Internet Security :: essays research papers

Internet Security What will US politics and the economy be like as we progress through the twenty-first century? There is no single vision, but many people perceive a type of digital democracy. The use of information via Internet or World Wide Web will dramatically change politics and the way government takes place. For example, a digital democracy can inform people about political candidates and issues. Volunteers also use email and web sites to encourage people to go to the polls and vote for their candidate. (1) This really boosts voting and political participation but the problem of security and privacy comes along with this â€Å"digital democracy†. Security would seem easy with today’s technology but how do you secure something that is changing faster than you can find a solution?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Internet has had security problems since its earliest days as a pure research project. Even today, after several years and orders of magnitude of growth, it still has security problems. It is being used for a purpose for which it was never intended: commerce. (2) It is somewhat ironic that the early Internet was design as a prototype for a command and control network that could resist outages resulting from enemy actions, but it cannot resist college undergraduates. (2) The problem is that the attackers are on, and make up a part of, the network they are attacking. Designing a system that is capable of resisting attack from within, while still growing and evolving at a breakneck pace, is probably impossible. (1) Deep infrastructure changes are needed, and once you have achieved a certain amount of size, the sheer inertia of the installed base may make it impossible to apply repairs. (1) As general-purpose scripts were introduced on both the client and the serv er’s sides, the dangers of accidental and malicious abuse grew. It did not take long for the Web the move form the scientific community to the commercial world. At this point, the security threats became much more serious. The incentive for malicious attackers to exploit vulnerabilities in the underlying technologies is at an all-time high.(1) When business and profit are at stake, we cannot assume anything less than the most dedicated and resourceful attackers typing their utmost to steal, cheat, and perform malice against users of the Web. (2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With the web being the single, largest source of information in the world, people are capable of obtaining stock quotes, tax information from the International Revenue Service, conduct election polls, register for a conference and the list goes on.