Download Jaden Terry CIS 280 Final Network Security From browsing the

Jaden Terry
CIS 280
Final
Network Security
From browsing the Internet, to even logging on, we simply wouldn’t be able
to use computers without the help of network security. The reasons for network
security, means of attacking a network, types of network security, and major
setbacks in history due to hacking will be understood throughout this paper. Most of
the time, network security goes by unnoticed when using a computer. Factors such
as a firewall, https, and even IP addresses are unknown to the general public. These
are just a couple of features that network security has to offer.
Due to how important it is to ensure that people are able to use computers
privately or without anyone/anything intruding, privacy has lately been a hot topic.
This has everything to do with network security. First, it allows us to protect
valuable information from the outside. The government is a great example of
protecting information from the public. They have a lot of information that is top
secret and needs to be protected from anyone and everyone. If another country
were able to view our government’s network, turmoil would ensue. Additionally, if
businesses were unable to keep a secured network, employee/customer
information and credit card numbers could be accessed, and competing businesses
could look inside to see their strategies. This allows for businesses to keep an edge
on other companies. Secondly, network security protects against hackers, malware,
viruses etc. According to Wikipedia, a hacker is defined as, “Someone who seeks and
exploits weaknesses in a computer system or computer network.” Some evil hackers
may insert a virus or malware that could make a computer unusable. From hackers
and viruses, to network privacy, the security of our networks is more important
than most people are aware of.
A survey from computerworld.com in 2011 showed that more than 90% of
companies have been hacked at some point and 60% said that these attacks were
within the last year. Since 2011, network security has made great strides, but
computers are still at risk. One example, in September 2011, many well-known bank
websites were shut down due to a hack. Hackers accomplished this by sending
enormous amounts of data to the websites and therefore not allowing the website to
operate properly. Another example was the hit that Sony took with their PlayStation
network a couple of years ago. Account information such as credit cards, phone
numbers, addresses, and names were stolen from over 77 million users that were
using the PlayStation network. The network was shut down for almost 2 weeks,
which eventually led to Sony suing the hackers that caused this event. Not only did
this event push users away from the PlayStation and affected the business in the
long run. Finally, Operation Shady RAT was a recent hack against the government
that siphoned off data from government computers. This happened by using what is
called a Remote Access Tool or RAT. McAfee, a network security company, has been
tracking this case for over 5 years. This goes to show how anyone can be affected by
these cyber attacks and the proper functioning of any given computer falls back on
network security.
There are many types of attacks that a hacker could exploit to break into a
system. Some of these include: spoofing, denial of service, buffer overflow,
wiretapping, and port scanning. Wiretapping is a device that plugs into the network
and allows someone to listen or see the network traffic. This is similar to how phone
tapping works. It allows a third party to listen in. When used by a government
agency, this is called lawful interception. Secondly, port scanning is another popular
method of hacking into a computer. Port scanning operates by identifying open
ports on a computer and checking its accessibility. Once a port is found, the hacker
looks for applications that are vulnerable and can be taken advantage of. Next,
spoofing is defined as impersonating or concealing the IP address of another
computer. Spoofing of an IP address is comparable to stealing the Social Security
number of another person. Also, a denial of service attack is when a computer or
network is made unavailable by sending large amounts of data directly at a target,
which can lead to a server overload and shut down to the specified target. This
technique was used in the September 2011 hack against the banks, as mentioned
earlier. Finally, a buffer overflow technique is when the buffer is overrun with data.
Once the buffer is overrun, the data can be given various directions and even sent
elsewhere. These are just a few methods of hacking into a system among many
others that hackers use today.
There are many techniques of keeping a computer safe from mentioned
attacks, such as Mac address filtering, Firewall, and WPA/WPA2. First, a firewall is a
system that controls the incoming and outgoing traffic and determines whether or
not packets should be allowed through. In the network layer, a firewall is also called
a packet filter. The packet filter only allows packets through that match a certain
rule set. The word firewall originated from a firefighting practice where they would
build a barrier to prevent a fire from further spread. Just like packets, if they do not
reach certain guidelines, then they will not be allowed any further. Next, Mac
address filtering is a security method where Mac addresses are used to determine if
the network is accessible. Mac stands for media access control, which is assigned to
network interfaces for communications on the physical network according to
Wikipedia. Mac addresses can be spoofed, which means that you can configure your
computer to act as another Mac address so that you can bypass certain processes.
Also, WPA/WPA2, or Wireless Protected Access, is what encrypts packets.
Encryption is when messages are encoded; only allowing authorized personnel to
read the message. If packets were intercepted when transferring from point A to
point B, the packets would be unreadable due to encryption. WPA2 is the new and
updated version of WPA and it is much more complex and harder to decrypt. WPA2
uses AES, which is an advanced encryption standard protocol for encrypting
packets. With this said, WPA2 is more secure than WPA. Finally, an Anti-Virus can
be used to detect any malicious activity happening on a computer. Some of these
activities include: viruses, worms, adware and spyware, Browser Helper Objects,
and Trojan Horses. All of these methods of security are not guaranteed to keep a
computer out of trouble, but in the long run these security measures will be deemed
beneficial.
There are a few other ways of helping keep a network safe besides the ones
mentioned above. First, when your computer has an update, it should be updated
immediately. Usually a computer will notify the user when something needs to be
updated. These updates can contain the latest securities and reliabilities. Also,
computer users should change their Service Set Identifier or SSID. Most Internet
service providers use the same name for each router making it difficult to determine
whose is whose. A final step, which is not as important, is to create a password that
is difficult for someone to presume. There is certain software out there that can
allow someone to hack passwords. An intricate and difficult password will make
hacking a it more complicated.
All in all, network security continues to grow exponentially as time passes.
Likewise, Internet technology is also becoming more advanced. The need for
network security, ways of attacking a network, types of network securities, and
major setbacks in history due to hacking are all important topics that should be kept
in mind when determining if a specific network is secure.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_security
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-au/windows/making-network-moresecure#1TC=windows-7
http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/solutions/small_business/resource_center/articl
es/secure_my_business/what_is_network_security/index.html