Your bags are packed, you checked them twice, yet at some point the thought will still cross your mind - "Am I forgetting something?" On vacation, forgetting your sunscreen may lead to a painful burn, but forgetting key components of a network virus security plan hurts a lot more. Overlooking even one item can weaken your entire network and mean significant losses in revenue and productivity. This paper will discuss the connection between corporate and home-use antivirus software along with the roles of top management/non-IT management, IT professionals, and end-users in maintaining network security. It will also discuss other issues which routinely arise that could affect the network security of our corporation. Antivirus software is a computer program that attempts to identify, neutralize or eliminate malicious software. The term "antivirus" is used because the earliest examples were designed exclusively to combat computer viruses; however most modern antivirus software is now designed to combat a wide range of threats, including worms, phishing attacks, rootkits, and Trojans, often described collectively as malware. Even though this software protects against certain threats, it does not protect against ALL threats. Fortunately, there are signature files and updates created daily that will allow the latest threats to be neutralized. Robert Vamosi states that it is important for corporate clients to protect their networks and therefore pay for the software and the annual signature-file subscriptions to ensure network operations (Vamosi, 2004) and I agree. Additionally, if antivirus were made available free of charge for home/personal use, these corporations would benefit when their employees were required to work from home as any data transfer would be free from infection. Until this software is made free to all for personal use, Antivirus Software License Agreements with big name antivirus corporations like McAfee and Symantec can allow our employees to utilize the antivirus software for home use. Home use of the antivirus products will not only protect personal PCs at home, but will also potentially lessen the threat of employees bringing malicious logic into work and compromising our networks. With these agreements our employees can download free antivirus software for their home computers from the antivirus company’s website (at least until Vamosi’s challenge is met). There are a few other concerns that you should be made aware regarding network security. As recently as July of 2010, malware-pushing scammers appear to be stepping up their use of telephone-based pitches, resulting in high-pressure cold calls designed to trick people into installing rogue antivirus products and other nasty software. Over just the past few weeks, numerous large name corporations’ employees have received dire warning phone calls that their PCs are riddled with malware that can be purged with just a few clicks directed by the person on the other end. The pitches vary, but they generally involve a professional-sounding person who may be calling from a phone center who warns that malware has been detected and is now attacking other networked computers. Skeptical receivers may be asked to open the Windows event viewer for proof of infection before ultimately being asked to give the caller remote access through some networking service. Eventually, the scammers will install rogue antivirus software or other malware that is extremely difficult to remove. The scammers are undaunted when would-be victims say they don't need help from a perfect stranger calling over the phone. “Turn your computer on and in a few clicks we can sort it out for you,” one caller told a family member of Paul Young, an IT employee at Sophos, a UK-based antivirus provider. The scammer knew her name and number even though her phone wasn't listed. Shortly after hanging up, she received another call from someone claiming to be working for a different company, who used slightly different tactics. Of course, when Young inspected the PC later, he found no signs of any infection (“Beware of Cold Call,” 2010) The McAfee Security Journal contains prescriptive guidance directing organizations to use common hacker techniques to test their own software and Web sites before the bad guys do. McAfee also urges security professionals to cooperate more - sharing relevant information and working together to take down major security threats. "As we look at the evolution of risky domains and Web sites over multiple years, we can't avoid the conclusion that the risk keeps increasing in both volume and sophistication," said David Marcus, director of security research and communications for McAfee Labs. "If we want to stop being victims, then the good guys need to advance security efforts as threats evolve." (Bradley, 2010) With so many security breaches it is vital that all people involved in the business from top management down to end-users aid in maintaining network security (Goodwin, 2006). It is important for business leaders to understand the true costs of poor planning or no planning. Top management needs to realize the importance of network security and ensure that they are in constant contact with the IT professionals who will apply network policies to ensure the security of the network. The non-IT management professionals need to work together to coordinate IT strategy and maintain a solid big-picture business strategy. On the other end of the spectrum are the end-users who must ensure that they follow the policy set forth by the network administrators or IT professionals to ensure they meet the strategic goals set forth by management. The liaison between management and end-users are the IT professionals and it’s very clear that keeping this chain protected is a very subtle balancing act. Many organizations manage their network bandwidth by applying a set of network policies that limit the amount of bandwidth available to certain types of traffic. For example, limiting music downloads, instant messaging, and access to certain Web sites can improve network performance by limiting the amount of non-business traffic on an organization's network. Some organizations reported as far back as 2003 that more than half of their bandwidth was being consumed by music downloads and file sharing. College and universities seem to have the biggest problem with this and have been leaders in bandwidth management, as reported in a General Accounting Office report from 2004. Bandwidth is typically managed by using one of the numerous network appliances and firewalls that will provide this functionality (Kabay, 2010). No matter which bandwidth management solution is chosen, they are all rule-based (McMahon, n.d.). The network administrator writes a rule that assigns the amount of bandwidth available to different types of network traffic. This is how many administrators maintain the quality of service necessary for some applications. For example, networks supporting VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) telephone network often use rules to reserve adequate bandwidth to keep the telephone conversations from suffering interruptions and delays. Without reserved bandwidth, conversations might suffer if a user begins using an application that can consume massive amounts of bandwidth and that is optimized to use as much bandwidth as possible. Well written rules keep a network's mission-critical traffic moving freely while decreasing the recreational or non-business related traffic. It is important to keep these rules fresh and relevant to today's network traffic patterns. Many organizations such as colleges find that their network usage evolves with time and the types of Web applications and services available to students and faculty. What worked so well last year may not work to anyone's satisfaction today. These examples should emphasize that network usage is constantly evolving and network administrators need to adapt to this evolution when managing network traffic. Static rule sets and policies will lead to frustrated users and poor service delivery by the network administrators. These usage demands will be complicated by new computing and security hardware that will add to network overhead and ultimately hinder upper management’s vision. Additionally, if we do not take steps to apply some “network SPF” to our corporation we could very well be in a world of pain for a prolonged period.