Network Security — Link and IP Layer
Stub. A layer-by-layer overview of network attack surface, starting at the link layer (ARP spoofing, switch/VLAN attacks) and the IP layer (IP spoofing, routing attacks, ICMP abuse) — where a lack of built-in authentication at design time is the recurring root cause.
Frames network security the way the protocol stack itself is layered: each layer below transport was designed assuming a cooperative, trusted network, so this note’s throughline is “what happens when that assumption fails, one layer at a time.” At the link layer, ARP has no authentication, so ARP spoofing lets an attacker on the local network redirect traffic meant for another host; at the IP layer, source addresses are self-reported (IP spoofing), and routing protocols largely trust the routes they’re told (enabling BGP-style hijacks, covered in more depth in graph-algorithms-in-distributed-systems and core-network-protocols-and-devices). Ends where the transport layer picks up, in transport-layer-security-and-tls.
Outline (TODO — flesh out each)
- Network security overview — the layered attack surface
- Link layer attacks — ARP spoofing
- IP layer attacks — IP spoofing
- Routing attacks
- ICMP abuse