Government network and information security - MCDM framework for the selection of security mechanisms

The establishment of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), Intranets and Internet access channels by Governments raises the need of making sure that only authorized people access the Government VPN resources. The large base of network security mechanisms and VPN implementation alternatives available makes it difficult to select the "optimal" security mechanisms or controls to be used in order to ensure the required or defined level of security for a specific VPN. This paper addresses the security mechanisms selection problem by proposing a MCDM model for structuring the VPN selection decision problem. Data collected from the Government Network Project (GovNet) being implemented in Mozambique was used to support both the development and validation of the Model.