www.tvtc.gov.

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Introduction to operating
system security

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Operating systems

OS example:
• Windows
• Linux
• MAC OS

The most important goal of the

operating systems is to help users
manage software and hardware to
do the jobs perfectly

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 Operating system definition

An operating system is a program that acts as an interface

between the user and the computer hardware and controls
the execution of all kinds of programs.

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 Operating system definition

A modern computer consists of:

•  One or more processors
•  Main memory
•  Disks
•  Printers
•  Various input/output devices

Managing all these components requires a layer of software – the operating system

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 Operating system functions

Following are some of important functions of an operating System:

1- Memory Management:
• OS tracks the main memory usage by each application.
• OS decides which memory should be allocated to which program and how much memory should be allocated.

2- Processor Management:
• It helps the user to identify the errors in the hardware or software and to make necessary changes in the system. 
• OS does the process by scheduling, so It decides the time of each process assigned to the processor and the order in
which the processor is accessed. 

3- Device Management:
• It monitors the response time taken by the system after the service request.
• OS monitors the performance and brings the issue into the user’s notice.

4- File Management:
• OS organizes the file by providing details and settings of each file by OS.

5- Security:
• Security is provided by OS to the user data and prevents unauthorized access.
• Data can be protected by giving the password to the files., so when an unknown user checks the files, OS asks for the
password and hence the data is protected.
• The system itself is protected with a password.
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 Computer system components

A computer is a system composed of two major components:

• Computer hardware: the physical equipment.

• Computer software: the collection of programs that allows the hardware to
do its job.

Computer software is divided into two broad categories:

 Operating system controls the access to hardware by users. It manages

the hardware and create the interface between the hardware and the user.

 Application programs use the computer hardware to solve users’

problems.

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Computer system components

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What Is An Operating System

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The Operating System as a Resource Manager:
•  Allow multiple programs to run at the same time
•  Manage and protect memory, I/O devices, and
other resources
•  Includes multiplexing (sharing) resources in two different
ways:
• In time
• In space

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History of Operating Systems

Generations:
• The First Generation (1945–55): Vacuum Tubes
• The Second Generation (1955–65): Transistors and Batch Systems
• The Third Generation (1965–1980): ICs and Multiprogramming
• The Fourth Generation (1980–Present): Personal Computers
• The Fifth Generation (1990–Present): Mobile Computers

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 Multiprogramming

        • Partition memory into several pieces, with a

different job in each partition.
• While one job was waiting for I/O to
complete, another job could be using the
CPU.

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Simple personal computer: Modern personal computers:
• The CPU, memory, and I/O devices are all • have a more complicated structure, involving multiple buses.
connected by a system bus and
communicate with one another over it.

               
Some of the components of a simple personal computer

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Processors
• The ‘‘brain’’ of the computer is the CPU. It fetches instructions
from memory and executes them.
• The basic cycle of every CPU is to fetch the first instruction from
memory, decode it to determine its type and operands, execute it,
and then fetch, decode, and execute subsequent instructions. Superscalar : Two or
• The cycle is repeated until the program finishes. In this way, more instructions are
programs are carried out. fetched at once,
decoded, and dumped
                into a holding buffer
CPU Pipelining until they can be
executed.

               
Multiple
execution
units

Pipeline superscalar 13
 Multithreaded and Multicore Chips
(a) A quad-core chip with a shared L2 cache.
(b) A quad-core chip with separate L2 caches.
Multithreading : each thread

               
        
L1 cache: It is always appears to the operating
inside the CPU and system as a separate CPU.
usually feeds e.g., Consider a system with
decoded instructions two actual CPUs, each with two
into the CPU’s threads. The operating system
execution engine. will see this as four CPUs.
The L1 caches are
typically 16 KB each. The difference between L1 and L2?
Caches lies in the timing. Access to the
L2 cache : It holds L1 cache is done without any delay,
several megabytes whereas access to
of recently used the L2 cache involves a delay of one or
memory words two clock cycles.
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 Memory

• Register: hold instructions

• Cache: temporary memory officially
termed “CPU cache memory.
• Main memory: is usually called RAM

               
(Random Access Memory) memory does not
lose its contents when the power is switched
off. ROM (Read Only Memory) is
programmed at the factory and cannot be
changed afterward.
• Magnetic disk: It is used to store various
programs and files.

• Magnetic tape:  memory device consisting

of a long thin plastic strip  that record
audio or video signals or to store
computer information.

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 Operating system Security

What is Operating System Security?

The process of ensuring OS availability, confidentiality,

integrity, and Data Protection is known as operating system
security. OS security refers to the processes or measures
taken to protect the operating system from dangers,
including viruses, worms, malware, and remote hacker
intrusions.

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