Cochin University of Science and Techology (CUST) 2006-8th Sem B.Tech Computer Science and Engineering , , CS 801 SECURITY IN COMPUTING - Question Paper

B.Tech Degree VIII Semester Examination, May 2006
CS 801 SECURITY IN COMPUTING


Time: three Hours Maximum Marks: 100

I a) explain about the main vulnerabilities a computer system is subjected to [Marks 12]
b) discuss why the product of 2 relatively simple ciphers, such as substitution and a transposition achieve a high degree of security. [Marks 8]
OR
II a) What is a digital signature? How public key encryption can be used to create digital signatures? [Marks 8]
b) discuss the operation of AES and DES algorithm. [Marks 12]

III What are non-malicious program errors? discuss with example, any 2 non-malicious errors. How can they become a threat to security? [Marks 20]
OR
IV a) elaborate viruses? Which are the various methods by which a virus gets attached and invoked? [Marks 10]
b) elaborate targeted malicious code? Briefly explain about trapdoors and salami attack. [Marks 10]

V a) How can segmentation and paging be used to achieve memory and address protection? [Marks 10]
b) explain about the various methods by which passwords get attacked. [Marks10]
OR
VI a) What is the role of a Trusted Computing Base (TCB) in kernalized design of a trusted operating system? [Marks 10]
b) discuss any 5 security features of a trusted operating system. [Marks 10]

VII a) What all features should be taken care of for monitoring the security of a database? [Marks 10]
b) discuss how the 2-phase update technique can be used to avoid assigning 1 seat to 2 people in an airline reservation system. [Marks10]
OR
VIII a) elaborate multilevel databases? How can they ensure differentiated security? [Marks 5]
b) discuss the various design techniques for multilevel secure databases. [Marks 15]

IX Explain the operational concept used behind the subsequent threats.
i) Port Scanning.
ii) Impersonation
iii) Spoofing
iv) Denial of service [Marks 20]
OR
X a) presume that your campus network has a web server and a mail server. What type of firewall will you design to protect your network? Justify your ans. [Marks 8]
b) How can authentication be achieved using Kerberos. [Marks 12]

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Earning:   Approval pending.