Threat Evloution and Countermeasures

Threat and attack sophistication is increasing at an alarming rate causing an equally sophisticated advancement in the countermeasures. Just as the threats, countermeasures too have evolved from being a bare-bones firewall to being an intelligent Intrusion Detection System with the capability to ‘learn’ on the fly.

1ST GENERATION
Initially counter measures were just as primitive as their corresponding threats. A basic firewall to protect individual PCs was all that was necessary.

2nd GENERATION
The lead protagonist, the Anti-Virus made an entry in this generation. Intrusion Detection Systems based on signatures and that protected, not just single PCs, but entire networks were a feature of this generation.

3rd GENERATION
With the increasing complexity of threats, counter measures have also seen a corresponding rise in defense mechanisms. With this generation, came Intelligent Intrusion Detection System that depended not just on signatures but also had the capability to ‘learn’ on the fly. Defense against malicious code like anti-spyware software, etc also debuted in this generation.

Further, for maintaining corporate and personal confidentiality, email encryption and user authentication was also introduced.

4th GENERATION
It was learnt that threats exist not just because of vulnerabilities in the product/application or program but also because of poor policy enforcements and patch management. Therefore, this generation realized the importance of efficient security practices and standards.

Web Application Penetration Testing is also used extensively to assess web applications for security vulnerabilities.

5th GENERATION (Future)
Just as threats are unpredictable, so are their counter measures. Evolving threats lead to evolving counter measures. Owing to the allegiance of attackers/hackers towards products/applications for carryingout their attacks, it is always advisable to perform assessments at regular intervals in order to safe guard against both existing and potential threats.