Computer Network Security - Assignment Example

Computer and network security Name: Course: Tutor: Date: C–1.5 Unlike the convectional way where a virus is hidden in window system folders with the notion one cannot find access them, this proves unreliable since they can be still be accessed by anti-virus as well as malware detection programs. One of the way to ensures that an anti-virus goes unnoticed by a security administrator is through binding a virus file to a legitimate file such as a music, movie or even as document file. In order achieve this you will probably need a binder program that will join the two files into one. To begin of first make sure you have your executable anti-virus in place by this assuming it is has a (.exe) extension. After this select a legitimate file for instance an image file that you will use to bind with your virus. Once you have set up your virus code to execute through your preferred compiler and given it a suitable label for example myhit.exe. You can make your antivirus do whatever you please. But keeping in mind our aim is to make it undetectable we can then use an image file as its icon. Unless an intelligent anti-virus is deployed by the security anti-virus to detect the virus signature, one can often neglect C-1.9 To better answer this question we have to consider that the possibilities of digits range between 0 and 9, this implies combinations from 0000 to a possibility of 9999. (Wang, 2009) One way to best calculate this is to approach this mathematically, where it would entail the formula n^x (n is the number of possible digits which in our case is 10 counting from 0 to 9) and x is the combination number which in the case of an ATM (Auto Teller Machine) pin is 4 since it takes four digits. However note that n^x implies n is raised to the power of x more specifically 10^4 in our case. To get the accurate answer we get a total combination possibility of 10,000. In a bad case scenario this would imply that the thief key in 10,000 times to get the correct pin. C- 1.20 To facilitate joint projects on software development I would recommend the use of Team server. To utilize the Team server, members of the software development team will have to install the team server plug-in and then register the Team server with the IDE in this case I am assuming a modern IDE preferable Netbeans 7.0. This tool ensures that developers collaboration on a joint project remains connected to each other as a team. Team members can share resources, share information and communicate with each other. The Team Server tool provides a scalable, flexible platform for development that can grow as the project becomes bigger. This tool improves security by ensuring members of the development team can only access shared resources through login so as to access the Team Server dashboard C - 2.4 A case of accountability raised by the blue and red pirates by seeking a solution for a joint access of their treasures at once poses a simple challenge that can be easily addressed. Since it’s their intention that both teams have access to their treasures in the presence of at least an opponent, the challenge presented is the case of divided control. Due to the fact that security of there is provided by use of tow locks, one of the easiest ways of facilitating this operation would be to ensure that each group has their own different tow locks hence the chest should be secured by two tow locks, one from the red pirates and the other from the blue pirates. In this case opening the chest will only happen if both locks are opened simultaneously and since the padlocks belongs to different groups it makes sure access is only done in the presence of an opponent pirate group. C-2.9 To make biometric authentication protocol more secure, one of the ways this can be done is through a hybrid authentication protocol based several researches for instance one done by Bringer and company that has improved the process in many ways (Wang, 2009). More specifically higher authentication accuracy can be achieved using state of the art multi-class classifier pattern recognition. This classifier supports vector Machines in combination with an encryption scheme based on the Pallier public key encryption scheme. Another way to make biometric authentication more secure is by using a Support Vector Machines (SVMs) as an identification classifier instead of an authentication classifier. This can greatly improve privacy since no user identities are transmitted at any point of the protocol. In this case despite the fact that one can program a smartcard one cannot obtain the data stored since it will not render user data stored in the card. C-2.12 Once listed in a no-fly list, the implication is that you will not be able to board a flight. However despite the serious restrictions effected by the authorities, the possibility of a loophole arises especially in consideration to the fact that there is no common restriction list provided to other state agencies outside the travel sector (Wang, 2009). This factor makes this regulation prone to exploitation. Take for example your name I Johannes Mathew, it would be obvious for the no-fly list to include the same as identified by your government issued ID. However one of the ways you can bypass this measure would be by legally changing his official name. By taking this action say the name was changed to ‘John Mathew’, this name changed would not be immediately reflected in the no-fly list. Hence one can still make flight reservation by using his new name. However one key solution to this loophole can be curbed is by authorities making sure that there is a sharing of information across all sector and as such even to the legal departments. In this way changes in one’s identity that would compromise the no-fly list would be easily noticed and updated immediately making the system up to date. C-3.2 Picture based passwords as compared to standard passwords are in some ways considered appealing though they have several security loopholes as compared to standard password in the following areas: First of all in the case where 20 images have to be rendered from 40 raises the problem of space. This would be of great disadvantage especially to small screen devices such as netbooks and tablets or low resolution screen. Secondly another problem is that passwords can be predictable on the case of user interests. For instance it is only logical that people would like to associate with images that fall under their interest (Wang, 2009). If for example I know my friend has an interest in football, I stand a greater chance of unlocking his password if I choose football related pictures. Another disadvantage of image passwords that makes it unsecure as compared to standard password is the fact that the user choices can be captures by someone else during entry as compared to standard passwords that remain hidden by use of password characters. Therefore the standard password remains secure as compared to the picture passwords as it is less vulnerable to breaches as posed by the picture password. C-3.5 One of the key knowledge one has to have to exploit share archiving system is to first know the systems root password. Secondly by knowing the platform to which the share files overwrites during extraction process (Wang, 2009). This is because self-extracting share is platform specific for instance a windows self-extracting share would not operate the same way in another platform such as Mac. This would give one the read, write and execute access to process the share commands. This problem can be solved by addition of extra programming codes to prevent cases of automatic overwrites. Reference Wang, J. (2009). Computer Network Security. Berlin: Springer. Read More