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G53SEC

G53SEC. Foundations of Computer Security. 1. G53SEC. Overview of Today’s Lecture: Definitions Fundamental Dilemma Data vs. Information Principles of Computer Security The Layer Below Summary. 2. G53SEC. Definitions : Security Computer Security Confidentiality

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G53SEC

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  1. G53SEC Foundations of Computer Security 1

  2. G53SEC • Overview of Today’s Lecture: • Definitions • Fundamental Dilemma • Data vs. Information • Principles of Computer Security • The Layer Below • Summary 2

  3. G53SEC • Definitions: • Security • Computer Security • Confidentiality • Integrity • Availability • Accountability • Nonrepudiation • Reliability 3

  4. G53SEC • Security: • Security is about the protection of assets • Knowledge of assets and their value is vital • Protection measures: • Prevention – sometimes the only feasible measure • Detection • Reaction 4

  5. G53SEC • Computer Security: • Traditional definition using the following: • Confidentiality • Integrity • Availability • Debatable ! • Priority ? • Incomplete list ? 5

  6. G53SEC • Confidentiality (Privacy, Secrecy): • The prevention of unauthorised users reading sensitive information • Privacy – protection of personal data • Secrecy – protection of data of an organization • Hide document’s content ? • Hide document’s existence ? (Unlinkability and Anonymity) 6

  7. G53SEC • Integrity • Informally • -Making sure everything is as it is supposed to be. • Formally • -Integrity deals with the prevention of unauthorised writing. • Data Integrity • “The state that exists when computerised data is the same as that in the source documents and has not been exposed to accidental or malicious alteration or destruction.” 7

  8. G53SEC • Availability • “The property of being accessible and useable upon demand by an authorised entity.” • We want to prevent denial of service • Denial of service • “The prevention of authorised access to resources or the delaying of time-critical operations.” 8

  9. G53SEC • Accountability • Users should be held responsible for their actions • Thus system has to identify and authenticate users • Audit trail has to be kept • “Audit information must be selectively kept and protected so that actions affecting security can be traced to the responsible party” 9

  10. G53SEC • Nonrepudiation • Nonrepudiation provide un-forgeable evidence • Evidence verifiable by a third party • Nonrepudiation of origin – sender identification • delivery – delivery confirmation • The concept of irrefutable evidence is alien to most legal systems ! 10

  11. G53SEC • Reliability • Reliability - (accidental) failures • Safety - impact of system failures on their environment • Security is an aspect of reliability and vice versa! • Dependability • “The property of a computer system such that reliance can justifiably be placed in the service it delivers” 11

  12. G53SEC • Our Definition • Computer Security – What? • “Deals with the prevention and detection of unauthorised actions by users of a computer system” • Computer Security – Why? • “Concerned with the measures we can take to deal with intentional actions by parties behaving in some unwelcome fashion” 12

  13. G53SEC • To Remember • No single definition of security exists • When dealing with security material, do not confuse your notion of security with that used in the material 13

  14. G53SEC • The Fundamental Dilemma • “Security-unaware users have specific security • requirements but usually no security expertise.” • Security evaluation - evaluates the function of a security service and its assurance of functionality • The Orange Book – guideline for evaluating security products (1985) • ITSEC- separates functionality and assurance • - introduces Targets of Evaluation 14

  15. G53SEC • The Fundamental Dilemma cont. • In contrast conflict between security and ease of use: • Engineering trade-off: • - Security mechanisms need increased computational resources • - Security interferes with working patterns of users • - Managing security is work – thus better GUI wins 15

  16. G53SEC • Data vs. Information • Security is about controlling access to information and resources • This can be difficult, thus controlling access to data is more viable Data – represents information Information – (subjective) interpretation of data - Problem of inference 16

  17. G53SEC • Principles of Computer Security • Computer security is NOT rocket science if: • approached in a systematic, disciplined & well planned manner, from the birth of a developed / designed system • However: • if added as an afterthought to an existing complex system -> TROUBLE! 17

  18. G53SEC Linux with Apache – serving a website 18

  19. G53SEC Windows with IIS– serving a website 19

  20. G53SEC • Principles of Computer Security • Fundamental Design parameters: • Focus of Control • The Man-Machine Scale • Complexity vs. Assurance • Centralised or Decentralised Controls • The Layer Below 20

  21. G53SEC • Focus of Control • 1st Design Decision • In a given application, should the protection mechanisms in a computer system focus on: • Data • Operations • Or users? 21

  22. G53SEC • The Man-Machine Scale • 2nd Design Decision • In which layer of the computer system should a security mechanism be placed? applications services operating system OS kernel hardware 22

  23. G53SEC • The Man-Machine Scale • Combining previous two design decisions: specific complex focus on users generic simple focus on data Man Oriented Machine Oriented Related to the distinction between data (machine oriented) and information (man oriented) 23

  24. G53SEC • Complexity vs. Assurance • 3rd Design Decision • Do you prefer simplicity- and higher assurance- to a feature-rich security environment? • This decision is linked to the fundamental dilemma! • Feature-rich security systems and high assurance do not match easily 24

  25. G53SEC • Centralised or Decentralised Controls • 4th Design Decision • Should the tasks of defining and enforcing security be given to a central entity or should they be left to individual components in a system? • Central entity – could mean a bottleneck • Distributed solution – more efficient but harder to manage 25

  26. G53SEC • The Layer Below • Every protection mechanism defines a security perimeter • Security perimeter – parts of a system that can be used to disable the protection mechanism • 5th Design Decision • How can you prevent an attacker getting access to a layer below the protection mechanism? 26

  27. G53SEC • The Layer Below • To watch out for - • Recovery Tools • Unix Devices • Object Reuse (Release of Memory) • Buffer Overruns • Backup • Core Dumps 27

  28. G53SEC • Summary • Definitions • Fundamental Dilemma • Data vs. Information • Principles of Computer Security • The Layer Below • Next Lecture • Identification and Authentication 28

  29. G53SEC End 29

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