Semester 1 Cryptology

SEC Notes
At the beginning of the digital age, Computer Security was mainly limited to safeguarding computer equipment from physical harm. Early equipment needed protection from the environment, natural disasters, and accidental or malicious human interaction. Because of the limited number of computers in existence, the programs and data were mainly proprietary, and of no use to anyone withoutthe same type of computer they were developed on. Not much effort was required to protect resources from external harm.
 
As time passed, and technology evolved, there was significant growth in the sheer number of computers in the hands of all types of Users. With this growth, the need to protect applications and data grew exponentially. This has become a daunting task for those who wish topreserve the integrity and privacy of hardware, applications and data.
Security as it applies to computer technology is known as Computer Security. The objective of this type of security is to protect information and property from all kinds of threats, while simultaneously allowing their intended Users productive access to these digital resources.
The term Computer Security refers to the collectiveprocesses and mechanisms by which sensitive and valuable information, equipment and services are protected from publication, tampering or failure by unauthorized activities, untrustworthy individuals, natural disasters or unforeseen events.
In the early 1950s the first TEMPEST security standard was developed. TEMPEST is a codename referring to investigations and studies of compromising emission(CE). Compromising emanations are defined as unintentional intelligence-bearing signals which, if intercepted and analyzed, may disclose the information transmitted, received, handled, or otherwise processed by any information-processing equipment. There have been numerous security considerations in early system designs.
Then there was the creation of the first government security organization,the US Communication Security board. COMSEC is used to protect both classified and unclassified traffic on military communication networks, including voice, video, and data. It is used for both analog and digital applications, and both wired and wireless links.
The first age of computer security was the 1960s and 1970s. Awareness was created by the department of defense, national security agency,national bureau of standards or national institute of standards and technology.
Users can now interact directly with computer systems via terminals giving more power and flexibility and thus new possibilities of abuse.
The 1980s were a new age of computing. Computers appeared on desks at the home and at the office. Prices of systems fell tremendously, and inexpensive accounting packages wereavailable resulting in many small businesses. And this widespread use of computers and technology created new risks. Corporate data stored on diskettes could easily be stolen or lost. Systems were under attack during this era. Some of the worms generated in that era were Internet Worm, the 13th virus, etc. Individual users now saw the consequences of ignoring security risks.
In the early 1990sthere was an increase in the dependence on networks. Sharing data across networks, applications, hardware and software resources across vendor boundaries created new security risks. This was the time when there was a sudden rise in script kiddies. Script kiddies are people who are short on skill and have a strong desire to interrupt computation.
The major focus in security field shifted after the9/11 incident. Both corporations and the government became more willing to focus on security in products and their jobs.
Some of the challenges that we have to meet are:
First- Consolidate what we’ve learned to build computer security into our products and daily routines to protect data without impeding ability to access it.
Next- Ensure that security products and government and industry...