orm spreading, and even access to sensitive material about people, companies, and processes have skyrocketed. For example, corporate espionage is no longer a taboo expression, and organized crime in many nations is keeping its eyes on potentially vulnerable and lucrative targets. Unfortunately, the context has not escaped the attention of terrorist groups worldwide who are always out looking for opportunities to wreak havoc against their enemy societies by harming or destroying computer-based infrastructures and utility networks, thereby disrupting people's day-to-day lives. This can be done from a distance through the illicit use of networks. Unfortunately, the techniques of committing these illicit acts have become widely known and appli- cable. Essentially anyone can find tutorials and recipes for this type of action either on the Internet, in easily available books/publications, and even at quasi-legitimate conventions where computer and net- work hackers gather to boast about their accomplishments. People do not need Ph.D.s in electrical Downloaded from Digital Engineering Library @ McGraw-Hill (www.digitalengineeringlibrary.com) Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Any use is subject to the Terms of Use as given at the website. SECURITY COPROCESSORS 360 NETWORK PROCESSORS engineering or computer science anymore to commit such cybercrimes. In many cases, high-school students with laptops are able to disrupt organizations and perpetrate these crimes. What is more wor- risome in the current networks that offer global connectivity is that these crimes can happen in the pri- vacy of someone's enterprise, office, or even home even though the perpetrator may have initiated the action from the other side of the planet. Because of the ease with which this trend has been spreading, the general consensus is that corporate (and often private) communications must be secured. However, cybercrime does not just come from the outside. It can just as likely originate from inside the walls of an en