Introduction to Network Security
- Introduction
- The Basics of a Network
- Basic Network Utilities
- The OSI Model
- What Does This Mean for Security?
- Assessing Likely Threats to the Network
- Classifications of Threats
- Likely Attacks
- Threat Assessment
- Understanding Security Terminology
- Choosing a Network Security Approach
- Network Security and the Law
- Using Security Resources
- Summary
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Introduction
Finding a week without some major security breach in the news is difficult. University web servers hacked, government computers hacked, banks’ data compromised, health information exposed—the list goes on. It also seems as if each year brings more focus to this issue. Finding anyone in any industrialized nation who had not heard of things such as websites being hacked and identities stolen would be difficult.
More venues for training also exist now. Many universities offer Information Assurance degrees from the bachelor’s level up through the doctoral level. A plethora of industry certification training programs are available, including the CISSP, EC Council’s CEH, Mile2 Security, SANS, and CompTIA’s Security+. There are also now a number of universities offering degrees in cyber security, including distance learning degrees.
Despite this attention from the media and the opportunities to acquire security training, far too many computer professionals—including a surprising number of network administrators—do not have a clear understanding of the type of threats to which network systems are exposed, or which ones are most likely to actually occur. Mainstream media focuses attention on the most dramatic computer security breaches rather than giving an accurate picture of the most plausible threat scenarios.
This chapter looks at the threats posed to networks, defines basic security terminology, and lays the foundation for concepts covered in the chapters that follow. The steps required to ensure the integrity and security of your network are methodical and, for the most part, already outlined. By the time you complete this book, you will be able to identify the most common attacks, explain how they are perpetrated in order to prevent them, and understand how to secure your data transmissions.
