Thinking Security: Stopping Next Year’s Hackers

Chapter 17. Case Studies

“You understand these are all hypothetical scenarios,” T.J. had said. “In all these cases, the net refused to open.”

To Say Nothing of the Dog—CONNIE WILLIS

Let’s put this all together now and examine a few scenarios. More precisely, let’s look closely at some quasi-realistic case studies: the high-level paper designs of various systems and the effects that some equally hypothetical changes in technology, needs, or operating environment can have on the system architecture and in particular on its security.

Don’t take the designs too literally. I’m presenting realistic scenarios, but I’ve often omitted important details that aren’t relevant to the exact points I’m trying to illustrate. What is most important is the thought ...