In: Computer Science
Question Workspace Check My Work Steven was often bullied in his school. He was shy and somewhat reclusive, and sometimes the object of peer comment and jokes. Jason, a senior and also the biggest of the school bullies, was also in Steven’s classes. After long periods of this happening, Steven developed a grave dislike for Jason. Jason, as one of his projects for computer science class, developed his own personal Web site, and started promoting it to showcase his Web development skills. To impress his friends, he passed out the IP address of his site, so they could comment on it.
In the meantime, Steven, alone, as was his norm, came across several articles on hacking, and was fascinated by articles on scanning tools. He decided to download some of the tools and try them on Jason’s marvelous Web site.
a). What kinds of information would Steven discover using these scanning tools?
b). Will his scanning activities have any affect on Jason’s Web site?
c). Is what Steven is doing legal or ethical, and could he get into trouble for it?
Answer a
Steven can discover various vulnerabilities in Jason's website using these scanning tools. Vulnerabilities are the security loopholes which if exploited can allow attackers to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information.Using these tools he can identify active clients and servers ,open ports, running services on his website and many more information.
Answer b
Steven's activities can highly affect the Jason's website. He can sabotage his entire website as well as other accounts linked with it if he is able to penetrate his website using security loopholes. There is also a risk of credential information of its users being compromised.In worst case scenario he can completely shut down Jason's website by introducing bugs and malware in its code.
Answer c
Steven is doing an illegal activity. Network Security consists of a set of rules, policies, and instructions that are accepted to monitor and prevent the misuse and unauthorized manipulation of a network. He is not abiding by these rules by breaching into the privacy of an individual by gaining unauthorized access to his website. According to IT laws he could even face legal action for his activities.