Operating System Security

A computer's operating system controls all major functions of the computer. It uses algorithms to determine which process gets access to the processor and handles all memory transfers. A secure operating system must be capable of determining which requests are safe to process and which are not.

Since many computers are connected to a network of some kind, the operating system is also in charge of all network traffic. If the operating system is poorly designed, a malicious hacker or malicious script will be able to force the host computer into doing something that the user did not intend to happen. Operating system security is so important that the United States Department of Defense created the Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria, which sets basic requirements that every operating system must have in order to be considered secure.