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74-404: Security mostly refers to protection from hostile forces, but it has a wide range of other senses: for example, as the absence of harm (e.g., freedom from want ); as the presence of an essential good (e.g., food security ); as resilience against potential damage or harm (e.g. secure foundations); as secrecy (e.g., a secure telephone line ); as containment (e.g., a secure room or cell ); and as

148-421: A balance between productivity, cost, effectiveness of the countermeasure, and the value of the informational asset being protected. Furthermore, these processes have limitations as security breaches are generally rare and emerge in a specific context which may not be easily duplicated. Thus, any process and countermeasure should itself be evaluated for vulnerabilities. It is not possible to identify all risks, nor

222-483: A business's customers or finances or new product line fall into the hands of a competitor or hacker , a business and its customers could suffer widespread, irreparable financial loss, as well as damage to the company's reputation. From a business perspective, information security must be balanced against cost; the Gordon-Loeb Model provides a mathematical economic approach for addressing this concern. For

296-420: A claim of identity. When John Doe goes into a bank to make a withdrawal, he tells the bank teller he is John Doe, a claim of identity. The bank teller asks to see a photo ID, so he hands the teller his driver's license . The bank teller checks the license to make sure it has John Doe printed on it and compares the photograph on the license against the person claiming to be John Doe. If the photo and name match

370-403: A claim of who they are. However, their claim may or may not be true. Before John Doe can be granted access to protected information it will be necessary to verify that the person claiming to be John Doe really is John Doe. Typically the claim is in the form of a username. By entering that username you are claiming "I am the person the username belongs to". Authentication is the act of verifying

444-502: A flood of incoming messages to the target system, essentially forcing it to shut down. In the realm of information security, availability can often be viewed as one of the most important parts of a successful information security program. Ultimately end-users need to be able to perform job functions; by ensuring availability an organization is able to perform to the standards that an organization's stakeholders expect. This can involve topics such as proxy configurations, outside web access,

518-452: A hostile environment (and potentially to project that power into its environment, and dominate it to the point of strategic supremacy ). Others argue that security depends principally on building the conditions in which equitable relationships can develop, partly by reducing antagonism between actors, ensuring that fundamental needs can be met, and also ensuring that differences of interest can be negotiated effectively. The table shows some of

592-505: A payment in exchange for returning the information or property back to its owner, as with ransomware . One of the most functional precautions against these attacks is to conduct periodical user awareness. Governments , military , corporations , financial institutions , hospitals , non-profit organisations, and private businesses amass a great deal of confidential information about their employees, customers, products, research, and financial status. Should confidential information about

666-664: A state of mind (e.g., emotional security ). Security is both a feeling and a state of reality. One can feel secure, while they aren't, but also feel insecure while they are secure. This distinction is usually not very clear to express in the English language. The term is also used to refer to acts and systems whose purpose may be to provide security ( security company , security police , security forces , security service , security agency , security guard , cyber security systems , security cameras , remote guarding ). Security can be physical and virtual . The word 'secure' entered

740-419: A tool for security professionals to examine security from a systems perspective, creating an environment where security can be managed holistically, allowing actual risks to be addressed. The type of information security classification labels selected and used will depend on the nature of the organization, with examples being: All employees in the organization, as well as business partners, must be trained on

814-400: A wide range of means, including diplomacy , economic power , and military capabilities . Certain concepts recur throughout different fields of security: Since it is not possible to know with precision the extent to which something is 'secure' (and a measure of vulnerability is unavoidable), perceptions of security vary, often greatly. For example, a fear of death by earthquake is common in

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888-618: A wide variety of laws and regulations that affect how data is accessed, processed, stored, transferred, and destroyed. While paper-based business operations are still prevalent, requiring their own set of information security practices, enterprise digital initiatives are increasingly being emphasized, with information assurance now typically being dealt with by information technology (IT) security specialists. These specialists apply information security to technology (most often some form of computer system). IT security specialists are almost always found in any major enterprise/establishment due to

962-456: Is a right every human being everywhere in the world should have. Roosevelt described his third right as follows: The third is freedom from want which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants, everywhere in the world. Information security Information security is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It

1036-599: Is an emerging paradigm that, in response to traditional emphasis on the right of nation-states to protect themselves, has focused on the primacy of the security of people (individuals and communities). The concept is supported by the United Nations General Assembly , which has stressed "the right of people to live in freedom and dignity " and recognized "that all individuals, in particular vulnerable people, are entitled to freedom from fear and freedom from want ". Information security refers to

1110-453: Is available, the analysis may use quantitative analysis. Research has shown that the most vulnerable point in most information systems is the human user, operator, designer, or other human. The ISO/IEC 27002:2005 Code of practice for information security management recommends the following be examined during a risk assessment: In broad terms, the risk management process consists of: For any given risk, management can choose to accept

1184-432: Is it possible to eliminate all risk. The remaining risk is called "residual risk". A risk assessment is carried out by a team of people who have knowledge of specific areas of the business. Membership of the team may vary over time as different parts of the business are assessed. The assessment may use a subjective qualitative analysis based on informed opinion, or where reliable dollar figures and historical information

1258-546: Is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthorized or inappropriate access to data or the unlawful use, disclosure , disruption, deletion, corruption, modification, inspection, recording, or devaluation of information. It also involves actions intended to reduce the adverse impacts of such incidents. Protected information may take any form, e.g., electronic or physical, tangible (e.g., paperwork ), or intangible (e.g., knowledge ). Information security's primary focus

1332-401: Is sufficient to address rapidly changing technology and business requirements, with recommendations to consider expanding on the intersections between availability and confidentiality, as well as the relationship between security and privacy. Other principles such as "accountability" have sometimes been proposed; it has been pointed out that issues such as non-repudiation do not fit well within

1406-436: Is the attempt to act as someone else usually to obtain that person's personal information or to take advantage of their access to vital information through social engineering . Sabotage usually consists of the destruction of an organization's website in an attempt to cause loss of confidence on the part of its customers. Information extortion consists of theft of a company's property or information as an attempt to receive

1480-626: Is the balanced protection of data confidentiality , integrity , and availability (also known as the 'CIA' triad) while maintaining a focus on efficient policy implementation, all without hampering organization productivity . This is largely achieved through a structured risk management process. To standardize this discipline, academics and professionals collaborate to offer guidance, policies, and industry standards on passwords , antivirus software , firewalls , encryption software , legal liability , security awareness and training, and so forth. This standardization may be further driven by

1554-476: The ARPANET project was formulated by Larry Roberts , which would later evolve into what is known as the internet . In 1973, important elements of ARPANET security were found by internet pioneer Robert Metcalfe to have many flaws such as the: "vulnerability of password structure and formats; lack of safety procedures for dial-up connections ; and nonexistent user identification and authorizations", aside from

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1628-611: The Caesar cipher c. 50 B.C., which was created in order to prevent his secret messages from being read should a message fall into the wrong hands. However, for the most part protection was achieved through the application of procedural handling controls. Sensitive information was marked up to indicate that it should be protected and transported by trusted persons, guarded and stored in a secure environment or strong box. As postal services expanded, governments created official organizations to intercept, decipher, read, and reseal letters (e.g.,

1702-699: The Cold War to complete more sophisticated tasks, in a communication process easier than mailing magnetic tapes back and forth by computer centers. As such, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), of the United States Department of Defense , started researching the feasibility of a networked system of communication to trade information within the United States Armed Forces . In 1968,

1776-467: The First World War , multi-tier classification systems were used to communicate information to and from various fronts, which encouraged greater use of code making and breaking sections in diplomatic and military headquarters. Encoding became more sophisticated between the wars as machines were employed to scramble and unscramble information. The establishment of computer security inaugurated

1850-860: The Internet . The field has growing importance due to the increasing reliance on computer systems in most societies. It concerns the protection of hardware, software, data, people, and also the procedures by which systems are accessed. The means of computer security include the physical security of systems and the security of information held on them. Corporate security refers to the resilience of corporations against espionage , theft, damage, and other threats. The security of corporations has become more complex as reliance on IT systems has increased, and their physical presence has become more highly distributed across several countries, including environments that are, or may rapidly become, hostile to them. Environmental security, also known as ecological security, refers to

1924-594: The NIST 's Engineering Principles for Information Technology Security proposed 33 principles. In 1998, Donn Parker proposed an alternative model for the classic "CIA" triad that he called the six atomic elements of information . The elements are confidentiality , possession , integrity , authenticity , availability , and utility . The merits of the Parkerian Hexad are a subject of debate amongst security professionals. In 2011, The Open Group published

1998-582: The NIST Cybersecurity Framework . Information security threats come in many different forms. Some of the most common threats today are software attacks, theft of intellectual property, theft of identity, theft of equipment or information, sabotage, and information extortion. Viruses , worms , phishing attacks , and Trojan horses are a few common examples of software attacks. The theft of intellectual property has also been an extensive issue for many businesses. Identity theft

2072-421: The "CIA" triad to be provided effectively. In addition to the classic CIA triad of security goals, some organisations may want to include security goals like authenticity, accountability, non-repudiation, and reliability. In law, non-repudiation implies one's intention to fulfill their obligations to a contract. It also implies that one party of a transaction cannot deny having received a transaction, nor can

2146-465: The English language in the 16th century. It is derived from Latin securus , meaning freedom from anxiety: se (without) + cura (care, anxiety). A security referent is the focus of a security policy or discourse; for example, a referent may be a potential beneficiary (or victim) of a security policy or system. Security referents may be persons or social groups, objects, institutions, ecosystems, or any other phenomenon vulnerable to unwanted change by

2220-651: The U.K.'s Secret Office, founded in 1653 ). In the mid-nineteenth century more complex classification systems were developed to allow governments to manage their information according to the degree of sensitivity. For example, the British Government codified this, to some extent, with the publication of the Official Secrets Act in 1889. Section 1 of the law concerned espionage and unlawful disclosures of information, while Section 2 dealt with breaches of official trust. A public interest defense

2294-687: The United States (US), but slipping on the bathroom floor kills more people; and in France, the United Kingdom, and the US, there are far fewer deaths caused by terrorism than there are women killed by their partners in the home. Another problem of perception is the common assumption that the mere presence of a security system (such as armed forces or antivirus software ) implies security. For example, two computer security programs installed on

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2368-486: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." "Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and

2442-469: The ability to access shared drives and the ability to send emails. Executives oftentimes do not understand the technical side of information security and look at availability as an easy fix, but this often requires collaboration from many different organizational teams, such as network operations, development operations, incident response, and policy/change management. A successful information security team involves many different key roles to mesh and align for

2516-410: The action may be effective only temporarily, benefit one referent at the expense of another, or be entirely ineffective or counterproductive. Approaches to security are contested and the subject of debate. For example, in debate about national security strategies , some argue that security depends principally on developing protective and coercive capabilities in order to protect the security referent in

2590-403: The asset). A vulnerability is a weakness that could be used to endanger or cause harm to an informational asset. A threat is anything (man-made or act of nature ) that has the potential to cause harm. The likelihood that a threat will use a vulnerability to cause harm creates a risk. When a threat does use a vulnerability to inflict harm, it has an impact. In the context of information security,

2664-645: The claim that the signature necessarily proves authenticity and integrity. As such, the sender may repudiate the message (because authenticity and integrity are pre-requisites for non-repudiation). In 1992 and revised in 2002, the OECD 's Guidelines for the Security of Information Systems and Networks proposed the nine generally accepted principles: awareness , responsibility, response, ethics, democracy, risk assessment, security design and implementation, security management, and reassessment. Building upon those, in 2004

2738-516: The classification schema and understand the required security controls and handling procedures for each classification. The classification of a particular information asset that has been assigned should be reviewed periodically to ensure the classification is still appropriate for the information and to ensure the security controls required by the classification are in place and are followed in their right procedures. Access to protected information must be restricted to people who are authorized to access

2812-639: The common goals of ensuring the security and reliability of information systems . The "CIA triad" of c onfidentiality, i ntegrity, and a vailability is at the heart of information security. The concept was introduced in the Anderson Report in 1972 and later repeated in The Protection of Information in Computer Systems . The abbreviation was coined by Steve Lipner around 1986. Debate continues about whether or not this triad

2886-410: The control mechanisms need to be. The foundation on which access control mechanisms are built start with identification and authentication . Access control is generally considered in three steps: identification, authentication , and authorization . Identification is an assertion of who someone is or what something is. If a person makes the statement "Hello, my name is John Doe " they are making

2960-460: The core, surrounded by people, network security, host-based security, and application security layers. The strategy emphasizes that security involves not just technology, but also people and processes working together, with real-time monitoring and response being crucial components. An important aspect of information security and risk management is recognizing the value of information and defining appropriate procedures and protection requirements for

3034-639: The different classification labels, define the criteria for information to be assigned a particular label, and list the required security controls for each classification. Some factors that influence which classification information should be assigned include how much value that information has to the organization, how old the information is and whether or not the information has become obsolete. Laws and other regulatory requirements are also important considerations when classifying information. The Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) and its Business Model for Information Security also serves as

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3108-591: The early 1980s enabled different types of computers to communicate. These computers quickly became interconnected through the internet . The rapid growth and widespread use of electronic data processing and electronic business conducted through the internet, along with numerous occurrences of international terrorism , fueled the need for better methods of protecting the computers and the information they store, process, and transmit. The academic disciplines of computer security and information assurance emerged along with numerous professional organizations, all sharing

3182-418: The forces of its environment. The referent in question may combine many referents in the same way that, for example, a nation-state is composed of many individual citizens. The security context is the relationships between a security referent and its environment. From this perspective, security and insecurity depend first on whether the environment is beneficial or hostile to the referent and also on how capable

3256-642: The free development of his personality." Furthermore, it has been written down in article 11 of the United Nations' International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights . The predecessor of this right, the Freedom from Want , is one of the Four Freedoms that American President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke out at his State of the Union of January 6, 1941. According to Roosevelt it

3330-626: The history of information security. The need for such appeared during World War II . The volume of information shared by the Allied countries during the Second World War necessitated formal alignment of classification systems and procedural controls. An arcane range of markings evolved to indicate who could handle documents (usually officers rather than enlisted troops) and where they should be stored as increasingly complex safes and storage facilities were developed. The Enigma Machine , which

3404-502: The impact is a loss of availability, integrity, and confidentiality, and possibly other losses (lost income, loss of life, loss of real property). The Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) Review Manual 2006 defines risk management as "the process of identifying vulnerabilities and threats to the information resources used by an organization in achieving business objectives, and deciding what countermeasures , if any, to take in reducing risk to an acceptable level, based on

3478-558: The incorrect individuals. In IT security, data integrity means maintaining and assuring the accuracy and completeness of data over its entire lifecycle. This means that data cannot be modified in an unauthorized or undetected manner. This is not the same thing as referential integrity in databases , although it can be viewed as a special case of consistency as understood in the classic ACID model of transaction processing . Information security systems typically incorporate controls to ensure their own integrity, in particular protecting

3552-415: The individual, information security has a significant effect on privacy , which is viewed very differently in various cultures . Since the early days of communication, diplomats and military commanders understood that it was necessary to provide some mechanism to protect the confidentiality of correspondence and to have some means of detecting tampering . Julius Caesar is credited with the invention of

3626-500: The information must be available when it is needed. This means the computing systems used to store and process the information, the security controls used to protect it, and the communication channels used to access it must be functioning correctly. High availability systems aim to remain available at all times, preventing service disruptions due to power outages, hardware failures, and system upgrades. Ensuring availability also involves preventing denial-of-service attacks , such as

3700-619: The information of a user or organization. This environment includes users themselves, networks, devices, all software, processes, information in storage or transit, applications, services, and systems that can be connected directly or indirectly to networks. The principal objective is to reduce the risks, including preventing or mitigating attacks. These published materials consist of tools, policies, security concepts, security safeguards, guidelines, risk management approaches, actions, training, best practices, assurance and technologies. Common information security standards include ISO/IEC 27001 and

3774-402: The information security management standard O-ISM3 . This standard proposed an operational definition of the key concepts of security, with elements called "security objectives", related to access control (9), availability (3), data quality (1), compliance, and technical (4). Risk is the likelihood that something bad will happen that causes harm to an informational asset (or the loss of

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3848-403: The information. Not all information is equal and so not all information requires the same degree of protection. This requires information to be assigned a security classification . The first step in information classification is to identify a member of senior management as the owner of the particular information to be classified. Next, develop a classification policy. The policy should describe

3922-402: The information. The computer programs, and in many cases the computers that process the information, must also be authorized. This requires that mechanisms be in place to control the access to protected information. The sophistication of the access control mechanisms should be in parity with the value of the information being protected; the more sensitive or valuable the information the stronger

3996-403: The integrity of ecosystems and the biosphere , particularly in relation to their capacity to sustain a diversity of life-forms (including human life). The security of ecosystems has attracted greater attention as the impact of ecological damage by humans has grown. Food security refers to the ready supply of, and access to, safe and nutritious food. Food security is gaining in importance as

4070-702: The kernel or core functions against both deliberate and accidental threats. Multi-purpose and multi-user computer systems aim to compartmentalize the data and processing such that no user or process can adversely impact another: the controls may not succeed however, as we see in incidents such as malware infections, hacks, data theft, fraud, and privacy breaches. More broadly, integrity is an information security principle that involves human/social, process, and commercial integrity, as well as data integrity. As such it touches on aspects such as credibility, consistency, truthfulness, completeness, accuracy, timeliness, and assurance. For any information system to serve its purpose,

4144-409: The lack of controls and safeguards to keep data safe from unauthorized access. Hackers had effortless access to ARPANET, as phone numbers were known by the public. Due to these problems, coupled with the constant violation of computer security, as well as the exponential increase in the number of hosts and users of the system, "network security" was often alluded to as "network insecurity". The end of

4218-448: The main domains where security concerns are prominent. Informational Physical Political Monetary The range of security contexts is illustrated by the following examples (in alphabetical order): Computer security, also known as cybersecurity or IT security, refers to the security of computing devices such as computers and smartphones, as well as computer networks such as private and public networks, and

4292-424: The message, and nobody else could have altered it in transit ( data integrity ). The alleged sender could in return demonstrate that the digital signature algorithm is vulnerable or flawed, or allege or prove that his signing key has been compromised. The fault for these violations may or may not lie with the sender, and such assertions may or may not relieve the sender of liability, but the assertion would invalidate

4366-748: The nature and value of the data within larger businesses. They are responsible for keeping all of the technology within the company secure from malicious attacks that often attempt to acquire critical private information or gain control of the internal systems. There are many specialist roles in Information Security including securing networks and allied infrastructure , securing applications and databases , security testing , information systems auditing , business continuity planning , electronic record discovery, and digital forensics . Information security standards are techniques generally outlined in published materials that attempt to protect

4440-777: The organization. ISO/IEC 27002 offers a guideline for organizational information security standards. Defense in depth is a fundamental security philosophy that relies on overlapping security systems designed to maintain protection even if individual components fail. Rather than depending on a single security measure, it combines multiple layers of security controls both in the cloud and at network endpoints. This approach includes combinations like firewalls with intrusion-detection systems, email filtering services with desktop anti-virus, and cloud-based security alongside traditional network defenses. The concept can be implemented through three distinct layers of administrative, logical, and physical controls, or visualized as an onion model with data at

4514-415: The other party deny having sent a transaction. It is important to note that while technology such as cryptographic systems can assist in non-repudiation efforts, the concept is at its core a legal concept transcending the realm of technology. It is not, for instance, sufficient to show that the message matches a digital signature signed with the sender's private key, and thus only the sender could have sent

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4588-402: The referent is of responding to their environment in order to survive and thrive. The means by which a referent provides for security (or is provided for) vary widely. They include, for example: Any action intended to provide security may have multiple effects. For example, an action may have a wide benefit, enhancing security for several or all security referents in the context; alternatively,

4662-477: The risk based upon the relative low value of the asset, the relative low frequency of occurrence, and the relative low impact on the business. Or, leadership may choose to mitigate the risk by selecting and implementing appropriate control measures to reduce the risk. In some cases, the risk can be transferred to another business by buying insurance or outsourcing to another business. The reality of some risks may be disputed. In such cases leadership may choose to deny

4736-488: The risk. Selecting and implementing proper security controls will initially help an organization bring down risk to acceptable levels. Control selection should follow and should be based on the risk assessment. Controls can vary in nature, but fundamentally they are ways of protecting the confidentiality, integrity or availability of information. ISO/IEC 27001 has defined controls in different areas. Organizations can implement additional controls according to requirement of

4810-446: The same device can prevent each other from working properly, while the user assumes that he or she benefits from twice the protection that only one program would afford. Security theater is a critical term for measures that change perceptions of security without necessarily affecting security itself. For example, visual signs of security protections, such as a home that advertises its alarm system, may deter an intruder , whether or not

4884-487: The security of information in any form. Spoken, written, digital, networked, technological, and procedural forms of information are all examples that may be covered in an information security management scheme. Computer security, IT security, ICT security, and network security are thus all subdomains of information security. National security refers to the security of a nation-state , including its people, economy, and institutions. In practice, state governments rely on

4958-474: The system functions properly. Similarly, the increased presence of military personnel on the streets of a city after a terrorist attack may help to reassure the public, whether or not it diminishes the risk of further attacks. Freedom from want The right to an adequate standard of living is a fundamental human right . It is part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that

5032-513: The three core concepts. In information security, confidentiality "is the property, that information is not made available or disclosed to unauthorized individuals, entities, or processes." While similar to "privacy," the two words are not interchangeable. Rather, confidentiality is a component of privacy that implements to protect our data from unauthorized viewers. Examples of confidentiality of electronic data being compromised include laptop theft, password theft, or sensitive emails being sent to

5106-430: The twentieth century and the early years of the twenty-first century saw rapid advancements in telecommunications , computing hardware and software , and data encryption . The availability of smaller, more powerful, and less expensive computing equipment made electronic data processing within the reach of small business and home users. The establishment of Transfer Control Protocol/Internetwork Protocol (TCP/IP) in

5180-439: The value of the information resource to the organization." There are two things in this definition that may need some clarification. First, the process of risk management is an ongoing, iterative process . It must be repeated indefinitely. The business environment is constantly changing and new threats and vulnerabilities emerge every day. Second, the choice of countermeasures ( controls ) used to manage risks must strike

5254-400: The world's population has grown and productive land has diminished through overuse and climate change . Home security normally refers to the security systems used on a property used as a dwelling (commonly including doors, locks, alarm systems, lighting, fencing); and personal security practices (such as ensuring doors are locked, alarms are activated, windows are closed etc.) Human security

5328-621: Was accepted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of him/herself and of his/her family, including food , clothing , housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his/her control. The right to an adequate standard of living can be linked to both article 1 and 22 of

5402-516: Was employed by the Germans to encrypt the data of warfare and was successfully decrypted by Alan Turing , can be regarded as a striking example of creating and using secured information. Procedures evolved to ensure documents were destroyed properly, and it was the failure to follow these procedures which led to some of the greatest intelligence coups of the war (e.g., the capture of U-570 ). Various mainframe computers were connected online during

5476-556: Was soon added to defend disclosures in the interest of the state. A similar law was passed in India in 1889, The Indian Official Secrets Act, which was associated with the British colonial era and used to crack down on newspapers that opposed the Raj's policies. A newer version was passed in 1923 that extended to all matters of confidential or secret information for governance. By the time of

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