Security in Computing Systems: Challenges, Approaches and Solutions

ISBN-13: 9783540784418 / Angielski / Twarda / 2008 / 694 str.

Joachim Biskup

Opis

This monograph on Security in Computing Systems: Challenges, Approaches and Solutions aims at introducing, surveying and assessing the fundamentals of se- rity with respect to computing. Here, computing refers to all activities which individuals or groups directly or indirectly perform by means of computing s- tems, i. e., by means of computers and networks of them built on telecommuni- tion. We all are such individuals, whether enthusiastic or just bowed to the inevitable. So, as part of the information society, we are challenged to maintain our values, to pursue our goals and to enforce our interests, by consciously desi- ing a global information infrastructure on a large scale as well as by approp- ately configuring our personal computers on a small scale. As a result, we hope to achieve secure computing: Roughly speaking, computer-assisted activities of in- viduals and computer-mediated cooperation between individuals should happen as required by each party involved, and nothing else which might be harmful to any party should occur. The notion of security circumscribes many aspects, ranging from human qua- ties to technical enforcement. First of all, in considering the explicit security requirements of users, administrators and other persons concerned, we hope that usually all persons will follow the stated rules, but we also have to face the pos- bility that some persons might deviate from the wanted behavior, whether ac- dently or maliciously."

Spis treści

Challenges and Basic Approaches.- Fundamental Challenges.- Computing Systems and Their Basic Vulnerabilities.- Fundamentals of Information Flow and Inference Control.- Messages, Inferences, Information and Knowledge.- Preventive Inference Control.- Security Mechanisms.- Key Ideas and Examples.- Combined Techniques.- Techniques of Control and Monitoring: Essentials.- Conceptual Access Rights.- Elements of a Security Architecture.- Monitoring and Intrusion Detection.- Techniques of Cryptography: Essentials.- Encryption.- Authentication.- Anonymization.- Some Further Cryptographic Protocols.- Implementations.- Design of Selected Systems.

O autorze

Joachim Biskup has been Professor of Computer Science since 1981 at the University of Dortmund, University of Hildesheim and University of Dortmund again. He has done research in recursion and complexity theory, information systems with an emphasis on database schema design, query optimization and mediation, and various aspects of security. He served on the program committees of many international conferences, including ICDT, FoIKS, ESORICS and IFIP WG 11.3 Conference on Database and Applications Security.

Blurb

With Security in Computing Systems, Joachim Biskup introduces, surveys and assesses the fundamentals of security with respect to all activities that individuals or groups directly or indirectly perform by means of computers and computer networks.

He has organized his comprehensive overview on multilateral security into four cross-referencing parts: challenges and basic approaches; fundamentals of information flow and inference control; security mechanisms with an emphasis on control and monitoring on the one hand and on cryptography on the other; and implementations. Besides presenting informal surveys and introductions to these topics, the book carefully elaborates the fundamental ideas by at least partially explaining the required precise formalizations and outlining the achieved mathematical verifications. Moreover, the need to employ the various security enforcement methods in a well-coordinated way is emphasized and thoroughly exemplified, and this includes case studies on UNIX, Oracle/SQL, CORBA, Kerberos, SPKI/SDSI and PGP.

Overall, this monograph provides a broad and comprehensive description of computer security threats and countermeasures, ideal for graduate students or researchers in academia and industry who require an introduction to the state of the art in this field. In addition, it can be used as the basis for graduate courses on security issues in computing.