CST 311 - Intro to Computer Networks - Week 4

 

This week in CST-311, I learned about network security and it is applied to protect data during transmission. The first section this week covered the basic idea of network security, which focuses on protecting data from unauthorized access, misuse, and attacks. The main focus was on cryptography, the science of encoding information to ensure confidentiality and integrity. I learned about the two main types of cryptographic systems: symmetric key encryption, where both sender and receiver share a single key for encryption and decryption, and public key encryption, which uses separate keys for encryption and decryption. Public key encryption provides enhanced security by not requiring the sender and receiver to share a secret key beforehand, making it ideal for secure communications over the internet.

Also, I learned about message integrity and authentication, which are important for verifying that a message has not been tampered with and that it comes from a legitimate source. This was further expanded upon in sections covering the importance of securing email and TCP communications. For example, securing emails often involves digital signatures and encryption to protect sensitive information from being intercepted or altered. Securing TCP communications, on the other hand, involves methods like SSL/TLS to encrypt data during transport, ensuring that even if data is intercepted, it remains unreadable to unauthorized users. These security mechanisms are essential for maintaining trust and privacy in digital communications.