Overview
Well I drew the short straw and got question B. Security Sites.
- The Internet has a number of official and un-official security sites. Discuss the uses of these sites with benefits and drawbacks
These sites? I quickly found out that there are as many security sites as there have been viruses. There are sites hosted by Companies to repair and patch holes in their software, there are sites selling you security software (with patches and fixes for their programs). There are security agencies, government agencies and online books about security. Every wannabe Hacker and Cracker has a site, not to mention pages and pages of assorted articles and essays. Most large information technology companies have a part of their sites dedicated to security issues.
Topics covered by these sites range from:- patch’s or fixes for known loopholes in software and hardware, alerts of new viruses, products to safeguard your system (the range of products are also as varied as the viruses), FAQ’s, and of coarse a page or two of links to other security sites.
I want to know the real answers:For the real answers, like everything on the web, you need to do your own searching. The only acceptable answers/conclusions are those you find yourself.
On this site you will find enough to get you started to answer any security related question. However I will attempt to give you my version of what I see as the main groups of security sites on the Internet and a feel for the information available.
All security sites on the web seem to have enough links to take you to every other security site on the WWW (eventually). The information on these sites can also be extremely varied in content. Because of this I have clustered the categories by TONE.
Tone? What the hell am I talking about? By tone I mean the style, feel and presintation of the content on the sites.
A couple of pertinent points I found on the net:- To survive, you must adapt.
These are my four main types of security sites:
- Government, and it’s many agencies, military, poilice etc.
- Academic, including scientific institutions, universities etc.
- Information Technology companies, software & hardware companies etc.
- Hackers & Crackers, Anybody else that wants’s to have their say.
To the top
Government: The government sites I visited were to the point, the links were predictable and the articles factual (or so they would have you believe). I got the impression of reading only half the truth, not lies, but not the whole truth. Here is an example site: British American Security Information Council
Academic: With the academics I found that there was too much information. It was hard to get a strong point-of-view because so many topics where covered. Reading material at these sites ranges form the script straight out of text book though to equally good essays at opposite ends of a security issue. A good cross section of information and public opinion. The truth is here… some where. Here is an example site: Electronic Commerce Course
Information Technology: Amazingly it’s cool to have bugs, just part of the service, no need to pay extra. It amazed me how many programs have bugs. Let me re-fraise that, it is amazing how many bugs programs have. These sites are user friendly and easy to find the bug fix you are looking for. What worries me is that they are too friendly and smell of the government sites with their half truths. Once a bug is found they have an immediate fix for it! Strange? or merely prudent. It is what is hiding behind the gloss, that I would like to know.Here is an example site: Internet Security Systems
Hackers & Crackers: Or public opinion. This is where the folklore starts, heroes roar are the villains plunder. The sprit of the Internet is here, a place where everyone can have their say, truth and lies it’s all just shades of gray. You get the feeling of walking into a smoky bar with a roaring open fire and shadowy groups of people huddled close together in corners. The bar man has big hairy arms and serves you a mug of beer with a toothless grin and a cheerful "Yer not from around these here parts, then". Enter if you dear, chances are you will be tagged, watched or followed. But what the hay, your just a newbie and of little interest to this group. Here is an example site: Cosmos' Underground