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Abstract Over the past years, e-learning portals helped teachers to streamline learning process, users to decrease associated costs involved in traditional learning process and in this way customer satisfaction was increased and the impact of this teaching method increased worldwide. Web servers are a fundamental component for almost every e-learning application. In this paper we will categorize the most frequent security threats associated with web and SQL services and present the ways to mitigate security threats such as distributed denial of services attacks on web services using the capabilities of a network device from a recognized leader in network security.
Key words:
Distributed databases,
E-learning, Security,
Web Services,
Distributed denial of
service
JEL Codes:
L86
1. Introduction
E-learning platforms have drastically improved the way people learn today. Users can easily access the learning application on their personal devices at any time, flexibility being one of the main advantages of such an application. Additionally, each user is able to learn according to his preferred strategy and in his own pace and so everyone can benefit from the value added learning process that the platform offers and enjoy learning. In this way, these types of online platforms help increase the productivity of the students and help them find a learning style that suits their needs.
Such an e-learning application model based on Oracle Application Express web platform and Oracle distributed databases was developed in thesis "Distributed databases. A dynamic model fully decentralized and automated" (Ciobanu-Iacob, 2014). But this model requires networks that support big data traffic, and these networks must be scalable to support increasing numbers of users to address the need for greater capacity and performance. As networks grow and support more and more services and applications, they become more vulnerable to security threats. To combat those threats and ensure that electronic applications are not hacked, security techniques (Ciobanu-Defta, 2012; Ciobanu-Defta and Ciobanu-Iacob, 2012) must play a fundamental role in any type of environment.
2. Web and SQL Servers Security Threats
Web applications are exposed to some specific vulnerability due to their method of access (web browsers) and integration with databases in backend. The actual web servers configurations commonly presents to users multiple web applications running on a single server and available through some...