CHAPTER 1 / INTRODUCTION 19
There are no clear boundaries between these two forms of security. For ex-
ample, a computer virus may be introduced into a system physically when it arrives
on a flash drive or an optical disk and is subsequently loaded onto a computer.
Viruses may also arrive over an internet. In either case, once the virus is resident
on a computer system, internal computer security tools are needed to detect and
recover from the virus.
This book focuses on internet security, which consists of measures to deter,
prevent, detect, and correct security violations that involve the transmission of
information. That is a broad statement that covers a host of possibilities. To give
you a feel for the areas covered in this book, consider the following examples of
security violations:
1. User A transmits a file to user B. The file contains sensitive information (e.g.,
payroll records) that is to be protected from disclosure. User C, who is not
authorized to read the file, is able to monitor the transmission and capture a
copy of the file during its transmission.
2. A network manager, D, transmits a message to a computer, E, under its man-
agement. The message instructs computer E to update an authorization file
to include the identities of a number of new users who are to be given access
to that computer. User F intercepts the message, alters its contents to add or
delete entries, and then forwards the message to E, which accepts the message
as coming from manager D and updates its authorization file accordingly.
3. Rather than intercept a message, user F constructs its own message with
the desired entries and transmits that message to E as if it had come from
managerD. Computer E accepts the message as coming from manager D and
updates its authorization file accordingly.
4. An employee is fired without warning. The personnel manager sends a mes-
sage to a server system to invalidate the employee’s account. When the invali-
dation is accomplished, the server is to post a notice to the employee’s file as
confirmation of the action. The employee is able to intercept the message and
delay it long enough to make a final access to the server to retrieve sensitive
information. The message is then forwarded, the action taken, and the confir-
mation posted. The employee’s action may go unnoticed for some consider-
able time.
5. A message is sent from a customer to a stockbroker with instructions for vari-
ous transactions. Subsequently, the investments lose value and the customer
denies sending the message.
Although this list by no means exhausts the possible types of security violations, it
illustrates the range of concerns of network security.
This chapter provides a general overview of the subject matter that struc-
tures the material in the remainder of the book. We begin with a general discussion
of network security services and mechanisms and of the types of attacks they are
designed for. Then we develop a general overall model within which the security
services and mechanisms can be viewed.
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