Computer Security:
Principles and
Practice
Fourth Edition
By: William Stallings and Lawrie Brown
Chapter 1
Overview
Report NISTIR 7298 (Glossary of
Key Information Security Terms ,
May 2013) defines the term
computer security as follows:
“ Measures and controls that ensure
confidentiality, integrity, and
availability of information
system
assets including hardware, software,
firmware, and information being
processed, stored, and
communicated.”
Key Security Concepts
Confidential Availabilit
ity Integrity
y
• Preserving • Guarding • Ensuring timely
authorized against and reliable
restrictions on improper access to and
information information use of
access and modification or information
disclosure, destruction,
including including
means for ensuring
protecting information
personal nonrepudiation
privacy and and
proprietary authenticity
information
Levels of Impact
Low Moderate High
The loss could be
The loss could be The loss could be
expected to have a
expected to have a expected to have a
severe or
limited adverse serious adverse
catastrophic
effect on effect on
adverse effect on
organizational organizational
organizational
operations, operations,
operations,
organizational organizational
organizational
assets, or assets, or
assets, or
individuals individuals
individuals
Computer Security Challenges
1. Computer security is not as simple as it might first appear to the novice
2. In developing a particular security mechanism or algorithm, one must always consider potential attacks
on those security features
3. Procedures used to provide particular services are often counterintuitive
4. Physical and logical placement needs to be determined
5. Security mechanisms typically involve more than a particular algorithm or protocol and also require that
participants be in possession of some secret information which raises questions about the creation, distribution, and
protection of that secret information
6. Attackers only need to find a single weakness, while the designer must find and eliminate all
weaknesses to achieve perfect security
7. Security is still too often an afterthought to be incorporated into a system after the design is complete,
rather than being an integral part of the design process
8. Security requires regular and constant monitoring
9. There is a natural tendency on the part of users and system managers to perceive little benefit from
security investment until a security failure occurs
10. Many users and even security administrators view strong security as an impediment to efficient and
user-friendly operation of an information system or use of information
Table 1.1
Computer Security Terminology, from RFC 2828, Internet Security Glossary, May 2000
Adversary (threat agent)
Individual, group, organization, or government that conducts or has the intent to conduct detrimental activities.
Attack
Any kind of malicious activity that attempts to collect, disrupt, deny, degrade, or destroy information system resources or the
information itself.
Countermeasure
A device or techniques that has as its objective the impairment of the operational effectiveness of undesirable or adversarial
activity, or the prevention of espionage, sabotage, theft, or unauthorized access to or use of sensitive information or information systems.
Risk
A measure of the extent to which an entity is threatened by a potential circumstance or event, and typically a function of 1)
the adverse impacts that would arise if the circumstance or event occurs; and 2) the likelihood of occurrence.
Security Policy
A set of criteria for the provision of security services. It defines and constrains the activities of a data processing facility in
order to maintain a condition of security for systems and data.
System Resource (Asset)
A major application, general support system, high impact program, physical plant, mission critical system, personnel,
equipment, or a logically related group of systems.
Threat
Any circumstance or event with the potential to adversely impact organizational operations (including mission, functions,
image, or reputation), organizational assets, individuals, other organizations, or the Nation through an information system via unauthorized
access, destruction, disclosure, modification of information, and/or denial of service.
Vulnerability
Weakness in an information system, system security procedures, internal controls, or implementation that could be exploited
or triggered by a threat source.
(Table can be found on page 8 in the textbook)
Assets of a Computer
System
Hardware
Software
Data
Communication facilities and
networks
Vulnerabilities, Threats
and Attacks
• Categories of vulnerabilities
• Corrupted (loss of integrity)
• Leaky (loss of confidentiality)
• Unavailable or very slow (loss of availability)
• Threats
• Capable of exploiting vulnerabilities
• Represent potential security harm to an asset
• Attacks (threats carried out)
• Passive – attempt to learn or make use of information from the
system that does not affect system resources
• Active – attempt to alter system resources or affect their operation
• Insider – initiated by an entity inside the security parameter
• Outsider – initiated from outside the perimeter
Countermeasures
Means used
to deal with
security
attacks
• Prevent
• Detect
• Recover
Residual
vulnerabilitie
s may remain
May itself Goal is to
introduce minimize
new residual level
vulnerabilitie of risk to the
s assets
Table 1.2
Threat
Consequences,
and the
Types of
Threat Actions
That Cause
Each
Consequence
Based on
RFC 4949
**Table is on page 10 in the textbook.
Table 1.3
Computer and Network Assets, with Examples of
Threats
Passive and Active
Attacks
Passive Attack Active Attack
• Attempts to alter system
• Attempts to learn or make
resources or affect their
use of information from the operation
system but does not affect
• Involve some modification
system resources
of the data stream or the
• Eavesdropping on, or creation of a false stream
monitoring of, transmissions • Four categories:
• Goal of attacker is to obtain o Replay
information that is being o Masquerade
transmitted o Modification of messages
o Denial of service
• Two types:
o Release of message
contents
o Traffic analysis
Table 1.4
Security
Requirement
s
(FIPS 200)
(page 1 of 2)
(Table can be found on pages 16-17 in
the textbook.)
Table 1.4
Security
Requirement
s
(FIPS 200)
(page 2 of 2)
(Table can be found on pages 16-17 in
the textbook.)
Fundamental Security
Design Principles
Economy of Fail-safe Complete
Open design
mechanism defaults mediation
Separation of Least common Psychological
Least privilege
privilege mechanism acceptability
Isolation Encapsulation Modularity Layering
Least
astonishment
Attack Surfaces
Consist of the reachable and exploitable vulnerabilities in
a system
Examples:
Code that processes
An employee with
Open ports on incoming data,
access to sensitive
outward facing Web Services available email, XML, office
Interfaces, SQL, and information
and other servers, on the inside of a documents, and
Web forms vulnerable to a
and code listening firewall industry-specific
social engineering
on those ports custom data
attack
exchange formats
Attack Surface
Categories
Network Software
Human Attack
Attack Attack
Surface
Surface Surface
Vulnerabilities over an
Vulnerabilities in
enterprise network, wide-
application, utility, or
area network, or the
operating system code
Internet
Vulnerabilities created by
personnel or outsiders,
such as social
engineering, human error,
Included in this category and trusted insiders
are network protocol
vulnerabilities, such as
those used for a denial-of- Particular focus is Web
service attack, disruption server software
of communications links,
and various forms of
intruder attacks
Computer Security
Strategy
Security Policy Security
• Formal statement of Implementation
rules and practices • Involves four
that specify or complementary
regulate how a system courses of action:
or organization • Prevention
provides security
services to protect • Detection
sensitive and critical • Response
system resources • Recovery
Assurance Evaluation
• Encompassing both • Process of examining
system design and a computer product or
system system with respect
implementation, to certain criteria
assurance is an • Involves testing and
attribute of an may also involve
information system formal analytic or
that provides grounds mathematical
for having confidence techniques
that the system
operates such that the
system’s security
policy is enforced
Standards
• Standards have been developed to cover
management practices and the overall architecture
of security mechanisms and services
• The most important of these organizations are:
o National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
• NIST is a U.S. federal agency that deals with measurement
science, standards, and technology related to U.S. government
use and to the promotion of U.S. private sector innovation
o Internet Society (ISOC)
• ISOC is a professional membership society that provides
leadership in addressing issues that confront the future of the
Internet, and is the organization home for the groups
responsible for Internet infrastructure standards
o International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T)
• ITU is a United Nations agency in which governments and the
private sector coordinate global telecom networks and services
o International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
• ISO is a nongovernmental organization whose work results in
international agreements that are published as International
Summary
• Computer security • Fundamental
concepts security design
o Definition principles
o Challenges
o Model • Attack surfaces
• Threats, attacks, and attack trees
o Attack surfaces
and assets o Attack trees
o Threats and attacks
o Threats and assets • Computer
• Security functional security strategy
o Security policy
requirements o Security
• Standards implementation
o Assurance and
evaluation