Ravindra Das – författare

The Science of Biometrics: Security Technology for Identity Verification covers the technical aspects of iris and facial recognition, focusing primarily on the mathematical and statistical algorithms that run the verification and identification processes in these two modalities.

Each chapter begins with a review of the technologies, examining how they work, their advantages and disadvantages, as well as some of their established market applications. Numerous approaches are examined. Facial recognition is much more of an emerging biometric technology than iris recognition; therefore, there are more algorithms that are currently being developed in that area. After this review, numerous applications of these two modalities are covered as well, some of which have just been commercially deployed while others are under research and development. Chapters 3 and 4 conclude with case studies to provide further application review.

This book is directed to security managers, electronic security system designers, consultants, and system integrators, as well as electronic security system manufacturers working in access control and biometrics.

The Science of Biometrics: Security Technology for Identity Verification covers the technical aspects of iris and facial recognition, focusing primarily on the mathematical and statistical algorithms that run the verification and identification processes in these two modalities.

Each chapter begins with a review of the technologies, examining how they work, their advantages and disadvantages, as well as some of their established market applications. Numerous approaches are examined. Facial recognition is much more of an emerging biometric technology than iris recognition; therefore, there are more algorithms that are currently being developed in that area. After this review, numerous applications of these two modalities are covered as well, some of which have just been commercially deployed while others are under research and development. Chapters 3 and 4 conclude with case studies to provide further application review.

This book is directed to security managers, electronic security system designers, consultants, and system integrators, as well as electronic security system manufacturers working in access control and biometrics.

The Cybersecurity landscape is a daunting one today. It is nothing like it was 10 years ago. Now, it has become very complex, covert, dynamic, and stealthy. It has literally become a cat and mouse game, in which the Cyberattacker is still one step ahead. This is despite all of the technology that is available to us a society, which includes Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning.

Part of the other problem is that human beings are resistant to change. For example, the password is still the favored way of authenticating and authorizing an individual, but it too has shown its grave limitations. Despite the use of Password Managers, which can create long and complex passwords, people still resort to their old fashioned ways of doing things.

So what is needed now is an extreme change, in which, unfortunately, people have no choice in whether or not they will participate. It is called the Zero Trust Framework, and in this methodology, absolutely nobody can be trusted in either the internal or the external environments. The mantra here is to keep verifying everybody, all the time.

The Zero Trust Framework also involves the concept of segmentation, in which the IT and Network Infrastructure of a business is broken down into smaller components, much like a Subnet. Each component will have its own layer of security, and every individual must be authenticated via the use of Multifactor Authentication (MFA).

In this book, we review both the concepts and mechanics behind the Zero Trust Framework. We also introduce advanced technologies into it, including the use of Biometrics, the Public Key Infrastructure, and Quantum Mechanics/Quantum Cryptography.

The Cybersecurity landscape is a daunting one today. It is nothing like it was 10 years ago. Now, it has become very complex, covert, dynamic, and stealthy. It has literally become a cat and mouse game, in which the Cyberattacker is still one step ahead. This is despite all of the technology that is available to us a society, which includes Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning.

Part of the other problem is that human beings are resistant to change. For example, the password is still the favored way of authenticating and authorizing an individual, but it too has shown its grave limitations. Despite the use of Password Managers, which can create long and complex passwords, people still resort to their old fashioned ways of doing things.

So what is needed now is an extreme change, in which, unfortunately, people have no choice in whether or not they will participate. It is called the Zero Trust Framework, and in this methodology, absolutely nobody can be trusted in either the internal or the external environments. The mantra here is to keep verifying everybody, all the time.

The Zero Trust Framework also involves the concept of segmentation, in which the IT and Network Infrastructure of a business is broken down into smaller components, much like a Subnet. Each component will have its own layer of security, and every individual must be authenticated via the use of Multifactor Authentication (MFA).

In this book, we review both the concepts and mechanics behind the Zero Trust Framework. We also introduce advanced technologies into it, including the use of Biometrics, the Public Key Infrastructure, and Quantum Mechanics/Quantum Cryptography.

Ransomware is a threat variant that has existed for a very long time, contrary to popular belief. Today, ransomware attacks have become much more covert and stealthier than when they first came out. In this book, the author provides an overview of ransomware and the timeline of its evolution.

The author also discusses famous ransomware attacks that have occurred, with a special focus on SolarWinds and critical infrastructure before taking a deep dive into penetration testing and how it can be used to mitigate the risks of a ransomware attack from happening. The author also covers incident response, disaster recovery, and business continuity planning. We even look at an appropriate data backup plan as well.

The Cloud is fast becoming the de facto standard for businesses in Corporate America today, with Microsoft Azure being one of the most widely used systems. However, given its stature, it has also become a prime target for the cyberattacker. Thus, a Zero Trust Framework is strongly needed. Deploying the Zero Trust Framework in MSFT Azure takes a closer look at the Cloud, the Zero Trust Framework, and how to deploy from both the technical and psychological perspectives.

Ransomware is a threat variant that has existed for a very long time, contrary to popular belief. Today, ransomware attacks have become much more covert and stealthier than when they first came out. In this book, the author provides an overview of ransomware and the timeline of its evolution.

The author also discusses famous ransomware attacks that have occurred, with a special focus on SolarWinds and critical infrastructure before taking a deep dive into penetration testing and how it can be used to mitigate the risks of a ransomware attack from happening. The author also covers incident response, disaster recovery, and business continuity planning. We even look at an appropriate data backup plan as well.

The Cloud is fast becoming the de facto standard for businesses in Corporate America today, with Microsoft Azure being one of the most widely used systems. However, given its stature, it has also become a prime target for the cyberattacker. Thus, a Zero Trust Framework is strongly needed. Deploying the Zero Trust Framework in MSFT Azure takes a closer look at the Cloud, the Zero Trust Framework, and how to deploy from both the technical and psychological perspectives.

This book is about the Zero Trust Framework. Essentially, this is a methodology where the IT/Network Infrastructure of a business is segmented into smaller islands, each having its own lines of defense. This is primarily achieved through the use of Multifactor Authentication (MFA), where at least three more authentication layers are used, preferably being different from one another.

Another key aspect of the Zero Trust Framework is known as Privileged Access Management (PAM). This is an area of Cybersecurity where the protection of superuser accounts, rights, and privileges must be protected at all costs from Cyberattackers. In this regard, this is where the Zero Trust Framework and PAM intertwine, especially in a Cloud-based platform, such as Microsoft Azure.

However, as it has been reviewed in one of our previous books, the use of passwords is now becoming a nemesis, not only for individuals but for businesses as well. It is hoped that by combining the Zero Trust Framework with PAM, password use can be eradicated altogether, thus giving rise to a passwordless society.

This book is about the Zero Trust Framework. Essentially, this is a methodology where the IT/Network Infrastructure of a business is segmented into smaller islands, each having its own lines of defense. This is primarily achieved through the use of Multifactor Authentication (MFA), where at least three more authentication layers are used, preferably being different from one another.

Another key aspect of the Zero Trust Framework is known as Privileged Access Management (PAM). This is an area of Cybersecurity where the protection of superuser accounts, rights, and privileges must be protected at all costs from Cyberattackers. In this regard, this is where the Zero Trust Framework and PAM intertwine, especially in a Cloud-based platform, such as Microsoft Azure.

However, as it has been reviewed in one of our previous books, the use of passwords is now becoming a nemesis, not only for individuals but for businesses as well. It is hoped that by combining the Zero Trust Framework with PAM, password use can be eradicated altogether, thus giving rise to a passwordless society.

The cybersecurity landscape is changing, for sure. For example, one of the oldest threat variants is that of phishing. It evolved in the early 1990s, but even today it is still being used as a primary threat variant and has now become much more sophisticated, covert, and stealthy in nature. For example, it can be used to launch ransomware, social engineering, and extortion attacks.

The advent of Generative AI is making this much worse. For example, a cyberattacker can now use something like ChatGPT to craft the content for phishing emails that are so convincing that it is almost impossible to tell the difference between what is real and what is fake. This is also clearly evident in the use of deepfakes, where fake images of real people are replicated to create videos to lure unsuspecting victims to a fake website.

But Generative AI can also be used for the good to combat Phishing Attacks. This is the topic of this book. In this, we cover the following:

A proposed solution as to how Generative AI can combat phishing attacks as they relate to Privileged Access accounts

The cybersecurity landscape is changing, for sure. For example, one of the oldest threat variants is that of phishing. It evolved in the early 1990s, but even today it is still being used as a primary threat variant and has now become much more sophisticated, covert, and stealthy in nature. For example, it can be used to launch ransomware, social engineering, and extortion attacks.

The advent of Generative AI is making this much worse. For example, a cyberattacker can now use something like ChatGPT to craft the content for phishing emails that are so convincing that it is almost impossible to tell the difference between what is real and what is fake. This is also clearly evident in the use of deepfakes, where fake images of real people are replicated to create videos to lure unsuspecting victims to a fake website.

But Generative AI can also be used for the good to combat Phishing Attacks. This is the topic of this book. In this, we cover the following:

A proposed solution as to how Generative AI can combat phishing attacks as they relate to Privileged Access accounts