K2 Network and Securing Information Systems

[moemoneyman]

I have a test tommorow in IDS 200, and upon preparing for my exam I just noticed this case study in my book about K2 Network, which I thought was funny. The subject is Securing Information Systems. Here is a small sample of the text.

If you have played any of these games [refering to War Rock, Knight Online, or Sword of the New World], you have some idea of how much K2 puts into "Gamers First" - fantastic clothing and armor sets, fast paced action, and the ability to control multiple characters at the same time, each with multiple stances and skills. Players are allowed to enter a game for free, but must buy digital "assets" from K2, such as swords to fight dragons, if they want to be deeply involved. The games can accomodate millions of players at once and are played simultaneously by people all over the world. What you may not see is how much K2 puts into protecting its Web sites from hacker attacks.[/b]

When K2 launched its first game in North America in 2003, it was using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates to encrypt communications with players buying its gaming assets. This did not offer enough protection against hackers who knew how to exploit flaws in Web applications, such as being able to enter commands into a Web browser that fools a database into revealing its contents. So K2 turned to two other security products - NetContinuum's NC-2000 AG firewall and Cenzic's ClicktoSecure managed service. Using these tools in concert, K2 is able to detect flaws in its software, make sure those flaws are not reintroduced when new software is being developed, and protect its software against attacks.[/b]

K2 spent nearly 250,000 on security in 2006 and expects to spend a similar amount in 2007. Management believes the money is well spent. K2's Web sites have never been breached.[/b]

.....It installed a firewall to filter out suspicious network traffic, and it subscribed to a service that monitors hacker activity, continually probes K2's software applications to detect vulnerabilities, and provides recommendations for eliminating them. The chosen solution has kept K2's game sites secure.[/b]

I think they are talking about the firewall application called "TURKS" on that last one.

[dondergek]

Gamers First, LOL

[Canz]

Lawl thats funny.

So much money into security and yet, I could log in with a guy, kill everyone and they wouldn't even notice.