Network security

Network security

1. Network vunerabilities

   • Social enginineering
     • manipulation of a person to give confidential information
   • Phishing
     • Phishing is where a target or targets are contacted by email, telephone or text message by someone posing as a real institution to lure individuals into giving sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords.
   • Malware
     • Malware (malicious software) is software that is specificallydesigned to gain access or damage a computer without the knowledge of the owner. There are various types of malware including spyware, keyloggers, true viruses, worms, or any type of malicious code that infiltrates a computer.
   • Ransomware
     • Ransomeware is a type of malware that threatens to publish the victim's data or constantly block access to it unless a ransom is paid
   • Trojan horse
     • In computing, a Trojan horse, or Trojan, is any malicious computer program which misleads users of its true intent
   • brute force
     • A brute force attack is a trial-and-error method used to obtain information such as a user password or personal identification number (PIN). In a brute force attack, automated software is used to generate a large number of consecutive guesses as to the value of the desired data. Brute force attacks may be used by criminals to crack encrypted data, or by security analysts to test an companies network security.
   • DDOS
     • In computing, a distributed-denial-of-service attack is a cyber-attack where the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or forever disrupting services of a host connected to the Internet.
   • MITM
     • A man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack is a form of eavesdropping where communication between two users is monitored and modified by an unauthorized party. Generally, the attacker actively eavesdrops by intercepting a public key message exchange and retransmits the message while replacing the requested key with his own. In the process, the two original parties appear to communicate normally. The message sender does not recognize that the receiver is an unknown attacker trying to access or modify the message before retransmitting to the receiver. Thus, the attacker controls the entire communication.
   • Data interception
     • When packets travel across a network, they are susceptible to being read, altered, or “hijacked.” Hijacking occurs when a hostile party intercepts a network traffic session and poses as one of the session endpoints. An attacker monitors data streams to or from a target, in order to gather sensitive information
   • eavesdropping
     • Eavesdropping is as an electronic attack where digital communications are intercepted by an individual whom they are not intended. This is done in two main ways: Directly listening to digital or analog voice communication or the interception or sniffing of data relating to any form of communication.
   • message tampering
     • Message tampering is that act of deliberately modifying (destroying, manipulating or editing) messages through unathorized channels.
   • SQL Injection
     • An SQL injection is a computer attack in which malicious code is embedded in a poorly-designed application and then passed to the backend database. The malicious data then produces database query results or actions that should never have been executed.

2. Network prevention methods

   • Anti-maleware
     • A way anti-malware software can find malware is by running a program it suspects to be malicious in a sandbox, which is a protected space on the computer, If it demonstrates malicious behaviour, the anti-malware will terminate it. Otherwise, the program is allowed to execute outside the sandbox.
   • firewall
     • A firewall is a network security system, either hardware- or software-based, that uses rules to control incoming and outgoing network traffic. A firewall acts as a barrier between a trusted network and and an untrusted network. A firewall controls access to the resources of a network through a positive control model. This means that the only traffic allowed onto the network is defined in the firewall policy; all other traffic is denied.
   • User access levels
     • At the highest level (admin), the network manager can install and remove software, access all user areas and change permissions. At lower levels, a group of users may only be able to access particular pieces of software and their files stored in their own areas.
   • Password Strength Checker
     • checks password strength and tells you if it is good enough
   • Data Encryption
     • encrypts data and helps protect it from eavesdroppers
   • Storage Device Virus Scanning
     • A virus scan is the process of using anti-virus software to scan and identify viruses in a computing device. It is an information security process that aims to review and identify threatening viruses and programs. It is the core feature of anti-virus software
   • Penetration testing
     • A penetration test, colloquially known as a pen test, is an authorized simulated attack on a computer system, performed to evaluate the security of the system
   • Network Forensics
     • Network forensics refers to investigations that obtain and analyze information about a network or network events. It is a specialized category within the more general field of digital forensics, which applies to all kinds of IT data investigations. Typically, network forensics refers to the specific network analysis that follows security attacks or other types of cybercrimes.
   • network security policy
     • A network security policy is a formal document that outlines the principles, procedures and guidelines to enforce, manage, monitor and maintain security on a computer network. It is designed to ensure that the computer network is protected from any act or process that can breach its security