What Is Transmission Security?

What Is Transmission Security?

Transmission security is the capability to send a message electronically from one computer system to another computer system so that only the intended recipient receives and reads the message and the message received is identical to the message sent. The message would not be identical if it was altered in anyway, whether transmitted over faulty channels or intercepted by an eavesdropper. Transmission security translates into secure networks. Although many people regard networks as computers connected by wires, this definition of a network, while technically correct, misses the point. Rather, networks are transmitted data, the data flowing over wires.

All transmissions can be intercepted. And the cautious user looks at all transmissions as if they will be intercepted. You can minimize the risks of transmission interception, but you can never, under any circumstances, completely rule it out. After all, it is people who design and put wires in their place, and people can get to them. Accessing wires is somewhat comparable, although much more difficult, to accessing a transmission sent over airwaves, as on a CB radio. For example, as a ham, you may have a message intended only for other hams. Although hams are the main communicators on these frequencies, anyone with the right radio equipment can tune in and listen, so it's likely your message will be received and heard by other listeners who pick up the frequency, whether you want them to hear it or not.

Similar risks occur with cellular phones, even though most transmission takes place over wire and not air. One risky transmission occurred between Prince Charles and his mistress Camilla Parker Bowles when an eavesdropper intercepted a now infamous cellular phone conversation between the two.

So, like it or not, networks are our transmissions. If you ascertain that security is too high to risk over networks and you decide not to transmit over networks, throw your computer systems away; you've wasted your money. Unfortunately, transmission interceptions are inevitable; it's likely they will occur at times. Designing a 100 percent transmission-secure network is akin to designing a car that can't be broken into; no matter how secure the car is, someone can always break the windows. This doesn't mean you should sit back and wait for the interception, however; instead, build your system to deter people from attempting to break in, and make it costly for the hacker to enter.