Security of Information Systems - Essay Example

Page Running Head: A research proposal on the formal verification and security Table of Contents ment of the problem 3 Purpose of the study 3 Objectives of the study 4 Significance of the Study 4 Literature review 5 Future research 5 Analysis of the study/ stages of the study 6 Abstract With the growth of distributed applications and internet, security requirements are becoming inherent to the software development process. Every time a person communicates with another, relevant security risks should be taken into account since it is more likely to take place. Security of information systems has greatly emerged as an important issue since most companies in the world depend on these systems. David (2004), states that a mistake in the security of an information technology may result to disastrous effects. It is therefore important that the chances of mistake occurrences are reduced at the beginning of a design process. The study will therefore focus on establishing various formal verification and security methods. The methods are expected to play a crucial role in the minimization of computer crimes and information wars. Background to the study Formal verification and security are of great importance in the growth of hard ware and software systems. In the past years, there has been a tremendous progress in both the speed and capacity of constraint technology. In the 19th century the percentage of computer crimes and information war were very low. This was greatly attributed to lack of industrialization hence low technology advancement. However, in the 21st century, technology has drastically emerged amongst many societies in the world. Brake and Johnson (2001), states that technology has greatly advanced leading to computerization of various homestead and commercial based systems such as mobile phones, washing machine, automated teller machines among others. The increase in technology has led to emergence of various computer crimes and information wars hence the need for formal verification and security methods. Original methods and approaches are now being developed in order to protect the systems involved against attackers, to identify the attackers and to collect sensitive information so as to eliminate the threats. Statement of the problem In the past, security protocols were designed and verified through informal techniques. The absence of formal verification led to security errors remaining undetected. Recently, emergence and presence of formal verification techniques have led to provision of a systematic way of discovering protocol flaws. Purpose of the study Due to the increase in computer crimes, information wars and computer intrusions, the study purports to establish effective formal verification and security methods. The methods are expected to reduce computer crime rates in the world. The study also focuses on exploring possible applications of information technology so as to strengthen the society’s security. The study is also expected to add to the knowledge of formal verification and security which is under the discipline of computer science. Objectives of the study 1. To determine the causes of computer crime in the communication and telecommunication industry 2. To establish various formal verification and security methods that can be used to curb computer crime in the world. 3. To provide a basic coherent theory for understanding in a unified framework the thousands of concepts, ideas, reasoning tools and methods on formal verification and program analysis. Hypotheses of the study H1: There will be no significant difference between the various causes of computer crime in different communication and telecommunication industry. H2: There will be no significant difference between various formal verification and security methods in different communication and telecommunication industry. Significance of the Study The study will play a role in the reduction of computer crime, computer intrusion as well as the information wars currently available in the world; hence increase the security level in the hardware and software of computers. In addition, the study will add to the knowledge of formal verification and security as well as provide a bases on which more studies will be carried out. A complex approach as a result of the study will continuously be developed and used in the design, installation, implementation and maintenance of secure information technology for objects, individuals, government, institutions and business companies. Literature review Formal verification and security are the most trustful type of validation for security. In other words, formal verification involves production of machine checkable proofs of mathematical systems. Shertliff (2006), defines formal verification as the application of mathematical techniques to ensure that a design is conventional to some precisely expressed notion of functional correctness. In most cases, formal verification is used for systems such as combinational circuits, cryptographic protocols, digital circuits with internal memory and software expressed as source code. According to a study carried out by Thomas in Oxford University, computer crime rates are high in e-learning and e-commerce, he therefore suggested a number of methods to overcome the problem. Despite the common problem of hacking in computers, Thomas suggested e-porting as a means to overcome it. In addition, Marylyn (2009), indicates that formal verification and security methods ensure appropriate security in computer systems. They also act as an alternative approach that is normally used both to look out for inputs sequences that go against the properties, and show that the properties always hold in even when stimuli does not exist. Future research Further work should be done in order to fill in the gap between formal analysis and specification of security requirements. The research study should also be explored by use of various techniques and also by use of a different subject group. Future research should also be carried out in the relevant area to determine the design and code of the verification system. Analysis of the study/ stages of the study 1. Research the obvious attacks on the security information systems and design appropriate countermeasures in the area of applied cryptography. 2. Propose, implement and verify techniques and methods applicable for security enhancement. 3. Specify, design and evaluate prototypes of application oriented architectures, protocols of computer networks and interconnection networks. 4. Design, investigate and specify grammatical and statistical models in order to use the models for detection. 5. Simulate, develop, verify and implement application specific circuit architectures 6. Propose and explore various tools and methods for formal verification and simulation that will detect a wide spectrum of design flaws and vulnerable areas in secure applications. References Brake, G. E., & Johnson, B. W. (2001) Technology advancement in the world. UK: McMillan Publishers Kemmerer, R. A. (1996). Computer insecurity in Verification Assessment Study. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Marylyn, G. A. “Security in Computer systems.” Journal of Computer science 22(2), 34- 40. Shertliff, W. B. (2006). Formal Verification in Computer systems. England: Avil Press Read More