Abstracts of Recent Articles and Literature

are required to use for their jobs. A user attempting an unauthorized access will generate an alert which will be picked up by the security administrator. Resources are classified in terms of the degree of security required. Sensitivity levels range from low (any user has access) through loosely controlled (by a generic user attribute), then more closely controlled (by locally appointed individuals) to strict control (directly by the resource owner or a registered representative). Computer Weekly

June 27, 1996,~. 36.

Firewalls light up. As the number of corporate net- works attached to the Internet grows so too does the threat of violation by surreptitious intruders. Security breaches cost American companies approximately $5 billion per year in loss of productivity customer confi- dence and business advantages, according to a report by the Yankee Group. More and more companies are posi- tioning their networks behind firewalls to attempt to prevent these break-ins. The Yankee Group predicts that the firewall market will burgeon from $21 million last year to $924 million by 1999. These numbers include both internal and external firewalls. The group expects the internal firewall market to have grown to 49% of all sales by the end of the decade. LAN, May 1996, p. 18.

Windows 95 antivirus utilities: the latest in PC protection, Neil Rubenking. As Windows 95 replaces DOS and Windows 3.1 many systems can be left vul- nerable to virus attacks because there is no anti-virus utility supplied with Windows 95. This article looks at a selection offive anti-virus products for Windows 95.The products evaluated are Dr. Solomon’s Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows 95, Norton AntiVirus for Windows 95, PC-&n 95, Thunderbyte Anti-Virus Utilities Profes- sional Version for Windows 95 and VirusScan for Windows 95. The evaluators found that each provided at least a minimum level of protection, and each had its strengths and weaknesses. Each relies primarily on scan- ning files for signatures of known viruses, and each uses a Windows 95 virtual device driver for background processing. Each can scan disks upon access, scan files at start-up, scan programs before execution, and even scan tiles when they’re copied or otherwise accessed.

In addition, each program can scan DOS-based pro- grams that load before Windows 95, and each supports some form of DOS-based recovery in case a virus disables Windows 95. Scanning for known virus signa- tures is only as good as your database of viruses. All five

products provide updates to signature files via BBS, Internet, or mailed-disk subscription. PC-cillin and ThunderByte Anti-Virus go a step further and include software to download updates automatically. PC Maga- zine, February 20, 1996, pp. 39-4 1.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, David Willis. It is easier than ever to get into your network. Remote access features are part of the desktop OS. Internet access is everywhere. Protecting a network is about preventing unauthorized or incorrect use of a system, and determining accountability if this occurs. Without strong user identification, not simply device identification, you don’t have real security. Your audit trails are worthless if you can’t confirm the identity of the person behind the keyboard. Token-based security products help you identify a user through two-factor authentication: something the user has (a token card) and something the user knows (a PIN, or password). In addition to clearly identifying the user, these devices produce a one-time password that will foil session replay attempts, which is verified through a server that knows how to calculate a valid entry

Network Computing Editor’s choice is Security Dynamics Technologies ACE/Server 2.0. It is supported by a number of perimeter devices, and it is the only product tested that authenticates users to NetWare servers. It has the least intrusive approach from a user’s perspective,and a well integrated suite of tools for the administrator. It offers authentication to a NetWare server, instead ofjust protecting a network access point. The SecurID token issues a new password every minute, and the authenti- cation server uses the current time to determine acceptable entries. The SecurID device has a seed value burned into it at the manufacturers. Having the seed hidden in the card eases the burden of programming tokens, as well as hiding the actual values that an unscrupulous administrator might use. Network Comput- ing, March 1, 1996,~~. 72-73.

Biology battles PC viruses, Carol Levin. The Web offers a convenient way for viruses to hitch a ride straight to your PC. Researchers at IBM’s Watson Re- search Lab in Yorktown Heights, New York, USA concluded in the eighties that as the mechanisms for spreading viruses moved from floppy disks to networks, containing viruses would become an increasingly tough challenge. So the lab set to work developing an immune system that could protect computer data from the

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