A keylogger program intercepts user password and is used to modify the user account , Is it a violation of confidentiality ,integrity ,or availability or some of combination of them ?
Information Security
752 Views Asked by Rah Zun Tamang At
2
There are 2 best solutions below
0
On
Interception of the password is a loss of Confidentiality.
Modification of the user account is a loss of Integrity and could, depending on the nature of the change, also result in a loss of Availability. For example if the password was changed so that the legitimate user couldn't access their account.
What you can't tell from your description is whether or not it would also result in a loss of Auditability.
Scenario 1 :
Your friend invites you to use his laptop for a project you are working on. It requires you to log-into your mail accounts and other critical resources. After you are done, Your friend opens the keylogger program that has been running at the background and reads the logs generated.
This is a clear breach to Confidentiality and Integrity aspects of the CIA triad.
Your Friend also decides to login with your credentials with a purpose of changing the passwords and block you from accessing your account.
This reduces (or) completely denies the availability of the resource.
Scenario 2 :
You join an IT-Corporate as a technical trainee. You become the Employee of the company after reading all the policies laid by them and signing/Agreeing to them. You are provided with login credentials on the first week of joining. The Corporate requires you not to use your personal mail accounts so they can maintain confidentiality to their internal assets. The company runs keyloggers on all the systems and frequently monitors logs. The IT policy supports this case of keylogging and you have signed it previously.
Such a case doesn't breach the CIA triad (Confidentiality , Integrity & Availability)
Practically the second scenario is very casually(my experience) practiced for any prudent IT-Corporate facility who has a greater risk of their internal assets getting compromised. But make sure that the Keylogging ,Information fair Usage and other documents are kept in place by the organization well ahead and the employees understand these policies.