Identifying and preventing network vulnerabities

Organisations should...

• - Regularly test the network to find and fix security weaknesses and investigate any problems
• - Use passwords to prevent unauthorised people from accessing the network
• - Enforce user access levels to limit the number of people with access to sensitive information
• - Install anti malware and firewall software to prevent and destroy malicious software attacks
• - Encrypt sensitive data

Penetration testing

• When organisations employ specialists to simulate potential attacks on their network
• Used to identify possible weaknesses in a network's security by trying to exploit them
• Finds weaknesses in a system before a hacker has the opportunity to discover and exploit them
• External pen testing discovers flaws and back doors into a system from outside the organisation - this might target servers and firewalls
• Internal pen testing puts the tester in the position of an employee who may already have a degree of access into the system to see how much damage someone with more access could do

Physical security

• Protects the physical parts of a network from either intentional or unintentional damage
• Can involve different things such as locks and passcodes to restrict access to certain areas or surveillance equipment
• CCTV cameras, guards, locks, barriers etc.

Passwords and password protection

• Help prevent unauthorised users accessing the network
• Should be strong - should be long, use letters numbers symbols, be changed regularly
• They should never be written down
• Never share passwords
• Use validation techniques - when a user inputs a name and password, check the format and field length
• Two factor authentication may be used where they need a username and password and another way to verify who they are

User access levels

• They control which parts of the network groups of users can access
• Certain people have a higher access level meaning they can access more sensitive information
• User access levels help limit the number of people with access to important data so they help prevent insider attacks

Anti malware software

• Designed to find and stop malware from damaging a network and the devices on it
• Antivirus programs isolate and destroy computer viruses
• Companies use firewalls to block unauthorised access
• If a virus is detected it will be removed
• Anti malware software should be updated regularly to endure that the most recent threats are detected
• Prevents harmful programs from being installed on the computer
• Prevents important files, such as the OS, from being changed or deleted

Firewalls

• Examine all data entering and leaving the network and block any potential threats
• All data traffic is monitored as it passes through a hardware or software file which can block external attacks and access to banned websites from within the network
• Designed to prevent unauthorised access to or from a private network
• All messages entering or leaving pass through the firewall which examines them to check they meet the correct criteria
• Criteria may include: where the access is from (the computer's address), the type of traffic, specific website addresses
• Can also stop computers on a network from accessing specific sites or categories of site on the network
• Can block certain sites

Encryption

• When data is translated into a code which only someone with the correct key can understand meaning unauthorised users can read it but not understand it
• Encrypted text is called cipher text and non encrypted data is called plain text
• Encryption is essential for sending data over a network securely