ABSTRACT
One of the most challenging aspects of understanding telecommunications and network security is the overwhelming number of resources that are required to maintain it. Making telecommunications and networking “work” involves millions of miles of cabling, thousands of communications devices, and an uncounted number of people all working together to deliver information among devices. Whether the information is a wordprocessing document, an e-mail message, an Internet phone call, or an ATM transaction, it starts from a device and traverses media that are largely unknown to most people. The focus of this chapter is on those media that carry the information. From the thousands of miles of optical cable that run deep beneath the oceans to connect continents, to the inexpensive “patch” cables that are sold in hardware stores, to home users, each has an important role to play and each has an implication in securing a network environment from one end to the other.
