In the last 15 years, the adoption of enterprise level data networks had increased dramatically. This is mainly due to reasons, such as better use of IT resources, and even better coordination between departments and business units. These great demands have fuelled the push for better and faster connectivity to and from these networks, and even within the networks. We have moved from the slow 10Mbps to 1Gbps connectivity for end-point connections and moved from copper-based ISDN to fibre-linked connections for enterprise connections to the Internet. We now even include wireless network technologies in the mix, because of the greater convenience it offers. Such rapid progress is accompanied by ramifications, especially if not all aspects of networking technologies are improved linearly. Since the 1960s and 1970s, the only form of security had been along the line of authentication and authorisation. This is because of the widely used mainframes in that era. When the Internet and, ultimately, the wide-spread use of the Internet influxed in the 1980s, network security was born, and it was not until the late 1980s that saw the first Internet Worm that caused damage to information and systems on the Internet. Fast forward to today, and we see that although we have come a long way in terms of connectivity (connect to anywhere, and anytime, from anywhere else), the proposed use of network security and network security methods have not improved very much. Microsoft Windows XP recently switched from using their own authentication method, to the use of Kerberos, which was last revised 10 years ago. This thesis describes the many problems we face in the world of network security today, and proposes several new methods for future implementation, and to a certain extend, modification to current standards to encompass future developments. Discussion will include a proposed overview of what a secure network architecture should include, and this will lead into several aspects that can be improved on. All problems identified in this thesis have proposed solutions, except for one. The critical flaw found in the standard IEEE802.11 wireless technology was discovered during the course of this research. This flaw is explained and covered in great detail, and also, an explanation is given as to why this critical flaw is not fixable.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/265538 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Tham, Kevin Wen Kaye |
| Publisher | Queensland University of Technology |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Kevin Wen Kaye Tham |
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