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Security problems

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Security problems

There is a fundamental tension between the demands placed on ICT-applications today, namely between openness and connectivity on the one hand, and security and reliability on the other.

Mainframes, desktop computers, laptops, palmtops, mobile phones, etc., are all connected and accessible via networks, either wired or wireless (as is more and more often the case). This connectivity has become a vital ingredient of our modern society. Also, there is a shift of having software, instead of hardware or humans, as regulator of control, resulting in an increase of flexibility.

But all this comes at a high price, as increased flexibility and complexity results in new vulnerabilities. Confidentiality and authenticity of information that is exchanged between computing machinery is often a necessary precondition in many of these activities. For example, the participation of a large audience in e-commerce is hindered by the lack of trust in the security of the underlying infrastructure. The success of e-government, in particular of e-voting, will depend crucially on the level of trustworthiness that can be achieved.

By exploiting software bugs, malicious attackers may gain unprecedented power of disruption, and can create substantial damage within crucial information systems and threaten pivotal interconnectivities. Also, frightening topics such as information warfare have become recurring items on the political agenda.

It is widely recognized that security of communications between computers is of paramount social and economic importance. See section 2.6 and section 2.6.3 for the situation in the Netherlands.

Next: Security objectives Up: Computer, network and information Previous: SENTINELS vision and focus Contents