A Brief History of Cybercrime and Cyberwarfare - The Technical and Social History of Software Engineering - page 424

computers. This feature could be activated by notifying the computer security en-
gine that a notebook computer has been stolen. The activation message might go
over the internet or perhaps through a special radio connection if the computer is
used for really high-value classified information.
These pictures could be transmitted to security sites that have facial recognition
software that would perhaps identify criminals or known terrorists, assuming they
tried to use a stolen high-security notebook. In any case, a digital photo from a
computer with its GPS location and a timestamp would probably provide suffi-
cient evidence to prove theft.
Another current weakness is the von Neumann architecture itself. Current com-
puters—both personal and mainframe—are intrinsically vulnerable since data and
instructions are treated the same. At least one highly secure alternate hardware
architecture was patented by a group of retired IBM engineers. This was the
ALTOPS patent number 5,742,823 issued by the Patent Office on April 21, 1998,
to Nathen Edwards.
The long-range prognosis for raising computer and software immunity levels is
theoretically very good, but a lot of work is needed.
The following sections cover a sample of possible approaches for immunizing
software, computers, passwords, and data from external threats by black hat hack-
ers who attempt to steal information or cause harm.
Access Controls
The topic of access controls is large and complex. It deals with how people, soft-
ware, messages from other systems, and data enter a computer or a software ap-
plication. Once allowed in, what features can they use and what features are pro-
hibited?
Users of ordinary personal computers and notebooks know that a class of user
called an administrator is the only person authorized to make changes to many
features of the computer and its operating systems. This is intended to strengthen
security. However, access control is somewhat porous in the modern world of mul-
titier applications and global internet connections.
It would be helpful for a combination of computer hardware manufacturers,
software companies, security companies, and database companies to create proto-
cols for access at all levels of software, hardware, and data.