Information Security in Computer Networks

Computers used in business have become a vital necessity since the late 1980's and since then companies depend on them to get work done more efficient. In this effort to make work flow more efficient companies have started using computer networks to exchange information so their work can be done even more efficient and faster. Though computer networks are good and can exchange information, lots of outside and inside elements of the business can pose a threat to its computer network and it's privacy of information. Therefore a business that uses a company network should invest in creating the infrastructure for information security of their data.

Threats that companies may encounter can all come from a different background and all have different intentions towards your network. A most likely threat to your business network will come from the inside, employees that use the network on an every day bases. The lowest level of security that you can provide in this case scenario is to keep strict local security policies for all employees and all users must have different passwords and limited access privileges on accessing the network. These are threats that come from the inside of the companies. Every computer network has threats from exterior elements. For example outside users most likely to be suppliers or clients of the company, wanting to acquire information on new unreleased product. Hackers and crackers also pose a threat in combination with computer viruses. A hacker might be paid to intrude on the companies network get data for some third party person. A hacker may also want to penetrate the web server of the company wanting to have some fun by defacing the company's website and replacing the first page or number of them with his own. Therefore there are different types of intrusion methods that a person will follow to gain access to a network. A common method is password sniffing. It's not a highly sophisticated method of gaining access to system on a computer network but rather allows an attacker to gain access to quickly to hundreds of hosts. Once the passwords are obtained it is difficult to spot the attacker because they appear as a normal user. A method commonly used is a backdoor account. This account is hidden from normal users and it's even used by network administrators to access the system when the rest of the system is not fictional and needs away in.