What's a good security topic?

[Law]

Have to write an 8 pages report on any security topic relating to networking and computers. I was thinking about wireless home/businesses network and how it can pose as a security threat to the network if improperly configured, but since this topic has been hot for awhile I suspect someone has already pick it. Just want some of your input on what's hot at the moment that I haven't thought about yet, something new and interesting.

 

[talldude123]

Firewalls, and how they help computers from being attacked.

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

^^^ The above is a given fact your running hardware firewalls.

I think a good topic would be to discuss the pro's of wireless and the security cons.

 

[Chankama]

What about Information Security. Storing and transmitting information 'securely' between entities (computers), such that people can't modify the content without you knowing or cannot access the information.

Information security and network security are two different things of course - but related. But, I think a lot of kids these days know "some stuff" about network security (firewalls, trojans, viruses, spam, etc. etc.) without really having any appreciation for information security. i.e. PKIs, symmetric key crypto, digitally signed documents, breaking crypto algorithms, Copyright/digital rights management,etc. etc. etc.

So it's worth checking out

 

[office politics]

Nine principles of security architecture by bruce byfield

The truth is, anti-virus software, firewalls, and intrusion detection are only the surface of security. They are all reactive measures that attempt to respond to active threats, rather than proactive measures that anticipate threats and try to make them harmless. These applications have a major role to play, but are not enough in themselves.

Behind reactive security measures is the much broader field of architectural security: How to set up a secure system to prevent security breaches, how to minimize breaches if they occur, and how react to an intrusion and recover from it if it happens.

 

[Tyler1989]

a classic linux vs windows security article is always fun.