What are the advantages of network security?

The major advantage of having network security in place is that you keep all your things such as personal information, data and other files safe against people who are looking to steal these or destroy them (and it may not be somebody who is directly against you, but just people who are looking for networks where security is weak and they can get in). Or these may be unauthorized people who want to misuse this information. Unauthorized users may be from the same network or some other network. We have listed the advantages of having strong network security below as well as having proper security protocols:
- It provides protection to the client’s personal data on the network.
- It provides protection to information that is exchanged between hosts during transmission, from eavesdroppers.
- It provides protection to computer systems which can be otherwise rendered useless if attacked with a malicious virus or a trojan that keeps on passing out information.
- Prevents any attempts of doing harm to your system by spyware and malware attacks or hacking.
- Takes care of the access rights assigned to the users at different levels in a network such as in accounting systems.
- It is because of network security that private networks actually exist even if their information is passed over public networks.
- It helps in closing private networks and protecting them against intruders and other attacks.

Data in a private network is also not safe since it can be altered and hampered by people in the same network who may be doing so for many different reasons. The possibilities of attacks vary proportionally with the size of the network. Nowadays various organizations offer anti-virus software free of cost to people who are accessing this network. This has helped a big deal in reducing the threats of attacks.
As a large number of the users suffer from danger of viruses or other attacks, it also increases the danger for the organizations whose websites these users access on a regular basis. Thus the organizations distribute free anti-virus to keep this danger at bay to some extent. Network security is important as it provides protection against malicious viruses, spyware, worms and Trojans. It also guards the system against its potential vulnerabilities. Network security policy means a systematic process for the enforcement of protection policies for data, applications, hosts etc. and it provides guidance as to how the digital identities should be maintained. The security infrastructure may vary from one host to another and from one network to another. With network security the network administrator gets a centralized control for all of them when they are based in one virtual organization.
There are a number of issues that must be addressed by network security in terms of keeping viruses and other such attacks at bay. For preventing the virus from infecting your system or network, these security measures must automatically keep its data base updated on all the user machines. Another measure that can be taken is to install scanners on every machine and device accessing the network include newer devices like tablets. These scanners work well for keeping out e-mails infected with Trojans, worms and viruses.
At the same time, it is also important that users have education about the need for network security and what not to do. Without appropriate knowledge you won’t know as to what security options should be selected for enforcement. You might land up with a security policy that barely protects your system. For example, if you receive an email whose source you don’t know or you don’t trust just don’t open it. Possibilities are that it might contain some malicious file which if downloaded can eat up your data.
It is true that anti-virus software are effective in guarding against the viruses but these are developed only after the virus has been developed. Anti-viruses lag behind from viruses. Antiviruses are available only for the viruses that exist and not for those that have been newly created and hence user awareness and security safeguards are very important.

Security - What are the principal ways to secure a wireless network?

Securing a wireless network is as important as securing wired networks, and in many cases even more since it can be easier to tap into a wireless network. One or the other time all of us might have used a WiFi network which might be unsecure (highly unsecure, or may have recent holes that are not yet patched). But this would not do much harm if you are just honestly looking for connecting to the internet. If you own an unsecure wireless network, you should know that everyone is not honest as you are. Attackers with bad intentions can know what activities are taking place in your network and how your network resources can be exploited.  This problem can be fixed by following some basic principles of securing your wireless network:
- WEP and WPA encryption: Encryption is the first line of defense that you can call up for the security of your network. The data that your PC transmits to the wireless router is encoded. But usually what happens is that in most of the routers this option is disabled. You first need to check if it is enabled or not. If you keep it disabled, it will expose your network to several vulnerabilities. You should keep the encryption in enable mode and use the strongest form that is supported by your computer. WPA2 is more sophisticated when compared to WPA. WEP can be easily cracked and so it has been replaced by the most recent version of WPA i.e., the WPA2. One thing to be taken care of is that all the devices should have either WEP or WPA if you are using either of them. These two protocols cannot be mixed and used. The WEP uses the same key every time but this is not the case with the WPA. Here the keys keep on changing dynamically. This makes it almost impossible to hack. The encryption key must have a strong password like a combination of numbers and letters of more than 14 characters. If your computer has an old router that supports only WEP, use the 128-bit WEP key as it is the safest. But you should continuously keep checking for a firmware update at the manufacturer’s website. This update will provide WPA support to WEP. If no update is available, you can replace the old routers and the adapters with their new models that provide support for WPA. It’s better to go with hybrid version of the routers that support both WPA and WPA2. This will provide stronger encryption at the same time while maintaining compatibility with the other adapters.
It should be made sure that the default network name as well as the password have been changed. Doing so will make it difficult for the hackers to break int o the system and change its configuration. Even if you do have a firewall in the router, additional security measures have to be taken. The firewall does not lets the hackers break in to the system. But it does not stop people that lie in to the geographical range of wi-fi from accessing the network. There are readily available tools that can be used for sniffing the traffic through your wireless networks. To supplement the security, the software firewall should also be installed on the computer. Public hotspots are typically very unsecure.  If there are no precautions it should be assumed internet traffic whether incoming or outgoing is visible to the attackers. Before connecting to the network always make sure that is a legitimate one, make sure that the firewall is enabled. And keep the file sharing option to off. You can check whether you have selected the appropriate security options in the firewall settings. These are some tips to increase your security level when dealing with WiFi.

How is security management done in home and small businesses?

As there are different kinds of networks, so there are different types of security management for them. In this article we shall talk about how security management is done in the home and small businesses. Only basic security is required for a small office or at home. On the other hand a lot of maintenance is required for large businesses and large institutions. Also here, normally used hardware and software is used when compared to the sophisticated hardware and software that is used for the prevention of spamming, hacking and other kinds of malicious attacks. Here we list some basic points for security management at home and small office:

- A basic firewall can be installed or even a unified threat management system can be used.
- A basic antivirus software will do the task if you are working in the windows environment.
- Other software that can be installed for security include anti – spyware programs. A number of anti – virus and anti – spyware software are available in the market.
- If you are using a wireless connection, you must take care to secure your system with a robust password. A number of security methods are supported by the wireless devices. so try to use the strongest of those methods such as the AES, WPA2. A wide range of devices are supported by the TKIP. But they can only be used in the cases where there is no compliance with the AES.
- While using wireless, the default SSID name of the network must be changed. Another security measure that can be taken is to disable the SSID broadcast as this is not required for the home use. This can be easily bypassed by the use of modern technology and if the attacker has some knowledge regarding how the wireless traffic can be detected.
- You can enable the MAC address filtering for keeping track of all the MAC devices that are on that network connected to your router. Even though strictly this is not a security feature, it does can be used for limiting and monitoring the DHCP address pool for the attackers by both AP association and exclusion.
- Static IP addresses can be assigned to the devices connected to the network. This is done for complementing the other security features and to make the AP less desirable to the attackers.
- The ICMP ping on the router must be disabled.
- You can even review the logs of the router and the firewall for identification of any abnormal traffic or connection if any is there.
- Passwords must be set for all the accounts.
- If you are using a windows operating system, you can create multiple accounts for the family members to limit all the activities.
- Children of the family must be given lessons about the information security.

Security management is about identifying the important assets of the user that of course includes the information assets and checking whether the policies protecting these assets are implemented properly. It is also about protecting these assets from loss. It identifies the critical assets and focuses on protecting them first. The potential threats to the system are assessed. Then measures are taken for eliminating or minimizing these threats. The security risks are managed by the virtue of the risk management principles. It involves identification of the risks, assessment of the effectiveness of the control strategies, determination of the consequences. The risks are identified by means of the impact they can have. The identified risks are classified and appropriate response is selected for each.