Network Security Nest. Network security is the protection of information systems from unauthorized access, destruction, modification, or disclosure. The term refers to the methods, procedures, technologies, policies, and practices used to prevent and detect such activities.
You can never stop hackers from accessing your network, but you can minimize their chances of success. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the basics of network security.
Some Simple Rules
Never share passwords with anyone. Make sure that your passwords are long, and complex, and change them regularly. Disable all unnecessary services, protocols, and daemons that you do not need for the proper running of your systems.
Use firewalls and other security products to protect your systems from unauthorized access. If you’re using a firewall, make sure that you configure it correctly. Further, by using the services of competent network security professionals. Make sure that you have a backup of important data on a regular basis.
Some Advanced Tips
If you’re using DHCP for the dynamic IP addresses, use failover/hot standby pairs of DHCP servers. Further, to provide redundancy for this service. You should also have a backup DHCP server in place to take over if the primary one fails. For e-mail servers, you can use the VRFY command. Also to verify whether a given email address is valid or not before accepting it as valid.
If you have users on the same domain name as some corporate domain, don’t allow them to change their email addresses on their own. Monitor your network security logs on a regular basis. Further, by using tools such as Tripwire or Samhain, to detect any unauthorized changes. Also, made by intruders into your system’s files and directories.
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Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS)
Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) is a system or a device that monitors network or system activities. Moreover, for malicious activities and report any detected activities to the system administrator. An IDS can detect a number of intrusion activities such as intrusion attempts, unauthorized access, buffer overflows, hacking attempts, etc.
Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS)
Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) is a system or a device that monitors network or system activities for malicious activities and takes actions to stop any detected activities. An IPS can block access attempts, stop buffer overflows, stop denial of service attacks, stop port scanning activities, etc. Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS).
Port scanning
A port scan is a method to determine what ports are open on a particular host, and what services those ports provide. A port scan may also reveal additional information about a host. Such as the software and hardware that is running on it, the type of firewall in use, the operating system, and so on.
Port scanners are scemes by attackers to determine whether or not they can gain access to a system by exploiting known vulnerabilities.
Port scanning may also be useful to administrators in order to verify that their firewalls are properly configured. If a port scan is successful, it means that either the firewall has been improperly configured. Or that there is an actual vulnerability present in the system. If a port scan fails, it means that either the firewall is properly configured or that there are no vulnerabilities present on the system.
Conclusion
This article is not to be an all-inclusive guide to network security. It is a brief overview of some of the topics that need to be considered when securing a system.