8. Supplementary reading.

Text C

Software for detecting and removing viruses.

Virus protection (or antivirus) software are applications that can determine when a system has been infected with a virus. Typically, such software runs in the back-ground and scans files whenever they are downloaded from the Internet, received as attachments to e-mail, or modified by another application running on the system. Most virus protection software employ one of the following methods:

● Signature-based detection: This is the traditional approach and searches for “signatures,” or known portions of code of viruses that have been detected and cataloged in the wild. Signature-based products are fast and reliable in detecting previously known viruses but generally cannot detect new viruses until the vendor has updated its signature database with information about the new virus and users have downloaded the updated signature files to their systems.

● Behavior-blocking detection: This is a newer approach borrowed from intrusion detection system (IDS) technologies and uses policies to define which kinds of system behaviors might indicate the presence of a virus infection. Should an action occur that violates such a policy, such as code trying to access the address book to mass mail itself through e-mail, the software steps in and prevents this from happening and can also isolate the suspect code in a “sandbox” until the administrator decides what to do with it. The advantage of behavior-blocking detection is that it can detect new viruses for which no signatures are known. The disadvantage is that, like IDSs, such detection systems can generate false positives if the detection threshold is set too low or can miss real infections if it is set too high. A few newer virus protection products include behavior-blocking technology, but most still operate using signature databases.

UNIT 2

1. Read and translate the text.

Text А

The information protection in the global network INTERNET

The global network INTERNET takes a significant place in a modern society life. Nowadays the INTERNET covers many spheres of activities, in particular, such branches as information technologies, commercial operations, information interchange, bank business, education etc. The access of organization to the global network INTERNET essentially increases its function­ing effectiveness and opens a set of new opportunities. On the other hand, the organization should provide the creation of in­formation resources protecting system to prevent an access of unauthorized users, who may use, modify or destroy important information. Regardless of its specifics, the information protecting system for global networks is part of general security complex that directed on information safety assurance. The information protection is the complex of means directed on in­formation safety assuring. In practice it should include mainte­nance of integrity, availability, confidentiality of the informa­tion and resources that used for data input, saving, processing and transfer. The complex character of this problem emphasizes that for its solution the combination of legislative, organization­al and software-hardware measures should be realized. The main threats to the information safety

in the INTERNET

The unauthorized access (UAA) in the INTERNET can be performed, in particular, using the following actions:

— penetration into network with the purpose of reading the confidential information;

— penetration into network with the purpose of updating or destroying the existing information;

— embedding of the programs — viruses, which will disorganize the network functions or perform the all the above

mentioned actions;

— destroying of the INTERN ET-servers functioning or lo­cal computers connected to the INTERNET.

ЛИ these actions can be realized separately or in any com­bination.

Let's list some examples of the unauthorized intrusions in the INTERNET: smart attacks the INTERNET-viruses, the Troyan programs that assemble the secured information from WEB-pages, destroy the servers functioning etc.

The protection from unauthorized access in the INTERNET

Every information protecting means is directed to the cer­tain type of safety threats, and realizes the protection against specific types of the unauthorized access. There are program and hardware protecting tools.

The software protecting tools are program complexes in­tended to reveal and to prevent the possible UAA threats. The examples of software protection tools are: firewalls, crypto­graphic program means, authenticating means, means for the vulnerable network components definition and protection.

The hardware tools are the set of hardware means intended to the data enciphering and to the protection from viruses. The examples of hardware tools are: cryptographic electronic boards and hardware complexes-anti-viruses.

Nowadays the simple approaches to the protection system organization are the most widespread, such as the systems for protection from the unauthorized users access. These systems are rather reliable, however they do not offer the required flex­ibility. They are based on the various tools for protection assur­ance, for example, the tools that permit the data transfer only to those users who possess the certain addresses of network protocol IP, tools that deny the direct users access to the IN­TERNET resources and local networks. The shortcomings of this approach consist in narrowness of the solved problem: to prevent access of the unauthorized users to the various local networks. The similar protection is used for access prevention of the certain users of the local network (for example, corporate network of the enterprise) to the all INTERNET resources, ex­cept for electronic mail. The principle of this protection method is the next: the protection of the local information and decreas­ing of external channels traffic. However users and providers of the INTERNET services are more concerned in maintaining of general safety of network, in particular, the confidentiality of the information of the sender and receiver, and the absolute reli­ance is necessary for the providers and users that on the other end of the communication channel is the legal user.