Network Security Mechanisms

Vulnerability Attack Threat Network Security Mechanisms

Contents

Vulnerabilities are weak points or loopholes in security that an attacker exploits in order to gain access to the network or to resources on the network.

Vulnerabilities

Attack is any attempt to destroy, expose, alter, disable, steal or gain unauthorized access to or make unauthorized use of an asset.

Two types of attack are: Passive Attack Active Attack

Attacks

Passive Attack

Active Attack

Active Attack

Threat

 A mechanism that is designed to detect, prevent, or recover from a security attack.

Different types of security Mechanisms are:

Routing control Traffic padding Encipherment Access Control Digital Signatures Data Integrity

Security Mechanism

Enables selection of particular physically secure routes for certain data and allows routing changes, especially when a breach of security is suspected.

Routing Control

The insertion of bits into gaps in a data stream to frustrate traffic analysis attempts.

Traffic Padding

Encipherment

Encipherment is the process of translating plaintext into ciphertext.

The use of mathematical algorithms to transform data into a form that is not readily intelligible.

Cryptography technique is used for enciphering.

Cryptography

A word with greek origin, means “Secret Writing”.

Two distinct mechanisms:

Symmetric-Key Encipherment Asymmetric-Key Encipherment

Digital Signature

A digital signature or digital signature scheme is a mathematical scheme for demonstrating the authenticity of a digital message or document.

Access Control

It uses methods to prove that a user has access rights to the data or resources owned by a system.

Examples: passwords and PINs

Data Integrity

Data integrity refers to maintaining and assuring the accuracy and consistency of data.

A variety of mechanisms used to assure the integrity of a data unit or stream of data units.

Method of checking data integrity

A check digit is an extra digit added to a number so that, if a number is changed, the error will be detected.

Method

Starting from the right, multiply the first digit by 1, the second by 2 etc

Add the results togetherUse the last digit of the result and add to end of

number.

◦Example: 56037 becomes 560372◦Example: 50637 becomes 506376