Network Security for Beginners is a big topic. And it can be hard to get a handle on all the concepts and technologies at work in order to plan your network security strategy.
This article will give you a good overview of how networks work and how you can secure them. We first present an overview of the basics. And then move on to discuss each element in detail, introducing the most important issues in each area.
What is Network Security?
Network security is the protection of a computer network from unauthorized access or attack. This definition has three important components:
Unauthorized access:
A network with no security would be open to anyone. If that happens, it’s to pick up the right radio transmission and wanted to send data through it. Many networks have open access. So that visitors can use their computers while visiting a location (such as a university department or an Internet café). The fact that some access is open doesn’t mean that other access is necessarily open. Hence, there are ways of securing even such networks against outsiders with malicious intent.
Attack :
A network should also be protected from attacks launched by intruders within its own infrastructure. Thus, includes attacks executed by members of its own staff and attacks from intruders who have penetrated its outer defenses. Protection against such attacks is called internal or host security. Protection from external attackers is called external security, or border security.
The terms “outside” and “outside world” are often used as synonyms for external attackers. Thus, in many contexts, it’s clear whether “external” refers to outside attackers or outside locations. Such as a router at the edge of your network or your ISP’s WAN connection. Networks have often been designed with external attackers in mind, while internal threats are less well-understood and therefore less well-protected.
Protection against Attacks :
The third component of this definition is that a network should be protected against attacks. This could mean that it should be defended against any kind of attack (whether intentional or unintentional) or only some kind of attack. Some networks are designed without protection against denial-of-service (DoS) attacks (for example), while others are designed to protect against all forms of attacks.
It’s important to keep in mind that these three components overlap and security is not a black-and-white issue. Rather, it’s a continuum, with the network being most secure at the far end of the spectrum protection against all types of attack and unauthorized access. Practically speaking, most networks fall somewhere along this continuum, with the exact placement depending on the level of risk and budget available for network security.
Where Does Network Security Fit?
Network security is just one part of overall system security. In fact, it’s just one part of physical security. For example, suppose you have a computer network called “the network” that you want to protect from “the world.” Whether or not you have any kind of physical protection (such as locked doors and alarm systems) around your computer center, you need to protect your computers from attacks by other computers on the same network as well as by intruders who manage to get onto your local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN).
Your LAN and WAN are part of your computer center. They’re physically inside it. The rest of the world is outside it. This distinction between inside and outside is independent of whether the world is a person sitting next to you or a machine halfway around the world. Both are outside your LAN/WAN computer center. From this perspective, we can see that there are at least four parts to overall system security. Physical: The physical components (such as locks on doors and motion detectors) that keep intruders from getting into your building in order to attack machines inside that building.