Network system and World Wide Web security

The Internet was developed in 1965 for academic and military use. Thirty-one years later, it is regarded as the 'information superhighway with almost one billion computer networks and well over a billion users projected to be using the Internet by the end of the century [1]. In essence, the open design of the Internet, geared towards the ease of communication and rapid development, has led to a severe lax in system security. As new developments (for example, the world wide web) and application of information technology emerge, so do the possibilities of hostile attacks on local area networks (LANS) and wide area networks (WANs). Therefore, the security aspects of the Internet and the world wide web must be carefully scrutinized. This paper outlines the security aspects of network systems and the world wide web. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.