OVERVIEW OF COMPUTER SECURITY AND
CONCEPTS
1. Definition of computer security
The meaning of the term computer security has evolved in recent years. According to the
NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Computer Security Handbook, the
term computer security can be defined as follows: “The protection afforded to an automated
information system in order to attain the applicable objectives of preserving the integrity,
availability, and confidentiality of information system resources (includes hardware,
software, firmware, information/data, and telecommunications).”
This definition introduces three key objectives that are at the heart of computer security:
- Confidentiality: This assures that private or confidential information is not made
available or disclosed to unauthorized individuals (Data confidentiality).It also
assures that individuals control or influence what information related to them may be
collected and stored and by whom and to whom that information may be
disclosed(Privacy).
- Integrity: This assures that information and programs are changed only in a specified
and authorized manner (Data integrity). It also assures that a system performs its
intended function in an unimpaired manner, free from deliberate or inadvertent
unauthorized manipulation of the system (System integrity).
Availability: This assures that systems work promptly and service is not denied to
authorized users.
These three concepts form what is often referred to as the CIA triad (Figure 1). The three
concepts embody the fundamental security objectives for both data and for information and
computing services.
Figure 1 : The Security Requirements Triad
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Although the use of the CIA triad to define security objectives is well established, some
additional concepts are needed to present a complete picture. Some of the most commonly
mentioned are:
Authenticity: This is the property of being authentic and being able to be verified and trusted;
confidence in the validity of a transmission, a message, or message originator. This means
verifying that users are who they say they are and that each input arriving at the system came
from a trusted source.
Accountability: This is the security goal that generates the requirement for actions of an
entity to be traced uniquely to that entity. Systems must keep records of their activities to
permit later forensic analysis to trace security breaches or to aid in transaction disputes.
Authentication: This is the verification of the identity of the principal (unit of accountability
in a system, e.g. a user) making a request.
Authorization: This is the granting of a request to a principal.
2. Security attacks
A security attack is any action that compromises the security of information owned by an
organization. They are classified in terms of passive attacks and active attacks. A passive
attack attempts to learn or make use of information from the system but does not affect
system resources. An active attack attempts to alter system resources or affect their
operation.
2.1.Passive attacks
Passive attacks are in the nature of monitoring, or eavesdropping of transmissions of many
types. The goal of the opponent is to obtain information that is being transmitted. Two types
of passive attacks are the release of message contents and traffic analysis. The Release of
message content is easy to recover just from its name and what it does is easily figured out
also. In this type of passive attack a mail message, phone call or any transferred file may
contain sensitive information that would be intercepted or listened to. Traffic Analysis is a
little more complicated. It is very subtle and hard to detect since the opponent simply observe
pattern of messages from sender to receiver.
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Passive attacks are very difficult to detect, because they do not involve any alteration of the
data. Typically, the message traffic is sent and received in an apparently normal way, and
neither the sender nor receiver is aware that a third party has read the messages or observed
the traffic pattern. However, it is feasible to pre-vent the success of these attacks, usually by
means of encryption. Thus, the emphasis in dealing with passive attacks is on prevention
rather than detection.
2.2.Active attacks
Active attacks involve some modification of the data stream or the creation of a false stream
and can be subdivided into four categories: masquerade, replay, modification of messages,
and denial of service.
A masquerade takes place when one entity pretends to be a different entity. A masquerade
attack usually includes one of the other forms of active attack. For example, authentication
sequences can be captured and replayed after a valid authentication sequence has taken place,
thus enabling an authorized entity with few privileges to obtain extra privileges by
impersonating an entity that has those privileges.
Replay involves the passive capture of a data unit and its subsequent retransmission to
produce an unauthorized effect.
Modification of messages simply means that some portion of a legitimate message is altered,
or that messages are delayed or reordered, to produce an unauthorized effect. For example, a
message meaning “Allow John Smith to read confidential file accounts” is modified to mean
“Allow Fred Brown to read confidential file accounts.”
The denial of service prevents or inhibits the normal use or management of communications
facilities. This attack may have a specific target; for example, an entity may suppress all
messages directed to a particular destination (e.g., the security audit service). Another form of
service denial is the disruption of an entire network, either by disabling the network or by
overloading it with messages so as to degrade performance.
Active attacks present the opposite characteristics of passive attacks. Whereas passive attacks
are difficult to detect, measures are available to prevent their success. On the other hand, it is
quite difficult to prevent active attacks absolutely because of the wide variety of potential
physical, software, and network vulnerabilities. Instead, the goal is to detect active attacks and
to recover from any disruption or delays caused by them. If the detection has a deterrent
effect, it may also contribute to prevention.
3. Security services
A security service is a processing or communication service that enhances the security of the
data processing systems. It is also a service that is provided by a protocol layer of
communicating open systems and that ensures adequate security of the systems or of data
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transfers. The services are intended to counter security attacks, and they make use of one or
more security mechanisms to provide the service.
These services are divided into five categories:
Authentication: The assurance that the communicating entity is the one that it claims to be.
Access control: The prevention of unauthorized use of a resource (i.e., this service controls
that can have access to are source, under what conditions access can occur, and what those
accessing the resource are allowed to do).
Data confidentiality: The protection of data from unauthorized disclosure.
Data integrity: The assurance that data received are exactly assent by an authorized entity
(i.e., contain no modification, insertion, deletion, or replay).
Non-repudiation: Provides protection against denial by one of the entities involved in a
communication of having participated in all or part of the communication.
4. Security mechanisms
A security mechanism is a process (or a device incorporating such a process) that is designed
to detect, prevent, or recover from a security attack. Security mechanisms are divided into
those that are implemented in a specific protocol layer, such as TCP or an application-layer
protocol, and those that are not specific to any particular protocol layer or security service.
Specific security mechanisms: May be incorporated into the appropriate protocol
layer in order to provide some of the OSI security services
- Encipherment: The use of mathematical algorithms to transform data into a form that
is not readily intelligible. The transformation and subsequent recovery of the data
depend on an algorithm and zero or more encryption keys
- Digital Signature: Data appended to, or a cryptographic transformation of, a data unit
that allows a recipient of the data unit to prove the source and integrity of the data unit
and protect against forgery (e.g., by the recipient)
Pervasive security mechanisms: Mechanisms that are not specific to any particular
OSI security service or protocol layer.
- Event Detection: Detection of security-relevant events
- Security Audit Trail: Data collected and potentially used to facilitate a security audit,
which is an independent review and examination of system records and activities.
