A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON NETWORK SECURITY

SHANTHAN REDDY EDULAKANTI

[email protected]
NET ID: 2021186896
ABSTRACT
Network
security
is
a
complicated subject, historically only
tackled by well-trained and experienced
experts. However, as more and more
people become wired'', an increasing
number of people need to understand the
basics of security in a networked world.
This document was written with the
basic computer user and information
systems manager in mind, explaining the
concepts needed to read through the
hype in the marketplace and understand
risks and how to deal with them.
Network security consists of the
provisions made in an underlying
computer
network
infrastructure,
policies adopted by the network
administrator to protect the network and
the network-accessible resources from
unauthorized access and consistent and
continuous monitoring and measurement
of its effectiveness (or lack) combined
together

basics of security in a networked world.

Our paper covers different kinds of
threats & firewalls in the network by
implementation of different security
services
using
various
security
mechanisms. The security mechanisms
are primarily based on cryptographic
algorithms like symmetric-DES, AES,
asymmetric-RSA, ECC. Generally, the
logical conclusion is to use both kind of
algorithms and their combinations to
achieve optimal speed and security
levels. It is hoped that the reader will
have a wider perspective on security in
general, and better understand how to
reduce and manage risk personally.
INTRODUCTION

SECURITY
in
this
contemporary scenarios has become a
more sensible issue either it may be in
REAL WORLD or in the CYBER
WORLD .in this world as opposed to
the cyber world an attack is often
preceded by information gathering.

A basic understanding of
computer networks is requisite in order
to understand the principles of network
security. In this section, we'll cover
some of the foundations of computer
networking, then move on to an
overview of some popular networks. The
impressive development of computer
networks has reached the point, where
security becomes essential. Users want
to exchange data in a secure way. The
problem of network security is a
complex issue. Network security means
a protection of the network assets.

Network
security
is
a
complicated subject, historically only
tackled by well-trained and experienced
experts. However, as more and more
people becomewired'', an increasing
number of people need to understand the

What is Security:

Freedom from risk or danger;

safety.

Freedom from doubt, anxiety, or

fear; confidence.


Something that gives or assures
safety, as:
1. A group or department of private
guards:
Call building security if a visitor acts
suspicious
2. Measures adopted by a government
to prevent espionage, sabotage, or attack.
3. Measures adopted, as by a business
or homeowner, to prevent a crime
such as burglary or assault: Security
was lax at the firm's smaller plant,
etc.
Why do we need security?
o Protect vital information while still
allowing access to those who need it.
Ex:Trade secrets, medical records,
etc.
o Provide authentication and access
control for resources.
Ex: AFS.
o Guarantee availability of resources.
Ex: 5 9s (99.999% reliability).
Who is vulnerable?
Financial institutions and banks.
Internet service providers.
Pharmaceutical companies.
Government and defense agencies.
Contractors to various government
agencies.
Multinational corporations.
ANYONE ON THE NETWORK.
ATTACKS
Attacks on the security of a
computer system or network are best
characterized by viewing the
function of a computer system as
provided information. This normal
flow is depicted in figure:


information information
source destination

(a) Normal flow

(b) Interruption






(c)Modification





(d) Fabrication
SECURITY THREATS
Categorization of these attacks is
passive attacks and active attacks.
Passive attacks: In this the goal of the
attacker is to obtain information that is
being transmitted. Two types of passive
attacks are release of message contents
and traffic analysis.
Active attacks: These attacks involve
some modification of the data stream or
the creation of false stream and can be
sub divided into 4 categories:
Masquerade, Replay, Modification of
messages, and denial of service.
Denial of service: DoS (Denial-ofService) attacks are probably the
nastiest, and most difficult to address.
Such attacks were fairly common in late
1996 and early 1997, but are now
becoming less popular. Some things that
can be done to reduce the risk of being
stung by a denial of service attack
include

Not running your visible-to-theworld servers at a level too close

to capacity
Using packet filtering to prevent
obviously forged packets from
entering into your network
address space.
Keeping up-to-date on securityrelated patches for your hosts'
operating systems.

Unauthorized Access :
``Unauthorized access'' is a very
high-level term that can refer to a
number of different sorts of attacks. The
goal of these attacks is to access some
resource that your machine should not
provide the attacker. These can take the
form of a virus, worm, or Trojan horse.
One of the most publicized threats to
security is intruder. Generally referred to
as a hacker or cracker, and some other
threats are executing commands illicitly,
confidential
breaches,
destructive
behavior.
Where do the attacks come from?
How, though, does an attacker gain
access to your equipment? Through any
connection that you have to the outside
world.
This
includes
Internet
connections, dial-up modems, and even
physical access.
Preventing security disasters:

Hope you have backups

Stay current with relevant

operating system patches
Don't put data where it doesn't
need to be
Avoid systems with single points
of failure
Watch for relevant security advisories
SECURITY MECHANISM
A mechanism that is designed to
detect, prevent, or recover from a
security attack. Cryptography and

Steganographic
are
such
two
techniques. Hence we focus on
development, use and management of
Cryptographic techniques.
What is Cryptography?
The word cryptography is
derived from Greek and when literally
translated, means secret writing. The
study of enciphering and encoding (on
the sending end), and decoding (on the
receiving end) is called cryptography.
Although the distinction is fuzzy, ciphers
are different from codes. When you mix
up or substitute existing letters, you are
using a cipher.
Encryption refers to the
transformation of data in plain text
form into a form called cipher text,
.The recovery of plain text requires the
key, and this process is known as
decryption. This key is meant to be
secret information and the privacy of
the text depends on the cryptographic
strength of the key. Ciphers are broken
into two main categories, substitution
ciphers and transposition ciphers.
Substitution ciphers replace letters in
the plaintext with other letters or
symbols, keeping the order in which
the
symbols
fall
the
same.
Transposition ciphers keep all of the
original letters intact, but mix up their
order.
Substitution cipher:
Plaintext letter
ABCDE
FGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW
XYZ
Cipher text letter
Q W E R
TYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXC
VBNM
You can construct a secret message from
the above table. Relative substitutions
can be done. So, the message Meet me

after school behind the gym, would

read
DTTZ DT QYZTK
LEIGGS WTIOFR ZIT UND.
Five letters are customary in the spy biz,
so your message comes out like this:
DTTZD
TQYZT
KLEIG
GSWTI OFRZI TUNDM
Transposition cipher: Text chosen in
one form can be enciphered choosing a
different route. To decipher, you fill the
in box following the zigzag route and
read the message using the spiral route.
The cipher text becomes:

EAMTN FTDIE EHOTE

RHMEM BYESC GLOHO
Types of Cryptography:
There are three types of cryptographic
algorithms:
1.
Secret Key Cryptography.
2.
Public Key Cryptography.
3.
Hash Algorithms.
Secret Key Cryptography:
Secret key cryptography involves
the use of single key. Given a message
(Plain text) and the key, encryption
produces cipher text, which is about the
same length as the plain text was.
Decryption is the reverse of encryption,
and uses the same key as encryption.
Encryption
Plain text -----------------> cipher text
Key
Cipher text-----------------> plain text

Decryption
Secret key cryptography is sometimes
referred to as symmetric cryptography
or conventional cryptography. If
sender and receiver agree on a shared
secret key, then by using secret key
cryptography we can send messages to
one another on a medium that can be
tapped,
without
worrying
about
eavesdroppers. All we need to do is have
the sender encrypt the messages and the
receiver decrypt them using the key. An
eavesdropper will only see unintelligible
data. Some of the secret key
cryptography algorithms are - DES, 3DES, blowfish, IDEA, AES, RC2, RC4,
RC5, ECB etc.
Advantages
of
Secret
Key
Cryptography:
Very fast relative to public key
cryptography.
Considered secure, provided the key
is relatively strong.
The cipher text is compact (i.e.,
encryption does not add excess
Baggage to the cipher text).
Widely used and very popular.
Disadvantages
of
Secret
Key
Cryptography:

The administration of the keys can

become extremely complicated.
A large number of keys are needed
to communicate securely with a large
group of People.
The key is subject to interception by
hackers.

Public Key Cryptography:

Public key cryptography sometimes also
referred
to
as
asymmetric
cryptography. The public key need not
be kept secret, and, in fact, may be
widely available, only its authenticity is

required to guarantee that A is indeed

the only party who knows the coresponding private key. A primary
advantage of such systems is that
providing authentic public keys is
generally easier than distributing secret
keys securely, as required in symmetric
key systems. The main objective of
public-key encryption is to provide
privacy or confidentiality. Public-key
encryption schemes are typically
substantially slower than symmetric-key
encryption algorithms such as DES.
The private key and the public key are
mathematically linked.
Encryption
Plain text --------------------------------> cipher text
Public key
Private key
Cipherkey -------------------------------> plain text
Decryption
Public key cryptography can do anything
secret key cryptography can do liketransmitting the data over an insecure
channel, secure storage on insecure
media, authentication purposes and
digital signatures. Some Public key
cryptography algorithms are RSA,
Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC),
ElGamal, DH, DSA/DSS etc.
Advantages
of
Public
key
Cryptography:
Considered very secure, and easy to
configure these systems.
No form of secret sharing is
required,
thus
reducing
key
administration to a Minimum.
Supports non-repudiation.

The number of keys managed by

each user is much less compared to
secret key Cryptography.
Disadvantages
of
Public
key
Cryptography:
Much slower compared to secret key
cryptography.
The ciphertext is much larger than
the plaintext, relative to secret key
Cryptography.
Hash Algorithms:
Hash algorithms are also known
as message digests or one-way
transformations. A cryptographic hash
function
is
a
mathematical
transformation that takes a message of
arbitrary length and computes from it a
fixed length number.
The following things can be done using
hash algorithms.
Password Hashing: When a user types
a password, the system must store the
password encrypted because someone
else can use it. To avoid this problem
hashing is used. When a password is
supplied, it computes the password hash
and compares it with the stored value if
they match; the password is taken to be
correct.
Message Integrity: Cryptographic hash
functions can be used to protect the
integrity of a message transmitted over
insecure media.
Message fingerprint: We can know
whether some data stored has been
modified from one day to the next, if we
save that data structure with a hash
function. We can compare the hash
function data structure with the message
on the message data. If the message
digest has not changed, you can be sure
that none of the data is changed.
Digital Signatures: can be efficiently
implemented using hash functions.
Implementation Issues
Key Size:

This has major role for amount of

security. If the algorithm is inherently
strong, then it can be assumed that the
larger the key size for the ciphers, the
harder it is for a hacker to perform an
attack on the cipher text. But, larger keys
lead to lower levels of performance.
Thus there are, trade-offs, which are
traditionally made between the level of
security and other factors, like
performance.

Hybrid Systems:
Just one crypto-system will not
solve every problem. Most systems in
use today employ a hybrid system.
DEVELOPING AN EFFECTIVE
NETWORK SECURITY POLICY
A study reported by the U.S. General
Accounting Office (GAO) (1996) found
that the U.S. Department of Defense
network computers are extremely
vulnerable. A series of security attacks
conducted by the Defense Information
System Agency (DISA) revealed that of
38,000 attacks DISA could penetrate the
protection and gain access to the
network computers 65% of time. Of
those successful attacks only 4% (988
attacks) were detected by the target
organization. Furthermore, of those
detected, only 27% (267 attacks) were
actually reported to the appropriate
security
authority.
Given
the
sophisticated computer network at the
Department of Defense and the number
of computer personnel involved, the

statistics are alarming. The goal of

network security is to provide maximum
security with minimum impact on the
user accessibility and productivity. The
network
Security policy developed must conform to the existing organization
policies, rules, and regulations. Security
policies
should
reflect
constant
organization changes in its new business
directions, technological changes, and
resource allocations. When developing
an effective network security policy, the
following 11 areas should be addressed
(Cisco Systems, 1997):
1. Identify the Network Assets to
Protect
The first step is to understand and
identify the organizations network
assets and determine the degree to which
each of these assets must be protected.
Items to be considered include hardware,
software data, procedures, personnel and
users, documentation and supplies.
2. Determine Points of Risk
Risk analysis includes what you need to
protect, what you need to protect it from,
and how to protect it. You must
understand how and where potential
intruders can enter your organizations
network or sabotage network operations.
3. Determine the Cost of Security
Measures
Security measures invariably cause
inconvenience, particularly to certain
personnel or users. They can consume
significant computing resources and
require dedicated hardware. Another
cost of security measures is that they can
also delay work and create expensive
administrative and educational overhead.
If the cost of implementing security

measures outweighs its potential benefits

and the actual
A danger, then it is a disservice to the
organization to implement them.
4. Limit the Scope of Access
Too much security can be as
counterproductive as too little security.
Organization can provide higher levels
of security to the more sensitive areas of
the network. Create multiple barriers
within networks such that any authorized
access to a part of the system does not
automatically grant access to the entire
infrastructure.
5. Identify Assumptions
Every network security system has
underlying assumptions. For instance, an
organization might assume that its
network is fairly secure, that its network
is not tapped, that intruders are not
knowledgeable, that attackers use
standard software, or that a locked room
is safe. It is essential to identify,
examine, and justify your assumptions.
NY unmassaged or hidden assumption
ay turns out to be a big security hole.
6. Consider Human Factors
It is optimal that a network security
policy strikes a balance between
productivity and protection. If security
erasures interfere with the essential se of
the system and the users are not fully
informed, the users almost always exist
the change. These measures then re
either ignored or even circum-vented
All users should be educated n the
proper use of their account or
workstation, the proper procedure of his
security, the detection of unauthorized
access, and the accidental release r
revelation of passwords or other erects
over unsecured telephone lines.

7. Control the Number of Secrets

A properly designed network security
policy relies only on a limited umber of
secrets. The more secrets
There are, the more difficult it becomes
o keep them all.
8. Limit Your Trust
You should know which network
evinces you can trust and which software
you can rely on. Under no
Circumstances should an assumption be
made that all software are bug-free.
9. Understand Typical Network
Functions
Understanding how a network system
normally functions, being aware of what
is expected and unexpected, and
knowing how network devices are
usually utilized will help you detect any
Security problems. System software
auditing tools can help detect, log, and
track any unusual events.
10. Realize Physical Security
Often times, the most obvious element
of security is the one moszeasily
overlooked, such as security guards,
closed-circuit television, and card-key
entry systems. It is essential that
physical security, such as the server
room or the network administration
station be taken into consideration
because they are the controlling center to
the
most
sensitive,
confidential
information.
11. Implement Pervasive and Scalable
Security
All personnel and users need to realize
the security implications of every change
they make. The goal of a network
security policy is to create an
environment that is not susceptible to
every minor change.

CONCLUSION
Everyone has a different idea of
what ``security'' is, and what levels of
risk are acceptable. It's important to
build systems and networks in such a
way that the user is not constantly
reminded of the security system around
him. As and when new security methods
are developed, breaking of these
methods has increased. So measures
have to be taken to fill the loopholes, of
which cryptography has and is playing a
major role. Cryptography is evergreen
and developments in this area are a
better option.
REFERENCES
o William Stallings: Cryptography and
Network security: principles and
practice: 2nd edition.

o J.P. Holbrook, J.K. Reynolds. ``Site

Security Handbook.''
o Douglas R.Stinson. Cryptography:
theory and practice: 2nd edition
o A.Menezes, P.van Oorschot and
S.Vanstone:

Handbook of Applied

Cryptography.
o Smith,

Laurence

Dwight.

Cryptography, the Science of Secret

Writing.
o Speciner, M. Perlman, R: Network
security, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Websites
o www.iec.org/online
o http://ftp.research.att.com/dist/intern
etsecurity/
o http://www.jjtc.com/stegdo