Computer Security : Art and Science

"This is an excellent text that should be read by every computer security professional and student." -Dick Kemmerer, University of California, Santa Barbara. "This is the most complete book on information security theory, technology, and practice that I have encountered anywhere!" -Marvin Schaefer, Former Chief Scientist, National Computer Security Center, NSA This highly anticipated book fully introduces the theory and practice of computer security. It is both a comprehensive text, explaining the most fundamental and pervasive aspects of the field, and a detailed reference filled with valuable information for even the most seasoned practitioner. In this one extraordinary volume the author incorporates concepts from computer systems, networks, human factors, and cryptography. In doing so, he effectively demonstrates that computer security is an art as well as a science. Computer Security: Art and Science includes detailed discussions on: bull;The nature and challenges of computer security bull;The relationship between policy and security bull;The role and application of cryptography bull;The mechanisms used to implement policies bull;Methodologies and technologies for assurance bull;Vulnerability analysis and intrusion detection Computer Security discusses different policy models, and presents mechanisms that can be used to enforce these policies. It concludes with examples that show how to apply the principles discussed in earlier sections, beginning with networks and moving on to systems, users, and programs. This important work is essential for anyone who needs to understand, implement, or maintain a secure network or computer system. 0201440997B10252002

Matt Bishop is Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California at Davis.

Hortensio: Madam, before you touch the instrument To learn the order of my fingering, I must begin with rudiments of art To teach you gamouth in a briefer sort, More pleasant, pithy and effectual, Than hath been taught by any of my trade; And there it is in writing, fairly drawn. The Taming of the Shrew,III, i, 62-68. On September 11, 2001, terrorists seized control of four airplanes. Three were flown into buildings, and a fourth crashed, with catastrophic loss of life. In the aftermath, the security and reliability of many aspects of society drew renewed scrutiny. One of these aspects was the widespread use of computers and their interconnecting networks. The issue is not new. In 1988, approximately 5,000 computers throughout the Internet were rendered unusable within 4 hours by a program called a worm. While the spread, and the effects, of this program alarmed computer scientists, most people were not worried because the worm did not affect their lives or their ability to do their jobs. In 1993, more users of computer systems were alerted to such dangers when a set of programs called sniffers were placed on many computers run by network service providers and recorded login names and passwords. After an attack on Tsutomu Shimomura's computer system, and the fascinating way Shimomura followed the attacker's trail, which led to his arrest, the public's interest and apprehension were finally aroused. Computers were now vulnerable. Their once reassuring protections were now viewed as flimsy. Several films explored these concerns. Movies such asWar GamesandHackersprovided images of people who can, at will, wander throughout computers and networks, maliciously or frivolously corrupting or destroying information it may have taken millions of dollars to amass. (Reality intruded on Hackers when the World Wide Web page set up by MGM/United Artists was quickly altered to present an irreverent commentary on the movie and to suggest that viewers seeThe Netinstead. Paramount Pictures denied doing this.) Another film,Sneakers,presented a picture of those who test the security of computer (and other) systems for their owners and for the government. Goals This book has three goals. The first is to show the importance of theory to practice and of practice to theory. All too often, practitioners regard theory as irrelevant and theoreticians think of practice as trivial. In reality, theory and practice are symbiotic. For example, the theory of covert channels, in which the goal is to limit the ability of processes to communicate through shared resources, provides a mechanism for evaluating the effectiveness of mechanisms that confine processes, such as sandboxes and firewalls. Similarly, business practices in the commercial world led to the development of several security policy models such as the Clark-Wilson model and the Chinese Wall model. These models in turn help the designers of security policies better understand and evaluate the mechanisms and procedures needed to secure their sites. The second goal is to emphasize that computer security and cryptography are different. Although cryptography is an essential component of computer security, it is by no means the only component. Cryptography provides a mechanism for performing specific functions, such as preventing unauthorized people from reading and altering messages on a network. However, unless developers understand the context in which they are using cryptography, and unless the assumptions underlying the protocol and the cryptographic mechanisms apply to the context, the cryptography may not add to the security of the system. The canonical example is the use of cryptography to secure communications between two low-security systems. If only trusted users can access the two systems, cryptography protects messages in transit. But if untrusted users can access either system