MULTIPROGRAMMING AND TIME-SHARING ENVIRONMENT

In a multiprogramming and time sharing environment, several users share the system simultaneously. In this environment, the users have a chance to see the files or the program made by other user. But having this kind of environment also has a disadvantages or it may result in various security problems.

One of the security problems that may occurred is stealing or copying one’s programs or data. In time sharing environment we can’t avoid this kind of problem because as stated above users share the system at the same time. This kind of environment also is free and open to all. So everyone really have a time and a chance to browse and open it. That’s why stealing or copying of data really happened. There are many ways in order to steal or to copy of other’s program. One is using system resources such as Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory, disk space, peripherals and using also Universal Serial Bus (USB). Another, writing over another program’s (belonging to another user or to the operating system) area in memory. The same with stealing or copying, using   system resources (CPU, disk space) without proper accounting. Writing over program’s can cause damage to the printer to mix output by sending data while some other user’s file is printing. After that, the user who did stealing and writing other’s program he/she can now modify the data. It means he/she can reduce the data and shorten the program in which it is more understandable and readable or he/ she may add the program.

Another security problem that might happened is some viruses may enter or attack since multiprogramming and time sharing environment share the system simultaneously. Most probably virus may occur because of its free and open environment. The virus will block the data especially in time of processing and sharing. Virus might be a cause of file’s or data’s damage. Using of resources might be also the reason why viruses is being entered or attacked in your data or files.

Those several security problems that the users encountered are just a part of having a multiprogramming and time sharing environment. In order to avoid those problems probably we should be watchful, careful, etc so that everything will not turn into nothing. 

Time shared machines are those machines that perform multiple tasks and sharing simultaneously. The users can do multiprogramming and shared it to others simultaneously while dedicated machine is a system that accepts one primary task at a time. When we talked about the security of the two, I say that a dedicated machine is more secured than time shared machine. Time shared machine is prone with different problems such as virus vulnerability and etc. compared to dedicated machine.

Can we ensure the same degree of security in a time shared machine as we have in dedicated machine? Probably not, since any protection scheme devised by a man can inevitably be broken by him, and more complex the scheme, the more difficult it is to feel confident of its correct implementation. Therefore, time shared and dedicated machine are not equal or they don’t have the same degree of security because both of them performs different tasks as well as the environment.