Surviving information warfare attacks

Abstract

The past few years have seen governmental, military, and commercial organizations widely adopt Web-based commercial technologies because of their convenience, ease of use, and ability to take advantage of rapid advances in the commercial market. With this increasing reliance on internetworked computer resources comes an increasing vulnerability to information warfare. In today's heavily networked environment, safety demands protection from both obvious and subtle intrusions that can delete or corrupt vital data. Traditionally, information systems security focuses primarily on prevention: putting controls and mechanisms in place that protect confidentiality, integrity, and availability by stopping users from doing bad things. Moreover, most mechanisms are powerless against misbehavior by legitimate users who perform functions for which they are authorized. The paper discusses traditional approaches and their limitations.