Network security is the process of protecting the user from things that can potentially ruin a computer or leak information that other people should not have access to.Some things that can attack a network system include viruses,worms, as well as trojan horses, spyware along with adware,attacks called zero hour,attacks by hackers,denied service hacks,data interception and theft,and the last on being identity theft.In order for network security to work it needs to have both hardware as well as software to protect the network which is done with things such as anti virus and spyware software.It also needs a firewall which is responsible for blocking the unauthorized user from gaining access to the network.Intrusion prevention systems which are tasked with identifying attacks such as zero hour.The last thing to make network security work is a virtual local area network which provides secure remote access.

By using these various methods of protecting the network it will benefit the businesses by receiving the customers trust in the company by making sure their privacy is protected in such ways as making sure things like credit card data or sensitive data is stolen and exploited.It also makes sure the network is secure even if it is being used by someone remotely as long as they are authorized to use it.By allowing the employees to use the network from a variety of places it makes the productivity of the employees more so than if at the office.Another benefit of network security is it lessens the amount of time spent having to get rid of things like viruses which slow down the employees work schedule.By having network security in place it allows businesses to run without a huge chance of something going wrong which costs the company money that can go to other places.The last thing having network security is it allows a easier time in the future to add things to the network without having much hassle.

Network security can be put into different categories depending on the type of field it is protecting.For example if in the legal department the network security is there to ensure compliance with regulatory constraints.If working as a product engineer the network security may be in place to protect what it is that you are working on.Regardless of the type of business it is protecting the network security protocols will always follow three steps that include confidentiality which makes it so sensitive information does not reach the wrong people.Then there is integrity which is in place to ensure that the information being obtained is correct.The last step of the network security protocol is availability which is there to prevent as well as keep the people who want to do harm from getting into the systems and either taking or shutting down the systems.

Depending on the location of the network also depends on the amount of network security that will typically be needed.For example a home or a small business may only need the basic firewall or a threat intrusion system along with a basic version of a anti virus software.Also take into consideration if using a wireless network to change the name of the network along with disabling SSID broadcast as it is not needed for home or small businesses.In a home or small business it is also important to enable the mac address which allows it to keep track of all filtering on one router.It is also important to assign a static ip address to networking devices as this will detract potential hackers from intruding on the network.Another thing to do is to make sure that is ICMP ping is disabled on the router.Make sure every once in a while you log into the router to review the logs looking for potential suspicious activity.It is very important to try to use different passwords for everything just in case one of your things were to get hacked into it would not affect the other network devices that have different passwords.If using Windows as the operating system make a account for each individual in the home and also use non administrative accounts for everyday things except bank accounts and medical information.The last thing to do to enhance network security in the home is to talk to children about the importance of it and what they can do to help.

In a medium business structure it is important to have a fairly strong firewall or a unified threat management system.It is also important to use a stronger type of anti virus software along with a strong internet security software.For things that require you to log in make sure that the passwords are long and it is a good idea to change them at least on a bi weekly basis.This is especially important when using a wireless network.When running a medium business it is important to talk to the employees about the physical security when it comes to protecting the sensitive information being used.It is also a good idea to use a network analyzer or a network monitor.It is also good to make sure that the manager in charge is enlightened to what is going on.If wanting to communicate to others that are spread out you should use a virtual local area network as it is very secure and is less expensive to operate.Another important thing to do would be to make sure the employees know the rules when it comes to the internet at the work place.A smart thing with a medium business is to create log in credentials for all employees and add monitoring to it so if something goes wrong the employee can be held accountable.In case of a hardware failure it is a good idea to have backups in place.Make sure that all computers in the business have messenger disabled as that can open the doors to potential hackers.Create a group of workers whose job is to research network security practices and develops training for the employees.

For a large business it is important to have a strong firewall along with a proxy which will keep potential hackers out of the network.It is also a good idea to make sure you have a very strong anti virus software along with a internet security package.For a large business that utilizes in log in information it is important to change the password on a weekly basis to prevent hacks.When using a wireless connection make sure the password being used is very long and not something that a potential hacker can easily figure out.In the large business environment it is also important to talk to the employees about the physical features in place to protect the network from unauthorized users.It is also good to make use of a network monitor and use it as needed.In the large business environment it is important to add extra security like close circuit cameras to watch the entry ways of restricted areas.Another good thing to do would to add fencing around the property so people know if they are entering a restricted area.In the server rooms along with security rooms it is important to have fire extinguishers in the sensitive areas.If needed another physical way to ensure the area is protected is to invest in hiring security officers to patrol the sensitive areas.

In a place like a school it is important to have a flexible system that will allow authorized access both inside and outside of the building.You also want to ensure there is a strong anti virus along with a internet security package.Also would be wise that all wireless connections have to go through the firewall.If in the United States the school also has to make sure that it follows the children’s internet protection act compliance.It is also wise to hire someone to continually supervise the network so all updates are installed as soon as possible.It is very important to have a set of policies that pertain to both the school property as well as personal property.If it is for a higher education or institute network it has to follow what is known as the FERPA compliance.

In a government network it is extremely important to have a strong firewall and proxy to keep unauthorized people from getting in the network.It is also very important to make sure you have a strong anti virus as well as internet security suites.You also need to make sure all sensitive data is encrypted to prevent people from easily getting the information.It is also wise to block any unknown connections to the network and only allow the ones that are used by the company.It is important to make sure all the hardware is located in a secure area and locked.The host should be located on a hidden network that is invisible on the outside.Put fencing up and make arrangements so the wireless network only will go so far.One of the last things to do would to be have a inventory system of all hardware along with the software being used in the building.

In order for these steps to work there are different types of controls that help protect the data or anything else that needs to be protected which include administrative controls which are a set of procedures or policies for the security protocol to follow.The physical security control is responsible for anything physical such as a lock or a fence to deter the process of unauthorized access to the particular network components.The technical controls are put in place to do different things such as controlling access to the network,Placing sensitive data on a server that has added security,controls the actions of malware as well as unauthorized intrusion activity,controls the access to critical network structure.One of the main things done on the perimeter side of the defense is gives access computers that are authorized to be on the particular network.The perimeter security is also responsible for letting users that allowed to gain remote as well as local access to the network.Perimeter defense is also going to be responsible for monitoring the network for unusual behavior which could be a sign of a network intrusion.

The firewall is the device used to store all the information that is allowed to go through the particular network and the intrusion prevention system is tasked at filtering the traffic looking for data that may have been compromised along with files that may be linked to known malware.The intrusion prevention system is also going to keep a eye out for port scanning which is a sign that a network attack may take place.The best way for the network to stay protected is to ensure the encryption keys are strong as well as traffic is encrypted.

There are also common controls which are in place to support and include segmentation which is responsible for separating the sensitive data from the data that is available to general users on the network.The most used form of segmentation is virtual local area networks which are made in a enterprise switch configuration.Another common control is called host anti malware and intrusion prevention which is a final defensive line to prevent malware or unauthorized personal from getting through the system.The other thing it does is isolates the behavior that it sees as unwanted.Another form of common controls is access control which is log in systems for users authorized to get into system.It also does system to system authentication which verifies the certificates of the two computers trying to connect to.Another thing is network segment access control which is tasked with only allowing the authorized user access to information and is accomplished with a combination of the security controls.The last part of access control is restricting the physical access to the critical infrastructure systems because regardless of much network security is in place it would be harder for unauthorized access with things such as security guards as well as cameras.Secure configuration is another form of common control and is used to harden the devices which is done by only using the ports along with services that are needed.Making sure that the security patches are installed as they are made available.Another thing is to only open the traffic that is required for the business.The last thing to do when securing a configuration is to follow the vendors directions for setting up the devices such as routers and modems.The last common control is the monitoring,alerting,as well as the reporting which is accomplished by creating a log of all the activity on the network.

Firewalls have gone through quite a bit from the time they were first introduced to what companies have at the moment.The first firewalls were referred to as access control list and were very basic as they were only able to read the packet headers which means that they could not understand all the traffic coming in.The next iteration was proxy firewalls which were responsible for processing the traffic after it reaches the destination and that is when it makes the decision of either letting the traffic through or not.The next one is called stateful inspection firewall which monitored all traffic connections until a connection was closed.After that the next iteration was unified threat management solutions and it was responsible for consolidating firewall,the anti virus,and ips into a single piece of hardware.They also typically would have the ability to include multiple network security capabilities.The newest is called next generation firewalls and were designed to bring advanced firewalls,ips/ids,url filtering along with threat protection.These new solutions ensure higher security than previous firewalls because they are all implemented as one single product.

The anti virus software is able to detect these different viruses due to a complex dictionary of known viruses along with being able to identify suspicious behavior from a computer which can be a indication of a infection on the computer.The virus dictionary approach is handled by taking a file and running it through a long list of known viruses which the developer of the anti virus software has acknowledged as being a virus it is either deleted,put into a quarantine area for the user to decide what to do with it or repair the file.In order for this method to work the user has to keep the software updated with all the new known viruses.The other approach is the suspicious behavior approach although it does not identify the viruses it is there to monitor the incoming as well as the outgoing traffic.Another detection method is known as the sandbox and it emulates the operating system and looks for any changes which could indicate a virus.

In the near future there may more companies susceptible to attacks because more and more companies are using the cloud to store data along with numerous other things that could harm a individual or the entire company.Because of the advancements made to improving the network security it forces cyber criminals to take more from a smaller group of people than previously done.Cyber criminals will continue to exploit android devices through malware to get monetization.There will also be more attacks on things such as mobile applications as well as different social networks.There is likely going to be new weapons that are utilized by the cyber criminals to carry out the attacks on the various things.Also with most companies switching to the newer 64 bit systems we will likely see malware that is not able to run on the newer systems.

At the moment there are roughly about ten companies that are playing a huge role in network security which include Cisco which was founded in San Francisco California in 1984 by its two founders Leonard Bosack as well as Sandy Lerner.Cisco is still believed to be the top leader when it comes to network devices.International Business Machines Corporation which is also known as IBM for short was founded in Endicott,New York in the year 1911 by its founders Thomas J. Watson along with Charles Ranlett Flint and is to be considered the second most common company in network security.The third most common company that works with network security is Microsoft which was introduced in Albuquerque,New Mexico in 1975 by two founders which are Bill Gates along with Paul Allen and is currently headquartered in Redmond, Washington.Hewlett Packard or HP for short is considered to be the fourth largest when it comes to network security and was founded in 1931 by Bill Hewlett as well as Dave Packard and is currently headquartered in Palo Alto, California.Dell was founded in Austin, Texas in 1984 by its founder Michael Dell and is considered to be the fifth largest company in network security.The sixth largest company that is involved in network security is Intel which was founded in 1968 by the two founders who are Gordon Moore along with Robert Noyce and is currently headquartered in Santa Clara, California.Verizon is the seventh largest supplier in network security and was founded in 1983.EMC corporation was founded in 1979 by its two founders Richard Egan along with Roger Marino and is currently headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts where it is the eighth largest in network security.Symantec is the ninth largest supplier of network security and was founded in Sunnyvale, California in 1982 by Gary Hendrix and is currently headquartered in Mountain View, California.At&t is considered to be the tenth largest company involved in network security and was founded in 1983 and the main headquarters is located in Dallas, Texas.

In today’s market when it comes to different possible attacks that are possible in network security which can include passive attacks which is where they are looking for unencrypted traffic that can be utilized to carry out other attacks.A active attack is when a unauthorized person is attempting to bypass or break into a otherwise secured system.They accomplish this by using some or all of the following which includes viruses,worms,and trojan horses.When these attacks take place there is modification or loss of files.Another attack is a distributed attack requires the user being hacked to provide code to be able to backdoor the software at a later date.A insider attack is a employee that is unhappy is trying to harm the company they work for.When doing this they typically will restrict access to other employees who normally would have access to the network so they can either steal or damage the information that is on the network.A close-in attack involves someone trying to get information about a particular network so they can find ways of exploiting it to harm a individual or a company.Another type of attack that is popular is a social engineering attack where the attacker is damaging the network through social interaction with the user.A phishing attack is a hacker creates a web site that is fake but looks exactly as the normal web site.When the user clicks on a particular link and enters their log in information it is then given to the hacker that is phishing.A hijack attack is when a hacker takes control of a session and drops the communication that you were talking to although you still believe you are interacting with someone you know.Spoof attacks are when the source address of the packets are modified by the hacker so they can get through the firewalls settings.A buffer overflow is when the hacker is sending more information to a application than is normally expected by the application which will typically allow the hacker to gain administrative access to the particular system being hacked.The exploit attack is when the hacker knows of a loophole in a system such as a operating system or a piece of software and uses it to their advantage.The password attack is when the hacker is cracking the network looking for passwords to get into a password protected file.There are three different types of password attacks which include dictionary attack along with Brute-force and a hybrid attack.

The most important goal when it comes to regulations in network security is to maintain as well as protect the compliance issues.Other important things include establishing along with implementing control.Another important thing is to identify the vulnerabilities along with prevent them from happening.The last thing is to improve on the reporting which can ultimately improve the compliance of the company or organization.All companies do their part in making sure that the employees are working with the current regulations in hand because otherwise tehy would be subject to extremely heavy fines and could potentially go out of business because of it.If the company has stocks then you are responsible to abide by the legal requirements of the Sarbanes Oxley which is named after the two senators who came up with the bill in 2002 to prevent future episodes from happening again.One of the requirements of this bill is that the company executives are required to certify that the financial statements are true.

The implications in today’s network security are always changing due to the hackers always finding new ways to get around even the most complex network security systems in the world and that is why there are always patches for anti virus along with anti spyware software because without the patches it would allow the hackers having a easier time getting into the network.

In today’s market there are three types of wireless network security methods which include wifi protected access which is when the information is encrypted as well as makes sure that the network key has not been modified without permission.The wifi protected access is also responsible for making sure that only authorized users are using the particular network.There re two different types of wifi protected access and they include WPA which is responsible for working with all wireless network adapters although it may not work with older adapters.WPA2 is considered to be more secure than WPA but also will not work with the older network adapters.WEP is another method used and is a older security method but is still in use today.WEP sends the encrypted information from one computer to another computer but is easy to hack into and is not recommended for use anymore.802.1x authentication is there to enhance the security used in 802.11 wireless networks along with wired Ethernet networks.It does so by using a server to validate the users on the network as well as provide the network access to the users.

In addition to all the hardware and software used to protect a user or business from losing information there are steps that can be taken to reduce the chance of having a intrusion from a hacker and they include making sure that the room that all the servers are in have a extremely reliable lock along with making sure that there is a policy set in place to make sure that when the authorized personal are finished that they make sure that the doors are shut and locked properly.The second main step to protect the servers would be to install a video surveillance system as even if a door is locked it will not always stop the intruder from breaking in or gaining entry if there is also some sort of smart card that only authorized people will have access to.The third step is to ensure that the things that are the easiest to get into are locked in a special room because a hacker could use something known as a sniffer to capture the traveling data otherwise.The fourth thing is to use rack mounted servers as they are easy to set up but are also easy to secure from hackers.The fifth main thing to do is to make sure that any unused workstations are locked up as they are a easy entry point for a potential hacker to get into the system.Another thing is to make sure that all computer cases have locks on them because the hard drive in the case is very important to a hacker and is easier to carry than stealing the entire case.Anything that is portable such as a tablet or a laptop should also be locked away in a drawer or could be put in a safe until the authorized user comes back to his or her work area.One very important thing to remember is the backups also have the information on them that could be used by a hacker to damage the company.Another way of protecting data from getting into the wrong hands would be to disable the disc drives of the computer along with any usb slot that can be used to transfer information to.One thing that is important but often overlooked is the printer because someone easily could print sensitive information that was recently printed on that printer.You can prevent that by securing the printer in a secure area and bolting it to the ground so someone can not carry it out of the building.