Islamic faith Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Islamic faith - Essay Example tions has been immense in terms of economic mobility, political freedom and social freedom but world’s perception on Islam and Muslims has always been dubious in terms of acknowledging it as a prime force. The emergence of Saudi Nations as oil hubs offered them power and control over the industrial revolution in the 20th century that became a reason of worry for western nations believing themselves as super powers. The influx of billions of dollars created mosque, education system, scholarships and change in the perception of Muslims. This was just a beginning of an era that was followed by supreme power and dominance over the global oil industry and within years, western nations were under the feet of Saudi Arabia in terms of feeding their industrial needs and requirements. It can be assumed that the prime reason behind the resurgence of Islamic influence was the control over the oil and petroleum products that changed the life of few nations. Islam is considered is one of the highly admired religions across the world based on pure faith and teachings of god. Muslims across the world take pride in following the path shown by the sacred leaders and gods. It needs to be mentioned that an individual is treated and respected on the basis of his nature, lifestyle and personality. Religions help in shaping perceptions, ideologies and mindset and Islam helps in connecting to god along with developing faith. There are a number of countries treating Muslims in a different manner based on pre-conceived notions that often demeans the majority of Muslims. The only appeal of being a Muslim is the follower of god believing in right things and leading a normal life that is often influenced by the perceptions of others making it all the more complicated. The United States is considered as the super power controlling the world. Muslims settled in the US often find social freedom, political freedom and economic development increasing at a rapid pace in the country compared to

Why Do Market Economies Need Government United Kingdoms Economic Essay

Why Do Market Economies Need Government United Kingdoms Economic growth, Inflation and Unemployment - Essay Example Such situations create disadvantages of buyers and reduce buyer surplus for those particular markets. For this reason, free market economy can potentially impinge on the rights of a certain segment in the economy (Acemoglu, Golosov and Tsyvinski, 2008). A fair exchange implies a relationship of equality between the persons concerned, which is absent in these scenarios. Sometimes, in a market economy the employer and the employee are not in a relationship of equality. The employer can attempt to dictate terms to the employees, therefore, a safeguarding body is required to ensure payment of minimum wages and to enforce health & safety measures (Agarwal, 2007). Government presence in needed in such situation to ensure rights of certain groups is not compromised. ii) Governments are needed to provide provision of pubic goods whose benefits are distributed over a very large population. For instance, creation of roads and national defense cannot be provided by a private enterprise. Government interventions are needed in the market economic system for these provisions (Halm, 2003). iii) Governments are also needed in market economic systems to provide social security to the citizens of the country. A market economic system cannot find mechanism to transfer funds from rich to poor. Governments serve the purpose of reducing income differences between rich and poor in an economy (Sharma, 2009). Government invention is, therefore, essential for redistribution of wealth and income for a healthy society. United Kingdom’s Economic Performance During Last Ten Years Growth Performance data of United Kingdom’s economy is graphed below. The data exhibits that the economic performance and growth rate of United Kingdom’s economy was at peak in the year 2000. The growth rate of the economy was highest which implies that the standard of living of UK citizens was increasing at a very rapid pace. GROWTH PERFORMANCE Year GDP Change 2000 3.90% 2001 2.50% 2002 2.10% 2003 2.80% 2004 3.00% 2005 2.20% 2006 2.90% 2007 2.60% 2008 0.60% 2009 ?4.9% 2010 2.10% 2011 0 .70% Growth of UK’s economy hit the bottom in the year 2009. It appeared that the economy is on the path of improvement in the year 2010; however, growth figures were low again for the year 2011. Growth Performance the annual inflation figures of UK economy shows that inflation is rising even though growth rate of the economy is slow. Such figures are considered alarming because standard of living of people is compromised in two manners – through low income growth, at the same time, a considerably high level of inflation (Baumol and Blinder, 2011). Annual Inflation Year Inflation Rate 2000 2.1% 2001 2.7% 2002 1.3% 2003 2.9% 2004 2.6% 2005 3.2% 2006 2.4% 2007 4.2% 2008 4.1% 2009 0.1% 2010 3.7% 2011 5.1% Unemployment Rate of UK’s economy is exhibiting a trend of rising with the inflation rate of the economy. This is considered one of the most challenging macroeconomic situations in macroeconomic text books. This is because a high inflation is generally associated with lower levels of unemployment since all factors of productions are considered to be highly utilized. Rising unemployment with inflation indicates major issues with the economy which need to be resolved (Henderson, 2003). Unemployment Rate Year Rate 2001 5.1% 2002 5.2% 2003 5.0% 2004 4.8% 2005 4.8% 2006 5.4% 2007 5.4% 2008 5.6% 2009 7.5% 2010 7.9% Deflationary Gaps and Appropriate Policy Responses Deflationary gap in an economy is

Impact of Thatchers Right-to-Buy Policy

Impact of Thatchers Right-to-Buy Policy Analyse the impact of Margaret Thatchers right-to-buy policy in the Housing Act, 1980. As Margaret Thatcher was preparing for the 1979 general election, she promised in her Conservative manifesto that if in power, she would attempt to privatize some of Britains industries that were state owned. One of the industries that she highlighted to be of importance was that of giving the British people the opportunity to buy their state owned home which would give the working classes an opportunity that was never previously presented before them. Thatcher and the Conservatives decisively beat the Labour Party on the 3rd May 1975 and Thatcher, who was now the first female Prime Minister of Britain, stuck to her promises of the right-to-buy social housing and in 1980, the Housing Act was passed. In this essay, the consequences of the Housing Act from the time of its inception, up until the modern day will be analysed. Since Thatchers policy was enacted, there has been a radical decrease in the amount of housing that is state owned and an increase in people that own their own prop erty. In most parts of Britain, there is little social housing in Britain and a great deal of homelessness because of the realities of Right-to-Buy (RTB). Many homeowners have become wealthy landlords who have rented their ex-council homes out for up to five times more than the rent of council tenants. With the increase in homeowners but a decrease in social housing, was the right-to-buy policy that was created by Thatcher a success in the modern day? Before an analysis of Thatchers Right to Buy policy takes place, it is imperative that a study of the creation of council housing be undertaken. Council housing (the term for public housing constructed by local government authorities in the United Kingdom), was a policy that was dedicated to re-housing low income families into state owned properties that were subsided.[1] This particular policy came about following the devastation and aftermath of the First World War and the state of slums in Britain. The need to re-house families arose from an ongoing policy of slum clearance in the 1920s and 1930s; a need heightened from the 1940s onwards because 4 million UK houses were seriously damaged or destroyed by bombing following the Second World War.[2] Britain faced a serious housing problem following 1945, and large areas of the cities with serious bomb damage (such as London in the south and Coventry in the midlands) had to be completely cleared and rebuilt.[3]ÂÂ   Helped by the n ew Labour government in 1945 (which promised the social welfare programme to improve the living standards of all in Britain), alongside the implementation of the 1946 Land Acquisitions Act, which allowed local authorities to purchase land for new houses to be built, council house building was done on a vast scale after 1945 and continued well into the 1970s.[4] By 1979 and at the time of the British general election, around 32% of all homes in Britain were council houses, totalling some 6.5 million properties.[5] The selling of state homes in Britain was not an invention of Thatcher and the Conservatives in 1979. Rather, state owned homes were being sold off in the 1920s, but as Alan Murie argues, it was done on such a smaller scale compared to that of the Thatcher government.[6] In as far back as the nineteenth century, housing legislation required that council-built dwelling in redevelopment areas should be sold within 10 years of completion.[7] In the 1950s, sales of social housing increased from the 1920s and by May 1956, over five thousand homes were sold (and that was just in 1956!).[8] It was not until the late 1960s however, when campaigning Conservative local councils undertook successful sales schemes, that Party elites reconceived the idea as an attractive and tenable policy option.[9] By the 1970s, the debate over the right to buy social housing was getting heated. In 1972, Peter Walker (Conservative Environment Secretary, 15 October 1970 5 November 1972) announced at the annual party conference that he believed council tenants who wished to purchase their homes had a very basic right to do so, alongside a discount which applied to those who had stayed at their property long enough.[10]ÂÂ   Michael Hazeltine, the shadow environment secretary in 1979, also a conservative and one of Margaret Thatchers closest colleagues, agreed with Walker and urged Thatcher that if they were to win the next election, a RTB policy should be created for the 400,000+ people that were in a position to buy their own homes.[11] Thatcher, known for her principles of privatization, did not take much swaying from Hazeltine and used this revolutionary policy as a selling point to the people of Britain in the build up to the 1979 general election where Thatcher was in contention to become the first ever female Prime Minister of Britain.[12] In the Conservative manifesto of 1979, Margaret Thatcher emphasised considerably on the issue of housing. Under the heading Helping the Family, the housing topic stretched across one and a half pages. This was more than important issues such as education and the state of the National Health Service, issues that were usually seen as pivotal as a selling point in a partys manifesto. Thatchers emphasis was as Alan Murie states, on home ownership and on tax cuts, lower mortgage rates, and special schemes to make purchase easier. More important than anything else, the selling of council houses was the radical approach to enable working class people to be able to afford the right to buy their own homes. She suggested that the longer the tenant stayed at their council property, the relevant discount should be made, to a maximum of fifty per cent for tenants of twenty years. Thatcher was always a firm believer of letting the individual be in control and the state should be involved in as lit tle as possible. What this meant with regards to housing is that social housing costs the government a vast amount of money. Privatizing the housing sector to those that can afford to buy their own property allowed to free up government funds, as well as giving people the opportunity to buy where before it was not possible. Upon winning the election of 1979, Thatcher went about getting her Housing Act approved by parliament as soon as possible. However, she and her environment secretary Michael Hazeltine faced fierce opposition to the act from the Labour Party and the House of Lords, and it took nearly eighteen months for the act to be finally approved by parliament (3rd October 1980). Upon Thatchers parliamentary victory, she introduced her Housing Act policies in a special television broadcast. If you have been a council tenant for at least three years, you will have the right, by law, to buy your house, she claimed. The right to buy, as it was coined, became the slogan which would transform the housing market in the present day. Andy Beckett argues that the right to buy slogan was clever, clear, easy to say, easy to remember, and combining two of modern Britains favourite preoccupations, personal freedom and purchasing, while also encapsulating the more seductive side of what the Thatcher government was offering the country, he also added that her use of the word house in the special broadcast, when millions of council tenants actually lived in flats, was also significant. It gave the policy an aspirational flavour: reassuringly suburban rather than proletarian and urban. What Thatcher wanted to do with this special broadcast was to catch the attention of the masses of Britain. As the working classes were becoming more and more disassociated with politics, it was in Thatchers interest to reignite their interest. Knowing that this particular policy was radical, Thatcher wanted to make sure that everyone from any background could be effected by the implementation of the Housing Act. As television was becoming more readily available to the people of Britain, it was shrewd of Thatcher and the Conservative party to advertise right to buy due to the benefits of television, where it had the ability to see Thatcher persuading the public in a way where it felt she was in every living ro om in Britain. [1] Disney, R. (2010). The right to buy public housing in Britain: A welfare analysis. Institute of Fiscal Studies. 05 (1), p3. [2] Ibid. [3] McDonald, J. A. (2011). Urban Economics and Real Estate: Theory and Policy. Massachusetts: John Wiley Sons, Inc. p222. [4] Leventhal, F. M (2002). Twentieth-century Britain: an encyclopaedia. London: Peter Lang Publishing Inc. p136. [5] Disney, R. (2010). The right to buy public housing in Britain: A welfare analysis. Institute of Fiscal Studies. 05 (1), p3. [6] Murie, A (2006). Right to Buy. London: Wiley-Blackwell. p112. [7] Ibid. [8] Beckett, A. (2015). The right to buy: the housing crisis that Thatcher built. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/26/right-to-buy-margaret-thatcher-david-cameron-housing-crisis. Last accessed 3rd March 2017. [9] Davies, A. R. (2013). Right to Buy: The Development of a Conservative Housing Policy, 1945 1980. Contemporary British History. 27 (4), p3. [10] Beckett, A. (2015). The right to buy: the housing crisis that Thatcher built. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/26/right-to-buy-margaret-thatcher-david-cameron-housing-crisis. Last accessed 3rd March 2017. [11] Murie, A (2016). The Right to Buy?: Selling off Public and Social Housing. London: Policy Press. p75. [12] Holmes, M (1989). Thatcherism: Scope and Limits, 1983-87. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p226.

Free Essays on Mansfields The Dolls House :: Dolls House essays

The Doll's House      A contributing factor to the story "The Doll's House" by Katherine Mansfield is the characterization of Kezia as she travels in her innocence through the symbolic world of experience.   Kezia is essential to the plot because she represents a taboo, offering opposition to common ways of thinking. Through the portrayal of Kezia, as she interacts as the symbolic eccentric, Mansfield emphasizes the powers and blind justification of conformity within a society. The story commences with the arrival of the doll's house sent to the Burnell children.   The Burnells take a great liking to this new acquisition.   As the two older children admire the red carpet, red plush chairs, and gold frames of this highly ornamented house, Kezia, the youngest of the girls, takes an interest in the rather simple lamp. In fact, "what she liked more than anything, what she liked frightfully, was the lamp." This infatuation symbolizes her impeccability in comparison to the others as she is drawn to the unadorned lamp. Kezia proceeds to find fault with the state and proportions of the doll's house and perfection with the lamp in its simplicity.   As others take interests in the gaudy nature of the house, Kezia rebels:   "But the lamp was perfect.   It seemed to smile at Kezia, to say `I live here.' The lamp was so real." Conflict intensifies as Kezia remains the odd ball.   The appreciation of the lamp is a metaphor for the actions to come. Kezia likes the lamp because she does not know any better.   Thus, she decides to befriend the Kelveys because she doesn't see anything wrong in doing so.   The Kelveys are a family that are shunned because of their economic status.   Throughout the town, "Many of the children, including the Burnnels, were not allowed even to speak to them."   Without a second thought, school children and their families followed in the consuming tradition of looking down upon these unprivileged people.   Kezia offers offset to this common path of thinking and questions such a blind following.   She asks her mother, "Can't I ask the Kelveys just once?" To which, the response is, "Run away, Kezia; you know quite well why not." Mansfield successfully expresses the enveloping and controlling nature of conformity through the juxtaposition of Kezia's innocence to the prejudiced views of   those who live in the world of experience.   While others remain to push Kezia's nonconformist

Choosing your theorist and theory

Much research and thought has been put into our school's programs to meet the needs of many diverse learners. Throughout time, theorists have developed any theories that we, as educators, continue to use to this day. Thanks to their contributions, we have been provided with the best educational tools to cultivate young minds today. Every educator has their own opinion as to what theory they think is best. After reading various theories, there is one in particular that I truly believe to be the most beneficial which is The Behaviorism Theory. Behaviorism theory, also now as behavioral psychology Is a theory of learning based upon the Idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning† (Cherry, 2011 B. F Skinner and John B. Watson are the two creators of the behaviorism theory. They stated that development included learned behaviors. These learned behaviors are based on positive and negative experiences within their everyday environments. Every action has a consequence. I think that's a way to look at the way children learn over time.For example; when I was teaching at a different Children's Center, here was a little girl who would cry nonstop till I or someone else picked her up. We believed that at her house, the minute she cried, someone would be there instantly to pick her up. She never learned how to self soothe and knew that crying would get her the attention she wanted. She learned this behavior at home and brought it to school with her, thinking it would also work there. She had never been taught that crying wasn't a way to get what you want. It was our responsibility at school to break that habit.Instead, I would say directly to her, kneeling down to be on her level, â€Å"I will elk to you when you use your words and big girl evolve to tell me what you want†. Over time, she learned that crying wasn't getting her the attention she wanted. She decided to take the approach I offered her instead. This ultimately worked out the best for e veryone involved, her parents included. It was a learned behavior. This is what B. F Skinner defined as Operant Conditioning; which is â€Å"The behavior is followed by a consequence and the nature of the consequences modifies the organisms' tendency to repeat the behavior In the future† (Before, 2000).Operant conditioning can also be used for a positive behavior as well. There was a little boy I recently anatine for, his parents were ready to begin potty training him and they weren't sure how to go about it. After they thought it over, they decided to go about it with a rewards approach. If the little boy sat on the potty for 3 minutes, he'd receive a piece of candy. After a few attempts at sitting on the potty, he caught on. Sit on the potty, get a piece of candy. Then, the trick was to get him to actually go while sitting. When he affably went, Mom was clapping and praising him.He was so happy! She continued praising helm every time he went and he Is now fully potty traine d. Positive reinforcement was key in this situation. This is what's known as â€Å"Continuous Reinforcement†. I truly believe in being a constructive, firm, respectful and motivating educator. Providing a child with an environment full of positive reinforcements and consequences encourages the children to continuously strive to do their best. It children listened really well during circle time, they'll get extra time on the laggardly that afternoon.I believe that children learn in their own ways and grow at different rates. I believe that providing a hands on approach to learning is key in a child's development. There are 5 developmental domains that we as educators really focus on. These domains are physical, intellectual, language, emotional and social development. These different domains can be easily remembered as PILES. There are many ways to help children develop in each of these domains. For example, having age appropriate toys ND activities readily available can help their intellectual and physical domains.I feel that it's important to provide a stimulating environment for children to grow and develop emotionally, socially, and intellectually. Our classroom gives you child the opportunity to learn on many different levels. We provide age appropriate books, crayons, paper, and art activities to help create your child's language development. We encourage the children in our class to work together as a team and form friendships among their peers. By doing this, we are helping develop their social and motional skills.We have full access to our playground as well as our multi-purpose room for all our physical activities. We take advantage of our playground and being outside on a daily basis to keep our kids active and healthy! My classroom is a place where children can laugh and learn throughout the entire day. I feel that applying the theories many educators have set forth helps us provide the best education possible for today's youth. Children are our future and it is our responsibility to help them become the best person they can be.

Degree Appraisals Essay

General Electrics’ Durham, North Carolina assembly employees have a unique work environment in which they build the GE90 jet engine for Boeing. The 9 engine build teams consist of approximately 18 employees who own the entire process of assembling some 10,000 parts perfectly to create one complete engine assembly. The teams are self managed, doing everything from ordering parts and tools to scheduling vacation and overtime. The success of the teams comes from their founding method of agreement by consensus decisions making. In fact, the consensus decision making process has become a way of life to many of these employees, and management decisions are only needed about 12 decisions per year. Although employees don’t always have unanimous agreement, there is seldom any blame when things go wrong because of their strong trusting relationships. This type of consensus management has instilled a high level of trust relationships among the team members and their superiors. These self-managed teams operate in a culture of continuous feedback and rely on management to make them aware of problems and report solutions. Beyond the day-to-day decisions making, any major issues, such as safety and cost, are decided by a task force. The plant manager informs and educates the task force and employees about the problem and why it is important, and the task force decides how to address problems. The task force takes the responsibility to find solutions and decisions are reporting back to plant management on what the future solutions will be. These solutions and decisions made by the task force are communicate to the plant manager and then on to the higher-ups for their buy in. The Plant Manager Paula Sims, who has been on the job 4 years, has proposed to HR that she would like initiate a 360-degree review to supplement existing performance  measures. Ms. Sims’ proposal is met with some concerns from HR, it is assumed that HR has concerns that implementing a new system without a consensus decision will breakdown trust with the employees and limit the willing participation if the 360 review were to be implemented. Root Problem The root problem with Ms. Sims proposal is that the implementation goes directly against the culture of consensus agreement on making decisions for the teams and the plant. Since this would be considered a major change, it should be brought to a task force for review and solution, or at minimum be brought to the attention of all employees. In the past, Ms. Sims has experienced issues of missed trust with the assembly teams and this direct approach with HR for the implementation a new performance measure stands to have an equally negative effect. Alternative Ideas In order to address the root problem, HR would like to propose some alternative ideas to Ms. Sims proposals that could include awareness of GE corporate use general of 360 degree performance measures in other locations. Investigations on the benefits from other GE plants should be presented to employees to gain a better understanding and buy-in of the proposal. Knowing the culture of feedback that exist within the plant, Ms. Sims could call for a task force to investigate the benefits of 360 degree feedback and make a direction decision on the use of 360 degree appraisals. In consideration of alternative ideas, Ms. Sims should consider approaching the employees and HR by providing factual information about the value of peer reviews. For example, â€Å"research shows that appraisals by peers are useful predictors of training success and future performance† (Jackson, S.E., Schuler, R.S., & Werner, S., 2012). Additionally, since the GE employees are team-based units, it is also been shown that anonymous peer appraisals in teams increase interpersonal effectiveness, group cohesion, communication openness and group satisfaction (Jackson, et al, 2012). Furthermore, she could gain more leverage by stating the success of the peer reviews in other GE facilities, as real life inter-company example. The last alternative is simply do nothing and keep the current system as it is without a 360 degree review. Considering Ms. Sims determination to implement the new appraisal, she should consider a trial basis with a one the nine teams as a test bed  from training implementation and use of the 360 review. As multiple alternatives have been presented, a closer evaluation of each proposal is the necessary to derive the what is believed to the best alternative. 1. Awareness and Buy-in – this alternative looks at bringing awareness to the 360-degree appraisal as a supplemental appraisal by providi ng factual information on the benefits of the program at GE’s jet engine plant. Awareness makes buy-in easier when at the end of the day, you allow the teams to make a decision by consensus on the implementation of the new peer review. 2. Empowered team decision – this alternative simply turns the information and decision back to the team and task force. This alternative is the most cohesive alternative and aligns well with the culture of the company. 3. Trial basis – this alternative assume Ms. Sims pushes her idea forward and assumes she will be met with some resistance during the implementation phase. In this case focusing on a smaller beta test group proves to be easier to manage and create buy-in with when the results show positive improvements. 4. Status Quo – this alternative assumes that nothing is done, no implementation is agreed upon and the current performance measures stay in place without a 360-degree appraisal. Choose an Alternative & Implementation In an effort to maintain the strong trusting relationships that exist at the various levels of team members and management, it is recommended that the alternative proposal of â€Å"awareness and buy-in† be selected and acted upon. Implementation of this plan will begin with Ms. Sims collecting and presenting data from both internal GE resources and external resources to show the benefits of supplementing the current performance appraisals with a 360-degree peer review. Next Ms. Sims must work directly with HR to plan an appropriate training period and plan in conjunction with the roll out of information to the 9 assembly teams. This portion of the preparation should include the consideration of one group to be the test bed or beta group for evaluation purposes. Once the information is presented to all the employees, an internal task force should be commissioned to evaluate the information provided by Ms. Sims for the purpose my allowing the continuance of the consensus culture . There are a multitude of options this management team has in considering the addition of the new peer review. However,  allowing the teams and/or special task force to make the decision on their own and continue to feel the sense of ownership is paramount in the implementation phase of the proposal. Therefore it is recommended that after the beta group is selected and effectively trained, HR and Ms. Sims must monitor the effectiveness of the raters over an initially shorter period of time for the appraisals to take place. This step will be for the purpose of training and evaluation. Based the results from the six months data collection and feedback from the Beta group, Ms. Sims and HR will determine if further training is needed, if the employees are seeing value in the productivity and performance improvements as a result of using the 360 degree appraisals. If the results are positive the information will be shared with the task force and all employees for further implementation and training, beyond the beta group. Reference Jackson, S.E., Schuler, R.S., & Werner, S (2012). Managing Human Resources (11th edition)., Mason, OH: South-Western

Intrusion Detection Systems Essays

Intrusion Detection Systems Essays Intrusion Detection Systems Paper Intrusion Detection Systems Paper Intrusion Detection Systems In 1980, James Anderson’s paper, Computer Security Threat Monitoring and Surveillance, bore the notion of intrusion detection. Through government funding and serious corporate interest allowed for intrusion detection systems(IDS) to develope into their current state. So what exactly is IDS? An IDS is used to detect malicious network traffic and computer usage through attack signatures. The IDS watches for attacks not only from incoming internet traffic but also for attacks that originate in the system. When a potential attack is detected the IDS logs the information and sends an alert to the console. How the alert is detected and handled at is dependent on the type of IDS in place. Through this paper we will discuss the different types of IDS and how they detect and handle the alerts, the difference between a passive and a reactive system and some general IDS intrusion invasion techniques. First lets go over what the difference is between a passive and a reactive IDS. In a passive IDS the sensor of detects an potential threat then logs the information and sends an alert to the console. With a reactive IDS, also known as an intrusion prevention system(IPS), the threat would be detected and logged. Then the reactive IDS would either reset the connection or reprogram the firewall to block network traffic from the suspected source, which could be automatic or at the control of an operator. Therefore a reactive system will act in response to the threat were as a passive system will only log and send an alert to the console informing the operator of a threat. There are many types of intrusion detection systems, network intrusion detection, host based, protocol based, application protocol based, anomaly based and hybrid. The first one we are going to discus is network intrusion detection systems or NIDS. With NIDS the system attempts to detect threats and attacks, such as denial of service attacks, port scans and attempts to hack into computers by monitoring the network traffic in real time through a promiscuous connection. It does so by first filtering out all known non-malicious traffic and then analyzing the remaining incoming packets for suspicious patterns that could be threats. It is not however limited to just analyzing incoming packets, the system also analyzes the outgoing local traffic, in case of an attack/threat that originates inside of the local network. Snort is an example of this. Host based intrusion detection systems unlike network intrusion detection systems, which focus on a computing system’s external interfaces, host based systems focus on the monitoring and examination of the computing system’s internals. Host based systems are more concerned with the changes in state of a computing system. It detects these changes by analyzing system specific logs either in real time or periodically. When there is any change in the logs the IDS will compare the current configuration of the security policy to the changes and react accordingly. An example of this would be tripwire. Protocol based intrusion detection systems (PIDS) monitor the dynamic behavior and state of the protocol. In a typical setup there is a system or agent sitting at the front end of the server. This agent or system monitors the communication protocol between the computing system, it is trying to protect, and a connected device. The main goal of protocol based IDS is to impose the proper use of the protocol used between the protected computing system and all connected devices. Bro and sort are examples of protocol based intrusion detection systems. Application protocol based intrusion detection systems (APIDS) are used to monitor the protocols specific to certain applications and protocols being used by the computing system. The typical setup, similar to protocol based IDS, consists of a system or agent that sits in front of a group of servers where it will monitor and analyze the communication protocols specific to applications. An example would be to have an APIDS between a web server and a database system where the APIDS monitors the SQL protocol being used between them. Anomaly based intrusion detection systems detect attacks and threats through the monitoring of system activity and classifying it based on heuristic or rules instead of patterns and signatures. The IDS classifies activity as either normal or anomalous based on its analysis. Since the classification is determined by heuristic or rules it has a significant advantage over systems that use signatures. In signature based detection the signature has to have been previously created where in anomaly based any type of use that doesn’t coincide with the normal use of the system will be detected malicious or not. Snort is an example of this type of system. Hybrid intrusion detection systems consist of a combination of one or more approaches to intrusion detection systems. Typically you would use a host based IDS and a network IDS to develop an extensive overview of the entire network. The biggest benefit that a hybrid IDS has over any single type of IDS is the large amount of sensors it has to detect malicious activity. Prelude is an example of an hybrid IDS. As with any other type of security device there will always be some one looking for holes in the fence. Intrusion detection systems are no different. Through many intrusion invasion techniques people are able to avoid detection by changing the states of the IDS and the targeted computing system by manipulating the attack or the network traffic that contains the attack. Some of the techniques we will cover in this paper are obfuscating attack payload fragmentation and small packets, overlapping fragments, protocol violations, inserting traffic at the IDS, denial of service. Obfuscating attack payload is simply what it means, which is to encode the attack so that the IDS will be unable to reverse the packets but the target computer can. A way to do this is through encoding attack packets with a Unicode character in which an IDS recognize but an IIS server will be able decode thus being attacked. You can also use polymorphic code in so that you can trick signature-based IDSs by creating unique attack patterns so there is not a distinct attack signature that can be easily detected. Another technique used to evade IDS is through fragmentation and small packets. With this technique you simply just split the packets up into smaller packets or create packets with a small payload also known as ‘session splicing’. Although small packets alone, will not be enough to evade an IDS with a packet reassembler. Hope is not lost though you can still modify the packets to complicate reassembly. One way to confuse the reassembler is to pause between sending parts of the attack in hope that the reassembler will time out but not the target computer. Another way is to send the packets out of order so that the reasssembler gets confused but the target computer does not. An IDS evasion technique, known as overlapping fragments, uses TCP sequence numbers to confuse the IDS. It basically creates a series of packets with TCP sequence numbers configured to overlap. So for example you send the first packet that includes 80 bytes you then send the second packet with a sequence number of 76 bytes after the start of the first packet. The target computer, when it tries to reassemble the TCP stream, has to decide how to handle the 4 bytes that overlapping. Some systems take it from the older data and some from the newer data, it is dependent on the operating system of the target computer. Protocol violations are another technique of IDS intrusion invasion. Using protocol violations you simply exploit known violations to a protocol that will be interpreted differently by the IDS than by the target computer. An example of this would be to use the TCP Urgent Pointer that is handled differently by different operating systems and the IDS may not handle it correctly. Another evasion technique is inserting traffic at the IDS. This is where you send packets that the IDS will see but the target computer will not. This is accomplished by simply crafting packets whose time to live fields have been configured to reach the IDS but not the target computer. This creates a situation where the IDS is in a different state than the target computer. Denial of service attacks or DoS attacks, are used to evade detection by overloading and disabling the IDS. To achieve this the attack will exploit a known bug in the IDS using up computational resources needed by the IDS. This can also be accomplished by intentional generating a large number of alerts to set up a front to hide the real attack. Utilities such as stick and snot are designed to send a large amount of attack signatures across a network to spawn a large number of IDS alerts. However this will only work on IDSs that do not maintain application protocol context. As you can see with the numerous ways around intrusion detection systems, as with any network security system, there is no complete security solution. Even with this there will always be a need for intrusion detection systems. The best of which would be a combination of network and host based IDSs, in other words a hybrid IDS. These will give you the benefits of both worlds of IDS and allow for greater security. Whatever your opinion on which solution is right for you, intrusion detection systems are here to stay and are a valuable tool in network security. Resources securityfocus. com/infocus/1514