Final Exam Handout: Advanced Computer Networks

Network
A computer network is collection of computers and devices connected together to share information and resources.
Devices may be printers, scanners etc.

Computers in a network are interconnected by telephone lines, cables, satellite links or wireless communication
techniques.

Domain Name System (DNS)

DNS = Domain Name System
DNS = Domain Name Server
DNS = Domain Name Service

In order to understand DNS, we need to have a basic understanding of IP addresses and domain names. An
IP address is a string of numbers that acts as an identifier for devices across the Internet. In short, an IP address
is the address that computers, servers and routers used to identify one another online. The vast majority of IP
addresses are arranged into four sets of digits - i.e., 12.34.56.78.

DNS translates domain names into IP addresses. Because domain names are alphabetic, they're easier to
remember. But Internet is really based on IP addresses. Every time you type a domain name into address bar
of browser window, DNS service must translate the name into the corresponding IP address. For example, the
domain name www.google.com would translate to 74.125.224.72.

Remembering www.google.com would be easier than remembering 74.125.224.72. Human beings can
remember names easily than numbers.

A domain name is the information that you enter into address bar of a browser in order to reach a specific
website. When you input a URL like www.google.com into a web browser, its domain name is google.com.
Basically, a domain name is the human-friendly version of an IP address. Note that names are easier to
remember than numbers.

The DNS translates domain names to IP addresses. DNS automatically converts the names into IP addresses
of web servers hosting those sites.

Domain Name
A domain name is a unique name that identifies a website. Each website has a domain name that is used to
access that website. No two organizations can have the same domain name. Mobile number is unique in the
world. No two persons can have same mobile number. The same way no two organizations can have same
domain name.

Whenever you visit a website, the domain name appears in the address bar of the web browser. All
domain names have a domain suffix, such as .com, .net, or .org. Suffix identifies the type of website. For
example, ".com" domain names are used by commercial website, while ".org" websites are used by non-
profit organizations. Some domain names end with a country code, such as ".dk" (Denmark) or ".se"
(Sweden), which helps identify the location and audience of the website.
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Major domain addresses:

Domain suffix Meaning

.com commercial website
.gov government agencies
.edu educational institutions
.mil defense website
.net network provider
.org non-profit organization

NOTE: When you access a website, the domain name is actually translated to an IP address. This translation
is performed by a service called DNS.

NOTE: Domain names must be registered in the beginning and renewed every year or every few years. Note
that anyone can register a domain name with nominal fee. Once you decide a domain name and register it, the
name is yours until you stop renewing it. When the renewal period expires, the domain name becomes
available for others to purchase.

NOTE: Without DNS, we would have to remember the IP address of every web site we wanted to visit. The
reason the Domain Name System is used is because Web sites are actually identified by their IP addresses.
For example, when you type in http://www.adobe.com, the computer doesn't immediately know that it should
look for Adobe's Web site. Instead, it sends a request to the nearest DNS server, which finds the correct IP
address for "adobe.com."

Internet Service Provider (ISP)

An Internet service provider (ISP) is a company that provides Internet connection to its customers. Connection
to the user is provided via dial-up, ISDN, DSL, cable modem, wireless, T1/T3 lines or fiber. Customers
are generally billed a fixed rate per month. An Internet service provider is also known as an Internet Access
Provider (IAP).

Typically, ISPs also provide their customers with the ability to communicate with
one another by providing Internet email accounts, usually with numerous email
addresses at the customer’s discretion. Other services, such as telephone and
television services, may be provided as well.

The Internet is an interconnected global network. The network can carry three
types of information: data, video, and voice. To obtain access to the Internet, users
(i.e., customers) connect to an ISP. For a monthly fee, ISP usually provides a
software installation package, username, password and phone number. Using modem, we can log on to the
Internet and browse the World Wide Web and send and receive e-mail.

In addition to serving individuals, ISPs also serve large companies, providing a direct connection from the
company's networks to the Internet.

Dial-up Internet access is the slowest type of Internet connectivity offered by ISPs. Cable, DSL and satellite
Internet access typically provide much greater speeds than dial-up. Depending on the customer's geographical
location, the types of access offered by Internet Service Providers may be limited. Rural areas have access to

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dial-up connections only. Geographically disadvantaged areas like desert, hills and forest use satellite
communications for Internet access. Note that installation of wires is difficult in such locations.

Government owned ISPs in Ethiopia

Ethio telecom
Safari

Types of ISPs

There were 3 types of ISPs: dial-up, broadband (high-speed) and DSL (Digital Subscriber
Line) offered by phone companies. Today, dial-up services are rare, because they are very slow.
Next generation Internet is using fiber optics. Fiber is hundreds of times FASTER than cable or DSL.

Search Engine

Search engines are an integral part of the Internet. A search

engine is a web-based tool used to search information on the
Web. The most popular and well known search
engine is Google. Other popular examples of search
engines are Google, Yahoo!, and MSN Search.
Search engines utilize software programs called,
robots, bots, or spiders). The information gathered by the
spiders is used to create a searchable index of the Web.
Index is similar to the one added at the end of the TEXT
BOOK.

A search engine is a web site that collects and organizes content from all over the internet.
90% of Internet surfers use search engines such as Google and Yahoo to locate specific products and
services
Today, there are thousands of different search engines available on the Internet, each with their own
abilities and features.
Google, Excite, Lycos, AltaVista, Infoseek, and Yahoo are all search engines.
Search engines rank websites by relevancy and will consider many factors when ranking.
For example, use of Meta tags: A special HTML tag that provides information about a Web page.

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Plug-ins (also called: extension, add-on, plugin, helper applications)

A plug-in is a software module that acts as an add-on to a web

browser and gives additional functionality. The common
examples are the plug-ins used in web browsers to add
features such display animations, video content, audio etc.
Well-known browser plug-ins includes Adobe Flash Player,
Quick Time Player.

Plugins allow a web browser to display additional content it

was not originally designed to display. For example, Macromedia Flash Player plugin allows the web
browser to display animations.

During initial days of Internet, plug-inns were called helper applications. But these applications require a
second window to be opened. Now a days, a plug-in application is recognized automatically by the browser
and its function is integrated into the main HTML file that is being presented.

In the early days of the World Wide Web, the first versions of HTML couldn’t deliver fancy content like
animation, videos. Plug-ins were invented to work around these limitations and deliver more interactive
content.
Each plug-in is specialized in processing particular types of content. For example, plug-ins to play
multimedia files like audio, video, games within web browser.

Most plugins are available as free downloads. Some plug-ins are developed by third-parties and are sold
separately. To install the plugin, you visit the website of the plugin’s developer and click on a link that will
download the installer for the plugin you have selected. Once you have downloaded the installer, you can open
it and follow the prompts to install the plugin on your system. You may have to restart your web browser to
enable the additional functionality provided by the plugin.

There are hundreds of plug-ins available, some listed below:.

Adobe Flash Player plug-in used to view video, animation or an interactive game
Silverlight plug-in purpose similar to those of Adobe Flash
RealNetworks' streaming video player
Macromedia's Shockwave for interactive animation and sound player
MS word 2007/2010 Ribbon contains PDF plug-in to convert word files into PDF format

Note:
Your computer is vulnerable to security attacks if you’re running plug-ins that are not up to date, because out-
of-date plug-ins don’t contain the latest security fixes.

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 FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard Internet protocol for
transferring files between computers on the Internet. Whenever
you are downloading or uploading files over Internet, you are
using FTP protocol.

To transfer files with FTP, you use a program often called the FTP
client. An FTP client program initiates a connection to a remote
computer running FTP server software. After the connection is established, the client can choose to send or receive
audio/video/image or text files. It's also commonly used to download programs and other files to your computer from
other servers.

FTP divides files into several segments and assigns a reference number to each one. These segments are transmitted in
a sequence. At the other end receiving computer reassembles the original file transmitted. FTP also performs automatic
error detection and correction in file transfers. There are hundreds of thousands of FTP files over the internet that can
be freely downloaded.

Transferring files from a client computer to a server computer is called "uploading" and transferring
from a server to a client is "downloading".
FTP is most commonly used to download a file from a server using the Internet or to upload a file to
a server (e.g., uploading a Web page file to a server).
Using FTP users can upload files from their computers to a website or download files from a
website to their PCs.
FTP is the easiest way to transfer files between computers via the internet.
FTP works in the same way as HTTP for transferring Web pages from a server to a user's browser and
SMTP for transferring Email across the Internet.
Note that FTP uses TCP/IP protocols to enable data transfer.

FTP uses one connection for commands and the other for sending and receiving data. FTP has a standard port number
21 on which the FTP server "listens" for connections. Port 21 is used only for sending commands. Since port 21 is used
exclusively for sending commands, this port is referred to as a command port. The port that is used for transferring
data is referred to as a data port. The number of the data port will vary depending on the "mode" of the connection.

FTP data transfer modes:

FTP supports two modes of data transfer: plain text (ASCII), and binary.

ASCII mode
Binary mode

ASCII Mode Binary Mode

ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Binary stands for either 0 or 1. Binary mode
Information Interchange refers to transferring files as a binary stream of
data.
Used primarily for transfer of text-based files Used primarily for data type transfers such as :
such as: ✓ audio, video, and image files
✓ .htm, .html, .css files ✓ Executable programs,
✓ .txt – plain text files, ✓ Compressed files,
✓ .asp, .php files ✓ Pictures & graphics files

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 TELNET
Telnet stands for TELecommunication NETwork. Telnet is used for Remote Logins. Telnet is a program that
allows you to connect to remote computer over Internet or LAN and use files and data on it.

Using telnet client software on your computer, you can make

a connection to a telnet server (i.e., remote computer). Note
that you need to have an account on the remote computer. To
start a Telnet session, you must log in to a server by entering
a valid username and password.

It gives the user the opportunity to be on one computer system and do work on another, which may be across
the street or thousands of miles away. Port number 23 (default port) is dedicated for Telnet communications.
Ports are the places where data enter and leave the computer system (example: USB port).

Telnet enables a user to manage an account or device remotely. For example, a user may telnet into a computer
that hosts their website to manage its files remotely.

Telnet Features:
Telnet is a text-based computer protocol.
All commands are case-sensitive,
Must be typed at the UNIX prompt ($),
You must press the ENTER key after you type the command.
Telnet can be used on Internet or LAN
Telnet is a common way to control web servers remotely

NOTE:

Telnet is most likely to be used by program developers and anyone who has a need to use specific applications
or data located at a particular host computer.

NEWSGROUP

A newsgroup is an Internet-based discussion about a particular topic. These topics range from sports, cars, investments,
and teen problems. Note that there are more than 13,000 newsgroups in existence. Newsgroups are organized into subject
categories, with the first few letters of the newsgroup name indicating the major subject category and sub-categories
represented by a subtopic name. Some major subject categories are: news, rec (recreation), soc (society), sci
(science), comp (computers) etc. Users can post to existing newsgroups, respond to previous posts, and create new
newsgroups.

Users post messages to a news server which then sends them to a group of other participating servers. Then other users
can access the newsgroup and read the postings. The groups can be either "moderated," where a designated person
decides which postings/message will become part of the discussion, or "un-moderated," where everything posted is
included in the discussion (no posting is removed).

The discussions on various topics are distributed through Usenet servers. Usenet is a collection of newsgroups. In other
words, usenet is a collection of servers around the world. Each server holds these posted messages for a certain period
of time. This period of time is also known as retention time. Usenet can be compared with an internet forum, but the
main difference is that the messages are not stored in one server and are only available for a certain amount of time.
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A user posts a message in a certain newsgroup and then this message will be distributed via the different newsgroup
servers. The other users can login anytime to one of these servers via special software (called newsreader) and see all
new messages in that newsgroup. They can also reply to the newly posted messages and these new posts will also be
distributed via Usenet servers. If the retention time of a certain server is 30 days, then these messages will be available
just for 30 days in that server.

Note that usenet uses NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol). To participate in a newsgroup, you must subscribe
to it. You can choose from a number of different "Newsreader" programs that allow you to access and participate in
newsgroups. Newsgroup access has also been integrated into Netscape and Internet Explorer, so you can just use your
Web browser if you want.

Mailing List
A mailing list is a set of email addresses. Here, a list of Email addresses are identified by a single name, for example -
Work. When an Email message is sent to the mailing list name (= Work), it is automatically forwarded to all the email
addresses in the list. Here Work is a mailing list name.

Most e-mail clients support mailing lists, which enables you to broadcast e-mail messages to groups that you define.
You can go through following link to make your own mailing list in Gmail.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Mailing-List-in-Gmail

A mailing list may be utilized to send advertisements or other relevant information to individuals included on the list.
For example, a company may acquire a mailing list that only includes people that do the majority of their shopping over
the Internet. Some companies rent mailing lists for a designated cost and some create their own list through business
interactions. A magazine publisher has a list of the mailing addresses of all the subscribers to the magazine.

There are two types of mailing lists:

✓ Announcement lists
✓ Discussion Lists
Announcement Lists
An announcement mailing list transmits one-way messages, with
no direct replies to the group.

Announcement lists are used so that one person or group can send
announcements to a group of people. If you send product
notifications, press releases, policy announcements or newsletters,
a mailing list does everything you need.

Discussion Lists
A discussion mailing list automatically emails everyone in a group and
transmits all replies to the entire group.
With a discussion mailing list, list members share their thoughts and
receive feedback from the group.
Usually, anyone on the list can start a new discussion. In some cases, a list
member can receive messages without being able to send them to the list.

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A discussion list is used to allow a group of people to discuss topics of their interest. This discussion may also
be moderated, so only selected posts are sent on to the group as a whole, or only certain people are allowed to
send to the group.

On the Internet, mailing lists include each person's e-mail address rather than a postal address
There are an estimated 30,000 mailing lists that you can subscribe to
The email server does all the hard work
List users benefit from sharing the brainpower of the people in the group
Mail lists allow people to join (subscribe) or leave (unsubscribe) them at any time

CHAT ROOMS

The Internet forums available today include chat rooms, message boards, listservs, newsgroups, WhatsApp etc.
A chat room is an online place on the internet where users communicate with one another through text-based messages
typing on their computer. Chat rooms are also known as IRC (Internet Relay Chat), where communication takes place
in real time.

In a chat room on the Internet people can type messages back and forth to someone else with instant response. Other
people can log into the chat room and read the messages as if they were in the same room. The thing is you can’t see
them and you don’t know who they are. When someone is posting a message in a chat room, other users have no way
of knowing who that person really is.

Chat room allows you to exchange messages without having to pay to stay in touch with your friends
Chat rooms – like Email, instant messaging (IM) and online social networks -- are virtual extensions of real-
world human interaction
Chat rooms are a great way to have group discussions about a particular topic
The most common place for “chat” activity is on websites. They are easy to find and do not need extra software
installed.
Programs called chat client can also be installed for chat to take place

A good place to start is with the chat rooms that come with popular instant messaging clients like Yahoo! Messenger,
gtalk, Skype and AOL Instant Messenger (AIM).

Today we have many IM (Instant Messaging) clients: Gtalk, Yahoo Messenger, WhatsApp, which can be
used for sending text, voice, video and multimedia messages. But chat rooms provide only text-based
communication.

Chat room users register for the chat room of their choice, choose a user name and password, and log into a particular
room (most sites have multiple chat rooms). Inside the chat room, generally there is a list of the people currently online,
who also are alerted that another person has entered the chat room. To chat, users type a message into a text box. The
message is almost immediately visible in the larger communal message area and other users respond.
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In the late 1990s, AOL's (America OnLine) chat rooms were some of the most popular in the world. According to some
statistics, 55 percent of online teens and 28 percent of online adults used chat rooms in 2000. But by 2005, those numbers
had fallen to 18 percent of teens and 17 percent of adults. Over the years, chat rooms have lost ground to IM and social
networks.

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 Network Security & Encryption
Network security

Network is a collection of 1000’s of computers over LAN or Internet. Systems connected by networks are
more prone to attacks than stand-alone systems. Network security provides measures to protect data during
their transmission

Provisions and policies adopted by the network admin to prevent and monitor unauthorised access, misuse,
modification or denial of computer network and network accessible resources. A successful organization
should have multiple layers of security in place.

Cryptography

• Secret writing
• Study of Encryption methods
• Conceal message from all except sender and reciver
Crypt (secret)
Cryptography
Graphia (writing)

Types of Cryptography

Cryptography

Symmetric Asymmetric

• Same Key • Private Key, Public Key

• Secret key is shared between 2 • Secret key is not shared and 2
parties parties still communicate using
• Encryption algorithm is same as public key
decryption algorithm • Encryption algorithm is different
from decryption algorithm

Basic Concepts
Cryptography The art and science of transforming an intelligible message into one that is unintelligible, and
then retransforming that message back to its original form

• Plaintext The original intelligible message

• Cipher text The transformed message

• Cipher An algorithm for transforming an intelligible message into one that is unintelligible by
transposition and/or substitution methods

• Key Some critical information used by the cipher, known only to the sender& receiver
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 • Encipher (encode) The process of converting plaintext to cipher text using a cipher and a key

• Decipher (decode) the process of converting cipher text back into plaintext using a cipher and a key

• Cryptanalysis The study of principles and methods of transforming an unintelligible message back into
an intelligible message without knowledge of the key. Also called code breaking

• Cryptology Both cryptography and cryptanalysis

• Code An algorithm for transforming an intelligible message into an unintelligible one using a code-
book

Cryptography
Cryptographic systems are generally classified into 3 categories:

1. Type of operations used for transforming plain text to cipher text

2. The number of keys used
3. The way in which the plain text is processed

1. Type of operations used for transforming plain text to cipher text

All the encryption algorithms are based on two general principles: substitution, in which each element in the
plaintext is mapped into another element, and transposition, in which
elements in the plaintext are rearranged.

2. The number of keys used

If the sender and receiver use same key then it is said to be symmetric key (or) single key (or) conventional
encryption.

If the sender and receiver use different keys then it is said to be public key encryption.

3. The way in which the plain text is processed

A block cipher processes the input and block of elements at a time, producing output block for each input
block.

A stream cipher processes the input elements continuously, producing output element one at a time, as it goes
along.

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STEGANOGRAPHY

Steganography: Hide a message in another message

Ex: Hide plain text in a graphic message, Covering data under color
image

A plaintext message may be hidden in any one of the two ways. The
methods of steganography conceal the existence of the message,
whereas the methods of cryptography render the message
unintelligible to outsiders by various transformations of the text.

A simple form of steganography, but one that is time consuming to

construct is one in which an arrangement of words or letters within
an apparently innocuous text spell out the real message. For example,

Drawbacks of steganography

• Requires a lot of overhead to hide a relatively few bits of information.

• Once the system is discovered, it becomes virtually worthless.
• High overhead

Symmetric and public key algorithms

Encryption/Decryption methods fall into two categories.

1. Symmetric key
2. Public key

In symmetric key algorithms, the encryption and decryption keys are known both to sender and receiver. The
encryption key is shared and the decryption key is easily calculated from it. In many cases, the encryption and
decryption keys are the same.

In public key cryptography, encryption key is made public, but it is computationally infeasible to find the
decryption key without the information known to the receiver.

CONVENTIONAL (SYMMETRIC) ENCRYPTION

• Referred conventional / private-key / single-key

• Sender and recipient share a common key

All classical encryption algorithms are private-key was only type prior to invention of public key in 1970s

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Some basic terminologies used:

• plaintext - the original message

• cipher text - the coded message
• Cipher - algorithm for transforming plaintext to cipher text
• Key - info used in cipher known only to sender/receiver
• encipher (encrypt) - converting plaintext to cipher text
• decipher (decrypt) - recovering cipher text from plaintext
• Cryptography - study of encryption principles/methods
• Cryptanalysis (code breaking) - the study of principles/ methods of deciphering cipher text without
knowing key
• Cryptology - the field of both cryptography and cryptanalysis

Fig: Simplified model of Symmetric Encryption

Here the original message, referred to as plaintext, is converted into apparently random nonsense, referred to
as cipher text. The encryption process consists of an algorithm and a key.

The key is a value independent of the plaintext. Changing the key changes the output of the algorithm. Once
the cipher text is produced, it may be transmitted. Upon reception, the cipher text can be transformed back to
the original plaintext by using a decryption algorithm and the same key that was used for encryption. The
security depends on several factors. First, the encryption algorithm must be powerful enough that it is
impractical to decrypt a message on the basis of cipher text alone. Beyond that, the security depends on the
secrecy of the key, not the secrecy of the algorithm.

Two requirements for secure use of Symmetric encryption:

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 • A strong encryption algorithm
• A secret key known only to sender / receiver

C = EK(P) = Encryption on plaintext P

P = DK(C) = Decryption on ciphertext C

➢ assume encryption algorithm is known to everyone

➢ implies a secure channel to distribute key

A source produces a message in plaintext, P = [P1, P2… PM] where M are the number of letters in the message.
A key of the form K = [K1, K2… KJ] is generated. If the key is generated at the source, then it must be provided
to the destination by means of some secure
channel.

With the message X and the encryption key K as input, the encryption algorithm forms the cipher text C =
[C1, C2, CN]. This can be expressed as: C = EK(P)

The intended receiver, in possession of the key K, is able to invert the transformation: P = DK(C)

An opponent, observing Y but not having access to K or P, may attempt to recover P or K or both. It is assumed
that the opponent knows the encryption and decryption algorithms.

If the opponent is interested in only this particular message, then the focus of effort is to recover P by
generating a plaintext estimate. Often if the opponent is interested in being able to read future messages as
well, in which case an attempt is made to recover K by generating an estimate.

CLASSICAL ENCRYPTION TECHNIQUES

There are two basic building blocks of all encryption techniques: substitution and transposition.

SUBSTITUTION TECHNIQUES
A substitution technique is one in which the letters of plaintext are replaced by other letters or by numbers or symbols.
If the plaintext is viewed as a sequence of bits, then substitution involves replacing plaintext bit patterns with cipher
text bit patterns.

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Caesar cipher (or) shift cipher
The earliest known use of a substitution cipher and the simplest was by Julius Caesar. The Caesar cipher involves
replacing each letter of the alphabet with the letter standing 3 places further down the alphabet.

e.g., plain text : pay more money

Cipher text: SDB PRUH PRQHB

Note that the alphabet is wrapped around, so that letter following “z” is “a”. For each plaintext letter P, substitute the
cipher text letter C such that

C = E(P) = (P+3) mod 26

A shift may be any amount, so that general Caesar algorithm is C = E (P) = (P+K) mod 26, where K takes on a value
in the range 1 to 25. The decryption algorithm is simply

P = D(C) = (C-K) mod 26

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When the cipher is additive, the plaintext, ciphertext,

and key are integers in Z ={A,B………..Z}

26

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Viruses
A virus is a program that can infect other
programs by modifying them to include an
evolved version of itself.
Computer viruses pose a considerable
problem for users of personal computers.

A self-replicating program that can infect

other programs by modifying them such
that a call to an infected program implies a
call to an evolved version of itself.

Computer virus

• Computer virus refers to a program which damages computer systems and/or destroys or erases data
files
• Computer viruses are called viruses because
they share some of the traits of biological
viruses.
• A computer virus passes from computer to
computer like a biological virus passes from
• person to person.

• The term 'computer virus' was first formally

defined by Fred Cohen in 1983.
• Computer viruses never occur naturally. They
are always induced by people.
• Once created and released, however, their
diffusion is not directly under human control.
• After entering a computer, a virus attaches
itself to another program in such a way that

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 • execution of the host program triggers the action of the virus simultaneously.
• It can self-replicate, inserting itself onto other programs or files, infecting them in the process.
• A computer virus is a malicious software program loaded onto a user’s computer without the user’s
knowledge and performs malicious actions.
• A virus is a small piece of software that piggybacks on real programs in order to get executed
• Once it’s running, it spreads by inserting copies of itself into other executable code or documents

SYMPTOMS OF A COMPUTER VIRUS

HARDWARE TROUBLES

If your hardware – computer, printer, etc. – started acting up on its own, without you requesting any action by
means of keyboard or mouse, you are likely having a virus in your computer system. When you work on the
computer, especially if you are performing some actions by using programs, your hard drive is expected to be
making some noises.

SLOW PERFORMANCE

PDF document may take much longer time to open simply because it is of a much larger size, and it will not
be indicative of the computer virus. However, keep in mind that some viruses can reproduce and multiply
your files and overcrowd disk space, overloading disk usage.

SLOW STARTUP

Another important symptom of a computer virus is a slow start-up. Do not confuse it with wishful thinking.
As a collective, we are impatient beings. My point exactly! When considering the start-up process – think of
the typical (however slow you may feel it is) to the actual start-up time

CRASHING.

When your computer crashes spontaneously, be careful. After computer restarts, you may notice it does not
seem to run normally. If it self-restarts frequently, every few minutes – beware of a virus. This symptom
alone may indicate that your system is infected. If your computer crashed, best course of action – Do Not
Resuscitate and call your IT support company.

MISSING FILES

When you notice that applications on your computer do not work correctly, you may also notice some of
your files are missing. That includes different types of files. Some may
be the files that you created, such as images or documents you had saved on your drive. You may physically
notice absence of those when you actually look for them and can’t seem to find them anywhere. As a result
of computer virus infection your computer may also be missing system files.

DISKS OR DISK DRIVES ARE NOT ACCESSIBLE

If you are losing the network connection – or worse yet cannot connect to the USB drive you just plugged
in, or you go to My Computer and only see one drive instead of your usual X number of drives, you may be
in trouble. If you cannot connect to all, some of the drives or cannot access your CD-ROM, it may be one of
the symptoms indicating your computer is infected.

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EXTRA FILES

You may visually notice extra pop ups and extra programs that seem to be running on your computer,
especially on start-up. You may notice (if you check for it) that your disk space suddenly quadrupled in size
without you making 200 copies of your vacation photos folder on your C: drive.

PRINTER ISSUES

If you cannot get your documents to print correctly, or cannot print at all, you may be dealing with a virus.

UNUSUAL ERROR MESSAGES

This may include gibberish messages, messages you hadn’t seen before, undesired ad messages and such.
Special attention must be paid to messages that disguise themselves as anti-virus warning messages.

SOME TYPES OF VIRUSES

E-MAIL VIRUS

An E-mail virus is a virus which uses e-mail messages as a mode of transport. These viruses often copy
themselves by automatically mailing copies to hundreds of people in the victim's address book.

TROJAN

A program that appears legitimate, but performs some illicit activity when it is run. It may be used to locate
password information or make the system more vulnerable to future entry or simply destroy programs or data
on the hard disk. A Trojan is similar to a virus, except that it does not replicate itself. I t stays in the computer
doing its damage or allowing somebody from a remote site to take control of the computer. Trojan often sneaks
to a free game or other utility

There are two common types of Trojan horses. One, is otherwise useful software that has been corrupted by a
cracker inserting malicious code that executes while the program is used.

Examples include various implementation of weather alerting programs, computer clock setting software, and
peer-to-peer file sharing utilities. The other type is a standard-alone program that masquerades as something
else, like a game or image files, in order to trick the user into some misdirected complicity that is needed to
carry out the program's objectives.

TROJAN HORSE

Trojan comate from Greek mythology, in which the Greeks battled the Trojan. A after years of being unable
to break into the fortified city, the Greeks built a wooden horse, filled it with soldiers and pretended to sail
away. After the Trojan brought the horse into city, the Greek soldiers crept at night, opened the gates of troy
to the returning soldiers, and troy was destroyed.

WORM

A worm is another type of self-replicating program. Worms have the ability to spread over a network. The
definitions of viruses and worms are not mutually exclusive. Worms always have a mechanism to spread over
a network; viruses always infect other (whether those programs are boot sectors, binary files or macros). My
Dom or I LOVE YOU is two examples of worms.

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MOBILE PHONE VIRUSES

As computing platforms, mobile devices are also susceptible to virus attacks. Thus far, there are only a few
viruses, worms, and Trojan for handheld computers and smart phones. But the number will likely increase
with the increase of functionality of mobile application development environment with extensive software
development documentation and tools also allow hackers to create viruses for these platforms more easily.
Viruses can infect mobile in several ways. Like viruses for desktop PCs, viruses for

For mobile devices can as well spread via email messages and shared files, and by exploiting software
vulnerabilities. Additionally, the malicious code can also be sent from a PC to the mobile device during
synchronization with PC etc.

FIREWALL
A network is a group of two or more computer
systems linked together which allows computers to
exchange data. The Internet is a connection of
computer to any other computer anywhere in the
world via dedicated routers and servers.

Firewall is a network security system which is

used to interconnect a private network (example:
LAN) to the Internet (also known as WAN). Every
message which is incoming and outgoing will be
examined by the firewall. It analyzes the data
packets, and prevents unauthorized access to a
networked computer system from Internet. A
firewall helps in providing remote access to a private network through secure authentication certificates and
logins.

Network security is security provided to a network from unauthorized access and risks. By assigning the user
identification and password, we can provide protection up to some extent. User’s Information can be obtained
by unauthorized persons or firms by using special programs such as “Viruses”, planted in the routers.

Common internet threats are Eavesdropping, Viruses, Worms, Trojans, Phishing, IP Spoofing Attacks, Denial
of Service, etc. Common defence mechanisms are Cryptographic systems, Firewall, Intrusion Detection
Systems, Anti-malware software and Scanners, Security Socket Layer (SSL) etc.

Firewall (1990) described a wall that was designed to contain a fire. A brick-and-mortar firewall is designed
to contain a fire in one part of a building and thus prevent it from spreading to another part of the building.
Any fire that may erupt inside a building stop at the firewall and won’t spread to other parts of the building.
A firewall is a physical barrier inside a building or vehicle, designed to limit the spread of fire, heat and
structural collapse.

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Firewall provide a fireproof obstruction (blockage) between parts of the buildings, making it harder for a fire
in one part of the building to extend to other parts.
Similarly, a network firewall is built in the region of
a network or sub network to defend it from the
outside.

Firewall protect from unusual types of attackers like-

hackers, interested computer neophytes (beginner),
untrustworthy vendors or disappointed employees of
an organization.

Network Security helps in maintaining certified access of data from hackers and authenticated data transfer.
Network security is achieved by installing a firewall.

A firewall is a hardware device or software system or group of systems (router, proxy or gateway) designed
to authorize or deny network transmission based upon set of security rules and regulations to implement handle
between two networks to protect “inside” network from “outside” network.

Firewall is a network security system that grants or

rejects network access to traffic flow between an
un-trusted zone and a trusted zone. The main idea
of this paper is to define the role of firewall in
network security and Implementation of firewall in
hardware and software or combination of both.

A Firewall is a networking system that helps us in preventing unauthorized access of one’s computer over the
internet (ie, it acts as a protection barrier between the system and the network).

A firewall blocks unauthorized and potentially dangerous material from entering the system. If enabled, it will
also log attempted intrusions.

When surfing the Internet or sending email,

information is broken up and sent in small packets,
similar to cars traveling on a highway. Just as a traffic
cop controls the flow of vehicles, a firewall
controls the flow of packets of information
that travel between your computer or network
(more than one computer connected together) and the Internet. When packets coming into (or going out of)
your computer are not obeying the “safety rules,” the firewall can block them to help protect your computer.

A firewall is equivalent to a door to a room inside of the building - it permits only authorized users such as
those with a key or access card to enter.

A firewall filters the information coming from the Internet connection into your network or computer system.
It can also filter information outgoing to the Internet. For example, if an incoming packet of information is
flagged by the filters, it is not allowed through.

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Types of Firewalls

A firewall may be a hardware or software. Hardware based firewalls are integrated into the routers whereas
software firewalls are installed in individual computers which are used to secure data from internet threats.
An ideal firewall configuration consists of both hardware and software-based devices. Unauthorized traffic is
blocked authorized traffic is allowed. Basically, there are two types of firewalls: software and hardware
firewalls.

A software firewall (also called a personal firewall) runs directly on your computer. This firewall is the most
common type. Software firewalls typically require very little technical knowledge and therefore are relatively
easy to get up and running.

A hardware firewall is usually an external device such as a firewall/router. This is typically used with an
“always on” Internet connection such as those available from your cable TV or telephone company (also called
broadband Internet connections). A hardware firewall is an appliance that sits between your computer and the
cable or DSL modem installed by the cable TV or telephone company respectively.

Hardware firewalls typically require more technical knowledge to configure and maintain than software
firewalls.

Advantages of firewall

Traffic monitoring

A major function of the firewall is to monitor the incoming traffic and a two-way firewall monitors outgoing
traffic as well. Data and information are transmitted in the form of packets and they are checked by the firewall
to pass through the network or not.

Blocks Trojans

Trojans – programs that have a hidden malicious purpose. They may replace existing files with malicious
code or add new malicious files to the computer. A firewall can prevent trojans from entering the network.
This type of attack can damage the files on the computer as well as ride on the attachments which could spoil
the destination as well. Trojans are considered more harmful because they are disguised and create more
serious infections to the files on the computer and server. Trojans remain to hide if something alarming does
not happen. A firewall makes them unbale before they become active to exploit computers or networks.

Stops Hackers

A firewall keeps hackers away from the computer and if the firewall is not installed there are more chances
that hackers will get hold of a computer or network. In that case, hackers will spread viruses. The firewall
prevents these kinds of people and protects the computer and network.

Stops Keyloggers

Keylogger's threat could also be reduced by using firewalls. Keylogger is spyware that records keystrokes
(including user names, passwords, credit card information, etc.) and aims to steal passwords as well as
sensitive information. Keyloggers sends information to hackers without your knowledge and consent. By
using this information hackers can access the private information and use it for illegal purposes. Other than
these benefits, the firewall can provide security for more than one system. Firewalls not only block malicious
(intentionally do harm to someone) packets coming from the network as well as block packets from the other
computers within that network.

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