Security service (telecommunication)

For other uses, see Security service.

Security service is a service, provided by a layer of communicating open systems, which ensures adequate security of the systems or of data transfers[1] as defined by ITU-T X.800 Recommendation.
X.800 and ISO 7498-2 (Information processing systems – Open systems interconnection – Basic Reference Model – Part 2: Security architecture)[2] are technically aligned. This model is widely recognized [3] [4]

A more general definition is in CNSS Instruction No. 4009 dated 26 April 2010 by Committee on National Security Systems of United States of America:[5]

A capability that supports one, or more, of the security requirements (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability). Examples of security services are key management, access control, and authentication.

Another authoritative definition is in W3C Web service Glossary [6] adopted by NIST SP 800-95:[7]

A processing or communication service that is provided by a system to give a specific kind of protection to resources, where said resources may reside with said system or reside with other systems, for example, an authentication service or a PKI-based document attribution and authentication service. A security service is a superset of AAA services. Security services typically implement portions of security policies and are implemented via security mechanisms.
  1. ^ X.800 : Security architecture for Open Systems Interconnection for CCITT applications
  2. ^ ISO 7498-2 (Information processing systems – Open systems interconnection – Basic Reference Model – Part 2: Security architecture)
  3. ^ William Stallings Crittografia e sicurezza delle reti Seconda edizione ISBN 88-386-6377-7 Traduzione Italiana a cura di Luca Salgarelli di Cryptography and Network security 4 edition Pearson 2006
  4. ^ Securing information and communications systems: principles, technologies, and applications Steven Furnell, Sokratis Katsikas, Javier Lopez, Artech House, 2008 - 362 pages
  5. ^ CNSS Instruction No. 4009 dated 26 April 2010
  6. ^ W3C Web Services Glossary
  7. ^ NIST Special Publication 800-95 Guide to Secure Web Services