One of the fundamental tasks a programmer must do is make sure that programs they write do not try to access memory regions outside of
their “bounds”. This is known as bounds checking. Years ago, programmers could specify where in memory their programs would load.
This has some obvious flaws; what if two programs want to load at the same address? What if they overlap each other? The solution was
to turn memory assignment over to the operating system, which manages the programs running on the system. But it’s not without flaws
itself; one common attack virus writers love to exploit is known as a buffer overflow attack.
Watch this video clip on buffer overflows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYAvTEtRwtM
After watching the video, discuss the dangers of a buffer overflow. Can they be prevented? Will this problem ever be solved? Why or
why not?
Book:
Title Computer Organization and Design
Author David A. Patterson; John L. Hennessy
ISBN 978-0-12-407726-3
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR PROMOTIONAL DISCOUNT DISPLAYED ON THE WEBSITE AND GET A DISCOUNT FOR YOUR PAPER NOW!