DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A NETWORK BASED SECURITY INFORMATION SYSTEM 

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

1.0            SECURITY CONCEPT

Security is defined in many ways due to the many contexts of its existence.  In other words, security generally has to do with protection.  It might be protection from undue access.  Some attributes security to safe guiding from that, which may or may not lead to destruction.  It might also be interesting to understand that security has to do with protection of the environment.  It also has to do with valuables; this means that anything has to be secured must have value.  Things of less importance to humanity and therefore anything that pose threat to life must also be prevented.  Security is a very important issue in any organizations (system), no wonder VINCENT .E. ASOR in his seminar presentation at the Nigerian computer society’s conference of 2002 stated that an organization with 98 percent security is actually 100 percent insecure.  This means that adequate security must be in place for a smooth running of an organizational affair or a system.  The police, who is the case study organization here defined security in the police training manual as the protection of lives and property coupled with the maintenance of law and order in a society.

2.1     SECURITY THREATS

They are criminal acts, which have a particular harmful effects on peoples lives and property and do more than interfere with merely private rights.  They are simply crimes, Now the above brings us to the crime concept.  What is crime? According to the BLACKSTONE, crime is violation of public rights and duties due to the whole community considered as a community.  Williams defined crime as acts that is capable of being followed by a criminal proceedings having one of the types of outcome – Punishments.

Also Hulsbury’s Law (adopted by the House of Lord’s in Board of Trade V. Ower 1957 as correct) defined crime as an unlawful act or default which is an offence against the public and render the person guilty of the act liable to legal punishment.

The summary of the above crime definitions by the police manual defined crime as an unlawful act committed by a person or a group of persons.

2.2            CHARACTERISTICS OF SECURITY THREATS

They are wrong doings which Judges have held, or the parliament has from time to time laid down which are sufficiently injurious to the public to warrant the application of a criminal procedure to deal with them, of course this does not enable us to recognize an act as a crime when we see one.  Some acts are obviously harmful to the public that anyone would say they should be criminal and such acts almost certainly are, but there are many others about which opinions may differ widely.  According to SIR CARLETON ALLEN, crime is crime because it  consists of wrongdoings which directly and in serious degree threatens the security or well being of the society.  This explains why acts have to be made crimes either by judicial decisions or by legislation.  A crime may remain a crime long after it has ceased to be a threat to the security or well being of the society.  This ALLEN’S proposition tells us what (as he thinks) ought to be crime rather than what is crime.  The public nature of crimes is evidenced by the contrast between the rulers of civil and criminal procedure.  Any citizen can, as a general rule and in the absence of some provision to the contrary bring a criminal prosecution, whether or not he has suffered any special harm over and above other members of the public.  As a member of the public he has an interest in the enforcement of the criminal law.

2.3            CLASSFICATION OF CRIMES

There is a problem that exist in the crime reporting system in Nigeria and especially the B’OPS COMMUNICATION OF THE POLICY, ENUGU STATE BRANCH in particular.  This arises in the variations in definition of crimes among localities.  This obstacle, as far as uniformity in definitions is concerned was removed by the adoption of a standard set of crime classification generally connotes its content.  However in reading the explanation of each category, it is very important to keep in mind that because of the differences between the state codes, there is no possibility in a system such as ‘felony’ and ‘misdemeanor’.

Crime classifications are in three categories.  Viz crime against persons, crimes against property and crime of violence or crime against local acts.

Crime against persons include:

-        Murder and non-negligent manslaughter

-        Aggravates assault forcible rape

-        Forcible rape

-        Robbery

Crime against property includes:

-        Burglary

-        Arson

-        Stealing

-        Forgery and counterfeiting

-        Vandalism

Crimes against local acts include;

-        Narcotic

-        Illegal possession, carrying of weapons

-        Prostitution and commercialized vice.

2.4            SECURITY AND INFORMATION

There is no known security system that works without an information technology system.  In fact security of a given society is to a high degree determined by the amount of information technology on ground.  Thus it might interest one the to know that security are of differing contexts.  An information system for a bankers dealing via an automatic teller machine differs from a network based information system for collecting, collating and analyzing statistical data for management use.  There is also a system of inbuilt detectors in doors on entries to check explosives and metals.  There is also a camera system on focus connected to a visual display unit for monitoring activities especially in banking halls and supermarkets.  Hence information technology has a vital role to play in the task of ensuring maximum security.  This work is based on an network based information system for collecting and collating as well as analyzing crime for the use of management at all levels of an organization in their task of decision taking, planning and control strategies based on security.