A Model for When Disclosure Helps Security: What Is Different About Computer and Network Security?

INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................164 I. A MODEL FOR WHEN DISCLOSURE HELPS SECURITY ...........167 A. Case A: The Open Source Paradigm....................................167 B. Case B: The Military Paradigm............................................169 C. Case C: The Information Sharing Paradigm........................171 D. Case D: The Public Domain ................................................172 E. The 2x2 Matrix for When Disclosure Improves Security.....174 II. THE KEY REASONS COMPUTER AND NETWORK SECURITY MAY VARY FROM OTHER SECURITY PROBLEMS .....................175 A. Hiddenness and the First-Time Attack................................176 B. Uniqueness of the Defense....................................................178 C. Why Low Uniqueness May Be Common for Computer and Network Security ...........................................................179 1. Firewalls.........................................................................179 2. Mass-market software and computer games .................181 3. Encryption.....................................................................182