of file interrogation software for audit purposes for well over quarter of a century. The benefits of using such techniques are well established and well documented and include:-•
the ability to subject large volumes of data to totally consistent audit scrutiny;
•
the ability to provide better audit assurance on completeness of population;
@1990 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd
Computer Fraud C?Security Bulletin
3% on the previous year. The latest figures are provided by APSAIRD, an association of insurance companies, and show that 47.5% of losses came from fraud, sabotage and other related acts. A total of 1400 cases were reported during the year. Fraud and sabotage of software accounted for Ffr 2300 million in losses, up 15% on 1987, and unauthorized use of data cost an estimated Ffr 480 million, up 26%. Premiums paid to insurance companies rose 17.8% to Ffr 980 million.
institutions are asked to submit research projects, either applied or theoretical, for the 1990 awards. Since 1986, the foundation has granted over $50 000 in research funds, and projects to benefit from this include: ‘Strategies and tactics for security professionals for addressing, preventing and resolving ethical problems’, Dr Michael H. Miller. ‘Prevention, detection and investigation of fraud by the combined resources of audit and security’, T.L. Williams.
Phillip Hill
VIRUSES INVADE SOUTHEAST ASIA An epidemic of computer viruses has struck Bangkok in the last few months causing havoc to an estimated half of the PCs in Thailand’s capital, according to reports in Asia Technology. The viruses are thought to have been picked up in pirated software, the production of which is a thriving cottage industry in a country which has no copyright laws covering software. Eight varieties have so far been reported, of which the Israeli and Pakistani strains are the two most prevalent. Three groups in Indonesia are working on hardware and software capable of destroying viruses. The Jagad Semesta Co. is marketing a chip which it claims will destroy an invading virus, even if it is lodged in the central command file. It costs $90. The Institute of Technology, Bandung and lnfocomputer magazine are both planning to market anti-virus products.
SPONSORSHIP RESEARCH
FOR SECURITY
The Asis Foundation annually sponsors a research competition to stimulate contributions to the body of knowledge for the security profession. Academics, practitioners and
01990
Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd
‘The reporting and collection of management and employee fraud data: current practices and developing trends in American business’, Regis W. Becker. ‘Crime in large corporations by employees’, Marc J.M. Cools. Previous awards have been in the $3000 to $5000 range, however the foundation will accept proposals for larger projects. Interested parties can request an application form from the ASIS Foundation, 165 North Fort Myer Drive, Suite 1200, Arlington, Virginia 22209, USA. Telephone enquiries are welcome, contact Jacky Hemphill on +l 703 522 5800. The proposal deadline is 1 July 1990.
MARKETPLACE One of Europe’s major firms in the high security Tempest market has completed a management buyout from its US parent. The management takeover at Data Delta Systems was led by the chairman, Sir James Glover, who was recently Commander-in-Chief of the UK’s land forces. It was previously a wholly owned subsidiary of Data Delta Systems Corp. of Maryland, USA. The new company will be known as IT Security International. The new company aims to meet demands not only for radiation and signal suppression, but also for data encryption, access control systems, fault tolerance and physical security requirements. For more information phone Colin Hanmore on +44 (0)707 333833.
Computer Fraud & Security Bulletin
OmniSoftware has announced Quarantine, a new virus prevention and security system for LAN operations which alerts managers of tampering with both operating and data files, failing disk controllers and other deteriorating storage hardware. Quarantine is compatible with network software including Netware 2.0 and 2.1, Banyan Vines, OS/LAN Manager and PC-LAN Manager. Prices start from $895 for a single server. For more information contact OmniSoftware on +1 215 860 5010. Marconi Security Systems, in association with GEC-Marconi Software Systems, is to market the VSLAN secure networking system licensed from the Verdix Corporation in the US. The Verdix Secure LAN (VSLAN) claims to provide a secure networking facility for linking mainframes and workstations operating at different security levels. VSLAN operates with the physical and data link protocol layers of the OSI (802.3) reference model. It consists of a single Network Security Center (NSC) and up to 64 networked devices, and provides a centralized management facility to control the operation of the VSLAN and to collect and export audit data. VSLAN is currently be evaluated for the B2 level of certification, according to the US National Computer Security Center guidelines. For more information call Alistair Freeborn on +44 (0)1 906 6462. Nighthawk Electronics Ltd has announced a security system for IBM-compatible PCs. Known as PC Guardian, the system is based on a magnetic card reader which controls access to and use of PCs, and keeps a log of system usage. It can also disable a PC's floppy drive, thus helping to prevent virus attacks. PC Guardian comprises of a small circuit board which is placed inside the PC, and a compact card reader. The reader is connected to a serial port but does not affect the use of this for another peripheral device. For more details phone Valerie Langmaid on +44 (0)799 40881. Pilkington AEP Ltd has released the DE200 Data Encryption System, which is
6
March 1990
designed to protect files stored on either the hard or floppy disks of a PC. The main component is a circuit board which fits in a standard expansion slot in the back of IBM-compaticle PCs. The board is then accessed by a small, menu-driven utility which transfers data between the source file, the DE200 circuit board and the destination file. The encryption uses a block text algorithm. For more details contact Kambiz Pourhardy on +44 (0)744 612646.
PC-BASED AUDITING SELECTING THE RIGHT FILE INTERROGATION TOOL This is the first of two articles concerning the use of PC-based techniques for the direct interrogation of data files for audit purposes. Both articles are based on a paper given at the EDPAA CACS Conference in Baltimore in April 1989 and at Compsec/EDPAA European Conference in October 1989. In this first article the background to the use of these techniques is examined, together with a review of the various technical developments that have led to the availability of the current generation of PC-based tools. Introduction
Auditors, internal and external, have been making use of file interrogation software for audit purposes for well over quarter of a century. The benefits of using such techniques are well established and well documented and include:-•
the ability to subject large volumes of data to totally consistent audit scrutiny;
•
the ability to provide better audit assurance on completeness of population;
@1990 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd