Module $3$ Lab $$ The Operating System Environment

Objectives: Research and analyze Operating System Environment Incidents

Background $/$ Scenario: In $2016,$ it was estimated that businesses lost $$400$ million dollars annually to cyber criminals. Governments, businesses, and individual users are increasingly the targets of cyberattacks and cybersecurity incidents are becoming more common. A suspected state$-$sponsored attack saw dozens of iPhones hacked by exploiting an iMessage vulnerability that remained unpatched for around a year. The attack was a so$-$called zero$-$click one because it didn$$t require the victims to take any action: the hack was enabled simply by receiving a text message. The LokiBot malware is not alone in its growing sophistication to prevent analysis and detection. In October, Facebook revealed that adware used session cookies, geolocation spoofing, and changing of security settings to keep persistence on its platform, resulting in charges of more than $$4$ million. Even scam emails can lead to operating system hacks, as there are more than $33$ known hardware and firmware vulerabilities with the operating systems of motor vehicles becoming even more vulnerable. In this lab, select one cyberattack on an operating system, each with a named organization, a named attack, and a method for an organization to prevent or mitigate the attack. Note: You can use the web browser to research security issues or research any of the links provided in this lab.

Required Resources: PC or mobile device with Internet access

Scenario $1$:

a$.$ What is the name of the attacker $($anonymous is not acceptable $$ keep researching$)?$

b$.$ What organization$/$group is the attacker associated with?

c$.$ What is the motive of the attacker?

d$.$ What method of attack was used?

e$.$ What was the target and vulnerability used against the business?

f$.$ How could this attack be prevented or mitigated by secure programming methods?