Networks Are Vulnerable

Networks offer many advantages to users. Distributed processing such as we have at NRL allows many people access to large amounts of data, much of which is sensitive. This creates a condition of openness in which all types of systems, pc's, workstations, and mainframes can talk to each other as necessary. When access becomes widespread, network vulnerabilities increase, and any coordinated central security control program encounters difficulty.

With more networks interconnected all the time, the chances increase that a legitimate user from one network can find an open path to another network and from there into still other networks where he has no legal authorization. The possibility of this occurrence forces network managers to monitor and audit their own systems on a continuing basis.

In addition to keeping track of and protecting regular users, there are some primary security issues which also confront the network manager. Among these issues are employees who disregard or bypass security protection controls, the disgruntled employee who plants his own internal bypass in the system for later use, and the crackers that continually try to break into the network from outside.

The potential problem created by the legitimate employee who bypasses the security protection techniques on his workstation because "it's too much trouble" or so he can work at home or on the road via a modem is a serious concern. Downloading software off a public network is one of the best ways to insert a virus or some other bug into your network.

The loss of sensitive or classified data is a major concern when security techniques are bypassed. Public phone systems are not secure, especially for portable computers that use cellular modems. Even Data Encryption Standard (DES) type encryption has limitations. DES is best applied in a hardware encryption application. For protecting networks, using DES based software encryption is only as good as the password file.