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A general question clicks in my mind, that there are many ways to bypass the security.

So, what is the highest degree of security?

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Security in what sense? Physical? Cryptographic? Process-based? Authentication? Authorization? There are so many variables. This is an incredibly vague, unanswerable question. – Polynomial Dec 14 '12 at 14:05
Hi Salman - this question doesn't really make sense. As per Polynomial's comment, you need to think about what you mean by security. – Rory Alsop♦ Dec 14 '12 at 14:12
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"What is the highest degree of security?" A secret shared by two people, never written down, and one of them is dead. – Jeff Ferland♦ Dec 14 '12 at 17:37

closed as not a real question by Polynomial, Rory Alsop♦ Dec 14 '12 at 14:11

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

1 Answer

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I think the fundamental problem here is that "highest degree of security" is a nebulous concept. Security isn't an absolute, but rather a game of give and take. It is about trying to balance acceptable risk vs difficulty in access.

The systems that are generally considered the "highest" security by the public would be things where physical security plays a key role. These kinds of government systems are not physically connected to the Internet, operate on their own private, encrypted network and the only locations with access to the keys have armed guards and multiple redundant physical systems preventing unauthorized access to get to a terminal that has access.

You are however correct that an attacker with unlimited resources and unlimited will could potentially bypass any security. This is why the highest degrees of risk mitigation rely on many overlapping factors to provide as complete of protection as possible.

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thanks, now I'm going to have that song in my head all afternoon... – lynks Dec 14 '12 at 14:14
@Lynks - I'm a little scared to ask... what song? – AJ Henderson Dec 14 '12 at 14:16
I take no responsibility for any loss of kudos you may suffer as a result of humming this in the elevator: youtube.com/watch?v=Yw5RkzbHb-w – lynks Dec 14 '12 at 14:20

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