Page 209 - DCAP403_Operating System

Operating System

Notes it. In addition to these technical aspects, the conceptual reach of computer security is broad and
multifaceted.
Computer security touches draws from disciplines as ethics and risk analysis, and is concerned
with topics such as computer crime; the prevention, detection, and remediation of attacks; and
identity and anonymity in cyberspace.
While confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity are the most important concerns of a computer

security manager, privacy is perhaps the most important aspect of computer security for
everyday Internet users. Although users may feel that they have nothing to hide when they
are registering with an Internet site or service, privacy on the Internet is about protecting one’s
personal information, even if the information does not seem sensitive.
Because of the ease with which information in electronic format can be shared among companies,
and because small pieces of related information from different sources can be easily linked
together to form a composite of, for example, a person’s information seeking habits, it is now
very important that individuals are able to maintain control over what information is collected
about them, how it is used, who may use it, and what purpose it is used for.

Task System security is a major problem in this era. Discuss some important security
techniques for operating system.

11.2 Security Problem

System security can mean several things. To have system security I need to protect the system
from corruption and I need to protect the data on the system. There are many reasons why these
need not be secure.
1. Malicious users may try to hack into the system to destroy it.
2. Power failure might bring the system down.
3. A badly designed system may allow a user to accidentally destroy important data.

4. A system may not be able to function any longer because one user fills up the entire disk
with garbage.

Although discussions of security usually concentrate on the first of these possibilities, the latter
two can be equally damaging the system in practice. One can protect against power failure by
using un-interruptible power supplies (UPS). These are units which detect quickly when the
power falls below a certain threshold and switch to a battery. Although the battery does not last
forever-the UPS gives a system administrator a chance to halt the system by the proper route.
The problem of malicious users has been heightened in recent years by the growth of international
networks. Anyone connected to a network can try to log on to almost any machine. If a machine is
very insecure, they may succeed. In other words, you are not only looking at our local environment
anymore, I must consider potential threats to system security to come from any source. The fi nal
point can be controlled by enforcing quotas on how much disk each user is allowed to use.
You can classify the security attacks into two types as mentioned below:

1. Direct: This is any direct attack on your specific systems, whether from outside hackers or
from disgruntled insiders.
2. Indirect: This is general random attack, most commonly computer viruses, computer
worms, or computer Trojan horses.

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