Research proposal

TOPIC: INFORMATION SECURITY IN BANKING SECTOR

Submitted to Lovely Professional University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Submitted by:
Group No Q-58 Gaurav Bhalla Nitin Sindhwani Rajnish Thakur Tarlok Singh Roll No A01 Roll No A02 Roll No A03 Roll No A04

Supervisor:
Miss japneet kaur Lecturar, Lovely Professional University

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY PHAGWARA

2012

CONTENT

Title

Page No.

01

INTRODUCTION

02

LITERATURE REVIEW

03

NEED, OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE

04

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

05

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 1
Introduction

Introduction
Information - As an asset Information is an asset that, like other important business assets, is essential to a organizations business and therefore needs to be updated regularly and suitably protected. Since most of the businesses in the present and recent past have been electronically connected in networks, the IS and its management plays a major role. As a result of this existing and ever-increasing interconnectivity, information is now exposed to a growing number and a wide variety of threats and vulnerabilities.

Businesses are vulnerable to various kinds of information risks inflicting varied damage and resulting in significant losses. This damage can range from errors harming database integrity to fires destroying entire computer centers or facilities. To control IS risks, the management needs to anticipate and be aware of the potential threats, risks and resultant loss and accordingly deploy the necessary controls across the environment. IS is the protection of information from a wide range of threats in order to ensure business continuity, minimize business risk, and maximize the return on investment (ROI) and thereby extend the business opportunities.

Definition- The protection of information and information systems against unauthorized access or
modification of information, whether in storage, processing, or transit, and against denial of service to authorized users. Information security includes those measures necessary to detect, document, and counter such threats. Information security is composed of computer security and communications security. Also called INFOSEC.

Security is like oxygen; when you have it, you take it for granted, But when you dont, getting it becomes the immediate and pressing priority -joseph Nye, Harvard university. An IS Risk can be defined as any activity or event which threatens the achievement of identified business objectives by compromising

Importance of the Study

All organizations today face a certain level of security risk. In fact, the deployment of technologies such as Intrusion Detection and Monitoring acknowledges that a certain level of suspicious or malicious activity is likely to get through. It also acknowledges that there are internal threats (maybe from disgruntled employees, or simply human error) which have to be countered with skill and imagination.

It is important to recognise that all organizations accept some level of risk. Risk is, after all, a tradeoff between the amount of money you wish to spend on counter-measures, against the perceived level of threat and vulnerability, to protect the estimated value of your assets. The important thing is that risk is identified, and either a) mitigated, b) transferred, c) insured, or d) clearly documented as a risk acceptance.

Security risk is also heavily influenced by time. For example, if a new virus is released, for which no patch is available, then the rate of infection is critical. All organizations are subject to security threats, as

these expose their vulnerabilities. For this increases significantly with factors, such as their need to do business over the Internet, the profile of the organization, and the value of their assets. High profile corporations are under constant threat because of the possible infamy associated with security breaches. Some of the key threats to organizations include: Virus, Trojans and Worms Phishing Pharming Email SPAM Web Site Defacements Denial of Service Attacks (DoS) Spoofing Identity theft War walking, War driving, etc., (Wireless Network Threats) Theft of information (e.g. credit card details, source code, biotechnology Secrets), etc. Hence, this study may prove important and extremely significant as itwould provide better insights with regards to updating security personnel. This would definitely enable them to handle any kind of security issues at any given point of time.

THREE PILLAR OF INFORMATION SECURITY

Confidentiality Integrity Availability

IMPORTANCE OF INFORMATION SECURITY IN BANKING SECTOR

Information is at the heart of todays business, and the all-pervasive impact of Information Technology in harnessing, collating and processing huge volumes of information is definitive. In this scenario, the need for ensuring that information is kept confidential adhering to accepted norms of privacy and making it available to authorized users at the appropriate time assumes great significance. This is particularly valid for the banking sector where day-to-day operations are centered on information and information processing, which in turn is highly dependent on Technology. This conference on Security Framework in Indian Banks jointly organized by the Indian Banks Association, the Data Security Council of India in collaboration with the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology as the Knowledge partner is thus not only appropriate but also of topical relevance to banks. Banking as a business involves the management of risks based on a repository of trust extended by the customers. If this objective has to be accomplished, it becomes imperative for all security concerns especially customer sensitive data to be addressed in an effective way so as to ensure that the trust levels are well preserved and information assets perform the role that they are supposed to. While every banker understands the implications of financial risks, the risks arising out of the large scale implementation of technology and IT is not so well defined. Security in banks thus assumes significant proportions, comprising physical security in addition to the factors relating to security of Information and Information Systems, all of which have an impact on the reputational risk faced by banks. Technology implementation has benefited the banks also due to the facilitation of the Reserve Bank both from the operational and legal perspectives. In addition, the Reserve Bank had provided the broad framework for many innovative technology based systems. The guidelines on Internet Banking, and the Guidelines for Information Systems Security Audit in 2001 were early initiatives aimed at ensuring safe and secure technology based operations by banks. Keeping pace with time and marshalling international practices, RBI has issued broad guidelines on mobile banking and prepaid (stored) value cards. These, along with the setting up of systemically important payment and settlement systems such as Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) and other retail payment systems like the Electronic Clearing Systems (Credit and Debit Clearing), the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) System, National Electronic Clearing System (NECS), Regional Electronic Clearing System (RECS), have transformed the way of banking and todays customers have a wide array of options to choose from. All these have safety and security at the heart of the respective systems A major area where IT security assumes significance pertains to the transmission of information using IT as a channel for communication. Traditionally, paper based systems have been subject to certain controls

to ensure that the basic requirements pertaining to genuineness, authenticity, etc. are met with. These included verification of signatures, ensuring that there are no corrections, or if there are corrections, these are authenticated properly and so on. In the IT-based scenario, these aspects gain greater importance not only because of the speed with which IT based electronic information flows but also on account of the potential havoc that could arise on account of incorrect instructions.

History of information security

IS Management - A Concept IS Management is the process used to identify and understand risks to the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability of Information and Information Systems. Phase Shift of IS The role of IS has changed during the past few years. The Traditional definition of protecting networks and the datacenters has undergone a shift in focus resulting in the enablement of the businesses with security solutions actually moving the business forward or even to the next step. Security is now a way of life and a must-do for businesses in order to survive. Hence, it has become obvious that, wherever the information goes, security follows no longer can IS be an afterthought. An increased need for efficiency and productivity, reducing costs, reaching multiple markets and faster time- to- market are few business benefits which are driving organizations to make IS a part of the organizational DNA.

CHAPTER 02
LITERATURE REVIEW

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The chapter provides further insights regarding the traditional definition of IS and Risk Management along with its historical background. This also puts light on the makeover or the phase shift which has occurred in the field of IT. The chapter also defines the scope of Information Systems and IS. The literature review shows how the IS and Risk Management is applicable to the banks. Why is it essential to take the responsibility and subdue the threats causing the financial losses to the business sector as well as to the national and world economies? In order to achieve this feat it becomes even more important to understand what kinds of attacks are possible and the manner in which they should be dealt with? Due to the scope and limited constraint, this academic research is unable to throw light on all the threats or mention the remedies for them. But, even so, a wide range of threats have been mentioned below with some actual facts. The literature review also attempts to focus on the computer frauds that have occurred and their repercussions. It also points out the reason why computer crimes are difficult to prove in a court of law. The types of computer crimes, their impacts or effects and the victims are explained in the review. The review also focuses on drawing the readers attention towards the understanding of IS at length. The focus area for all the organizations, including banks, is the IT spending pattern. Ganesan and Vivekanandan (2009) Described a secured hybrid architecture model for the internet banking using Hyperelliptic curve cryptosystem and MD5 is described. Information about financial institutions, their customers, and their transactions are, by necessity, extremely sensitive; thus, doing business via a public network introduces new challenges for security and trustworthiness. Given the open nature of the Internet, transaction security is likely to emerge as the biggest concern among the e-banks account holders. The rapid growth in account hijacking and online fraud are on the rise. The negative publicity damages consumer trust in the online service.

Sayar and Wolfe, (2007). A majority of studies highlight the fact that security is the biggest single concern for customers when faced with the decision to use internet banking. Security has always been an issue, but its scope has changed from mere doubts about the privacy of personal information to worries of financial loss the selection of an internet banking service provider is effected by security, reliability and privacy. Security, which involves protecting users from the risk of fraud and financial loss, has been another important issue in safe use of the internet when conducting financial transactions in Saudi Arabia. Abdulwahed and Yaqoub,( 2006) The banking sector was reluctant to use e-commerce applications as they felt that transactions conducted electronically were open to hackers and viruses, which are beyond their control. As well as convinced that online services are a mixture of customer insecurities, technology investment costs and a lack of market readiness have all conspired to make e-banking unattractive White and Nteli (2004) Study of online banking, potential customers ranked Internet security and customers privacy as the most important future challenges that banks are facing. Perceived usefulness, perceived Web security has a strong and direct effect on acceptance of internet banking, too. A high level of perceived risk is considered to be a barrier to propagation of new innovations (Ostlund, 1974). Influenced by the imagination-capturing stories of hackers, customers may fear that an unauthorized party will gain access to their online account and serious financial implications will follow. Friedman et. al (2002) The principal characteristics that inhibit online banking adoption are security and privacy. An interview held on web security and showed four screen shots of a browser connecting to a website and asked participants to state if the connection was secure or not secure and to affirm the motivating factor for their appraisal. It was discovered that about 72 participants cannot tell if a connection is secure Security and Privacy.

Pavlou (2001). Now days uptake of EC applications in the banking industry is very slow only because of security and data confidentiality issues have been a major barrier. Security and privacy are one of the most challenging problems faced by customers who wish to trade in the e-commerce world. Security in the form of keeping customer safe from an invasion of their privacy, affects trust and satisfaction. If company wish to maintain customer trust, they need to keep their promises regarding security and privacy. Since security is closely related to trust, violations of security norms may backfire in terms of losing customers and negative word of mouth. Security perceptions are defined as the subjective probability with which consumers believe that their private information will not be viewed, store and manipulated during transit and storage by inappropriate parties in a manner consistent with their confident expectations. Scope of IS IS Management defines the controls we must implement to ensure we sensibly manage computer related risk. Security Management process IS is the protection of information from a wide range of threats in order to ensure business continuity, minimize business risk, and maximize return on investments and business opportunities. A basic IS model should encompass Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability; however there are also additions such as Accountability and Audit ability. In other words the objective and focus of the IS Management is to protect and manage the Information assets.

HOW IS INFORMATION SECURITY APPLICABLE TO BANKS?

"IS is definitely a journey, not a destination--there are always new challenges to meet."
-- Chief IS officer at a major financial services corporation

Banking Institutions have become critical centers of gravity. A collapse in the banking Institution can lead to collapse in the banking sector and cause a huge setback to economy of the nation, which would also concern world at large. This makes them more attractive targets for potential adversaries. Potential adversaries could be either malicious or non-malicious. Among them alicious adversaries would be hackers (including phreakers, crackers, trashers and pirates), terrorists/ cyber terrorists, organized crime, other criminal elements, competitors and disgruntled employees. On the other hand, careless or poorly trained employees would be non-malicious adversaries who either through lack of training, lack of concern, or lack of attentiveness, poses a threat to the Information Systems. Adversaries would employ attack techniques that could be classified as passive or active, insider, close-in or distribution attacks. Some of them explained below. Passive attacks involve passive monitoring of communications sent over public media and include monitoring plaintext, decrypting weakly encrypted traffic, and password sniffing and traffic analysis.

Active attacks would include attempts to: Type of attack

Circumvent or break security features Introduce malicious code (such as computer viruses, Trojan or worms) Subvert data or system integrity Modify data in transit Replay (insertion of data) Hijack sessions Masquerade as authorized user Exploit vulnerabilities in software that runs with system privileges Exploit network trust Set in denial of service

CHAPTER 03
NEED & SCOPE

NEED & SCOPE

Need of information security in banking sector:

For prevention and protection of these biggest issues in banking sector,

-Cyber Attacks -Data Loss Prevention -Identity and Access Management

SCOPE of the Study

IS is a continual imperative for banks as vulnerabilities in IS Information Availability are continuously being exploited in new ways. Security of new technologies channels need to be focused, for e.g.-commerce, online banking and debit cards. This becomes even more essential in the light of increase in fraud related losses in these areas along with the existing technologies and manual transaction processing risks. Banks have always been and are one of the most important targets for hackers, crackers and cyber criminals, as IS breach may lead to potential losses. These losses may lead to downfall of the banking industry and thus have its impact on the economy.

The actual losses on account of IS issues are difficult to estimate. However, 639 companies that responded to the 2005 CSI/FBI Computer Crime and Security Survey reported total losses of $130 million with viruses, unauthorized access and theft of proprietary information accounting for 80% of it. Given the risks, IS should be a top priority of any organization and not just for its IT department.

CHAPTER 04
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1. To determine the factors which play the important role in information security 2. To Check the effectiveness of information security used in Banking Sector.

CHAPTER 05
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Type of study: The study will be exploratory in nature. The study will give a tentative idea about the situation. The study will be conducted to understand the basic information security risk and their controlling measures in banking sectors. Data Collection Procedures: Primary data: Questionnaire is used to collect primary data from respondents. The questionnaire is structured type and contained questions relating to need and security of information in banking field. Secondary data: Articles from journals, magazines published from time to time. Through internet. Tools Questionnaire Public Interaction

CUSTOMER ANALYSIS PART

In which bank you have an account

Banks Preference by customer

15 Public Private 35

INTERPRETATION Above chart shows that out of 50, 15 people have opened their account in private bank and 35 people in public bank.

Are you satisfied with security policy of your bank

satisfaction

20 Yes No 30

INTERPRETATION Above chart depicts that out of 50, 30 customer has said that they satisfied with the security policy of bank, 20 customer has said that they do not satisfied with the security policy of bank.

Data security in your bank is well managed by proper use of login facility.

0 1.2 1.4 1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 3.2 8.2 4th Qtr

INTERPRETATION Above chart depicts that out of 50, 10 customer are strongly Agree,20 customer are agree,5 customer are Neutral,12 customer are Disagree, and 3 customer are strongly disagree with the proper security of login facility.

Does the bank provided Proper security to the database against viruses

Yes No

45

INTERPRETATION Above chart shows that out of 50,45 customer has said that banks provided proper security to database against viruses and rest of 5 has said that banks are not provided proper security to database against viruses.

Your bank keeps proper mechanism to manage back date entries or transactions.

Sales
2

Yes No 48

INTERPRETATION Above chart shows that out of 50,48 customer has said that their banks keep proper mechanism to manage back date entries or transactions and only 2 customer has said that no.

Your banks all entries in Information Security are as per banking standards

18 Yes NO 32

INTERPRETATION Above chart shows that out of 50,32 customer has said that yes their all entries in Information Security are as per banking standards and 18 customer has said that no.

QUESTIONS FROM THE EMPLOYEES

Q1: The banks security roles and responsibilities are defined according to banks information security policy.

45 5

YES

NO

INTERPRETATION: According to our research only 5 percent banks employee says that roles and responsibilities are not defined and rest of all is agreeing with the same, it will shows that mostly implementation of policy are perfect regarding information security and bank are more conscious and alert for the security purposes

Q2: The banks security policy makes it clear that all assets must be protected from unauthorized access

YES NO

INTERPRETATION: According to our research all banks employee are agreed and accepted that their assets are well are protected from unauthorized access , hence it will shows that how maintain confidentiality , integrity and availability

SBI :

The Bank takes reasonable care to, ensure the security of and prevent unauthorized access to the Internet Banking Services using technology reasonably available to the Bank. The User shall not use or permit to use Internet Banking Service or any related service for any illegal or improper purposes. The USER would be allotted a User-id and a password (to be used at the time of login) by the BANK in the first instance. The USER will be required to mandatorily change the User-Id and password assigned by the BANK on accessing Internet Banking Services for the first time. As a safety measure the USER shall change the password as frequently as possible, at least once in 90 days. In addition to User-id and Password the BANK may, at its discretion, advice the USER to adopt any other means of authentication including but not limited to smart cards, One Time SMS Password and/or Digital certification issued by Bank, licensed or approved Certifying Authorities or vendors. The USER shall not attempt or permit others to attempt accessing the account information stored in the computers and computer networks of the BANK through any means other than the Internet Banking Services.

Q3: Does the bank verify the applicants curriculum vitae (resume) while recruiting staff?

NO

20

YES

30

INTERPRETATION According to our research 60% bank duly verify their employee cv Rest 40% (mostly private organization) sometime not verify they simply checks certificates and id proof but not verify that it is authentic or not or duplicate, this is the major cause of loosing of information security .

Q5: What database technologies does the Bank use?

15

12 11

12

ORACLE

MICROSOFT SQL

FINACLE

OTHER

INTERPRETATION: According to our research mostly finacle are using now a days in mostly banks but Banks have a mixture, they have more than just checking accounts, there are all kinds of loans, leases, investments, etc so they have multiple systems. We have Windows, solaris, redhat, some mainframe stuff even some old AIX, etc. ,Lot of EMC, Oracle, Vmware, etc.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Secure attendance of outsiders with relevant expertise. Ratifying that the business strategy is indeed aligned with IT strategy Use Intrusion Detection and Prevention System (IDS and IPS) - IPS products that have detection capabilities should be fully used during an incident to limit any further impact on the organization. IDS and IPS products are often the primary source of information leading to the identification of an attack. Once the attack has been identified, it is essential to enable the appropriate IPS rule sets to block further incident propagation and to support containment and eradication. Failure of critical systems, or interruption of vital business processes, could prevent timely recovery of operations. Security measures against Malware At host level At network level At user level

E-banking systems should be designed and installed to capture and maintain forensic evidence in a manner that maintains control over the evidence, and prevents tampering and the collection of false evidence. Network Behaviour Analysis (NBA) - Network wide anomaly-detection tools will provide data on traffic patterns that are indicative of an incident. Once an incident has been identified through the use of these tools, it is important to capture that information for the purposes of supporting further mitigation activities, including operational workflow to ensure that the information from these tools is routed to the appropriate response team.

LIMITATIONS

An expert could be an IS Auditor from external auditing firm, a management consultant, an IT domain expert, or an expert in the area of audit, who has been appointed by management or by the IS Audit Team. A bank should take appropriate measures to identify and authenticate users or IT assets. The required strength of authentication needs to be commensurate with risk. Common techniques for increasing the strength of identification and authentication include the use of strong password techniques (i.e. increased length, complexity, re-use limitations and frequency of change) and increasing the number and/or type of authentication factors used. The examples where increased authentication strength may be required, given the risks involved include : administration or other privileged access to sensitive or critical IT assets, remote access through public networks to sensitive assets and activities carrying higher risk like third-party fund transfers, etc. The period for which authentication is valid would need to be commensurate with the risk.

SUGGESTIONS

Automated vulnerability scanning tools need to be used against all systems on their networks on a periodic basis, say monthly or weekly or more frequently. Banks should ensure that vulnerability scanning is performed in an authenticated mode (i.e., configuring the scanner with administrator credentials) at least quarterly, either with agents running locally on each end system to analyze the security configuration or with remote scanners that are given administrative rights on the system being tested, to overcome limitations of unauthenticated vulnerability scanning. Banks should compare the results from back-to-back vulnerability scans to verify that vulnerabilities were addressed either by patching, implementing a compensating control, or by documenting and accepting a reasonable business risk.. Vulnerability scanning tools should be tuned to compare services that are listening on each machine against a list of authorized services. The tools should be further tuned to identify changes over time on systems for both authorized and unauthorized services. The security function should have updated status regarding numbers of unmitigated, critical vulnerabilities, for each department/division, plan for mitigation and should share vulnerability reports indicating critical issues with senior management to provide effective incentives for mitigation. Each dimension of the IT security risk management framework can be measured by at least one metric to enable the monitoring of progress towards set targets and the identification of trends. The use of metrics needs to be targeted towards the areas of greatest criticality. Generally, it is suggested that effective metrics need to follow the SMART acronym i.e. specific, measurable, attainable, repeatable and time-dependent.

CONCLUSION

In my all research project we all are found that all banks use security tools to prevent the data from the unauthorized access. After doing the research we find that all banks provided proper security to database against viruses all banks employee are agreed and accepted that their assets are well are protected from unauthorized access. But due to lose of data we suggest to bank take appropriate measures to identify and authenticate users or IT assets. Use Common techniques for increasing the strength of identification and authentication include the use of strong password techniques (i.e. increased length, complexity, re-use limitations and frequency of change) and increasing the number and/or type of authentication factors used. Scanning tools need to be used against all systems on their networks on a periodic basis, say monthly or weekly or more frequently. All employee data or cv verify very effective way because they also a reason to lose of information.

CHAPTER 05
REFERENCES

REFERENCES

Websites: http://www.enisa.europa.eu/doc/pdf/deliverables/enisa_measuring_awareness.pdf http://www.enisa.europa.eu/doc/pdf/deliverables/enisa_cd_awareness_raising.pdf

Article: http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/06/10NF-data-loss-prevention http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=960andrf=090908eb

Books:

QUESTIONAIRE

Questions for banks customer

Name Bank Name

Age Location.

Q1- In which bank you have an account?

A. Public Bank

B. Private Bank

Q2-Are you satisfied with security policy of your bank?

A. Yes

B. No

Q.3- Data security in your bank is well managed by proper use of login facility.

A - Strongly Agree B Agree C Neutral D Disagree E - Strongly Disagree

Q.4- Does the bank provided Proper security to the database against viruses. A. Yes B. No

Q.5- Your bank keep proper mechanism to manage back date entries or transactions. A. Yes B. No

Q.6- Your banks all entries in Information Security are as per banking standards. A. Yes B. No

Q.7 Information Security increases the level of customer satisfaction hence increase in satisfied customer base.

A - More than 20% every year. B - 10% to 20% every year. C - Less than 10% every year. D - No Increase in Satisfied Customer base.

Questions for bank

Emp.Name

Bank Name.

Location.

Q1: The banks security roles and responsibilities are defined according to banks information security policy. A. Yes B. No

Q2: The banks security policy makes it clear that all assets must be protected from unauthorized access A. Yes B. No

Q3: Does the bank verify the applicants curriculum vitae (resume) while recruiting staff?

A. Yes

B. No

Q4: The bank uses Firewalls and other security tools for the security purposes

A. Yes Q5: What database technologies does the Bank use? A. oracle C. Finacle (IBM)

B. No

B. Microsoft SQL D. Other