Information Security: A Technical Review

Abstract

The explosive growth of networks offers enormous benefits in terms of increased exchange of information. However, the vast connectivity has posed severe risks because valuable network resources are exposed. The organisations are concerned that their internal systems can be attacked and valuable information may be compromised. An effective security plan is built on a thorough understanding of security issues and factors that make information in network environment vulnerable to attack. The understanding helps in defining security rules and procedures to protect important assets, and to adopt appropriate mechanisms.An overview of major issues of information security in network environment and mechanisms and how to address them are presented. The fundamentals of information security, different approaches for identification, authentication and access control are described. General vulnerabilities in network environment and attacks on Internet services are presented. The mechanism for providing security services such as confidentiality, authentication, integrity, non-repudiation and non-replay using encryption are described. The use of firewalls to secure the internal network of an organisation is explained. The intrusion detection and safeguards are explained.