Comments on “security problems in the TCP/IP protocol suite”

Abstract

In the April issue of Computer Communication Review, S. M. Bellovin described attacks on protocols in the TCP/IP suite [1]. He stated that the attacks were "inherent in the protocols, regardless of the correctness of any implementations." His article proposed specific defenses against these attacks and discussed more comprehensive defenses. This note attempts to place in perspective some of the concerns cited by Bellovin and to correct some errors present in his article, especially in his discussion of comprehensive defenses.