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SECOND EDITION
Computer Security Basics
Rick Lehtinen, Deborah Russell,
and G.T. Gangemi Sr.
Beijing • Cambridge • Farnham • Köln • Sebastopol • Taipei • Tokyo
Computer Security Basics, Second Edition
by Rick Lehtinen, Deborah Russell, and G.T. Gangemi Sr.
Copyright © 2006, 1991 O’Reilly Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
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[M]
Table of Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Part I. Security for Today
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The New Insecurity 3
What Is Computer Security? 9
Threats to Security 12
Why Buy Security? 18
What’s a User to Do? 21
2. Some Security History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Information and Its Controls 22
Computer Security: Then and Now 25
Early Computer Security Efforts 27
Building Toward Standardization 32
Computer Security Mandates and Legislation 37
Part II. Computer Security
3. Computer System Security and Access Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
What Makes a System Secure? 49
System Access: Logging into Your System 50
v
4. Viruses and Other Wildlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Financial Effects of Malicious Programs 79
Viruses and Public Health 80
Viruses, Worms, and Trojans (Oh, My!) 80
Who Writes Viruses? 90
Remedies 92
The Virus Hype 93
An Ounce of Prevention 94
5. Establishing and Maintaining a Security Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Administrative Security 97
Overall Planning and Administration 98
Day-to-Day Administration 103
Separation of Duties 109
6. Web Attacks and Internet Vulnerabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
About the Internet 112
What Are the Network Protocols? 116
The Fragile Web 124
Part III. Communications Security
7. Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Some History 138
What Is Encryption? 141
The Data Encryption Standard 153
Other Cryptographic Algorithms 163
Message Authentication 169
Government Cryptographic Programs 170
Cryptographic Export Restrictions 171
8. Communications and Network Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
What Makes Communication Secure? 174
Modems 177
Networks 179
Network Security 187
vi | Table of Contents
Part IV. Other Types of Security
9. Physical Security and Biometrics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Physical Security 204
Locks and Keys: Old and New 207
Biometrics 212
Gentle Reminder 218
10. Wireless Network Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
How We Got Here 220
Today’s Wireless Infrastructure 221
How Wireless Works 225
Playing the Fields 228
What Is This dB Stuff? 231
Why Does All This Matter? 232
Encouraging Diversity 233
Physical Layer Wireless Attacks 233
Part V. Appendixes
A. OSI Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
B. TEMPEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
C. The Orange Book, FIPS PUBS, and the Common Criteria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Table of Contents | vii