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Submitted by: Darren Miller

Definition Of A Survivable Computer System

A computer system, which may be made up of multiple individual systems and components, designed to provide mission critical services must be able to perform in a consistent and timely manner under various operating conditions. It must be able to meet its goals and objectives whether it is in a state of normal operation or under some sort of stress or in a hostile environment. A discussion on survivable computer systems can be a very complex and far reaching one. However, in this article we will touch on just a few of the basics.

Computer Security And Survivable Computer Systems

Survivable computer systems and computer security are in many ways related but at a low-level very much different. For instance, the hardening of a particular system to be resistant against intelligent attacks may be a component of a survivable computer system. It does not address the ability of a computer system to fulfill its purpose when it is impacted by an event such as a deliberate attack, natural disaster or accident, or general failure. A survivable computer system must be able to adapt, perform its primary critical functions even if in a hostile environment, even if various components of the computer system are incapacitated. In some cases, even if the entire “primary” system has been destroyed.

As an example; a system designed to provide real-time critical information regarding analysis of specialized medications ceases to function for a few hours because of wide spread loss of communication. However, it maintains the validity of the data when communication is restored and systems come back online. This computer system could be considered to have survived under conditions outside of its control.

On the other hand, the same system fails to provide continuous access to information under normal circumstances or operating environment, because of a localized failure, may not be judged to have fulfilled its purpose or met its objective.

Fault Tolerant And Highly Availability Computer Systems

Many computer systems are designed with fault tolerant components so they continue to operate when key portions of the system fail. For instance; multiple power supplies, redundant disk drives or arrays, even multiple processors and system boards that can continue to function even if its peer component is destroyed or fails. The probability of all components designed to be redundant failing at one time may be quite low. However, a malicious entity that knows how the redundant components are configured may be able to engineer critical failures across the board rendering the fault tolerant components ineffective.

High availability also plays a role in a survivable computer system. However this design component may not maintain computer system survivability during certain events such as various forms of malicious attack . An example of this might be a critical web service that has been duplicated, say across multiple machines, to allow continuous functionality if one or more the individual web servers was to fail. The problem is that many implementations of high availability use the same components and methodology on all of the individual systems. If an intelligent attack or malicious event takes place and is directed at a specific set of vulnerabilities on one of the individual systems, it is reasonable to assume the remaining computer systems that participate in the highly available implementation are also susceptible to the same or similar vulnerabilities. A certain degree of variance must be achieved in how all systems participate in the highly available implementation.

What’s The Difference Between An Attack, Failure, And Accident? How Do These Differences Impact A Survivable Computer System

In many cases when I am discussing the security of systems with customers, the question of business continuity and disaster recovery come up. Most companies that provide a service that they deem critical just know the system needs to be operational in a consistent manner. However, there is typically little discussion about the various events or scenarios surrounding this and that can lead to great disappointment in the future when what the customer thought was a “survivable computer system” does not meet their expectations. Some of the items I like to bring up during these conversations is what their computer systems goal and objective is, what specifically does continuous operation mean to them, and specifically what constitutes an attack, failure, or accident that can cause loss of operation or failure to meet objectives.

A failure may be defined as a localized event that impacts the operation of a system and its ability to deliver services or meet its objectives. An example might be the failure of one or more critical or non-critical functions that effect the performance or overall operation of the system. Say, the failure of a module of code that causes a cascading event that prevents redundant modules from performing properly. Or, a localize hardware failure that incapacitates the computer system.

An accident is typically an event that is outside the control of the system and administrators of a local / private system. An example of this would be natural disasters such as hurricanes, if you live in south Florida like I do, or floods, or wide spread loss of power because the utility provider cut the wrong power lines during an upgrade to the grid. About two years ago, a client of mine who provides web based document management services could not deliver revenue generating services to their customers because a telecommunications engineer cut through a major phone trunk six blocks away from their office. They lost phone and data services for nearly a week.

An now we come to “attack”. We all know accidents will happen, we know that everything fails at one time or another, and typically we can speculate on how these things will happen. An attack, executed by an intelligent, experienced individual or group can be very hard to predict. There are many well known and documented forms of attacks. The problem is intelligence and human imagination continuously advance the form of malicious attacks and can seriously threaten even the most advanced designed survivable computer systems. An accident or failure does not have the ability to think out of the box or realize that a highly available design is flawed because all participants use the same design. The probability that an attack might occur, and succeed may be quite low, but the impact may be devastating.

Conclusion

One of the reasons I wrote this article was to illustrate that it’s not all about prevention. Although prevention is a big part of survivable computer system design, a critical computer system must be able to meet its objectives even when operating under hostile or stressful circumstances. Or if the steps taking for prevention ultimately prove inadequate. It may be impossible to think of all the various events that can impact a critical computer system but it is possible to reasonably define the possibilities.

The subject of survivable computer systems is actually one of complexity and ever evolving technology. This article has only touched on a few of the basic aspects of computer system survivability. I intend on continuing this article to delve deeper into the subject of survivable computer systems.

About the Author: Darren Miller is an Information Security Consultant with over seventeen years experience. He has written many technology & security articles, some of which have been published in nationally circulated magazines & periodicals.Please visit us at

defendingthenet.com

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If you have a house with a basement, it is almost inevitable that you will have to deal with flooding at some point. Basement flooding can cause costly damage to belongings, can harm your home and can even lead to the growth of potentially dangerous mold. When it comes to flood control in Chicago, early prevention is the best strategy to protect your home.

Do You Need Flood Control?

When it comes to basements, any sign of water is a bad sign. It does not take standing water or full-scale flooding to begin harming your house. If you see visible moisture or small puddles or if your basement floor has begun to discolor, it might be time to look into flood control in Chicago. Getting on top of the problem early can help keep you from much more serious issues down the road.

What Is Flood Control?

There are several different kinds of flood control systems for basements. Some people use standpipes, but these may not be entirely effective during serious flooding. Backwater valves can be more reliable, especially if paired with a good pump. A professionally installed system with a pump can give you the best chance of keeping your home dry even during flash flooding.

What Does It Prevent?

Flooding can cause long-term, expensive damage. The water can harm any property you might have stored in your basement, but did you know that it can also damage concrete? Over time, your floor may even weaken and begin to crack. This is why it is so important to react quickly to the first signs of moisture, discoloration or mold in your basement.

If you have seen signs indicating that you need flood control in Chicago, do not hesitate to contact professional installers – North Coast Sewer & Drainage. They will be able to offer advice for your situation, and to install a system that can help keep your home safe and dry when the waters rise.

#1. Bitcoin (BTC)

Present, past, and future – Bitcoin has become a timeless asset for cryptocurrency traders. No matter what cryptocurrency trading instrument you choose, you can bet on bitcoin. 2017 is already a bull run moment for bitcoin. There has been a consistent rise in its value.

In the past one year, its value has only seen an upward trend. Even COVID-19 led economic crisis couldn’t slow it down. The recent USD1.5 billion investment by Elon Musk’s Tesla has given it a new height.

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#2. Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum’s consistency over the past one year makes it the second most preferred cryptocurrency to buy and sell. Citing the current ETH price (USD1825), you can easily get almost 29 times more ETH than BTC at the same deposit. Long-term or short-term – Ethereum could be a prudent thought.

Its current market capitalization is $209,443,778,508 USD and it maintains a healthy circulating supply of 114,977,310 ETH coins. What guarantees the security of the Ethereum network? Ethereum is secured via the Ethash proof-of-work algorithm, derived from the Keccak family of hash functions.

#3. Binance Coin (BNB)

Until January 2021, BNB was not even in the top 10 cryptocurrency coins. Since then, the Binance coin has witnessed an almost six-fold growth in its value. It shouldn’t surprise you considering the age of the cryptocurrency.

BNB was launched through an initial coin offering in 2017, 11 days before the Binance cryptocurrency exchange went online. Considering the current Binance coin value, i.e., $272.44 USD, which is almost 20 times lesser than that of BTC, it’s easy to conclude that owning more BNB can make you richer if the price goes up further.

#4. Cardano

In just four years of its inception (founded 2017), Cardano has become one of the favorites of cryptocurrency traders that take market capitalization to USD 37,939,127,099. Over the past one year, its value has grown exponentially from USD0.17 to USD1.20, which is almost over six folds.

What does secure Cardano? Its security is maintained through an “environmentally sustainable, verifiably secure” PoS protocol, popularly called Ouroboros. It’s delivered by a PoW consensus mechanism while using substantially less power.

#5. Tether (USDT)

Tether belongs to a new breed of cryptocurrencies called stablecoins. Its value is fixed at USD1. On the contrary to the volatility of other cryptocurrency coins like BTC, it aims to maintain a stable valuation. This attribute makes it a preferred medium of exchange like USD or any fiat currency, and a mode of storage of value, instead of being used as a medium of speculative investments.

The Wall Street Journal, based on CryptoCompare data, reports that 80% of all bitcoin trading is done in Tether, and the stablecoin is a major source of liquidity for the cryptocurrency market.

#6. Polkadot (DOT)

Polkadot’s growth after December 2020 to till date has been phenomenal. It has attained almost seven times growth. DOT is a unique proof-of-stake cryptocurrency. It was conceptualized with a mission to deliver interoperability between other blockchains. It bridges permissioned and permissionless blockchains as well as oracles to allow systems to work together under one roof. Its current value of USD36

The interoperability of varying networks is facilitated by its relay chain. It also allows for “parachains,” or parallel blockchains with their own native tokens for specific use cases.

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Wise investors make the most out of the little investment they do. Hence, do not ignore XRP trading citing its low value (USD0.48) today. The usability of its underlying XRP Ledger into the mainstream banking and supply chain for real-time gross settlement has increased its adoption, and its value is likely to see new heights in the near future.

XRP runs on the RippleNet platform which is built on the top of a distributed ledger called XRP Ledger. While RippleNet is run by a company called Ripple, the XRP Ledger is open-source and is not based on blockchain, but rather the previously mentioned distributed ledger database.

#8. Uniswap (UNI)

Though Uniswap comes at #8, its resilience amid COVID-19 led economic crisis is appreciable. This is the only cryptocurrency that hasn’t seen a downward movement since its launch in September 2020. With its current value of USD 33.42, it comes as an incredible choice for all types of investors – beginners and advanced.

#9. Litecoin (LTC)

The consistent rise in the market capitalization and circulating supply of Litecoin makes it a potential investment instrument. Its current value is pegged at USD198.89. It has never disappointed its investors since 2014.

There is a fundamental difference in the underlying technology of BTC and LTC. It uses a hashing algorithm, hard cap, block transaction times, and a few other factors. Litecoin has a block time of just 2.5 minutes and extremely low transaction fees.

#10. Chainlink (LINK)

Chainlink (LINK) derives its underlying technique from a decentralized oracle network that aims to connect smart contracts with data from the real world. Sergey Nazarov along with Steve Ellis developed it, and was launched through an ICO in September 2017. It raised USD32 million, with a total supply of 1 billion LINK tokens.

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