Network Security
In today’s world, with so many ways to gain unauthorized access to someone’s computer system, network security is very important. Almost every company has been a victim of a virus attack, hackers, or some other form of unauthorized access to their network. In this paper, I will discuss various methods that those who want this access use and ways they can be prevented.
Many people feel that because they use passwords their files are secure and can’t be hacked. They unknowingly leave their networks open to attack without protection thinking everything is fine. Hackers can easily get into password protected files once they have access to a computer system. One way to prevent this is to use a firewall. A firewall prevents unauthorized users from gaining access to a system by restricting access to the entire system, not just the files on the system. Firewalls prevent access to data by using symmetric or asymmetric encryption.
Symmetric encryption uses the same password to decrypt the data that it does to encrypt the data. This method allows users to be able to share the same password to gain access to the data and make any needed changes. Asymmetric encryption is different in that there are different passwords used to encrypt the data and decrypt the data. Asymmetric is considered a little more secure as passwords don’t have to be shared in order to allow someone access to the data. Each individual has his or her own password to access it. Asymmetric encryption uses public/private keys to encrypt/decrypt data.
Public keys use the same encryption data to access the data that the data was encrypted with. Private, or secret, keys allow the originator of the data to encrypt it and not have to share his password with anyone. They can use their own private key to unlock the data.
Digital certificates are certificates that are guaranteed to be authentic by a Certificate Authority. The certificate authority digitally ‘signs’ the data stating that it is authentic. An alternative to this is Public Key Infrastructure, or PKI. PKI uses private keys to certify the data is correct and authentic. PKI is a fast growing, although time consuming, method of securely transmitting data.
Network security became necessary when hackers and other neer-do-wells discovered flaws, or holes, in the various layers of the OSI model that would allow...
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... Site located in-theater Off-site system replication
OPSEC and low profile to prevent hostile targeting Network monitoring systems Hardened sites
Based on just the information contained in the CACI table, it’s obvious that Network Security is mandatory requirement for all networks. As information accessibility grows, so will the need to protect it. By protecting your network from the onset, you can help prevent the problems caused by those who want unauthorized access to your network.
References
http://www.certmag.com/articles/templates/cmag_feature.asp?articleid=580&zoneid=9
http://www.caci.com/business/ia/threats.html
http://www.medword.com/MedwordStore/CSoft/encryption_white_paper.html
http://www.iam.unibe.ch/~mseeberg/key/theory.html
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/46871/46871.html?Ad=1
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/46871/46871.html?Ad=1
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/8843/8843.html
http://www.windowsecurity.com/pages/article_p.asp?id=1142
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/15314/15314.html
What is encryption? Encryption is a technological technique that protects and secures the transfer of plain text information between two sources through the use of the internet. This is done by rearranging the text using a mathematical algorithm that renovates the message into an indecipherable form, which can only be unlocked and translated with a use of a key. The strength of the encryption key is measured by its length, which is determined by the number of bits and by the type of encryption program.
CA – Certificate Authority - is an entity that issues digital certificates. A digital certificate certifies the ownership of a public key by the named subject of the certificate.
Network breaches are an ever-present and growing threat to network security. There are many ways that such breaches can occur, and the following material will analyze five case studies. The issues to be addressed will include, what went wrong, how could it have been prevented, and what measures could be instituted to prevent a reoccurrence.
What concerns the government of the United States most is the security of the critical infrastructure from the cyber threats. The nation is depending heavily on the technology in most of its critical sectors to keep it up and running. Thus, this makes its more vulnerable to cyber-attacks from outsiders and insiders. Therefore, its protection must be a priority.
Asymmetric Encryption is used to protect the data while in movement. Asymmetric Encryption is also known as Public Key Encryption. It uses two related keys, a public key and a private key which is not shared with anyone. This pair of keys are developed by mathematical methods which can be solved in one direction. So anyone can encode a data using the public key but only the user with a private key can decode that specific data. The length of Asymmetric Key Encryption is normally 1024 or 2048 bits. However, in Asymmetric framework the keys with smaller than 2048bits are considered as not safe to use.
The protection of your network requires a level of network security. If you do not have security on your network, then you are capable of being hacked or receiving malware, spy, virus, and lots more. There are many programs or applications that can help detect and prevent strange activities on your computer, but there is also ways that you can help prevent anything from happening. Creating a password for your network is a good start toward protection of your computer. Try to make the password something only you would know, and maybe throw some numbers in there as well to maximize protection. It is good to know who all is on your network and internet; because if someone were to log on to your internet from a distance, they could plant viruses and other things into your files on the network. Quite a bit of problems occur in network when file sharing takes place in a work place to copy or manage files. Most of the time when this happens, no one sets the security setting up themselves,...
Data Encryption is from the cryptography science, which includes coding and decoding of message to protect the safety. Development computer technology makes the encryption even more complicated. The ability for people to break codes is increasing, so are the ability to guard the codes. Many encryptions are available now. They were developed by some hi-tech company and sold, or you can choose some free service. Actually, when you are using the web browsers, emails, or even the basic system, your information has been automatically encrypted.
The packet-filtering firewall will keep out unauthorized data from entering the network and reduce the number of ports that are accessible by the users and outside threats.
It has been demonstrated that a number of interoperable systems must be implemented to fully protect a network; a strategy known as Defense in Depth. Due to the multitude of security devices and device categories available, it can be very difficult to identify the correct tools for meeting security goals. Using the Defense in Depth strategy will require an understanding of the interactions between devices occuring within the network.
Encryption converts a message in such as way that its contents are hidden from unauthorized readers. It is intended to keep messages and information as a secret. Plaintext, also known as clear text, is the plain or original message, which is has not yet been encrypted. Once the message is encrypted it is then called a cipher text. This process is obviously referred as encryption. The exact opposite process is called decryption. Encryption is the most successful way to attain data security. To read an encrypted file, you must have access to a secret key or password that enables you to decrypt it. Data encryption is a means of scrambling the data so that is can only be read by the person holding the key, a password of some sort. Without the key, the cipher cannot be broken and the data remains secure. Using the key, the cipher is decrypted and the data is returned to its original value or state. Each time one desires to encrypt data, a key from the 72,000,000,000,000,000 possible key variations, is randomly produced, and used to encrypt the data. The same key must be made known to the receiver if they ar...
The length of the key for the encryption can vary from being very short to extremely long, and the length of the message being encrypted. The protection of data being transferred between ATMs and the bank, and the use of cell phones, is the most common everyday encounter with encryption. To encrypt and decrypt information, a cipher is used. In a cipher, there is a set of well-defined steps that can be followed to encrypt and decrypt messages.
capacity and performance. However, as networks enable more and more applications and are available to more and more users, they become ever more vulnerable to a wider range of security threats. To combat those threats and ensure that e-business transactions are not compromised, security technology must play a major role in today's networks.
A firewall is a network device, hardware, software, or a combination of the two, whose purpose is to enforce a security policy across its connections. It is comparable to a wall that has a window where the wall serves to keep things out, except those permitted through the window. A security policy acts like the glass in the window; it permits some things to pass, light, while blocking others, air. The heart of a firewall is the security policy that it enforces.
...m. In symmetric key there is a single key that is used in both ends to encrypt and decrypt a data. But in case of asymmetric key there are two keys that are used in the algorithm namely public key and private key.