Java defence from this type of attack is weak, whereas the consequences can be moderate. E.g. if this attack happened on a server and brought the server down, this could affect hundreds of people and lose a company a lot of time and money. Whereas if it occurred on a stand-alone computer used by an individual playing games then would bring little problems.
4. Antagonism v/s This type of attack is merely annoying rather than destructive, it is common for these attacks to happen as a programming error rather than any intent being involved. From the 4 different classes of attacks, this one is the most common and again is implemented by malicious applets. A typical example of this attack would be to keep playing an annoying tune in your browser, or to display obscene pictures that could offend. To disable an attack of this type would require action such as to close and reopen your browser. Consequences of these attacks are using light, with defence capabilities only weak. It is important to point out that many antagonism attacks are also denial of service attacks.
These 4 classes are not just limited to Java, infact there is much more chance that one of the four attacks could be caused by another language. A mobile code that is unwelcome by all (apart from the creator) is a computer virus. These generally target personal computers and are yet to make much affect on the networked Unix world. Thankfully, so far, the Java security model has been successful in its quest to prevent cross-platform viruses. These viruses would be able to infect a machine no matter what operating system it used. As of yet, there have not been any java applet viruses.
The Java Security Model.
Java replies on its three-layer defence model, to ensure security. The three parts are as follows:.
Verifier.
Class Loader.
Security Manager.
Although it is known as a three layer defence, it does not mean that if the first layer fails then it still has the remaining two to get things right.
