Military Communications and Information Technology: A Trusted ...

466 Military Communications and Information Technology...
controlled movement of data streams from inside and outside of the PA networks.
The organization of large networks protection mechanism through encryption is not
easy. Effective cryptographic tools and a number of organizational operations that
allow safe and punctual distribution of cryptographic data are necessary for this
purpose [9]. Cryptographic tools should not impact the deterioration of the communication
services of an IT system. In order for these devices to work correctly,
it is necessary to regularly deliver the cryptographic data (symmetric/asymmetric
keys, random sequences and other) [10].
Modern communication networks consisting of several hundred or even several
thousand devices require huge amounts of cryptographic data. The generation
of cryptographic data entails the performance of large amount of time-consuming
calculations and does not only relate to the problem of generation of cryptographic
keys, but also to their appropriate protection against errors, disclosure, labeling
and storage.
The currently applied systems and tools for generating cryptographic data
are not very efficient for large communication networks, where symmetric keys
are used. For every information relation, appropriate cryptographic data should
be assumed, e.g. if there is n=100 stations, at least n*(n-1)/2, i.e. nearly 5 thousand
cryptographic data for the “peer-to-peer” information relation model should be
prepared. The planning, generation and distribution of cryptographic data for such
a large network is a technically complicated system.
II. Architecture of an information system
Let us consider the example PA system environment. The primary basis
for determining the structure of an information system is the territorial division
of the country. Within the division, the voivodeships along with the administration
authorities that report to governmental institutions are important. The country
is divided into 16 voivodeships which are created by poviats.
We assume that the information system in question comprises management
centers (MC) that may be duplicated given the need to achieve sufficiently high
survival level. The composition of an example voivodeship MC is presented in Table
1. In accordance with the administrative division of the country, 16 such MCs
are present within the Republic of Poland.
The central element of the state management is the president of the Republic
of Poland (PRP), however, the majority of information processes will be addressed
to the Prime Minister and the PM MC.
It was assumed that information reports from the authorities subordinate
to the PM will deliver information to the PM MC. Only the information already
edited and aggregated will be delivered to the PM MC.
An exemption may constitute the information reports delivered by the Ministry
of Interior and Administration and Ministry of National Defense. Depending