Network Security, SSH attack, TCPA, trusted OS, the Echelon network and more cyber surveillanve schemes

Cyber Surveilance
DoS Attack on SSH
IDS overview
Trusted Computing Platforms
The Orange book
Kernel Level security
- Cyber Surveilance
  
  Here you can find some documents that provide information on cyber intelligence movements. This section will provide you with an overview of goverment policies on spying individuals, some facts about real events that have been initiated in order to monitor suspicious movements on the Internet and on the global communications network. It makes you really think who you can trust and who you cant trust. The real security professionals say "Trust no One". Any opinions in this section are my personal view and do not neccesarily represent my employer's (whenever I have one) view.
- DoS Attack on SSH
  
  In February 2001, Razor Bindview released their "Remote vulnerability in SSH daemon crc32 compensation attack detector" advisory (local copy), which outlined a gaping hole in deployed SSH servers that can lead to a remote attacker gaining privileged access.
  
  In November 2001, Dave Dittrich published a detailed analysis of the
  CRC32 compensation attack detector exploit."
  
  ScanSSH - Scanning the Internet for SSH Servers Niels Provos and Peter Honeyman, 16th USENIX Systems Administration Conference (LISA). San Diego, CA, December 2001.
- The Orange Book
  
  We have to admit that Goverments and millitary organisations have spend huge budgets for security research and have been in this area for over thirty years. The Orange book is a guide which can be used as a reference for designing and auditing secure systems.
  It is also a good reference point of eveluating the security level of a platform. For example a small to medium size business would need to use C1-3 systems and a big corporation would be better off using a B1 at least. Military and Goverment agencies are supposed to use A1 systems. However you have to understand that designing and evaluating a secure OS is not an easy task. Although you might use the DoD book for reference of your design, if the implementation is not done right then your system will not be able to provide the security level you were hopping for.
  Furthermore designing an A1 system can only be done for specialized systems within a very restrictive environment.
  Most B1 systems can withstand script kidiez attacks and new exploits that are based on classic security exploits (buffer overflows, root compromise). Mainstream versions of Linux are C3 systems.
- Trusted Computing Platforms
  
  The Trusted Platforms concept is not new. TCPA is an initiative by some of the biggest players in Information Technology, who developed a specification for manufacturers and system designers to use that adds an additional level of security to your computing platform. The concept is based on layered chaining and when implemented right it can enable a trusted bootup sequence which provides for a secure computing base to store sensitive data and to perform computations in a reliable way.
  
  Although some people believe that TCPA technology has been developed to serve DRMlike concepts ,these people are wrong. The technology itself was developed primarily to serve as an add-on mechanism to your secure OS in order to verify the integrity of the critical components of the system. However TCPA can be used to serve DRM purposes as well (up to a level) but it is in the hands of system designers to use it for less freedom-violating ideas.
  If you are interested in knowing more about the technology I recommend you get the book on TCPA. Please read the book or the TCPA spec. carefully before making any comments about TCPA and its relation to DRM.
  You can also find more detailed information here
  
  If Microsoft and other DRM-supporting companies want to use the technology in their way, It will not prevent them to do so if people or other companies walk away from TCPA.
  Finally when Microsoft releases its Palladium project, then they will find out themselves that the public will just not BUY their products anymore and they will have to change their way of doing business.
  Do not forget that there are other OS that you can use, out there (Like Linux).
  Another good link for the TCPA and how it relates to Palladium is crypto gram. As Bruce Schneier says "Things will change and then change again".