With digitization there’s no denying that there has been a huge transformation as how businesses operate. This is the age of transactional information passed on through various devices, wired or wireless, networks etc. it makes it imperative that one adopts a more secure and enhanced security posture. From the past couple of blogs, we have discussed about cyberattacks, its prevention and other aspects that businesses can look into to enhance their network security and IT infrastructure. Today we take a step back and try to get a better understanding of Network Security and its defences.
What exactly is network security?
There are many ways it can be defined but it all boils down to the measures taken by a company to prevent unauthorized access and secure its network and data. It is a process implementation that assumes a strategic defensive approach against cyberattacks. It comprises of policies, processes, practices, and controls all in sync towards the goal of monitoring the health of the network, detecting vulnerabilities, and of course preventing unauthorized access that would protect the integrity, confidentiality, and usability of the company’s network and of the data that is transmitted through it.
For network security process in place, to be effective it needs to address not all internal but external threats as well. Its main objective is to block unauthorized access and prevent data loss and its complexity lies in how susceptible the network is from malicious attacks. That brings us to…
Understanding what we mean by “Network”
An understanding of the network infrastructure would help you create better security controls and prevent inefficiencies and bottlenecks that arises due to ill-conceived security measures. So, before you start work on network security process and controls, lets look at its components, and the way they interact and share data.
Network Type:
There are different ways to classify networks, but the most common method is based on its physical extent. For example, you have Local Area Networks (LAN), Wide Area Networks (WAN), and Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN). The type of network you have will affect factors like the physical hardware requirements, bandwidth, performance, and maintenance. Apart from the above mentioned you would also come across Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), Personal Area Network (PAN), Home Area Network (HAN) and so on depending on the area that it operates in. It is important to consider the type as it determines the scale of network security controls to be implemented.
Network Topology:
When we speak about network topology, we refer to the structural arrangement of a network. The physical and logical arrangement of nodes such as switches, routers help administrators determine the best placements for optimal traffic flow. The choice of network topology also impacts configuration management, monitoring, data transfer rates, and performance and your ability to troubleshoot errors. It can be further bifurcated into physical and logical topology. The former mostly is about nodes for e.g Bus network, Star Network, Mesh Network etc and the latter is about the relationship between nodes and logical connections which defines how the data is transferred, common examples would be Internet Protocol (IP) and Ethernet networks.
Network Devices:
Various components go into building an effective computer network and to run it efficiently, such as such as routers, switches, firewalls, access points etc. As your network is accessed by desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones and also might have IoT devices such as smart lighting, cameras, doors etc. each of these devices require specific security controls and when you know which devices would be compatible with your network would allow you to allocate your resources accordingly. Knowing your network allows you to put…
Defences in place
Nothing but the security measures you take in order to protect your network are the defences and the most common ones are:
Firewall:
Firewalls are a network security measure that can be either hardware or software. They monitor and control network traffic and can allow or block specific traffic based on security rules that you set. By filtering traffic, firewalls protect your network from unauthorized access from outside.
Load Balancers:
Load balancers are hardware/software systems that distribute network traffic across multiple servers. It allows for the traffic to be evenly distributed, and no single server is burdened with too much traffic thus ensuring server availability and responsiveness. Apart from that they also come with security capabilities that help in identifying and protecting applications against security vulnerabilities.
Web & Spam Filters:
A web filter, sometimes known as "content control software" is a software that restricts what websites your employees can visit on their computer. Web filters can use an allow list or a deny list. Spam filters are software that block emails from reaching your inbox. These filters use criteria such as sender’s email address, specific words in the subject or body, sender’s ISP, etc. to filter emails.
Network Access Control (NAC):
Network access control is a solution that helps protect private networks from unauthorized users and devices. NAC allows access only to those devices that are authorized and meet security requirements, such as having the latest security patches, software updates, and antivirus protection. Using NAC, businesses can define the security policies that devices must comply with in order to gain network access. This can be especially useful for businesses that work with third-party vendors and contractors and need to ensure that outside devices comply with their security requirements.
Intrusion Detection & Prevention System (IDS & IPS):
Intrusion detection systems (IDS) are vital tools for keeping networks safe from malicious traffic and policy violations. IDSs work by analyzing network traffic patterns to identify possible threats. While IDS cannot stop an intrusion, it can provide timely alerts so that the problem can be investigated and addressed.
An Intrusion prevention system (IPS) takes it one step further by actually preventing malicious activity. So, while an IDS is simply a monitoring system, an IPS is a control system. IPS works by examining the contents of data packets being transmitted. Based on their contents, it can prevent the packets from being delivered. This way, IPS technologies can prevent cyberattacks such as brute force attacks and Denial of Service (DoS).
Finally…
The network security defences listed above are designed to protect against common network security risks. By utilizing these defences, you can improve your threat detection and reduce the chance of security breaches. Implementing these network defence tools and techniques can help your organization meet privacy, data security, and regulatory compliance goals. Your network is the backbone of your IT infrastructure--it is the gateway to all of your devices and business resources, do invest in having a robust network defence in place.
Comments