Security

X-ray machines and metal detectors are used to control what is allowed to pass through an airport security perimeter

Security spikes protect a gated community in the East End of London

Security is the condition of being protected against danger or loss. In the general sense, security is a concept similar to safety. The nuance between the two is an added emphasis on being protected from dangers that originate from outside. Individuals or actions that encroach upon the condition of protection are responsible for the breach of security.

The word "security" in general usage is synonymous with "safety," but as a technical term "security" means that something not only is secure but that it has been secured. In telecommunications, the term security has the following meanings:^[1]

A condition that results from the establishment and maintenance of protective measures that ensure a state of inviolability from hostile acts or influences.
With respect to classified matter, the condition that prevents unauthorized persons from having access to official information that is safeguarded in the interests of national security.
Measures taken by a military unit, an activity or installation to protect itself against all acts designed to, or which may, impair its effectiveness.

Security has to be compared and contrasted with other related concepts: Safety, continuity, reliability. The key difference between security and reliability is that security must take into account the actions of active malicious agents attempting to cause destruction.

Perceived security compared to real security

It is very often true that people's perception of security is not directly related to actual security. For example, a fear of flying is much more common than a fear of driving; however, driving is generally a much more dangerous form of transport. The tool may be mistaken for the effect, for example when multiple computer security programs interfere with each other, so the user assumes the computer is secure when actual security has vanished.

Another side of this is a phenomenon called security theatre where ineffective security measures such as screening of airline passengers based on static databases are introduced with little real increase in security or even, according to the critics of one such measure - Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System - with an actual decrease in real security.

Categorising security

There is an immense literature on the analysis and categorisation of security. Part of the reason for this is that, in most security systems, the "weakest link in the chain" is the most important. The situation is asymmetric since the defender must cover all points of attack while the attacker need only identify a single weak point upon which to concentrate.

Types of security

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IT realm

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Physical realm

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Political

Monetary

Financial security

Security concepts

Certain concepts recur throughout different fields of security.

Risk - a risk is a possible event which could cause a loss
threat - a threat is a method of triggering a risk event that is dangerous
Countermeasure - a countermeasure is a way to stop a threat from triggering a risk event
Defense in depth - never rely on one single security measure alone
Assurance - assurance is the level of guarantee that a security system will behave as expected

IT Security standards

ISO/IEC 15443 A framework for IT security assurance (covering many methods, i.e. TCSEC, Common Criteria, ISO/IEC 17799)
ISO/IEC 15443-1: Overview and framework
ISO/IEC 15443-2: Assurance methods
[ISO/IEC 15443-3: Analysis of assurance methods (expected in 2007)]
ISO/IEC 15408 refer also to Common Criteria
ISO/IEC 17799:2005 Code of practice for information security management refer also to ISO/IEC 17799
refer also to TCSEC Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (Orange Book)

Security experts

References

1. ^ security. Federal Standard 1037C. Institute for Telecomunications Sciences. Retrieved on 2007-10-14.

*Monahan, Torin, ed. (2006), Surveillance and Security: Technological Politics and Power in Everyday Life. New York: Routledge: ISBN 0-415-95393-6
Operations Security Professional's Association Website ''http://www.opsecprofessionals.org.

Safety is the state of being "safe" (from French sauf), the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm
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Telecommunication is the transmission of signals over a distance for the purpose of communication. In modern times, this process typically involves the sending of electromagnetic waves by electronic transmitters, but in earlier times telecommunication may have involved the use of
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Maintenance management or Maintenance, (MRO'), is fixing any sort of mechanical or electrical device should it become out of order or broken (repair) as well as performing the routine actions which keep the device in working order (maintenance) or prevent trouble
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Access may refer to:

ACCESS (Australia), a not-for-profit International Relations Youth group in Sydney, Australia
Access (credit card), now part of MasterCard
Access (comics), a character in DC and Marvel Comics

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Information is the result of processing, gathering, manipulating and organizing data in a way that adds to the knowledge of the receiver. In other words, it is the context in which data is taken.
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National security refers to the requirement to maintain the survival of the nation-state through the use of economic, military and political power and the exercise of diplomacy.
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In general, reliability (systemic def.) is the ability of a person or system to perform and maintain its functions in routine circumstances, as well as hostile or unexpected circumstances.

The IEEE defines it as ". . .
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Computer security is a branch of information security applied to both theoretical and actual computer systems. Computer security is a branch of computer science that addresses enforcement of 'secure' behavior on the operation of computers.
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Security theater are security countermeasures that provide the feeling of security while doing little or nothing actually to improve security.^[1] The term was coined by Bruce Schneier for his book Beyond Fear
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The Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (often abbreviated CAPPS) is a counter-terrorism system in place in the United States air travel industry. The United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) maintains a watchlist, pursuant to 49 USC § 114
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Data security is the means of ensuring that data is kept safe from corruption and that access to it is suitably controlled. Thus data security helps to ensure privacy. It also helps in protecting personal data.
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Application security encompasses measures taken to prevent exceptions in the security policy of an application or the underlying system (vulnerabilities) through flaws in the design, development, or deployment of the application.
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Information security means protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction.^[1] The terms information security
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Network security consists of the provisions made in an underlying computer network infrastructure, policies adopted by the network administrator to protect the network and the network-accessible resources from unauthorized access and the effectiveness (or lack) of these measures
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Physical security describes measures that prevent or deter attackers from accessing a facility, resource, or information stored on physical media. It can be as simple as a locked door or as elaborate as multiple layers of armed guardposts.
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worldwide view of the subject.
Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page.

A security guard or security officer is usually a privately and formally employed person who is paid to protect property, assets, and/or people.
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Airport security refers to the techniques and methods used in protecting airports and by extension aircraft from crime and terrorism.

Large numbers of people pass through airports every day.
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Food security is a situation in which people do not live in hunger or fear of starvation. World-wide around 852 million men, women and children are chronically hungry due to extreme poverty; while up to 2 billion people lack food security intermittently due to varying degrees of
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Burglar (or intrusion), fire and safety alarms are found in electronic form today. Sensors are connected to a control unit via either a low-voltage hardwire or narrowband RF signal, which is used to interact with a response device.
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International Security is a leading peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of international and national security. The journal is edited by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University and published four times a year by MIT Press, both
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Human security refers to an emerging paradigm for understanding global vulnerabilities whose proponents challenge the traditional notion of national security by arguing that the proper referent for security should be the individual rather than the state.
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security is a fungible, negotiable instrument representing financial value. Securities are broadly categorized into debt securities, such as bonds and debentures, and equity securities, e.g. common stocks. The company or other entity issuing the security is called the issuer.
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For the Parker Brothers board game, see risk (game)

Risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or future event.
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countermeasure is a system (usually for a military application) designed to prevent sensor-based weapons from acquiring and/or destroying a target.

Countermeasures that alter the electromagnetic, acoustic or other signature(s) of a target thereby altering the tracking and
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DiD is a computer term for Defense in Depth

When an IT specialist or Information Security Officer (ISO) uses a varied approach to protect their network they are using DiD. DiD is a layering tatic, formed by the National Security Agency (NSA) as a best practices approach, to
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Assurance services have been defined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) as 'Independent Professional Services that improve information quality or its context'.
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The Common Criteria (CC) is an international standard (ISO/IEC 15408) for computer security. Unlike standards such as FIPS 140-2, Common Criteria does not provide a list of product security requirements or features that products must contain.
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