Effective safeguards for computer system integrity

This paper reports the findings of a project to identify types of computer system integrity safeguards that would have been effective in preventing, detecting, or mitigating the effects of actual reported incidents of computer system integrity violations. More than 350 cases were analyzed and categorized among one of 26 types of violations and among one or more of 34 types of applicable safeguards. Brief definitions are provided for all categories, and distributions of incidents over the various violation categories and over the applicable safeguards are presented. The analysis revealed that most safeguards have a surprisingly narrow range of applicability, whether measured by number of cases or by number of violation categories affected. However, much broader violation coverage is possible through use of combinations of small numbers of safeguards. Directions for further research are discussed, including the need to develop measures of violation category importance and to include a consideration of safeguard cost, effectiveness, and operability factors.